Really? Wow.

I feel so important. I don't know what I did, but I still feel important.

I am still on Metafilter and I am the nicest person alive. Although I make overly long posts and Metachat eats them. *cries*

I do occasionally say snarky things at metafilter, but rarely anything mean (anymore). Mostly I go into good threads and tell the poster that they posted something good.

I haven't made a post there in a really long time, but most of the shittiness there is in posts that you can tell--before you even read them--are going to be shitpiles.

I enjoy the shitpiles, and I still love the conversation there.

i know for a fact this has nothing to do with me

I think MeFi would be just as snarky and bitchy without MeCha in the world. There's just some bad mojo over there lately. MeFi could use an exorcism. Or a giant FTD Tickler boquet.

I still go to MeFi everyday and I still get a lot out of it, but I steer clear of joining most of the infighting, axe grinding, playground scuffles. But I have to admit, many of them are fun to watch in a twisted way.

I enjoy a little snarkiness if it's done in moderation and with a bit of a wink. I'm a big fan of debate, a supporter of clever sarcasm, and I love a good zinger. But there are a few regulars at MeFi that are powder kegs just looking for a match. And there are others that are more than happy to give them a light. I wish some people would just chill for a few minutes before they begin their knee-jerk responses. For me one of the greatest parts of MeFi is the diverse group of people with varying agendas, perspectives, and experiences. But when you cover that wide of a spectrum you're bound to have some conflicts.

I keep hoping this is just a phase. Of course, I got in during the New User Gold Rush of Fall 2004, and that seems to be when things went awry. Or so they say.

I was worse over there than I am over here. And that's saying something.

Have not been there in a long time. Between the shitty up-time and politics/news filter and snark I just lost interest.

MetaChat has not sucked the niceness away from MetaFilter... Instead MetaFilter has pushed the niceness away, and MetaChat provided a nice place for it to settle down.

Metafilter is New York. Metachat is Littletown.
For me, this explains the difference in attitudes.

//swerves metafilter yellow and black at hot dog vendor.

I don't know what's happening; it seems to me that things are getting just way over the top there. It hasn't exactly driven me away - I'm not afraid to post or comment - but I'm embarrassed a lot of the time, frequently frustrated, and less and less likely to bother reading threads since they almost always devolve into nasty, boring dumb-snark and ridiculous histrionics, with people inviting each other to die painful deaths, etc.

Omiewise's Crusades post was terribly depressing for me because I started following the really interesting commenting that was going on... and I was like "ah, yes - this is the MeFi I love". and then BOOM! All gone; it makes me feel a bit hopeless.

But some people have been a lot more vocal lately in urging people to generally get a grip... So, I don't know.. maybe we'll see an emerging trend for a new (or older) paradigm. It's not a question (as some like to fallaciously position it) of hearts-and-flowers versus snark-and-attack. MeFi has always been ascerbic and anal and edgy, but now it's kind of like The Spanish Inquisition meets a root canal, but less clever and more painful.

Well said, taz.

I think MightyNez struck the chord I was looking for - perhaps the real reason that MetaChat exists is because MetaFilter was no longer meeting the needs of people looking for the same things that taz does. The constant downtime provided the impetus for dodgygeezer and taz to set this up and lots of people recognised that they had a desire for such a place without even knowing it. The downtime is a lot better, but the attitude is the same or worse, so people have stayed here instead.

MetaChat is PURDIER!

The downtime was annoying me, I still go and check out metfilter but I comment much less.

I'm only mad that I wasn't quick enough to sign up here, ensuring a low and thus kewl usernumber. ;P

Also, of course, seanyboy is perfectly correct in his analogy, though the big city doesn't have to be uniformly horrid and completely without charm. And you shouldn't expect a mugging on every single streetcorner.

At any rate, comparing mefi and mecha is really apples and aardvarks; this place is for having fun and indulging in conversations about any old thing, and MeFi is supposed to be for sharing quality links and discussing those links. We're extracurricular, like. If MeFi were the university, we'd be the cafeteria. And the Quad.

And the radio station.

Go Aardvarks!

I'm ashamed to admit that I like the brown. (Grey?) Especially strange outings like this one stopping a potential post before it happens. It's so days of our links!

If MeFi were the university, we'd be the cafeteria. And the Quad.

And the radio station.
posted by taz

Heh... great analogy. I spent about 80% of my time in college at the radio station (which is probably why it took me a little, er, extra time to graduate).

Ooooh, and I practically lived in the Quad and the Commons, on the lawn under a tree or tucked away in the study nooks under the stairs or on one of the couches. There was a constant stream of friendly randomness and ongoing digressive discussion. (You know, punctuated by classes and stuff.)

Good, good times! No wonder MeFi hates us.

I did newspaper and literary mag (co-editor for both), and paaaaartays. I went out almost every single night. It was like one long period of social studies, and a good time was had by me.

Of course, these days I would be much more interested in the actual classes, but sadly I haven't been able to control the order in which my life happens, leading to things being a bit messy; I'm always doing things that would fit in much more efficiently at a different point in my development. From age six to 17, I did almost nothing but read - a habit that might have come in handy when I was being higher-educated.

Oh yeah, I rarely went to class, spent all day in the commons - usually doing work, mind. Just reading the texts and chatting to people. And drinking waaaay too much coffee.

Hey dabitch, I have the kewlest user number of all!

awesomeness!
/jelous

I'm only mad that I wasn't quick enough to sign up here, ensuring a low and thus kewl usernumber.

I remember coming to MeCha just hours after the doors were opened and thinking that "I don't have time for chat" and not signing up. And then I kept coming back and realized that THIS is the fun place and signed up. About a month ago I finally started checking MeCha BEFORE I went to MeFi. Now I wish I grabbed one of those low user numbers that first day. Now I'm just some mid three hundreds member. Sheesh.

Metafilter is your parents, MetaChat is is your Aunt and Uncle.

Hugh, I'm 3 numbers behind you. Sorry 'bout all those spitballs I shot into your hair. Mudpuppie fed me pancakes with maple syrup that morning and I was unbearably hyper.

No wonder they're stickier than usual.

I have to agree with MightyNez. MetaFilter hasn't totally lost it's niceness but it does seemed determined to push it away. There are still hints of it here and there in MeTa (yes, really!) and AskMe. I hope it can hold onto it.