I think AskMetaFilter would really be a great site, said Jessamyn

June 9, 2003 7:09 AM

Perhaps there should be a sub-site of metafilter where one could post topics without links when they need advice. There have been countless times I would have greatly valued the opinions of metafilter users when it comes to buying technology products, and advice with work and relationships. Sure you can always find some related link to throw in to make the question legitimate by mefi rules... but that's cheating.
posted by banished to Feature Requests at 7:09 AM (23 comments total)

I've had this same thought, and I think it'd be great. Wasn't sure where/when to bring it up.
posted by Vidiot at 8:37 AM on June 9, 2003

There are lots of message boards out there that have a more open posting policy...

Let's see if I can think of one, off the top of my head...

hmmm... begins with a C and ends with LAND... what could it be?
posted by crunchland at 8:42 AM on June 9, 2003

crunchburgerland?
posted by Vidiot at 8:46 AM on June 9, 2003

There have been occasions when I would have liked to have consulted the mefi community also.
posted by nthdegx at 9:27 AM on June 9, 2003

This question has previously been dubbed Ask MetaFilter.

One concern with a "user-to-user" category is that I would essentially ignore it, so problems, bullies, crackers, whatever might overrun the place ... it does detract from what the site does normally, and takes it into a realm of being like a mailing list. -- mathowie
posted by dhartung at 10:29 AM on June 9, 2003

although I wouldn't mind seeing a section like you're describing, in the meantime, a site that was talked about here a week or so ago seems to be exactly what you're looking for. (specifically, the 'discussions' section on the left)
posted by GeekAnimator at 11:44 AM on June 9, 2003

If #mefi were a bit more heavily populated, it would make an excellent subsitute. And be, like, real time and stuff.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:51 AM on June 9, 2003

Candyland?

p.s. you may want to rethink asking 17,000 computer geeks for relationship advice.
posted by PrinceValium at 12:00 PM on June 9, 2003 [1 favorite]

you guys are making me crazy with this #mefi stuff; I want to do it, but I already waste more time than I can justify on mefi blue and gray... And I have to pay by the minute for my connection, so I always feel guilty when I'm online. To borrow a phrase...

Seethe.
posted by taz at 12:01 PM on June 9, 2003

And I have to pay by the minute for my connection

that still exists?!?! sucks to live in greece, I guess. (especially since they outlawed arcade games, although I hear that's been toned down) =)
posted by GeekAnimator at 12:15 PM on June 9, 2003

yeah, as far as internet goes it kind of sucks to live in Greece... about the arcade games, that was actually much more of a tempest in a teapot kind of thing. At least in the end. And, coincidentally, GeekAnimator, every time I see your handle, for a split second I think it's GreekAnimator...
posted by taz at 12:26 PM on June 9, 2003

I don't know that I'd go so far as to suggest #mefi to those seeking advice.

However, to those seeking canasta partners, pictures of tiny dogs and gigantic grasshoppers, and 101 Ways to Tease Riffola About Hair Bands, it is a great boon.
posted by padraigin at 1:23 PM on June 9, 2003

just grab a copy of freefilter and register askmetafilter.com.
posted by Hackworth at 1:40 PM on June 9, 2003

Sucks to live in Greece? Hey, I saw Summer Lovers (a bunch of times), so I know for a fact that not only is the scenery beautiful, you get to have wild hot sexual threesomes with Daryl Hannah and Valerie Quennessen.

I can't imagine anything that would suck less.
posted by willnot at 2:26 PM on June 9, 2003

I have to pay by the minute for my connection...

that still exists?!?!

Um, a little OT but I live in Vermont USA and until last year I was paying by the minute for Internet access and many people in Vermont still do, FWIW. Here's how it works: I have a local telephone company, they have 1300 subscribers. All my calls to 439-xxxx numbers are free, all other ones have a small charge [like one cent a minute at night, 3 cents during the day]. My ISP was outside this range [because there are no modem banks in my town] so I paid by the minute. Now, this was a "capped line" which means that I only paid up to the first $22, but still, $20 for an ISP, $22 for calls, and that's still at 44k. Now my teeny telco is in the ISP business [lord help us] but at least my dial-up fees are cheaper and I have unlimited dial-up.

I think AskMetaFilter would really be a great site.
posted by jessamyn at 2:47 PM on June 9, 2003 [2 favorites]

Somebody should just set up a Yahoo discussion group or something. But not me.
posted by konolia at 3:05 PM on June 9, 2003

Somebody should just set up a Yahoo discussion group or something.

ick. i'd rather pay matt to build ask.metafilter.com

and apparently, I'm an uneducated fool about subjects grecian =)
posted by GeekAnimator at 3:13 PM on June 9, 2003

As a troubled young new bee I once asked this question of Matt offline (whether or not it would be appropriate to pose a "life" question to mefi). I hope I'm not betraying a confidence by revealing that he said he was considering offering such a "feature" on metafilter, but in the meantime he recommended K5. This was a couple of years ago.

So until we hear from him, I'm going to guess the idea has been considered and rejected -- if not on its merits, than by dint of limited resources.
posted by luser at 5:30 PM on June 9, 2003

[offtopic]
re: dialup woes. On the other hand, here in Korea you can live pretty much anywhere and get 2 Mb all-you-can-eat DSL for under 20 dollars a month. One of the few upsides to the place. Funny old world.
[/offtopic]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:21 PM on June 9, 2003

I wasn't around for the previous discussions, but I like this idea ... I think it has at least as much potential as Notes and Queries, rather than MetaConsumerReport. What about a new MetaTalk category, "Ask MeFi"? It wouldn't need a new site; "Ask MeFi" threads would be flagged as such on the front page of MetaTalk (so those who wanted to avoid them could); the category could be yanked if the concept didn't work. In the last case I'd give it a few months for the novelty to wear off and the dust to settle, though.
posted by carter at 7:51 PM on June 9, 2003

It's definitely a good idea. I was thinking about something similar a few weeks ago, when the files of the former Yugoslav secret service suddenly appeared online. (On a site in Australia.) The Slovenian government successfully blocked us from accessing the page. (The files contained detailed information about ordinary citizens, accumulated from years of spying.)

I wanted to call on the Mefi community for help... at the least, for tips on how to get around the block, or at best, for some intrepid member to risk a diplomatic incident and/or assassination by hosting the file themselves. (It was a measly 100 GB.)

But the lack of an AskMetafilter stopped me. And it's probably good that it did. As I see it, one of you would have probably risked it, and woken up one morning to find yourself at the mercy of a strategically placed tarantula. In short, one of you owes me their life.
posted by Ljubljana at 6:44 AM on June 10, 2003

on further thought, it'd be a dangerous thing to mix a personal discussions board with metafilter...

mefi member A: "you suck!"
mefi member B: "Oh yeah? well you can't seem to please your wife!
mefi member A: "Perhaps not, but at least I didn't admit to being attracted to small woodland fauna!
posted by GeekAnimator at 7:23 AM on June 10, 2003

I would love this.
posted by xammerboy at 1:36 PM on June 11, 2003