April 22, 2008

• First off, putting it down seems a bit draconian- people just naturally leave when they lose interest. It seems that there is still some interest. That said, I have to agree about your general point: The quality of posting/ commenting has never been on the level of the Blue and less so lately. Not enough posts, too many one-off news items posts (I'm guilty there) resulting in an uncomfortable FARKness sometimes. My main gripes are: not enough comments/ too many jokey comments. I actually like the jokes- you people are very funny- but often the actual subject of the post is ignored leaving the poster (sometimes me) with the feeling of "Why did I bother? Sometimes I post in threads that I'm not all that interested just because I feel bad that no-one else contributed. Sometimes when I do that, I discover that the post was more interesting than I had guessed it would be. I think also that part of your feeling about MoFi has to do with the loss of certain posters- Bees most prominently- or other posters (Quiddy, Languagehat et al) that don't come around so much. That is natural for any online community but one would expect others to fill in the gap- I'm not sure that is happening right now. Perhaps it will later. I think it's too soon to sound Taps yet but it would be nice if Monkeys here would take action (post more, add more detailed non one-link posts, more comments, more comments on topic etc.) and preserve an online community that I believe is still worthwhile. YMMV Thanks for raising the issue Path.
• (Shamelessly cross-posting my comment. Think of it as a thematic thing.) I treat mefi like an internet newspaper. I don’t read the comment threads. If mofi didn’t exist, I wouldn’t start posting on mefi. How about lifting our self-imposed ban on lifting posts from mefi? The problem is that if anything happens online, it shows up on mefi. If one is limited to posting only things which don’t show up there… well, what’s left? There have been many mefi posts on which I’d like to comment, but… not on mefi. I often find myself thinking, “Gosh I wish someone would post that to monkeyfilter so we can discuss it like reasonable human beings. Oh well.” I’m starting to think it’s silly to avoid potential cross-posts. We’d happily post something that’s shown up on Slashdot, Digg, or BoingBoing. Why should mefi be any different?
• agreed Pleggy.
• I mean mecharue (sheesh-sorry! Senior moment there, I had just been reading a Plegmund post and my wires crossed)
• I'm a terrible lurker who has never had anything interesting enough to post, but count me in as *much* preferring the crowd here. The comments are generally far funnier and more original, and the whole atmosphere is neither as tedious and po-faced as the Blue nor as twee as MeCha (much as I like both those sites). The Blue is still unbeatable for the posts, but MoFi rocks for its users. I hereby resolve to find something worthy of posting ASAP. Viva MoFi!
• We have a ban on lifting things from MeFi? Uh, looks like I got some 'splainin to do. But really, why would any plugs get pulled? MoFi'll die a natural death when Tracy gets tired of us, and until then I'll keep checking back. Yeah, I read MeFi too, but I don't *care* about it. I like this place and I like you guys, even if there's less of us every year or whatever. Some general thoughts on bolstering the old girl- How about lifting the ban on multiple posts per day? Or raising it. We've already seen increasing tolerance for several posts in a 24 hour period by CERTAIN individuals (CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS NAMED HANK), and the internet didn't break. Why not a limit of 2? Or 3? Or whatever? Back when we had an endless cascade of FPPs it made sense to curtail it a bit, but these days, not so much. I don't know about a "refocus", but maybe a broadening is in order. As trac said on her blog, the chatty FPPs seem to get a fair amount of attention, maybe that's a strength that should be emphasized beyond "Curious George". Not MetaChat casual or anything, but a loosening up perhaps. I've been working on a stylesheet called "Naked Pictures of Hank Mabuse" that I'm sure will get us new members in droves. Give me a few weeks and I'll send it to tracicle. Also, Hank, please send me naked pictures of yourself. That's what I got. I guess it's good to talk about this from time to time, but let's not talk about cutting life support until Mom's in the nursing home at least. She can hear you, you know. Oh, and hurry up Rembrandt Q. Einstein. Your refusal to post anything IS KILLING MONKEYFILTER.
• Double. MeTa.
• Is there a rumor that we can't steal MeFi posts? I don't think that's ever been official - and it has happened quite often (with the proper attribution.) Is it time for another "who are we" post? We used to do them periodically, and it did seem to increase the feeling of community.. Here's the last one I started: Who are we?. There was another more recently which made it clear that most of the newer members were lurkers, only, and I still see an occasional comment by someone who had been a member for several years and had made like 2 comments and no posts, That may be a reason for the down-turn.
• I’m still here. I read MoFi almost everyday, but for some reason, I’ve run out of comments. For a while there I was pretty damn active, and now… nuthin. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy the MoFi. Please keep it around. Oh, and I haven’t looked at teh Blue in over a year now. I think I even cleared it off of my bookmarks. Yup
• There is not rule that you can't 'steal' MeFi posts, but it seems to be frowned upon in that it is spectacularly lazy and cheap a manner of blogging. At least, that's why I frown upon it.
• some of us "steal" from these meetafilters because we don't reads them.
• This would never have happened if Quid was Pope admin.
