No Comments: please comment

November 1, 2005 3:23 PM

It's possible that MetaFilter has reached the tipping point with comments. There hasn't been a 0 comments for 6 months now (although I have come perilously close). [more inside]
posted by tellurian to MetaFilter-Related at 3:23 PM (84 comments total)

There have only been 4 so far in 2005. There were 13 in 2004, 14 in 2003, 25 in 2002 and a whopping 109 in 2001.
As taz has said attention-grabbing threads may have caused this in the past but user numbers are probably overriding this now. This is a good thing - no one wants a 0 comment.
posted by tellurian at 3:23 PM on November 1, 2005

And your [mi] prevents this from being one.
posted by mystyk at 3:28 PM on November 1, 2005

I think my second post is pretty damn close. But I got 75 comments in my first one so all's well in the end.

Should we really be concerned about how many comments a post gets, anyway? Most of the 100+ commented threads are atrocious flamewars.
posted by selfnoise at 3:28 PM on November 1, 2005

Yeah, the number of comments is indicative of exactly nothing. Often the very best posts, which to me are the arts and culture ones, inspire little discussion beyond "great post." But a one-link post to a 2 paragraph news item on some hot button issue will spawn an endless and pointless thread full of personal invective.
posted by LarryC at 3:31 PM on November 1, 2005

So how do you feel if you post and it gets no comments?
posted by tellurian at 3:34 PM on November 1, 2005

If I posted and it got no comments I'd probably feel better than with my second-to-latest post, which got a bunch of moronic "this is probably a double post but I'm too lazy to check" comments.
posted by rxrfrx at 3:36 PM on November 1, 2005

me? I don't care. my best post ever got two comments, if I remember correctly. it still remains very good. my crappiest ones have got plenty. I mean, just post about Stephen Baldwin fundamentalist conversion, and you can have 100+ comments. post about Galileo's compass and you get a couple. MeFi is not about getting the most comments, thank goodness
posted by matteo at 3:39 PM on November 1, 2005

It's possible that MetaFilter has reached the tipping point with comments.
What does that mean? What tipping point? Where are we tipping to?
posted by dg at 3:40 PM on November 1, 2005

even if, I know, the guidelines say "discussion etc, etc, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, discussion, etc"

(I'm paraphrasing)
posted by matteo at 3:40 PM on November 1, 2005

I'm not seeing this. I feel like I haven't gotten a significant number of comments in, like, years.
posted by cortex at 3:48 PM on November 1, 2005

If I got absolutely no comments on an FPP? That would suck. But if I got one or two "This is good", and that's all, I'd be quite happy. And if it was full of "This is good", with no discussion, I'd be right ecstatic.
posted by Bugbread at 3:49 PM on November 1, 2005

The goose egg scares me.

I like both the threads with, ahem, lively discussions and those threads where the comments are almost all along the lines of "Wow!".

It is possible to have it both ways.
posted by fenriq at 3:51 PM on November 1, 2005

Warnock's Dilemma:

The problem with no response is that there are five possible interpretations:

1) The post is correct, well-written information that needs no follow-up commentary. There's nothing more to say except "Yeah, what he said."
2) The post is complete and utter nonsense, and no one wants to waste the energy or bandwidth to even point this out.
3) No one read the post, for whatever reason.
4) No one understood the post, but won't ask for clarification, for whatever reason.
5) No one cares about the post, for whatever reason.

posted by Plutor at 4:09 PM on November 1, 2005

I still don't know why you people don't care about Jaap Drupsteen, but I'm over it now.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 4:15 PM on November 1, 2005

Plutor, thanks for the Warnock info.
posted by Bugbread at 4:15 PM on November 1, 2005

Most with more than 25 responses are atrocious in some way, sadly.
posted by fire&wings at 4:23 PM on November 1, 2005

You know, I often stumble across AskMe questions that have just been posted and very clearly haven't been googled. I wish that people would just leave those 0 comments as a silent rebuke to the poster. For some reason, someone always answers, though.
posted by gokart4xmas at 4:26 PM on November 1, 2005

