Thanks! I meant to take the link out completely on this one. Will fix... oh man, yeah! also a good chance to fix the weirdo link to mefi in the 'metachat is an informal place blah blah blah' message at the top. I've been forgetting to do that since, um... forever.

If you removed the MetaFilter reference entirely, it'd be an improvement.

That's what I was thinking too.

"If you removed the MetaFilter reference entirely, it'd be an improvement."
posted by BoringPostcards 25 February | 01:36

Maybe, maybe not.

I only heard about this place on MeFi, so if there wasn't some commonality/community, y'all would've been otherwise unmolested by me. Conversely, if there's anyone that winds up here first, making them aware of MeFi in the header would be turn about, if, perhaps, in the long run, no favor to the referree.

Just sayin'.

*deleted mefi bookmarks last week anyway*

Okay! Me make fixy!

Why do you say that, BP?

Why do you say that, BP?

Because this is my favorite place on the web, and I don't like seeing it tied to a site that I think is way overrated and that certainly doesn't need the link traffic from my favorite place on the web.

Like paulsc, I found this place via that site (I was invited by jonmc while being beaten up over my first post over there) but I don't think there's any reason to send people back the other way. Once you're here, you've reached the top. :)

Ouch.

I just figured it was time to cut the umbilical cord.

Heh. Hey, if it weren't for MeFi I wouldn't have totallty wasted the last three days playing Virus2. And we wouldn't want that, would we?

I love MetaFilter because there are great, smart, funny people there and always something interesting to read, 24/7. And of course, metachat only exists because back when MeFi was down a lot (really a lot for Europeans), I was having painful withdrawal symptoms because I just wanted to wake up, drink my coffee and see my MeFites. And of course, Matt had said that he would never do a just-Chat section of Metafilter, so it seemed the thing to do.

Like pretty much everyone, I've had my MeFi arc, and I'm much less active there now because (TOTALLY subjective here, now) there seems to be less clever snark and more stupid/just-mean snark, plus all the rulez nitpicking kind of makes me nuts.

By the time my 14K group came around, a whole lot of people had sort of floated off - people I was used to seeing for two years before I signed up, and maybe it was because they were aghast at us newbies, and this is a (possibly) a normal progression. I loved Metafilter right after the first big wave came in when open signups were reinstituted because it meant that tons of people who had been reading and keeping up with everything were finally in - people who really loved the place. As signups stayed open, it seemed that things became worse since there were so many that just wanted to get their (weak) snark on. And maybe that's what makes you feel that way, BP. But the bones are still good and strong. If I don't let myself get into it too much, and just follow links, read AskMe questions, and go to MeTa for amusement, I don't get my panties in a wad. :) not that you are!

I love MetaFilter because there are great, smart, funny people there

Most of those folks are here, actually. :) All I ever see over there are the ones who make it like a web version of No Exit. Kind of funny to watch, but I wouldn't look if it wasn't linked from here.

Speaking as the second lowest MeFi number 'round here (I'm #206, jonmc is #58), I think we need to keep the MetaFilter link, but maybe change the blurb to something like...

MetaChat was created as an informal place for members and lurkers of MetaFilter to touch base and do things that are not necessarily welcome at the Big Filter, like Radio, Art, Personal News, Cute Links, Silly Questions and Games. What DON'T we do? Check the FAQ.

It's great that we get most of our people from MeFi, though... It means that we have a sort of shared universal memory to some degree, we all kind of know the same internet memes, we don't have a lot of people linking to Hamster Dance because they just saw it for the first time, or talking like baby chatmonsters... etc.

I think it's pretty symbiotic; some people spend a lot of time at both places, some spend more time here, some spend more time there - it's all cool. The thing with MeFi is that once you start getting crazy with anything there, you just need to chill out on your level of involvement. I tend to read thread conversations related to non-controversial subjects, or just click links... and if I'm getting way fed up with people constantly complaining about this or that on AskMe, it just means I'm reading MeTa too much. Or that I should skip MeTa threads about AskMe. :)

≡ Click to see image ≡

By the way, I have to mention that we do get some amusing sign-ups occasionally... We were linked on some site, at some point, that must have mis-read our url as "metalchat.org" ... so sometimes we get registrations with user notes like "metalbandXhead here!" or even "I have long dark hair, a hot body, and love Xband". Funny.

We've had quite a few attempted spammers as well lately. :(

I'm thinking we might make registration not quite so wide open (it's not wide open - we still okay every signup) because I'm worried about email harvesters, etc. smart enough to not make it glaringly apparent that's what they are. I'm sort of thinking that new registrants need to put something in the user notes field about why they are signing up - enough to give us a good idea if they are lurkers who know the place, mefites/mofites who found their way here, friends of friends or whatever.

