MetaChat - Metafilter got my back, right?

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13 May 2007

Metafilter got my back, right? That's my question. What's the question you've always wanted to ask but been afraid to waste?

post by: sonofslim at: 00:21 | 21 comments

Something about several bizarre sexual fetishes. It's probably best to leave it at that.

posted by puke & cry 13 May | 01:09

"Why do i drive everyone that i love away?"

smite me for that blatant lie please...

posted by Schyler523 13 May | 02:36

Any question that important, I asked.

posted by mischief 13 May | 08:48

Honestly, I don't understand the fear of wasting a question. Do people really have so many un-Googleable, un-researchable issues in their lives that they need AskMe more than once a week (or even more than every two weeks)?

posted by amro 13 May | 09:14

Well, with people wasting their questions on "Should I eat this?" nonsense, I can see why there's some anxiety about the process (No offense intended). I really do think Matt should have an auto-responder that says, "If you have to ask, then throw it away. Some Mefites would eat it, but you're obviously not that type of person."

posted by muddgirl 13 May | 09:38

Well....um....yes. Not all the time of course, but every once in a while you might have two or three questions at a time and you can't/don't want to wait two weeks. Or else you're not that good at finding other sites that you know will draw immediate, moderately intelligent responses.

posted by serena 13 May | 09:41

I won't ask personal questions, not even anonymously. Anything I don't want the world to know, I don't ask.

Which means I have a whole stockpile of questions that will forever be unanswered.

(So for me, it would be "wasting" a question to ask anything to which people can't give really tangible answers. And I don't ask very many questions for just that reason.)

posted by brina 13 May | 10:26

Askme kinda doesn't do so much for me. I've even stumped it. ;P (the answer is: spreadshirt.net)

Don't get that "wasting" a queation thing either. Does that mean "ask a bad one"? Are there bad questions?

posted by dabitch 13 May | 10:31

I wouldn't feel comfortable asking terribly personal questions. No doubt, in relation to something else entirely, someone months later will say, "hey isn't this the user that...[wanted to know if he should let his girlfriend take a dump on him or whatever]... Ha HA! And yeah, I know that that is what the anonymous option is for.

People do think that there are "bad" questions so I always consider carefully what I ask. Then I say fuck it, and ask away.

posted by bobobox 13 May | 10:43

I've thought about rephrasing my anonymous question about buying *seeds* online in such a way that mathowie would actually approve it. Maybe if I ask how one can do it while riding the rails...

Do people really have so many un-Googleable, un-researchable issues in their lives that they need AskMe more than once a week (or even more than every two weeks)?

I do. But I've largely given up on AskMe. The combination of wanting to save it for a real emergency plus all the usual pitfalls of AskMe (not answering the question, berating the asker) keep me away a lot of the time. People talk about AskMe like it's this golden ass that just drops out golden turds, but the truth is that 90% of the time it's no warmer or more helpful than your average message board - the grammar and spelling are just better.

posted by scarabic 13 May | 11:55

People talk about AskMe like it's this golden ass that just drops out golden turds, but the truth is that 90% of the time it's no warmer or more helpful than your average message board - the grammar and spelling are just better.

Scarabic, if there was an option to "favorite" comments here on MeCha (and I'm generally glad there isn't), I'd mark this in a heartbeat. A golden ass that just drops out golden turds. Classic.

posted by brina 13 May | 14:21

Golden turds that smell like roses.

posted by amro 13 May | 14:55

Scarabic closely mirrors my perspective on AskMe. I have been repeatedly disappointed in the responses to those questions for which I most needed well informed answers.

posted by mischief 13 May | 15:43

I'd never thought I'd be one of "those people" who would ask if I should eat something or not, but I did just that last night. I* simply wanted some opinions and got them. I'm surprised at how non-snarky the thread is. Some of the answers are pretty funny and I answered in kind.

*The truth is the mister is actually the one who boiled them and left them and wanted to know what to do with them. I volunteered to ask at AskMe and he was happy to get some outside opinions. He checked out the links ..er.. linked and my response inthread is what he came up with.

As for the original question - I ask questions as I need them answered (I think that's my fourth question since the beginning of AskMe). I could ask more personal questions but I'd be told, and rightly so, to seek a therapist.

posted by deborah 13 May | 16:25

Do I have bad breath?

Why do women get mad if you turn off the TV or radio after they've left the room? They were in the shower, fer chrissake. Not like they were listening to it or anything.

Why is it OK for smokers to approach other smokers, even random strangers on the street, and bum cigarettes? If you approach strangers on the streets for a quarter, or a sandwich, people think you're a bum, you're committing a quality of life offense. But people don't seem to mind strangers asking for their cigarettes. What gives?

posted by jason's_planet 13 May | 18:09

The few times I've asked questions on AskMe, I have been totally under whelmed by the response. Maybe it's a time zone thing, but I think it's really because nobody likes me.

jasons_planet:
1. No idea, I have no sense of smell
2. Because they are female and that's what females do
3. Because of a shared sense of being an outcast from society.

posted by dg 13 May | 18:39

Why do men insist on watching sporting events, then falling asleep?
And why do they get mad when you change the channel? After all, they were snoring!!

Why do we drive on the parkway and park on a driveway?

Jason's_planet, I'm guilty of your question #2. But it seems like the channel gets changed if I leave the room for a minute to get a drink. Hey, it's not like I wasn't coming back!! I was watching that! If I do that to Mr. V, he gets upset, too. (See above question #2).

posted by redvixen 13 May | 18:52

I like askme. I don't ask often, and when I do, it's either unique, or time sensitive (panic). I've always gotten something out of it.

The turnover is so quick now, though, that it's almost impractical.

posted by rainbaby 13 May | 19:41

Why do men insist on watching sporting events, then falling asleep?
And why do they get mad when you change the channel? After all, they were snoring!!

hahahahahaha! good one!

I love AskMe. I don't participate in it as much as I did when I started on MetaFilter. But I love it nonetheless.

The turnover is so quick now, though, that it's almost impractical.

The volume of questions has made it impractical to continue to use AskMe as a static web page. Instead, I have picked several categories of questions and combined them into a Bloglines feed. That way, I filter out high-volume categories like Computers and Internet where I can't really provide intelligent answers and focus on the categories where I can. It works pretty well for me.

posted by jason's_planet 13 May | 21:26

2. Because they are female and that's what females do

Hey now! I am female, and I welcome you to change the channel when I leave the room.

posted by amro 13 May | 21:47

Ask Metafilter is useless to me. My powers exceed its feeble capacity. The only thing I ever cared about, a breeding pair of pygmy jerboa, was denied me.

Now I exist in a vale of eternal darkness and inner torment. You're all dead to me.

Soon you will know the power of the Dark Side.

posted by ikkyu2 16 May | 01:41

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