Sometimes I'd rather have a thread without comments. Often people would better serve themselves and others by keeping their mouths shut (and today, I'm pointing that finger at myself.) Replies above are right: longer usually equals nastier.
posted by cribcage at 4:28 PM on November 1, 2005

Plutor, thanks for that, I've never heard of Warnock's Dilemma.
posted by tellurian at 4:29 PM on November 1, 2005

If we have to start tipping when we comment, I may need to rethink my continued participation.
posted by yhbc at 4:30 PM on November 1, 2005

This thread has a glaring typo in it. Tellurian obviously meant to type tippling point.
posted by loquacious at 4:32 PM on November 1, 2005

I was fairly pleased to get only seven comments on this one, but it was fairly regional. No "L" Train post, to be sure, but regional nonetheless.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:35 PM on November 1, 2005

I am bookmarking Warnock's Dillema as hard as I can.
posted by boo_radley at 4:35 PM on November 1, 2005

Oh, and a comment count > 1 doesn't mean they're of quality. See the inexplicable nonsense that occurred in my first FPP.
posted by boo_radley at 4:40 PM on November 1, 2005

For all of you talking about evaluating a post by the number of comments: that's not why I made this post. I didn't realise it at the time but this post is about noting that not one post for last six months has fallen foul of Warnock's Dilemma. That's all, no big deal.
posted by tellurian at 4:58 PM on November 1, 2005

I've always been amazed that http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/44061">this one only got two comments
posted by loquax at 5:11 PM on November 1, 2005

Nuts - this one. Sorry
posted by loquax at 5:12 PM on November 1, 2005

how can a dilemma have 5 points?
posted by andrew cooke at 5:15 PM on November 1, 2005

"What does that mean? What tipping point? Where are we tipping to?"

I think he meant "has literally reached the tipping point".
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 5:33 PM on November 1, 2005

Thanks, EB, you really made that clear.



Not.
posted by dg at 6:14 PM on November 1, 2005

Maybe I have used the term 'tipping point' incorrectly. I meant to say that the likelihood of posting and not getting any comment at all had passed. But it is of course possible. Try it.
posted by tellurian at 6:20 PM on November 1, 2005

I mean, just post about Stephen Baldwin fundamentalist conversion, and you can have 100+ comments. post about Galileo's compass and you get a couple.

Well, there you go. A lot of your posts require somewhat esoteric knowledge to appreciate or understand, whereas just about everybody knows who Stephen Baldwin is and has a passing familiarity with fundies.

(this isn't a jonmc anti-elitism rant. I'm sure some of my music posts leave many equally baffled.)
posted by jonmc at 6:23 PM on November 1, 2005

This thread reminds me of one of my favorites, naxosaxur's meta thread that points to Jim Jones' tale of woe and madness.
posted by marxchivist at 6:24 PM on November 1, 2005

My first link had a whopping two comments on it, even thought I thought it deserved more (it was about the connection between Yemeni honey interests and al-Qaeda).
posted by clevershark at 6:41 PM on November 1, 2005

It's pretty depressing when even a Askme post gets nothing, if I ever noticed a zero comment FPP, I'd post something/anything to pad it out.
posted by Mitheral at 6:45 PM on November 1, 2005

This isn't "Queen for a Day" where the person who gets the most applause wins.

Mitheral--I think that with two ask me's with no response, if I were you, I would start to take it personally. But that's just me.
posted by leftcoastbob at 7:10 PM on November 1, 2005

language hat was just commenting about this very thing.
posted by hortense at 7:16 PM on November 1, 2005

Andrew Cook: What, you'd prefer some kinda quinlemma?
posted by klangklangston at 7:23 PM on November 1, 2005

Mitheral gets Warnocked x 2!
posted by tellurian at 7:34 PM on November 1, 2005

quinlemma wouldn't have anything to do with Jaws, would it?
posted by fenriq at 7:51 PM on November 1, 2005

It's possible that MetaFilter has reached the tipping point with comments.

