MetaTalk

this is your opportunity to share what you appreciate about the people who comment at metafilter as well as the people who work at metafilter. [more inside]
posted by aniola on Sep 7, 2023 - 37 comments

I've joined many web communities in my life, but none for as long or as wholeheartedly as MetaFilter. I've learned a lot, grown as a person, and taken direction from the thousands of smart, funny, and caring people who write here. And I've been inspired to write, too, putting more time and effort into researching worthwhile posts than I have at any other creative hobby. Sadly, what with work and the news chaos and competing interests it feels like there's less and less time to focus lately, and seeing linkrot erode what I do post is a drag. So when showbiz_liz's lovely celebration of ten years on the blue made me realize my own 10th Mefiversary was approaching, I was moved to do something about it. Nothing on the web lasts forever, but armed with old notes files, the Wayback Machine, and a drive to rediscover my own personal Best of the Web, I plowed through all 149 posts (and a few comments) to recover lost links, check on what had happened since, and organize it all into a single FPP omnibus for your reading pleasure. [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Oct 29, 2017 - 28 comments

I'd like to offer a challenge to our community. Many of us are experiencing Politics and especially Trump fatigue. Some days the flood of bad news and wtf-ery seems incessant, depressing and endless. Why don't we try and counter that a little by filling the front page of the site throughout June with posts about things we like and love? Stuff that makes us laugh, brings us joy or inspires our sense of wonder. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 31, 2017 - 32 comments

Was your lovely FPP about 17th Century buttons cruelly overlooked? Was your round-up of music videos by your favourite obscure band sadly ignored? Please wipe away your tears and share the posts you've made that you cherished, but which didn't have the impact you hoped for, that didn't get the love they frankly deserved. [more inside]
posted by billiebee on Nov 24, 2015 - 126 comments

Posting to the front page of Metafilter can seem daunting, mysterious, and/or fraught with with uncertain outcomes. (Spoiler: It is easier than it might look.) If you have never or rarely posted a FPP but would like to, we’re here to help. Stretch your wings in September! [more inside]
posted by julen on Sep 1, 2015 - 92 comments

Over the past few months, we’ve talked about ways to encourage first (or second or third) time posters and help you/them become more comfortable with posting to Metafilter. I propose we spend September helping new posters successfully make the leap into the wonderful world of FPPs. [more inside]
posted by julen on Aug 17, 2015 - 133 comments

Can we talk about extending the character limit for fpp titles beyond 72 characters? [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome on Jul 7, 2015 - 64 comments

Since WomensMarch, I've been making more FPPs off and on when something interesting crosses my path. So far, I'm generally pleased with how they've gone, but I've noticed some interesting variation. It's been making me curious, and I thought I'd ask more experienced posters: what kinds of advice do you have for new posters on the Blue? What kinds of things have you noticed that change how people respond to a post? How much effort do you put in when framing things?
posted by sciatrix on Apr 12, 2015 - 81 comments

The last #WomensMarch MetaTalk thread has closed; I would like one open to discuss what's happening, and if anyone needs to throw out a question.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome on Mar 26, 2015 - 68 comments

Having a discussion on Twitter and I thought I could get some more answers from the community about what you use to draft your fpps in. Ideally looking for freebies I can download. Also somewhat interested in how people work, although this is just for curiosity's sake, and not really a problem to solve. (Particularly interested in 'heavy hitters' like filthy light thief, flex, the man of twists and turns, Rhaomi, etc.) [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome on Jan 13, 2015 - 47 comments

This single link FPP is effectively a blog post... [more inside]
posted by MisantropicPainforest on Mar 25, 2014 - 153 comments

what it says on the tin. [more inside]
posted by phunniemee on Apr 3, 2013 - 98 comments

Some 2012 datawankery, courtesy of the infodumpster.... [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jan 4, 2013 - 117 comments

With last night's fascinating FPP on Mark Pauline, homunculus now has made the most front page posts (1176!) to the Blue. Formerly, that distinction was held by mathowie. Congratulations homunculus, and thank you!
posted by zarq on Oct 10, 2012 - 60 comments