• Oh, well, since we're all copy-pasting lazy bastards, here's mine too. Maybe we should also put them on the wiki, except some smartarse (PROBABLY NAMED RALPH THE DOG) will say something like "omg wtf we haz a wikee?" and then I will have to shut you ALL DOWN. I am still husbandless, understimulated and bored. SHUT UP. --- Yeah, I could never post to Mefi, and I can’t recall the last time I commented (Ask Mefi is different and I do comment there) — I’m far too anxious and I’d be lying awake wondering what snark is due to come my way. Well. As for the rewrite, that is on a back burner as #2 is working a second job and has neither time nor energy for yet more coding at the moment. He may decide not to go on with it if the numbers remain low, but I doubt a rewrite would boost membership anyway, so if the site stays this way for now I’m not concerned. I know I’ve been saying I’ll do some minor things that I haven’t done, but since the server shift I’ve lost track of passwords and why on earth we have three MoFi/MySQL/PHP folders on the server that all look identical I have no idea, omg. That’s no excuse, I know. The refocus thought was partly because I was astounded at the response to my kitteh post compared to the other (more awesome) posts lately. We are generally cat people, and passionately so, it seems. But that would alienate others who are less so. As for hosting, don’t be dumb - I’ll keep MoFi going into the ground, just like my car and husband. It’s not costing much to host, the stress levels are low because it’s been relatively stable (knock on wood) — we’ve had, what, one outage since the server shift last year? And yeah, moderating is low-effort because you guys are all SO DAMN NICE. I mostly wish #2 would take some time to shove in a spam filter for new accounts. But hey, if any enterprising people are still interested in the technical/design aspects of the site and are willing to help out, I’m not going to say no. Believe me. MoFi has pretty much become part of who I am now, and while it wouldn’t be like selling my baby to shut it down, it would be a sad day indeed, and I’d rather let it hobble along. It’ll be five years this year. Wow. (There are other sites that do the same job as MoFi (Metachat being an example), where there is a tightknit community of people posting random stuff and swapping injokes. I know Mefi is intimidating and all that, but also it’s not the be-all of the intarwebs.)
• *makes a comment just so this thread gets more comments, thus giving the lie to the accusation that no-one comments on things anymore and so Mofi should close* *single-handidly saves mofi*
• kitfisto, you're a goddamn legend.
• damn straight
• MoFi will not end just yet because of any of this, it has a more human aspect to these other sites which don't seem to have much character. A slight downturn in posts is not a reason to freak out. Quality, not quantity, people.
• But a change in look *would* be nice. Just make a cosmetic tweak here and there. Banner or logo competition would probably get a few people drawn back in. Ha ha, pun!
• I've been here long enough to feel attached, and I think I'm getting closer to the outer rim of the Inner Circle (yeah!). It was actually the beloved Beeswacky who first made me feel welcome, which is something I believe MeFi could never do. If we're prepared to acknowledge we're a niche community (yet another...) perhaps we can share more of what else interests us on the net, that could infringe on the current "Shameless Self-promotion" rule. For instance I play a text based game full of smart funny people who would absolutely love you guys, but I'm cautious about such things. In the meantime, perhaps we could be more easy-going about what we link, and less "in-jokey" with our comments so others might feel less reluctant to join in. /2¢
• Who are you again?
• ARF!!!
• I am still husbandless, understimulated and bored" Well that should pique the interest some of our less morally inclined members who may thusly stick around to exploit the situation. I'd attempt to exploit the situation myself except for the rotten luck of having a happy marriage and adorable kids. Doh!
• I am still husbandless, understimulated and bored I'm here to fix your cable, ma'am. /bowchickabow
• I'm sure it's all kit's doing somehow. Can't say exactly how, but he has that look about him. Wrong'un; big scarlet letters.
• Forget the idea that being successful means having 20 FPP's a day. If I really RTFP and the comments (which are often better than the posts) I don't have time for more than about 3 a day. Success is in quality not quantity. I was so impressed with the careful, measured discussion of that 9 year old on the subway that I had nothing to add there. That is your success. Before getting a login I lurked on MoFi for many years. And I suspect that there are a lot of lurkers with and without accounts. Tracicle could check the traffic, subtract the hits you think are from "known knowns" (Rumsfeld) and conclude you (I don't dare say "we" yet) are very popular. Should I post "Curious George: Are you a virgin lurker"? I found MoFi not by coming here from MeFi, but because it was recommended by a friend. So if you want to "save" MoFi everyone should recommend it to some friends - the kind you would like to have an intelligent discussion with down the pub. Now come on Rembrandt Q. Einstein - post soon because "ONLY YOU can prevent the demise of MoFi".
• I frequent both the Mofi and the Mefi, but definitely haven't jumped ship. In fact, the recent slowdown in activity here is probably the main reason I've been spending more time over there. True we've had some of more active members drift away (particularly bees, fes, moneyjane, pete, and quiddy) but that's normal for a site like this, and we should be able to pick up that slack. As for solutions, I'd suggest theme days (or weeks) where we can all post on a theme and discuss and even vote on favourites. For instance, we can have days devoted to posts on politics, sport, art, animals, nature, technology, books, celebrities, science, etc...the list could be endless.
• I like pizza.
• Remember Toilet Day? I consider that the Golden Age.