Tipping point between what?
posted by scarabic at 8:05 PM on November 1, 2005

Between having posts with zero comments and not having posts with zero comments. Shit, man, keep up.
posted by cortex at 8:36 PM on November 1, 2005

There have only been 4 so far in 2005. There were 13 in 2004, 14 in 2003, 25 in 2002 and a whopping 109 in 2001.

How did you get this data?
posted by If I Had An Anus at 8:50 PM on November 1, 2005

From the archives.
posted by tellurian at 9:13 PM on November 1, 2005

I am tipping my monitor. It's not helping.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:50 PM on November 1, 2005

Huh. I think "tipping point" is a little dramatic, but okay. Anyway I've been tipping them for a couple hours now so I'm glad MeFi is going to keep up. Or something.
posted by scarabic at 9:57 PM on November 1, 2005

I didn't realise people posted mainly to get street cred. As in the other thread people I didn't know peoplethought so much about what AskMeFi was used for (schoolwork) rather than just share information.

To be more serious for a second, I think this ties up well with the Newsfilter discussion. Some people have been quietly arguing for a while of splitting the blue into two, Newsfilter (where you get the 100+ about Karl Rove or whatever) and another page where you can post brilliantly about art etc. and perhaps get only a few comments but provide a very distinct forum. Of course, the problem is where to draw the line.

I don't know. Now you can get back to it.
posted by keijo at 11:42 PM on November 1, 2005

Jeepers creepers, obviously I can't write any longer. Ignore.
posted by keijo at 11:53 PM on November 1, 2005

MeFi is not about getting the most comments, thank goodness

There are some people, who shall remain nameless, who really REALLY don't believe this, and will use "The number of comments in this thread PROVES its value!" to defend their garbage threads.
posted by shmegegge at 12:45 AM on November 2, 2005

caught between the horns of a hideously deformed mutation of a dilemma.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:25 AM on November 2, 2005

andrew cooke: "how can a dilemma have 5 points?"

Sure the word etymologically means roughly "two propositions", but it's not used exclusively for two-choice situations. Answers.com says: "A situation that requires a choice between options that are or seem equally unfavorable or mutually exclusive." That could be two choices, five, or eighty-eight.
posted by Plutor at 4:52 AM on November 2, 2005

I guess for me, more comments would let me know some people, at least, find the post interesting. I posted recently on what I thought was a fresh look at an old topic, and met with (mostly) silence. It surprised me, because there's always a lot of debate about Iraq here. It's an unsettling incongruity between what I think is interesting and what other members think.
posted by atchafalaya at 4:54 AM on November 2, 2005

since when is answers.com the arbiter of the english language? the oxford english dictionary is pretty damn clear about the matter - one of two alternatives.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:55 AM on November 2, 2005

and languagehat - instead of posting a pile of waffle about prescriptivism, take a deep breath and go outside for a walk.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:57 AM on November 2, 2005

Plutor : "That could be two choices, five, or eighty-eight."

I think you're referring to dilemmas, quintelemmas, and octocontooctalemmas, respectively.
posted by Bugbread at 5:36 AM on November 2, 2005

andrew cooke: "since when is answers.com the arbiter of the english language? the oxford english dictionary is pretty damn clear about the matter - one of two alternatives."

Since I dont have an OED lying around, I have to use the interweb. Answer.com's definition appears to come from the American Heritage dictionary. Here's two from Merriam-Webster:

2 a : a usually undesirable or unpleasant choice b : a situation involving such a choice; broadly : PREDICAMENT
3 a : a problem involving a difficult choice b : a difficult or persistent problem

And the only definition from Priceton's WordNet: "state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options [syn: quandary]"

Am I really arguing about the definition of the word dilemma?
posted by Plutor at 5:36 AM on November 2, 2005

since when is answers.com the arbiter of the english language? the oxford english dictionary is pretty damn clear about the matter - one of two alternatives.
and languagehat - instead of posting a pile of waffle about prescriptivism, take a deep breath and go outside for a walk.