Maybe a hamster? Of thier own design?

lol!

Your user number has no authority here, wendell. But I agree with your point.

I don't mind changing the wording at the top, but it needs to stay no more than two lines in 1024x768 rez... I mean, I don't want a treatise about what we are (we do have the "about" and "faq" pages) - just enough so that people who aren't familiar with the place get a thumbnail idea of what's up.

Basically the idea here is that you can post about (pretty much) anything that you feel like chatting about and think others might like to talk about, too - except things that belong properly on Metafilter, like complaints about any user, metafilter protocols or policies, etc. Plus we're a handy spot for participatory games and projects. And advice.

oh god, we're a mouthwash and a floor wax.

I think this place gains a lot from its affiliation with Metafilter. I know I'd never have come here or gotten beyond how different I am from most people here if it wasn't for the MeFi connection.

I've never thought of you as different than most people here, mullacc ... or I guess I don't quite have a feeling about most people here being a particular way outside of the mostly common mefi connection (and whatever that entails).. But I'm very, very glad you're here. That's certain.

I guess I just wish my favorite site on the web wasn't tainted by association. I love this site, I intensely dislike that one, and that's that.

*hugs BP* Well, you're our sweet postage boy (kind of like a poster boy, except with stamps) and we're lucky you're here. And that's that.

I like the connection and the fact that we do have a shared experience. I don't know how many users we have here, but it still it feels small and community-like, which is good. I say let's keep the connection :)

I've never thought of you as different than most people here, mullacc ... or I guess I don't quite have a feeling about most people here being a particular way...

Oh, I didn't mean that people here are "a particular way" and that I'm something different. I suppose what I was really trying to get at is that the people here, as a group, are very different than my group of real life friends. For example, nearly all my friends are 24-27 years old, while the user base here seems to range from 18 to 50+ and everywhere in between. And age is just the most obvious thing I can think of--I enjoy the diversity here and I don't think I would've discovered it or stuck around to learn to love it without the MeFi connection.

I'm glad to be here, and I'm glad taz and others put in the effort to keep this place up and running.

Even if you don't like Metafilter anymore you can still appreciate the affiliation. I've often felt that one reason metachat has avoided a lot of drama and bullshit is that the folk here have already seen where that leads on Mefi and don't want this place to go the same way.

I like the fact that there's little drama and bullshit here and I do think that's because Metachat can be a refuge from Mefi. I also think that the link blurb on the top might keep "outsiders" from joining up and possibly bringing drama and bullshit in. Which is a good thing.

I agree with everything everyone's said here.

And you know how that makes me crazy.

It's also why I love Mecha, and why we shouldn't cut the cord entirely

lets just banhammer mathowie.

instead of a banhammer we need THE SPORK OF SUPPRESSION!

you can't call it a banspork because it serves two purposes: bans and timeouts

SPORK OF SUPPRESSION works for me. Everyone in favor say 'aye' or some equally archaic word, like 'girdle'.

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONRK!

Spork of Suppression! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!

I have to chime in here and agree with pretty much everything Taz said. I love metafilter and metachat & I think that the symbiosis make them both richer. I'm always happy when I see someone new from the blue over here because it's, like, oh good, someone interesting to get to know. Also, pre mefi vetting means that the grammar police have already gotten to them, so we don't end up all ZOMG LOL, which drives me round the bend in excess. I think it makes for a good mix. Also, I use the link at the top to the blue every day like a million times and the only thing I wish is that there was a Meta link too so I could more lazily get that fix as well. But I know that that would not wendell. ;-)

oooh, yeah! This is important! MeFi is like boot camp. You get all the silly crap beaten out of you over there first, so by the time you find your way here, you're a spit-and-polish soldier, SIR, YES SIR!

spork spork spork spork spork spork spork !

I like that some people get here via MeFi, and I like that some people don't (like TrishaLynn - what would we do without her? And there are many others). And I like MeFi when I remember to stay out of the crap threads that begin, middle, and end poorly. I'm extremely glad that Metachat is more than just a place where people post "Mefi is Down" (remember those days?), but I also think that this place would be different if we weren't at least a little bit associated with The Blue.

Everyone in favor say 'aye' or some equally archaic word, like 'girdle'.

Consumption.

I love the spork, but I don't want to think about the MetaFilter link disappearing. I navigate to MeFi through MeCha, and vice-versa. If my link to either vanished, I might not make it back to both sites.