What are the best single-link posts in MeFi history? [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Nov 17, 2011 - 43 comments

I'd like to call Rhaomi out for his habit of making exhaustingly comprehensive, well-written posts. I don't know how he has the patience to both find such interesting content and to document it so thoroughly, but I'm glad he has it. Cheers to you!
posted by Rory Marinich on Oct 15, 2010 - 25 comments

A lot of posts get deleted because they have too much "commentary" but in the metafilter about section it describes an ideal post as a link accompanied by commentary, perhaps this should be changed? [more inside]
posted by kylej on Dec 19, 2009 - 54 comments

FPP Editorializing.
posted by trinarian on Sep 24, 2006 - 18 comments

Everyone is aware, I'm sure, that year-end or best–however many lists are really just not that interesting, and the discussion surrounding them falls along similar lines all the time.
So why this FPP?
posted by Kirth Gerson on Dec 20, 2005 - 113 comments

What's the etiquette on posting stuff you've just seen at somewhere like BoingBoing? So far this morning, there's been 2 posts that appeared on BB in the last week. I saw them when they first came up there, and thought, "hey, this is neat, people on Mefi would like this," but then decided against posting them here. I know that sometimes one can encounter a flurry of "Xfilter!!!!" comments by doing something like that.

Should we actively avoid posting things we've seen on other, highly popular link-oriented blogs?
posted by rxrfrx on Oct 25, 2005 - 97 comments

Not sure if this has been suggested before (searching on MeTa currently isn't working), but I'll suggest now that FPPs go through a little post-processing to add a coral cache link to all outbound links in the FPP. It might make sense to have this be an option the post author can click on/off (CNN doesn't need to be protected from traffic, some dude with a Geocities page does).

Something equivalent to this could be handled on the client side, using some Javascript or a Greasemonkey extension, I suppose, but handling on the server side would be more universal.
posted by adamrice on Oct 19, 2005 - 13 comments

How much leg work/research is common for a FPP? I had my first and I admit I didn't do much - as evidenced by the subsequent discussion. I was just happy to find something that came up empty on Search Metafilter.
posted by tvjunkie on Apr 22, 2005 - 15 comments

I know it's been mentioned before, but I'd like to make a humble request for an extension of the length of the front page of AskMe. Questions just fly off the page, often in less than 24 hours, rendering the site less useful. An even better change would be to allow users the ability to choose the number of days displayed on the AskMe front page, just like on the MeFi front page.
Sorry if this is a redundant request. I bring it up because AskMe questions are vanishing from the front page ever more rapidly.
posted by Dr. Wu on Apr 7, 2005 - 36 comments

Are one link posts on Metafilter taboo these days? I often see it listed in complaints for bad FPPs. I couldn't find anything in the posting guidelines. Just curious.
posted by agregoli on Jan 3, 2005 - 123 comments

Hi. I just signed up a few hours ago.When can we start posting in the blue?
posted by crusiera on Nov 18, 2004 - 52 comments

Predictions: I just noticed the news, "White House to Let Rice Testify in Public" on AP. How long until this becomes an FPP. Doesn't it seem lately that every piece of news is getting posted? Where does one draw the line between news that should be an FPP and news that shouldn't
posted by Outlawyr on Mar 30, 2004 - 108 comments

Here's a fun brain teaser for ya. Wouldn't sports oriented front page posts like this and this be better suited in SportsFilter? And if not, why not?
posted by ZachsMind on Oct 7, 2002 - 24 comments

Are front page postings forbidden without a link, no matter the postings content?
posted by clavdivs on Oct 25, 2001 - 49 comments

Do we really need to discuss Survivor, Big Brother, The Real World, etc. on Metafilter? Two links in as many days about this stuff makes me cringe. It's bad enough hearing people talk about these shows everywhere you go, does this community need to "go there" as well?
posted by megnut on Jul 12, 2001 - 63 comments