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MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

20 January 2006

If you ran MetaFilter, what changes would you make to improve it?
post by: orthogonality at: 15:15 | 37 comments
I'd delete more comments, ban more users, and be more open about what was getting whacked.

posted by mosch 20 January | 15:19
Generate random numbers and replace all user names in hopes to end personality conflict. Delete any comment that is directed at another user in a negative tone because most people (myself included) can't seem to resist reacting against conceptions of users.
posted by dios 20 January | 15:20
more nudity.
posted by jonmc 20 January | 15:22
More bananas.
posted by tracicle 20 January | 15:23
Flash-based pop-up ads... with sound... that resize your browser... and kick your dog... in the balls.

posted by Capn 20 January | 15:23
yes, tracicle. more nude bananas.
posted by jonmc 20 January | 15:24
Seriously though... I would like to see when comments and posts are deleted AND 'exspecially when they're edited, and why.
posted by Capn 20 January | 15:25
All disagreements that last longer than three posts to be settled by wolf sperm chugging contest (BYOWS).
posted by Divine_Wino 20 January | 15:30
I don't recall posts being edited for content. I assume you don't mean fixed links/formatting?
posted by mullacc 20 January | 15:31
In unrelated news, purchases of wolf sperm futures out of New York skyrocket.
posted by jonmc 20 January | 15:32
Delete any comment that is directed at another user in a negative tone because most people (myself included) can't seem to resist reacting against conceptions of users.

Castrate it's soul, whydontcha?
posted by danostuporstar 20 January | 15:34
Generate random numbers and replace all user names in hopes to end personality conflict.


Get somebody to write a bookmarklet to do that, dios, and see who will use it.
posted by orthogonality 20 January | 15:35
Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others.
posted by gigawhat? 20 January | 15:42
A feature that allows you to mouse over a user's name and see a picture of them and where they're from. Maybe even a brief tagline or biographical fact.

And more Esperanto. Parceloj pli Esperanto. Kaj pli nudeco.
posted by Slack-a-gogo 20 January | 15:44
gigawhat? wins.
posted by richat 20 January | 15:44
I'd close membership.
posted by brainwidth 20 January | 15:47
Mandatory dental hygiene.
posted by selfnoise 20 January | 15:53
Also: consistent regulations. Disclosure.
posted by selfnoise 20 January | 15:54
Actually - my comment above was after misreading it as MeCha, not MeFi. It's something I'd like here, but don't really care about over there.
posted by Slack-a-gogo 20 January | 16:00
Add snark to AskMe. Maybe just one day a week.
posted by mullacc 20 January | 16:03
Hand out generous amounts of these.
posted by Hellbient 20 January | 16:06
Star Jones would be greatly involved and everyone would pay $20.00 for a new membership but would also receive a copy of my book Love Smart.
posted by Dr Phil 20 January | 16:09
Reinstitute the code duello - with more nudity.

And a click counter on links.

Human sacrifice would be nice if I get to pick the offerings.

I am distinctly fed up with the magic disappearing posts. It's not helping.
posted by warbaby 20 January | 16:59
More and more gorgeous women showing up at area meetups would be awesome - last one I went to had only, like, 3.

Of course it's the only one I've ever been to, so my data is decidedly skewed.

Go Portland Mefis!
posted by Lipstick Thespian 20 January | 17:22
More drinking.

All deleted posts become pink.

No more Flash Fridays, only Fondue Fridays. Mmmm, fondue.
posted by Uncle Glendinning 20 January | 17:22
I don't like the comment deletions. If a comment is bad enough to get deleted I'm guessing it's bad enough the commenter should have a time-out or be banned. In other words - let the comment stand and punish the commenter.

"Bad" posts should be closed with a clear and concise reason and left available to view (meaning - leave it on the front page with commenting disabled). I think deleted posts in the blue are available on Lofi but that's not sufficient.

People need to know the limits and disappeared posts and comments hinder that.
posted by deborah 20 January | 17:28
More cowbell.

Actually, what Mosch said. Also, make a seperate section for politics and breaking news. Add a mandatory tagging system with the ability to filter out some tags. Have a seperate section for deleted posts too, like Monkeyfilter.
posted by LarryC 20 January | 18:02
More Me, less Fi.
posted by thatweirdguy2 20 January | 18:17
Better treats for the snack bowl.
posted by Smart Dalek 20 January | 18:34
There would be a weekly meeting to publicly destroy all sock puppets. Fuckers confuse me.
posted by SassHat 20 January | 18:44
less deletion of comments
retention of deleted posts
time out for meanness
posted by flopsy 20 January | 19:12
I'd never ever give a date/time for when I was going to roll out a new feature unless I absolutely positively could stick to it.
posted by jessamyn 20 January | 19:20
No, or at least far less, deletion of posts/comments.
Self-linking would be ok.
Reinstate pretty_generic's membership.
posted by greasy_skillet 20 January | 19:28
I'd add write-in flags. A NewsFilter section, a PoliFilter section, hell maybe even a NoHoldsBarredSection.

I hate the deletions. Dimming them, noting them, something instead of gone would be better. Same thing for deleted threads though that's more about deleted MeTa threads than MeFi.

Maybe a publicly available list of the most flagged members, comments, threads and whatever else. It would be good to know who posts the best stuff and who consistently gets cremolated (on purpose or not). But I know what that won't happen, Matt does not want to encourage the cult of personality crap. And I understand and agree with his point of view. But I'd still like to know, more as a numbers geek but it would also be a really good way of figuring out where the strife on the site is coming from and perhaps addressing that directly.

Maybe that's something for Matt to do and keep to himself or share with Jessamyn.

And a usable search engine.
posted by fenriq 20 January | 21:19
i would never ever ever delete (really delete so it disappears forever) a comment or thread. matt fucked himself good the first time he did that.

i would install and run swish-e (which is available for windows) so the fricken site was actually searchable. matt fucks himself every day that he doesn't do this.

i would shush the librarian.
posted by quonsar 20 January | 23:48
I don't have any solutions for MeFi... I think the thing that bothers me most is the dragging of political stuff and grudges into threads where they don't belong.... The inability to discuss almost anything without it devolving into blind spitting hatred. US people are just rabid these days, and it's kind of hard to understand the intensity of it if you are not there... So much fury, and it's not exactly focused.

Every now and then I see a really nice, smart, cool thread, and it's almost a little heartbreaking to see what is being lost because of this atmosphere of rage. I have no solutions for that.

I saw a documentary about the Fox network recently, so I sort of understand a little better the constant lashing of emotion over there. It's probably incalculable how much damage that one channel alone is doing... Anyway. That stuff has poisoned the site for me. I still love it, but I feel kind of sick about it, so I don't spend as much time there. It's not a mefi thing, it's a U.S. thing.

Other than that hopelessness, I'm thinking that perhaps closing membership from time to time to help the membership settle in or something might be good.
posted by taz 21 January | 04:28
What mosch said. At the moment, just enough is deleted so that peope get pissed off about it, but not enough to make an actual improvement that anyone can see. Comments that are deleted should leave a footprint behind to avoid the context confusion that they generate. That way, you get to get rid of the crap without encouraging the "my deleted comments are better than yours" attention seeking behaviour, but still point out who has been an arsehole today.

Very perceptive, Jassamyn, but I would add that I would never implement a new feature just to shut up a couple of noisy members complaining about non-existent problems without at least thinking about the ramifications carefully (see striped pages for an example).
posted by dg 22 January | 22:28
← Inspired by this post on the blue, what's your pornstar/rockstar name? || Bunny! OMG! →

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