• I don't dare say "we" yet Go ahead and say "we", ThinksTwice. It's nice to have you around. I enjoy both sites, each for its different personality. Like r88, I've been spending more time in the Blue/Brown/Green lately because it's been so slow here, but I've definitely not jumped ship. I prefer the style of FPPs over here: fewer links, and more succinct than in the Blue. I often find the FPPs in MeFi to be overworked, because people there are trying too hard to make a Great Post. I don't enjoy a post with fifty links in it, I just don't want to have to keep clicking back and forth and reading a bunch of pages, it's annoying and I don't know why people over there value it so much. But I like the wit over there, and overall the posts are good quality, and they have the best train wrecks of anywhere (we haven't had a good one here in forever). I feel much more at ease over here, I feel I can post something without it being torn to shreds, and I've made great friends here over the years (some of which have drifted away, which makes me very sad). I haven't been well for a while, and MoFi has always been able to cheer me up, even if it's providing a foil for me to make a funny (to me, anyway) comment that makes me giggle. It's been getting me down lately, seeing more and more people drift away, but it is natural and I'm glad to see the ones who do stick around. It's also encouraging to see that folks don't want to pull the plug. As far as improvements, perhaps lifting the one-post-per-day limit would be a good idea, at least until things pick up again. I've never been against lifting posts from MeFi (with proper attribution), and was even thinking of starting a Shakespeare thread, like this one. It shouldn't be regular practice though, but it's not a bad idea, particularly since we have readers here who don't check both sites. Also a facelift wouldn't be a bad idea, should #2 find the time for it. Sorry for the rambling and unclever nature of this comment. It's kitfisto's fault, somehow.
• Yes, TT, say "we." You've been giving us quality contributions. I'm glad you delurked. Also what Koko and rocket88 said about pretty much everything.
• Fading is relative. Ruffled feathers eventually calm. I was accused of being a sock puppet. Yet, here I am. Breathing. Bleeding. Reading this forsaken blister that exudes the most glorious pus. I, Lord Foetus, approve. On with the show!
• I'm another who never goes to MoFi, unless mct sends me a link to something. Usually a flame war. Oh, and mct, I'm looking out the window and apparently there's some sort of small fire going on on your doorstep. You'd better see about that. *snicker*
• And by "MoFi," of course, I mean "MeFi."
• I hereby proclaim that all lurkers who posted in this thread are now, and forever more, part of the Hallowed Inner Circle. Domini Domini Domini. You're all Monkeys now.
• I 2nd/3rd/ and 4th the sentiment that I would never FPP something to MeFi. My posts have not always ever been of any worth, but I don't fears the wrath so much in here... Lucky I got back on a computer... have had no access since November, and just LOOK what happens
• We have a RalphThedog?
• Also, most newbies do not come our way via Metafilter, they come to us after Googling otter bile.
• As I wander the dark and impersonal spaces of the Internet, always I am cheered to see: a light in the window! It's MoFi! A cozy and welcoming hearth, and a gaggle of shrieking monkeys. 'Twould be a sorry day indeed were that light extinguished: monkeys would wander friendless across the moors, and my mind would have nowhere to play. *sniff*
• otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile
• Don't give up the ship until all of the lemmings get onboard. And a fine ship it is! By comparison, Metafilter (metaphiltre?) seems to carry posts that look too dense, overly contrived, as so many times individual words are links, making it too hard to cut to the real meat. Also, that blue and yellow strait jacket drives me bananas! Speaking of which, Mofi's logo is just so cute and friendly already. A contest to make a new one would seem almost brutal at this point.
• I for one cherish my mofi pals. I haven't been commenting or posting as much lately because I've been more busy in the past year than ever in my life. I read mofi every day, and I never read mefi, so I'd never know if something was lifted from the blue.... and that's my rushed contribution.
• ^^:::doppler effect:::^^
• I am a heavy lurker. I sometimes will drop in a comment here or there. I don't think I have commented in a long time. I do not share the political beliefs of most of the people on here. One of the things that I like about this site is that people are rather nice to me here even though they disagree with me. I have seen but never joined MeFi. I just don't think I would be treated anywhere near as kindly there.
• Howdy, y'all. I've been around here approximately forever (has it really been four-plus years already?) but I've never been much of a FPP-er and I seldom comment. I'm going to say some critical things, but please don't take them as criticism. I love you all, and it's a testament to the MoFi community that this place is still on my list of daily stops, and yes, I still wear my tee shirt. I have to agree with Kamus' second post in the thread: I often get a feeling of Farkness (love that term!) in the threads here, and discussions are often overwhelmed by silly comments. That said, many of the people who used to annoy me have gone away or been banhammered, but I still mostly lurk. Odd, that. On the plus side, the usual MeFi sniping and flame wars are so rare here that when they happen, we discuss them with wonder. I love that. There are three things I'd like to see changed: 1) Do away with the "one post a day" policy. There are some people here who can come up with multiple FPPs in a day; turn them loose and let them have at it. Some people surf the web all day long and can find good links, unlike me who is perpetually a week behind the latest meme. 2) Revise the policy of eeking anything that's ever been posted before. Four-plus years and almost 16,000 posts is a lot of stuff, and the MoFi search function isn't the best. If it's a repeat on the front page, eeek it, but if it's something that happened two years ago, let it live. I realize that would upset a small subset who love to find eekage excuses, but eeking a wonderful link because it showed up a year ago is a problem. That both provides negative feedback to the poster (who invariably says "but I searched for it!") as well as preventing those who have joined during that year from benefiting from our wit, wisdom and humor. :-) 3. As long as I am pretending I am king, it would be nice if there were fewer of the quick, off-topic comments that litter so many threads. They turn off the newbies, casual visitors, and people who aren't part of the clique. Anyway, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. I shall now switch back into lurk mode for the next six months.
