IRC better than fora for real-time reactions

October 8, 2004 9:39 PM

Preventing this thread is what IRC is for. That is all.
posted by wobh to Etiquette/Policy at 9:39 PM (46 comments total)

I still maintain that you should've had a wank instead of posting this.
posted by cheaily at 9:40 PM on October 8, 2004

Tell it to every other blog in the universe.
posted by y2karl at 9:42 PM on October 8, 2004

do they know how to IRC?
posted by kamylyon at 9:43 PM on October 8, 2004

It was fun! : >

and we've done it before--during State of the Unions and stuff.
posted by amberglow at 9:56 PM on October 8, 2004

And the oscars, which have been pretty fun.
posted by eyeballkid at 10:40 PM on October 8, 2004

Is IRC like an RFC?
posted by Krrrlson at 10:41 PM on October 8, 2004

Many TWOP forums have a "do not discuss the show until it's over" policy. I'm not aware of any such policy on MeFi, though.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:00 PM on October 8, 2004

Is IRC like an RFC?

yeah, but arcaner and clique-ier.
posted by quonsar at 11:12 PM on October 8, 2004

Actually I think ham radio would be the true medium. Or perhaps smoke signals. No, synchro skydiving w/ semaphore. Hang on - mass IP telephony. Yes. No. Morse digeridoo. No...

Hm. There's something wrong with all of these.... could it be the lack of a persistent record (aka: thread)? With people tuning in at different times and logging factual items that many will want to review, I think a persistent thread is the only thing.

Sorry, but the realtime commentary / fact checking / links to streaming media, other boards, analysis, humor, etc, is, in itself, best-of-the-web. Exceptional case, but true. To employ a phrase I hate: it's only 2 lines to scroll past.

So no, this thread was not what IRC is for, but this thread is what GFY is for.
posted by scarabic at 12:09 AM on October 9, 2004

Sorry, but the realtime commentary / fact checking / links to streaming media, other boards, analysis, humor, etc, is, in itself, best-of-the-web. Exceptional case, but true.

No it's not. While best of the web is different to each person, in no way do 400 snarky comments fit the bill. It's an example of metafilter being used as a typical message board, and as you said, easily skipped, but let's not prtend it's anything but that.
posted by justgary at 12:19 AM on October 9, 2004

i can't believe you people. it's ONE THREAD. ignore it if you don't like it.
posted by Hackworth at 12:34 AM on October 9, 2004

Typical message board / exemplary use of a message board

tomato / tomahto

There's been a vote link on the site for months. That doesn't degrade it to the status of campaign junk mail.

Point taken though. Plenty of room to see that thread as a circle-jerk.
posted by scarabic at 1:05 AM on October 9, 2004

I agree scarabic. I simply meant that its an aberrration. A special occasion easily skipped over if uninterested.

No harm intended.
posted by justgary at 1:38 AM on October 9, 2004

This IRC, wood I find it on the Internets?
posted by limitedpie at 3:10 AM on October 9, 2004

Isn't the 350+ comment thread a good advert for pagination?
posted by SpaceCadet at 4:45 AM on October 9, 2004

A few weeks ago, I began scrolling past MeTalk call-outs on threads the poster should have just scrolled past.

... but IRC????? C'mon! That is just so second millennium!
posted by mischief at 5:25 AM on October 9, 2004

I enjoyed that thread.
posted by chrid at 7:24 AM on October 9, 2004

i agree with wobh.
posted by sciurus at 7:37 AM on October 9, 2004

Is IRC like an RFC?

I prefer KFC.
posted by ChrisTN at 8:48 AM on October 9, 2004

I agree with chrid.
posted by languagehat at 8:54 AM on October 9, 2004

I'm reminded of the Flash vs. HTML debate...
posted by juiceCake at 9:14 AM on October 9, 2004

I think that thread saved us from about three OTHER threads on the debate.
posted by papercake at 9:57 AM on October 9, 2004

I can see how the thread might have been fun/funny at the time. However, the anti-Bush bias of the "analysis" makes it a piece of crap resource-wise, and of little use to anyone arriving after the event. The thread mocks Bush for every tiny thing whilst letting Kerry away with all sorts. Preventing this sort of thread *is* what IRC is for. Permanent records are what chat-logs are for.
posted by nthdegx at 11:26 AM on October 9, 2004

