"Me-Too-ism" in Ask Metafilter

August 11, 2005 10:31 AM

"Me-Too-ism" in Ask Metafilter
posted by SpecialK to Etiquette/Policy at 10:31 AM (36 comments total)

I post a lot of IT-related threads, and read a lot of the threads where people ask for specific tools or design considerations. It seems that without fail, SOME genius is going to reccomend a 37Signals (i.e. BaseCamp) or a Fog Creek product, even where they aren't appropriate.

(Basecamp does NOT do time tracking, for instance, and CoPilot is NOT cross-platform -- both features that were requested in threads within the past two or three days. Both BaseCamp and CoPilot were suggested repeatedly, even though they very obviously did not meet the specifications.)

What is the origin of suggesting a product that is "big" or has a lot of buzz surrounding it in the web community, but the poster obviously isn't that familiar with, and it doesn't meet the requirements of the original poster? Am I the only one that this particularly unhelpful brand of noise annoys?
posted by SpecialK at 10:31 AM on August 11, 2005

It's probably just poor reading by the people leaving answers. Half the time I ask a question, and I be sure to explain fully in the more inside section, I'll see answers that are "did you think to try x?" when my more inside section described the time I tried x and it didn't work.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:34 AM on August 11, 2005

Positive pile-on? the happy sister of the more common grumpy pile-on?
posted by Cranberry at 10:52 AM on August 11, 2005

I think you're just oversensitive to things you consider to be overhyped. There are plenty of other answers that aren't that great but they don't stink in your mind because you're not already predisposed against them.
posted by smackfu at 11:45 AM on August 11, 2005

I agree with SpecialK, matthowie, Cranberry and smackfu.
posted by cedar at 11:57 AM on August 11, 2005

Nothing is more annoying then when people skim a question and answer the top-of-the-head answer. Please read the question fully before responding, especially if you're being critical of the questioner (which you shouldn't be anyway, but that's another thread).
posted by geoff. at 12:01 PM on August 11, 2005

I've definitely noticed that with Basecamp stuff, which is way way way overhyped here (wow, a to-do list ON THE WEB—amazing), although not with Fog Creek.

Why not just tell people what you think in the green when this comes up?
posted by grouse at 12:01 PM on August 11, 2005

grouse - Because things scroll so fast in the green these days that people rarely revisit old questions they've answered to check how their answers were received. I do pan Basecamp every opportunity I get. :-P

There's another site I use, called [tmbo] that keeps track of when new posts have been made to threads that you've posted in... no matter how old the thread is. That'd be a lovely pony to have in the sidebar, but I think it takes a lot of server load to do...
posted by SpecialK at 12:29 PM on August 11, 2005

I suspect Male Answer Syndrome may be a factor. This comment itself is an example of it. Perhaps the most obvious wrong answer is first to come to mind while trying to avoid saying, "I don't know." Since the equivalent of "I don't know" should probably be Not Posting, I'm guilty of that which I abhor.

Sloppy reading is also pretty much a given.
posted by cairnish at 1:25 PM on August 11, 2005

I'm a culprit of MAS, but it doesn't manifest itself in the way SpecialK is describing here. I think this is a useful MeTalk post.
posted by nthdegx at 1:38 PM on August 11, 2005

I agree with SpecialK, mathowie, Cranberry and smackfu, but cedar has proven in this thread to be a dumbass who is way, way, way off-base.
posted by Kwantsar at 1:53 PM on August 11, 2005

Perhaps AskMe needs a confirmation screen that reads "Hrm, that doesn't sound right. Are you sure?"
posted by mendel at 2:05 PM on August 11, 2005

SpecialK, you will get that present in a day or two, promise.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:13 PM on August 11, 2005

That sound like a pretty useful new pony.
posted by caddis at 2:21 PM on August 11, 2005

"...Male Answer Syndrome..."

That's interesting. My favorite college instructor said the hardest thing he had to teach his (predominantly male) students was that it's OK to say "I don't know", even though it's probably the hardest thing to say.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:38 PM on August 11, 2005

I also find it interesting that I used "hardest" twice in one sentence about something predominantly male.

*goes to see shrink*
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:40 PM on August 11, 2005

That's true, and I feel compelled to say so, even though I'm contributing nothing substantive to the thread.


Why yes, I'm male; why do you ask?

SpecialK, I think what you're complaining about is just a subset of "why do people answer when they don't know the answer," which has been brought up before, but I'm always happy to see it brought up again because I keep hoping those people will eventually get the message.
posted by languagehat at 2:43 PM on August 11, 2005

"...but cedar has proven in this thread to be a dumbass who is way, way, way off-base."