• I think there are some good ideas in the comments to this post, even the ones cross-posted to the other... And, I think there are some valid criticisms. We may be a clique, but we're a damned good, friendly and inclusive one. Membership does have its privileges, and you can't always include everybody. With nearly 10k logins, it's not like we're keeping people out. If it's not your kind of clique, there are other sites. However it IS my kind of clique, and I'm stickin' around as long as I can get away with it. Owl semen, otter bile, beetroot butties and Chilee Ugum FOREVER!
• I am not sure what the problem is. Is there a competition to win? Are we loosing? Some of us also lurk on #mofirc (well, I do it sleeping).
• I like rocket's idea of theme weeks. We kind of have those sometimes anyway, but it's unofficial and seems to baffle people. ("What's with all the posts about waffles today???") Also - and I know this is incredibly lame of me - but how about a Mofi book club? Whoever wants to chair it could open up a thread every week, one per chapter/section or whatever, and we could just discuss away. I'm sorry. I'm a dork. I also think the site probably LOOKS less active to anyone (lurkers or the lazy) who's not logged in. At least 1/4th the comment traffic happens in the Recent Comments box. How about making the Recent Comments box available to everyone, regardless of login status?
• Mofi pros: Clean design. (Not mucked up with "favoriting", or email, or umpteen different sections) Otter bile. Mofi cons: A little TOO quiet sometimes. If it's a repeat on the front page, eeek it, but if it's something that happened two years ago, let it live. I realize that would upset a small subset who love to find eekage excuses, but eeking a wonderful link because it showed up a year ago is a problem. That both provides negative feedback to the poster (who invariably says "but I searched for it!") as well as preventing those who have joined during that year from benefiting from our wit, wisdom and humor. :-) I agree, with the stipulation that a poster acknowledge the previous post if they know it exists. Especially if it's been a while (like maybe over 2 years?) and extra especially if the subject has been better developed in the double. What's wrong with an update now and then? That "other" filter gets too stringent about doubles, which is why I read their deleted posts site regularly.
• 3. As long as I am pretending I am king, it would be nice if there were fewer of the quick, off-topic comments that litter so many threads. They turn off the newbies, casual visitors, and people who aren't part of the clique. I still like fucking pizza. I mean I fucking like pizza.
• Monkeyfilter: Owl semen, otter bile, beetroot butties and Chilee Ugum FOREVER! *gives eeQ a love pat*
• Note: for reasons that I will shortly discuss, I've actually been writing this on and off all day, so please excuse me if I repeat some things from up thread. I occasionally read mefi, but I am not a 'payed up' member there, nor would I normally choose to comment there. Part of the reason is those already stated: lack of civility, lack of a feeling of personal connection, but part of it is the sheer speed at which the forum moves. I am, by my nature, an infrequent poster. Call it idleness, but for me, posting comments is actually quite a lot of effort. I know that, for jb, posting is like chatting. She sits down, and she writes out what she thinks and it comes out in beautiful prose. Many people here seem very witty or comfortable in this kind of setting, but I'm not and I don't think I ever will be. For example, what I want to say, in my next sentence is this: 'For this reason, I only make comments when I really have something to say.' But, even as I write that, I realise that people might, probably would, draw from it the inference that I was accusing them of having nothing to say and posting anyway. I know that if I wanted to, I could probably write a longer, clearer passage that gets my meaning across without this erroneous and insulting implication, but that would require a lot of effort. I might write something like this: 'For this reason, I tend only to comment when I a) the topic is something I feel quite strongly about and b) not only has my comment not been expressed already, but I have a reasonable expectation that my ideas will not be expressed unless I do so myself.' Now that, near unreadable, sentence just took me about five minutes to draft. That's five minutes of not drafting the near unreadable prose that I'm actually obliged to write for work. Obviously, things do come up on mefi that I feel strongly about and, especially with the frequent Iraq postings, even things that I can discuss on an 'expert' level. But reading once a day, or every couple of days, I come along to an interesting post and see '163 comments'. And I know that even if I posted Shakespeare channelling Einstein, only a few hard-core people would ever read to the bottom of the thread anyway, and I think 'I think I'll keep my $5, thank you!' So I probably won't ever post at mefi. So how does this relate to mofi? Some people, people like me, don't want to debate on the floor of the stock exchange. They want to debate in the corner of a pub with a few friends. This place is a cosy pub corner. But no, it isn't working. Why not? There has, in the past, been a problem with excessive cliqueiness, inpenetrability of in-jokes and an occasionally hostile reception for new people. Obviously, I have no wish to declare some kind of bushian premature victory on this, I haven't seen this kind of thing in a good long while now. This may have turned some people away from mofi, but I don't think it's the problem right at the moment. Is it because there are fewer chatty posts? Well I likes a good chatty post myself, but I doubt I'd go back to a merely 'chatty' site merely to socialise. I don't post enough for people to feel like the know me. While there are people here who really have crossed the line, for me, into being real-world friends I don't think most readers of the site would have read enough of my comments to know who I am or what my deal is. 'Neddy or Weezel might care about care about what my favourite movie is, but I think that to most people who read the site it would just be some uncontextualised information, failing in its purpose of building community by helping people to 'get to know me better'. I'm very happy to be an occasional commenter, rather than a mofi personality. But that means that chatty posts are less attractive to me in terms of a place to comment.