Nah, I think I'll just quote the OED accurately instead:

1. In Rhetoric. A form of argument involving an adversary in the choice of two (or, loosely, more) alternatives, either of which is (or appears) equally unfavourable to him. (The alternatives are commonly spoken of as the ‘horns’ of the dilemma.) Hence in Logic, a hypothetical syllogism having a conjunctive or ‘conditional’ major premiss and a disjunctive minor (or, one premiss conjunctive and the other disjunctive).
Very different views have been taken by different logicians as to what syllogisms are properly dilemmas; several of the arguments commonly so called being considered by some writers to be only ordinary conjunctive syllogisms, constructive or destructive. See FOWLER, Deductive Logic, v. §4.

2. Hence, in popular use: A choice between two (or, loosely, several) alternatives, which are or appear equally unfavourable; a position of doubt or perplexity, a ‘fix’.

I think if the OED accepted this as "loose" use in 1896 (when that definition was published), rather than, say, "erroneous" (a term they threw around freely back then), it's fair to assume it's become standard in the last 109 years. If you disagree, I don't want to see any usages out of you that weren't standard in 1896.
posted by languagehat at 6:19 AM on November 2, 2005

This isn't "Queen for a Day" where the person who gets the most applause wins.

That's really only because I've already won.
posted by Jon-o at 6:27 AM on November 2, 2005

rats. i admit i only have the concise, and it didn't say that.
posted by andrew cooke at 6:33 AM on November 2, 2005

Sometimes I tip over.
posted by grateful at 6:49 AM on November 2, 2005

sometimes i point.
posted by andrew cooke at 6:58 AM on November 2, 2005

I usually tip 20% even when the service was only so-so.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:03 AM on November 2, 2005

I don't tip because society says I gotta. I tip when somebody deserves a tip. When somebody really puts forth an effort, they deserve a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, that shit's for the birds. As far as I'm concerned, they're just doin their job.
posted by Plutor at 7:20 AM on November 2, 2005

As far as I'm concerned, they're just doin their job.

you know most waiters make like $2 an hour, right?
posted by eustacescrubb at 7:34 AM on November 2, 2005

Someone needs to plot comment number vs. number of flames vs. topic/tags... or something.

Anyway: I read a post and links > I read some of the comments > I write a comment for the thread > and by the time I've previewed it twice (or so) I decide it's not worth the effort.

For every comment I've posted I think 7-8 have been aborted. How many people do this? Is it common?
posted by gsb at 7:51 AM on November 2, 2005

Where I live waiting is a profession and paid accordingly, with social security, holidays etc. But then I live in "old" Europe.
posted by adamvasco at 7:52 AM on November 2, 2005

Oh, and after abortion I usually decide it's worth poking fun at something or someone. And that goes through a cycle of preview and abort, too. But with a lower ratio.
posted by gsb at 7:53 AM on November 2, 2005

gsb - for myself - yes.
posted by adamvasco at 7:53 AM on November 2, 2005

/considers world's smallest violin, remembers he could never find a small enough tuner
posted by yerfatma at 7:57 AM on November 2, 2005

gsb - you mean there's another way?
posted by grateful at 7:59 AM on November 2, 2005

eustacescrubb writes "you know most waiters make like $2 an hour, right?"

This is pretty regional, around here they make at least the minimum wage that everyone else does.
posted by Mitheral at 8:24 AM on November 2, 2005

reservoir dogs, kids.
posted by andrew cooke at 9:01 AM on November 2, 2005

chew? toby chew?
posted by shmegegge at 9:51 AM on November 2, 2005

To Insure Prompt Service
posted by hortense at 10:32 AM on November 2, 2005

To Insure Prompt Service—NOT!
posted by languagehat at 11:20 AM on November 2, 2005

Any supposed acronym—that is, first initials pronounced as a word—older than say, 1940, is not an acronym and is just a word. There are a huge number of folk etymologies utilizing the acronym form. They're all false.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:21 AM on November 2, 2005

Dammit, LH!
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:22 AM on November 2, 2005

and anyway, in my opinion, if this were true, it should be TEPS
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:22 AM on November 2, 2005

I almost accomplished this, getting only 6 comments, all of them saying "good post." I would rather have that then the train wrecks we see often.
posted by puke & cry at 11:52 AM on November 2, 2005