"resource". is that what we've become?
posted by Hackworth at 12:08 PM on October 9, 2004

Blah blah. Blah, blah, blah. BLAH.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 12:15 PM on October 9, 2004

"of little use to anyone arriving after the event"

Spoilsport! ;-P
posted by mischief at 12:39 PM on October 9, 2004

DAMMIT WHY CAN'T METAFILTER BE PERFECT. WHY CAN'T EVERY LINK BE INTERSTING AND FLASHY? WHY DO GAYS HAVE TO RUIN MARRIAGE?!
posted by geoff. at 12:39 PM on October 9, 2004

nthdeg is missing one key fact: if you're watching a truly lop-sided boxing match, one in which a heavyweight champion is pounding the living shit out of some hapless poser, documenting the times the loser raised his arm and attempted to land a punch is just pointless.
posted by Space Coyote at 4:47 PM on October 9, 2004

Isn't the 350+ comment thread a good advert for pagination?

no.
posted by t r a c y at 4:55 PM on October 9, 2004

the anti-Bush bias of the "analysis" makes it a piece of crap resource-wise, and of little use to anyone arriving after the event

Unless you're looking for precisely that. Excuse me, but the debates have been the best and brightest galvanization station for lefties in this entire campaign. You can say it's biased, sure, but useless? Not to me. I've needed a bit of a lift here for a while, and I doubt I'm alone in that.
posted by scarabic at 5:17 PM on October 9, 2004

Unless you're looking for precisely that. I thought that's what FR and DU are for. I thought some people here still liked to pretend we're better than that.
posted by Krrrlson at 5:55 PM on October 9, 2004

Irony is still not dead.
posted by y2karl at 5:56 PM on October 9, 2004

We are. Our snark is better than their snark. Were we supposed to pretend Kerry wasn't the better debater?
posted by Space Coyote at 5:59 PM on October 9, 2004

No, I'm sorry, 300 comments worth of "LOL BUSH IS STOOPID" will be just fine.
posted by Krrrlson at 6:06 PM on October 9, 2004

Irony is still not dead.

Getting a little passive aggressive there karl?
posted by Krrrlson at 6:15 PM on October 9, 2004

"Getting"?

I have to disagree with you, scarabic. As I hate Bush with the heat of a thousand suns, I agree that the thread was amusing. But it was as much a crap post and thread as the worst of them.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:00 PM on October 9, 2004

Hey! I bet you a dollar it happens next time, too, and maybe on election night!
posted by mwhybark at 7:17 PM on October 9, 2004

AFAICS, much of this thread is a great example of taking things far, far too seriously. (Also, not coincidentally, a great example of why I hardly ever bother to look at metatalk.)
posted by lodurr at 7:56 PM on October 9, 2004

Hey! I bet you a dollar it happens next time, too, and maybe on election night!

Why only a dollar?
posted by somethingotherthan at 8:32 PM on October 9, 2004

I agree with languagehat.
posted by soyjoy at 9:31 PM on October 9, 2004

LOLZ INTERNETS!
posted by Stauf at 9:46 PM on October 9, 2004

It was silly and probably should have been pulled the next morning, because it isn't what MeFi is for. However, it was fun at the time. Those of you who thought it wasn't fair to Bush might have taken a moment to type something of your own, h'mm?
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:35 PM on October 9, 2004

I agree with Soyjoy's agreeing with languagehat.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 10:53 PM on October 9, 2004

I agree with Ethereal Bligh.
posted by nthdegx at 3:03 AM on October 10, 2004

I've needed a bit of a lift here for a while, and I doubt I'm alone in that.

Absolutely. I didn't post, partly because I was watching 20 minutes behind on TiVo, but I enjoyed the thread immensely. And it was great to have just one thread to follow it all. Thanks fenriq.

I bet you a dollar it happens next time, too, and maybe on election night!

No matter whether the news on the big night is good or bad, I'd be truly bereft if I couldn't come here and either participate in the jubliation or have a tribe to mourn with.
posted by marsha56 at 8:04 AM on October 10, 2004

Isn't the 350+ comment thread a good advert for pagination?

t r a c y: no.

Make that please god no. Please matt do not inflict multiple pages per thread on us if at all possible.
posted by Mitheral at 1:43 PM on October 13, 2004