• I do, however, agree that mofi is getting a bit 'small', where small is defined as having too few posts a day. That's a very subjective assessment, and I don't really have anything to back it up, but I would point out that lots of other people, here, seem to be feeling roughly the same thing. Buy the problem, if there is one, is not that mofi isn't as big as mefi, but that it's hitting the small side of that not-as-big-as-mefi sweet spot that people like me appreciate. Ideally, if it were up to me, there would be say five to ten links a day, rather than two to three, with many fewer comments in each post than you get on mefi. But how can we accomplish this? 1: Everybody posts cool links. This would obviously be the best plan, but it seems a little impractical. Everybody posting cool links works really well if you have lots of cool link posters. But, once again, take me as an example. My Internet reading habits are basically: work stuff, 'professional news' relating to my work, regular old news, mofi, mefi. I can't exactly post mofi as a cool link on mofi, nor would the mofi community be very appreciative if I fpp'd, daily, on my esoteric work interests. At any rate, as I've already discussed, I don't have the confidence to put up fpp's that I'm not totally committed to, and those are few and far between. 2: Relaxation of posting rules. Perhaps we should simply have lower standards for ffp's, such that people feel more free to put them up. Should it be a double if the story was posted more than a year ago? Should one be limited to a single post a day, if more than one thing comes up in a day? Should editorial posts be allowed, as long as they are designed spark civil debate? Should 'newsfilter' posts be encouraged, turning mofi into a news, as well as a discussion, site? 3: Active cross-, and derivative posting encouraged. Perhaps the shortfall in new fpp's, caused by the relatively small numbers of active members, should be made up by actively taking stories from other sites such as mefi. This is a bit like the, above noted, possibility of encouraging 'newsfilter', only using other community sites as a source. After all, I think the real strength of mofi is the commenting, and there are lots of people here who would not feel comfortable with, or can't be bothered to go through the hassle of, commenting on other sites. Perhaps users should be encouraged to 'import' links when they think that they would make for good discussion. I'm not sure any of these suggestions are necessarily good or practical. The nature of a good post is something which, I'm afraid, is something of a black art as far as I'm concerned. I often see posts panned for reasons I have difficulty understanding, or praised for thing I wouldn't ordinarily notice, so I merely put them forward for discussion and consideration by those among you who have much stronger feelings about what makes for good website discussion than I do.
• nor would the mofi community be very appreciative if I fpp'd, daily, on my esoteric work interests. Maybe not daily, but I bet at least one post on your esoteric work interests would be a winner. Actually, I'd like to see that. I'd like to see one post from each member on something to do with what they do for a living. Everyone thinks their job is boring and of no interest to anyone else, but that's really not true. There's SOMETHING there that you can share with us!
• After reading Dreadnought's thoughtful comments (and getting the Star Wars books reference from Dreadnought's name out of my head), my very first thought was, "Post your damn work-related interest here. There is a great chance people will be interested." Yes, I did preview. I am stating it again after mechagrue already did because it needs to be said by more than one voice.
• I decided to put my money where my mouth is. My first post, eek! I am skirred. (I don't really know why.) Thanks, Path, for cross-posting this in the first place! I have tracicle's blog subbed on bloglines, but for some reason it never picks up the posts, so I hadn't seen that one.
• put my money where my mouth is ...and that, kids, is the story of "how your Auntie Mecha saved the MoFi".
• I like mecha's idea a lot, because it gives us a snippet of information about the poster (thus fulfilling the tell-us-about-you component) as well as generating content, and introducing some new stuff that won't necessarily have been seen before on the big sites (although that doesn't matter, really). I need to see what randomness I have bookmarked. I'm like dreadnought in terms of my daily surfing, so I don't see a lot of new stuff generally, except maybe through LJ.
• For those many of you who have come to associate the RalphTheDog posting and comment oeuvre as the epitome of articulate, intelligent on-line discussion, the following may come as a bit of a shock: My entré to this venue was greeted by catcalls of "shite", a sniping shot across the bow from the site's nubile yet feckless administrator, and several instances of threats of horse buggery and anal massage in the Fenlands. Thankfully, and for the betterment of all, I withstood this barrage. Indeed, I not only maintained but thrived in this wicked and hostile world that so many of you like to call "Mofi". So, let us say to newcomers: Come! But if you are a horse, watch your ass.
• I have often felt that MoFi is lacking wobbegongs. To rectify this, here's one I escaped a couple of weeks ago: Wobbegong. It was huge. Huge, I tell you.
• *cries*
• Man, I just want to say it's reassuring seeing some of the names that appear in the comments above... I guess I've been around since the old days and MoFi still occupies my topmost browser navigation bar. I'm not sure what I'd do without it. I sort of dropped out from posting because of life getting really complicated (moving, toddler, marital problems, and all, which fortunately all got worked out in the end). I do have accounts on the blue and on Digg but I never really enjoyed posting front page stuff there like I do on MoFi; even commenting there is not all that fun. Those places are too damned big, and I have better things to do with my time than to post articles and comments that are fleeting at best. MoFi to me is like the corner pub. Smaller is better, and I think as the Internet has become so massive we're going to see more of that mindset in the years ahead. Darn, I see I missed my New Years update this time around. Well, I will have to recommend a Carls Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger to you. Good thing one of those places aren't around here or I'd weigh 250 pounds by now. Thanks to tracicle for getting my account up and running again.