Gee... I'm sorry I'm not taking the pointless call out of the day more seriously. Pretty cool the way you fit that in without adding anything to the discussion yourself. Way to go big guy, nothing like leading by example.

I actually don't feel that it's a pointless call out but I do find myself dismayed that a bit of intended humor, one that in retrospect wasn't all the funny, is capable of tweaking someone to the point of name calling. I really didn't mean to break your toy and apologize for any distress I have caused you.
posted by cedar at 3:09 PM on August 11, 2005

cedar:

it's pretty clear that Kwantsar was joking. That's why there were three "way"s, dude.
posted by fishfucker at 3:18 PM on August 11, 2005

cedar : "I actually don't feel that it's a pointless call out but I do find myself dismayed that a bit of intended humor, one that in retrospect wasn't all the funny, is capable of tweaking someone to the point of name calling. I really didn't mean to break your toy and apologize for any distress I have caused you."

Cedar: Person A says something. Person B says person A was right. Person C says "I agree with person A, but person B is full of shit". It's a joke. Person A can't be right while person B is full of shit, because they're saying the same thing. Same situation here. SpecialK, matthowie, Cranberry and smackfu say things. You say they were right. Kwantsar says they were right but you were wrong. It's a joke.

I don't feel that it's a pointless call out, but I do find myself dismayed that a bit of intended humor by Kwantsar, one that in retrospect wasn't all that funny, is capable of tweaking you to the point of getting all offended. Kwantsar really didn't intend to insult you, and I apologize for any distress he has caused you.
posted by Bugbread at 3:19 PM on August 11, 2005

one that in retrospect wasn't all that funny

And cedar was probably funnier than I was, since my joke was extra-lame. No hard feelings, my Pinacean friend, and a big smooch to you, bugbread. You're a peach!
posted by Kwantsar at 3:37 PM on August 11, 2005

could someone wrong be pointimg in the right direction? though an IT question seems to need a defintive answer. I love the askMEfi, Ben H. gave me what i asked for and thats cool.
hey LH
posted by clavdivs at 3:38 PM on August 11, 2005

Sorry, I need to recalibrate my humor detector.
posted by cedar at 3:39 PM on August 11, 2005

me too.
posted by keswick at 3:54 PM on August 11, 2005

what about the frikkin amazon referer links inside mefi? theres one inside the Wicker Man post
posted by Satapher at 4:32 PM on August 11, 2005

cedar, I swiped your humor detector earlier today. Sorry about that.

hey clav
posted by languagehat at 4:57 PM on August 11, 2005

Nothing is more annoying then when people skim a question and answer the top-of-the-head answer.

Goddamn right. There is nothing more annoying than that. Not even gross exaggeration.

I shit you not.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:57 PM on August 11, 2005

Fuckin' thief. See, this is how it is... the second I decide that maybe I'm taking myself to seriously and make a conscious effort to lighten up some guy comes along and steals my shit.

But I'm getting the last laugh and boy am I laughing! The kids are watching The Garfield Movie and it's friggin' hysterical. Damn, that cat's funny. He eats lasagna. Get a load of that. A cat. Eating lasagna.
posted by cedar at 6:30 PM on August 11, 2005

what matt said
posted by scarabic at 7:35 PM on August 11, 2005

"...maybe I'm taking myself to seriously..."

Where exactly is seriously, and why are you taking yourself there?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:45 PM on August 11, 2005

A cat? Eating lasagna?

I'll be damned.
posted by Kwantsar at 8:12 PM on August 11, 2005

Where exactly is seriously, and why are you taking yourself there?

cause skinheads keep giving me biscuits.

--best answer--
posted by sgt.serenity at 8:36 PM on August 11, 2005

Pushing an over hyped product is not unlike those people who pile on with the "you should go see a professional" comments.
posted by Chuckles at 2:42 AM on August 12, 2005

The difference is that a pile-on is less vile when it's at least the right answer. "You should see a professional" is really the only appropriate answer to "what's this lump in my testicle?" When the question is "what can I use as an online blog CMS that supports PostgreSQL that isn't MT", a pile-on of "use MT" is.. well.. not appreciated.

/me reminds himself to port that AskMe.
posted by Plutor at 3:18 AM on August 12, 2005

...to post that AskMe.
posted by Plutor at 3:19 AM on August 12, 2005

I'm sorry Plutor, but I really can't agree there. For one thing, by the logic of the answer, you can't know if it is the right answer unless you are a professional in the relevant field.

Anyway, see this thread for more if you are interested.
posted by Chuckles at 7:28 PM on August 15, 2005