• The only people who will read this post and know who I am are the #mofirc regulars, which I suppose is rather fitting given my username. Also NB I read this whole thread but didn't read many of the comments on tracicle's blog. I lurked MoFi and MeFi regularly over a year ago, but like with most internet communities, I drifted off to other interests, mainly offline. Recently I've been drifting back online, finding myself with lots of time and very little skills to apply to anything productive but maybe lurking in a chatroom and reading some comments on some FPPs, sending the links on to friends and coworkers who I know are not nearly as well-connected as I am, and perhaps composing comments in my head and never replying. When I was an active lurker (contradiction in terms?) I always preferred when MoFi would pop up on Bloglines than MeFi, for reasons previously expressed better by others: a closer-knit community of people that I could either agree wholeheartedly with or debate entertainingly with, much less information overload, less caustic snark, easier-on-the-eyes site design, etc. Now coming back to my lurking ways I found that the place I wanted to lurk in first was #mofirc, then browsing FPPs on MoFi, then FPPs on MeFi. The Carolingian makes a good point that bears repeating: should MoFi really be set up in competition with Digg and MeFi and BB and others? From what I understand of MoFi's history, it was really meant as more of an alternative anway. I agree with Dreadnought's point about a sweet spot (I think that's a great way to put it), I think that's a great goal. MoFi shouldn't worry about itself overmuch - it's the nature of an economy to have cycles, and I imagine (although I do not have any sort of degree to lend legitimacy) that it is the same with internet communities, at least ones with members and admins as dedicated as MoFi's.
• 3. As long as I am pretending I am king, it would be nice if there were fewer of the quick, off-topic comments that litter so many threads. They turn off the newbies, casual visitors, and people who aren't part of the clique. I'm not sure I agree- those type of comments give a site personality and people are free to disregard them. I don't want to discourage the jokes. I just wish there more substantive comments on topic to balance that jokey aspect out.
• Shut it, perfesser.
• *sneaks up behind kitfisto, applies judicious use of 100 TON HAMMER™*
• So it's generally agreed- this is all kitfisto's fault and only Rembrandt Q. Einstein can save us.
• I think that's a very fair summary, kamus. Motion carried by acclaim?
• Also, I'd like to see more deleted posts (seriously- they provide a good outlet/playground for the jokesters to practice their so-called "humour"). Also, I wouldn't mind an occasional flame war. As someone else pointed out, it's one of the more entertaining aspects of the Blue and dear to the hearts of we schadenfruede-besotted cynics.
• I like MoFi and I hope it doesn't go away. I don't post much, but maybe I should post more.
• Last two days there's been a wealth of interesting posts. Guess that's the way to go : )
• OK, I haven't even read this thread (haven't had time to look in the past couple days), but my first reaction is "oh, god, not again". Why does someone have to bring this up with almost alarming regularity? Why do we have to discuss it to death? MoFi is what it is. If you don't like it, go away. If you do, try to find something interesting to post. Gheesh.
• FUCK YOU KAMUS, YOU PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE RACIST NAZI ANTI-FEMINIST KITTEN TORTURER WHO SMELLS LIKE PEE AND SLEEPS WITH CHICKENS!!!!!!!!!! just doing my part.
• FUCK YOU KAMUS, YOU PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE RACIST NAZI ANTI-FEMINIST KITTEN TORTURER WHO SMELLS LIKE PEE AND SLEEPS WITH CHICKENS!!!!!!!!!! you got a problem with that!!??
• Now that's just ridiculous. We all know that kamus does not smell like pee.
• ONLY SOMEONE WHO SMELLS LIKE PEE WOULD SAY THAT
• But we've all seen the feathers first thing in the morning. For shame!
• OH GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE, ABOOZER. YOUR LOW HORSE IS LONELY.
• I hear Abiezer gets off on lots of horses. So I hear. That's what I hear.
• Neigh; I mean Nay! I've never bottomed for an equine. I don't think I even posted in that thread.
• "oh, god, not again". Why does someone have to bring this up with almost alarming regularity? Honestly, it's sweeping the intarweb. Not just the Meta sites, but the religion/philosophy sites, the auto forums, everywhere. Activity is down everywhere these days. I think it's a nadir caused by the time of the year (go out and play, it's nice out!) and the election cycle. I vaguely remember people complaining like this back in 04 as well. ...AND SLEEPS WITH CHICKENS!!!!!!!!!! Are you anti-chickenist?
• And favorites. I am not sure how difficult it is to add an ability to favorite comments and posts on here, but I think that favorites provide some positive feedback for those who post and comment.
• Are you anti-chickenist? posted by Doohickie at 07:48PM UTC on April 23, 2008 Doohickie, eh? aka THINGAMABOB, aka WHATSIS, aka WHATCHAMACALLIT, aka DOODLYDOO, aka FLIPZIPPER, aka HAMMANAHAMMANA, aka GNK!, aka CRACK PIPE, which proves you are on CRACK.
• The best thing about favorites is that it allows mathowie to pick out the good stuff and post it to the Mefi sidebar. Which is awesome, because it saves me having to actually read Mefi.
• Wow, guys, the front page is looking damn good. But, hey, pace yourselves, 'kay?
• I'd just like to point out that I love the chickens I sleep with. OK?
• Well, then, me, too: cross posting from tracicle's blog (and adding to it, because I am shamelessly wordy)- I have been a devoted reader for about two years. I've had unending problems posting - I think I'm on my third attempt at a user name and password, and when I do manage to log on, my comments have never, ever shown up.* However, in spite of that, I would be terminally sad if MoFi were to go away. Not only are the posts here usually the most interesting stuff I see all day, but the comments are the wittiest and most thoughtful anywhere on the www. This is the only place where I unfailingly read every single comment. I love the personalities, even the curmudgeonly ones, and if MoFi went away, I would be forced to retire to my bedroom and subsist on a diet of cold gruel and cheap British paperback mystery novels, in a futile attempt to soothe my wretched soul. *of course, if you're reading this, it means my comment has shown up, and I'm now branded a bloody liar. However, it wouldn't be the first time, nor would it be the worst thing I've ever been called. That honor is reserved for the day I was called "Sausage Girl"...which sounds far more interesting than it actually is. There were no actual sausages involved in that instance, what with me being a vegetarian and all, but it did involve a tube dress that fitted far too tightly, a public restroom, an extremely unladylike snorting gigglefit, and some small rodents. Er, wait...never mind, no, that wasn't me, honestly, that was a friend. A friend of a friend, actually...and, er, it was a long, long time ago...um, perhaps I'm starting to realize why my comments are never, ever allowed to appear....
• Ten posts in one day! What hath path wrought? "and I'm now branded a bloody liar" hi there fairy(Sausage-Girl)wench. (ya bloody liar).
• I'm going to keep posting on both. Just you try and stop me.
• I want hear more of fairywench's stories.
• I think it's clever the way that tracicle has been blocking fairywench's comments until this one.
• Keepin' 'em all to 'erself... the fiend!
• Bring it on, Sausage Girl!
• Being called "Sausage Girl" is infintely MORE interesting if there's no actual sausage involved!
• Could be that the subjugation of fairywench's comments and sure to be eye-opening stories was the factor that prevented MoFi from reaching full flower. Tell on, miss Wench...
• Those comments were tasty. OM NOM NOM.
• Wasn't Sausage Girl a Tori Amos song?
• (I resurrected my OG account, dormant now for almost 2 years, for this comment... I've obviously been around under other names since, though.) It's been wonderful to see MoFi so active for the past couple of days. It's still my homepage (even though I haven't logged in other the "bone" account for a while), and I do follow it. My reasons for not logging in under this name are long and involved, and I shan't go into them now. Generally, I feel like I've been pulling away from the internet for a while: health stuff, grad school preparations (and disappointments), a newish relationship, and work have all combined to cause me to be less of a participant and more of a voyeur online. My blog is more-or-less dormant at this point after almost six years to regular-to-semiregular posting, and I'm kind of trying to decide the extent to which I want to forge on ahead with it. That being said, I've always enjoyed MoFi, and have made some awesome friends here... got a lovely email from kamus a while ago (I'll respond soon, honest!), and koko left a really gracious comment on my blog yesterday which was in large part the motivator for this comment. I hope all is well with everyone, and while I can't promise a lot of participation know that I'm still hanging out here somewhat. Love,
• Oh dear...now I'm feeling pressured to come up with some scintillating stories. Or perhaps some titillating stories. Or at the very least some rodent stories. Well, I do have a rodent story. And it does include some (mild) titillation. But it's not scintillating. It's perhaps more accurately described as "disturbing". Or possibly "stupid". But I could probably get a link-laden FPP out of it. Okay, fine then. But this will take a day or so. And I'm not answering too many questions about the titillating part.
• I could always post more pictures of Mr. Whiskers, if that would help.
• fairywench, these losers won't know if you make something up. But do tell...
• the_bone. Goddamn.
• news flash: mct is actually Jeremiah Wright.
• Hey there boney old boy!!
• fairywench, I love stupid stories, especially if they're also disturbing, and even especially if they make me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Please post.
• Jeez, no pressure then...
• Hmmm...is there a word limit on posts? Because I started writing the rodent story last night, and it got rather lengthy....
• Monkey Filter: We're Rather Lengthy...
• If it's a personal story you should probably post it as comments in this thread, rather than as an FPP, to avoid any GYOB snarks ... just IMHO, YMMV, IANAMoFiAdmin.
• As long as it has links to interesting content, and you keep most of the story either in the Extended Description section or in the comments, it should be fine. Just don't take over the front page with an anecdote.
• don't take over the front page with an anecdote. Don't with . Good heavens, sir, I believe you have stumbled on the universal formula for Human Wisdom. "Don't milk the cow with the banana" "Don't move the poutine with the hammer"
• Don't rip the bodice with the ghost book.
• Don't drown the baby with the otter bile.
• Maybe Rembrandt Q. Einstein should post an FPP "Curious George: Do any monkeys have a lengthy rodent anecdote" (and thus save MoFi). Then you, Fairy-Sausage-Girl, can jump in with your A.necdote O.f U.nusual S.ize". Don't the with a .
• Uhhhhh, am I late posting to this? I do realize that I'm all about the snark and smart-mouth comments and not so much about the cogent argument. What I love about you Monkeys--you let an old lady expose her inner wise-ass. I haven't posted many FPPs lately either. I love writing them, and I love reading your great (and not so great) posts. You guys are like the dysfunctional family I wish I had--as opposed to the dysfunctional family I do have. Did I mention that this is my homepage? What would I do without you? Pathetic, I know. Don't make me go down on my knees with this! You newcomers: Yeah, I know we have a lot of the in-jokes, but hang in there. You too can become wise to the ways of the Cosmic Monkey, and then YOU'LL be able to look with benevolent compassion on the newbies. I do realize I've also fallen down with the tag-lines that all of you expect and wait for. I'll do my best to correct that--especially for you, Hank! MonkeyFilter: "omg wtf we haz a wikee?" MonkeyFilter: I am still husbandless, understimulated and bored. SHUT UP. MonkeyFilter: Who are you again? MonkeyFilter: ARF!!! MonkeyFilter: I'm here to fix your cable, ma'am. MonkeyFilter: Are you a virgin, lurker? MonkeyFilter: Remember Toilet Day? I consider that the Golden Age. MonkeyFilter: this forsaken blister that exudes the most glorious pus. MonkeyFilter: I, Lord Foetus, approve. On with the show! MonkeyFilter: Domini Domini Domini. You're all Monkeys now. MonkeyFilter: We have a RalphThedog? MonkeyFilter: They come to us after Googling otter bile. MonkeyFilter: otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile otter bile MonkeyFilter: Don't give up the ship until all of the lemmings get onboard. MonkeyFilter: I'm sorry. I'm a dork. MonkeyFilter: I still like fucking pizza. I mean I fucking like pizza. MonkeyFilter: Perhaps we should simply have lower standards MonkeyFilter: Post your damn work-related interest here. MonkeyFilter: My entré to this venue was greeted by catcalls of "shite", a sniping shot across the bow from the site's nubile yet feckless administrator, and several instances of threats of horse buggery and anal massage in the Fenlands. MonkeyFilter: But if you are a horse, watch your ass. MonkeyFilter: MoFi is lacking wobbegongs. MonkeyFilter: these losers won't know if you make something up MonkeyFilter: But if you are a horse, watch your ass. EXCUSE ME!?!?!?
• MonkeyFilter: EXCUSE ME!?!?!?
• MonkeyFilter: posted by kamus at 10:20PM
• MonkeyFilter: April 28,2008
• I love you people.
• MonkeyFilter: mothninja loves you people.
• Monkeyfilter: Don't make me go down on my knees with this
• *opens arms wide to the Monkeys, begins singing* AAAAAAAAAANNNND IIIIIIIIIIIIIII ayaayah IIIIIIIIII will always loooove yoooooooouuu!
• *chips in to Bluehorse's deodorant fund*
• Monkeyfilter: chips in to Bluehorse's deodorant fund
• Monkeyfilter : ɹǝʇ1ıɟʎǝʞuoW
• Monkeyfilter: Schmunkeyfilter
• OK, Roryk- how the hell did you do that?
• MonkeyFilter: how the hell did you do that?
• It's easy, you just op ʇı ǝʞıl sıɥʇ˙
• *stands upside down on desk, dislocates neck*
• Urgh, I screwed it up.
• ˙sıɥʇ ǝʞıl ǝɹoɯ ʇı ʇuɐǝɯ ı
• *turns monitor upside down*
• *turns tracicle upside down*
• *but then you suddenly realize that because she's in New Zealand, you've actually turned her right side up.*
• That explains SO much.
• Not to me.
• *holds tracicle upside down, shakes* Well, missy, if the shakedown, patdown, and putdown didn't work, I doubt if this place'll meltdown.
• I can't help noticing that we haven't been saved by Rembrandt Q. Einstein yet. Hellooooo? We're dying here! Or do we have to call Picasso J. Newton?
• > OK, Roryk- how the hell did you do that? it's a unicode approximation of what a character would look like rotated 180 degrees. This site lɯʇɥ˙dılɟ/ɯoɔ˙pɐɟʌǝɹ˙ʍʍʍ//:dʇʇɥ has a text entry area to do it quickly.
• ¡ʍʇɟ ʞʎɹoɹ
• *is sad that all of this upside-down nonsense does not properly display on my computer*
• This reminds me of Scott Kim's 'Inversions'. Of course, you didn't need to dislocate your neck to read those ones, ouch
• *picks up the spare change that fell out of Tracicle's pockets* *scuttles away*
• As of today I'm teaching and when I'm not teaching, I'm doing all the other things that go with managing a family and household in the little spare time I will have. So I won't be able to post anything for, oh, five weeks or so. It is up to you, PEOPLE. Make me proud. (Ignore random capitalisation. I have been bossing seven-year-olds around all day.)
• *calls quid*
• Tracicle, back to the theme of this post... it still gets quiet at the weekends - just 1 or 2 posts per day. I remember the BBC used to do a Caption Competition a while back which I greatly enjoyed. Could I do the same here - a picture is posted (once a week, Sunday?) (accumulating in the same thread until it overflows) and we all suggest captions/titles? I imagine that sort of thing would appeal to this crowd. There are three problems: 1) it's not really a Curious George, because it isn't a call for help, and it doesn't have a URL for the FPP. So it breaks posting guidelines. b) It would work best if the image was in-line, so you can see the pic and the captions together, without clicking back and forth. But aren't in-line images frowned upon? (Although I've see a lot of people do it), iii) It's not "show us something interesting and we'll all discuss it", which (if I recall) was what MoFi is about. However, M.O.N.K.E.Y. (now eight) is a similar category and if people don't like it they just skip those comments. So would a caption competition ("Monkey Says"?) be acceptable in the "NEW MOFI" world or would it get eeked (or worse irritate people)?
• There have been caption-this-picture posts in the past that have been well received, so I say go for it. I think I need a mathowie/Brand New Day style photoshop to match this NEW MOFI all the cool kids keep talking about.
• Um, it's the NEW MOFI X-TREEM, actually. Please pay attention.
• Well, you folks really showed me! Thanks!