A sign at a local bar reminds me that "Tipping is not a city in China." I do not like this bar.
posted by horsewithnoname at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2005

I managed just two comments on this one. But if you want to score a perfect null, I hear it's still possible at MetaChat.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:36 PM on November 2, 2005

I also have an askme question that got no answers. That sucked.
posted by puke & cry at 1:09 PM on November 2, 2005

MetaFilter: the guidelines say "discussion etc, etc, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, discussion, etc"
posted by nthdegx at 5:12 AM on November 3, 2005

2005
May 1, 2005 - MLIS
February 25, 2005 - Gyan
February 2, 2005 - goatdog
January 4, 2005 - yossarian1
2004
October 14, 2004 - fluffycreature
September 15, 2004 - yoga
August 12, 2004 - ronsens
August 5, 2004 - Tlogmer
June 27, 2004 - thatwhichfalls
June 19, 2004 - stbalbach
May 28, 2004 - darsh
April 26, 2004 - signal
February 3, 2004 - NedKoppel
January 29, 2004 - hama7
January 28, 2004 - ascullion
January 12, 2004 - hairyeyeball
January 9, 2004 - Stuart_R
2003
December 20, 2003 - MrLint
December 2, 2003 - skylar
October 2, 2003 - Jos Bleau
September 24, 2003 - hairyeyeball
September 7, 2003 - chrid
August 15, 2003 - Eloquence
June 12, 2003 - humuhumu
June 5, 2003 - Stumpy McGee
June 2, 2003 - walrus
May 23, 2003 - Carlos Quevedo
April 4, 2003 - ericrolph
March 26, 2003 - hairyeyeball
February 5, 2003 - titboy
January 9, 2003 - SilentSalamander
2002
November 22, 2002 - blogenstock
July 9, 2002 - Su
June 20, 2002 - Su
June 18, 2002 - Happydaz
May 17, 2002 - Jongo
May 10, 2002 - Iberaband
May 9, 2002 - Leonard
April 29, 2002 - Frasermoo
April 14, 2002 - curiousg
April 1, 2002 - raaka
March 31, 2002 - AkulaIX
March 28, 2002 - Stretch
March 19, 2002 - dash_slot-
March 17, 2002 - Blake
March 12, 2002 - joeclark
February 21, 2002 - Arqa
February 17, 2002 - gsteff
February 9, 2002 - otherchaz
February 8, 2002 - verdezza
February 1, 2002 - eatdonuts
January 23, 2002 - Niahmas
January 18, 2002 - dan_of_brainlog
January 13, 2002 - headspace
January 12, 2002 - Postroad
January 12, 2002 - dejah420
2001
November 27, 2001 - mlinksva
November 23, 2001 - semmi
November 17, 2001 - dness2
October 13, 2001 - kliuless
October 9, 2001 - holycola
October 3, 2001 - semmi
October 2, 2001 - dayvin
September 26, 2001 - blackbeltjones
September 24, 2001 - joeclark
September 21, 2001 - semmi
September 20, 2001 - adrober
September 20, 2001 - 40 Watt
September 19, 2001 - Allen Varney
September 18, 2001 - Jart
September 18, 2001 - zerotype
September 18, 2001 - vbfg
September 17, 2001 - mw
September 15, 2001 - jackiemcghee
September 14, 2001 - amanda
September 14, 2001 - Mossy
September 14, 2001 - semmi
September 14, 2001 - feelinglistless
September 14, 2001 - moz
September 14, 2001 - silusGROK
September 13, 2001 - rich
September 13, 2001 - TNLNYC
September 12, 2001 - zedzebedia
September 12, 2001 - whoshotwho
September 12, 2001 - Steven Den Beste
September 12, 2001 - dagny
September 11, 2001 - kliuless
September 11, 2001 - ryanshepard
September 11, 2001 - darukaru
August 27, 2001 - Spirit_VW
August 5, 2001 - nonharmful
July 17, 2001 - joeclark
July 17, 2001 - joeclark
July 12, 2001 - msacheson
June 20, 2001 - lawtalkinguy
June 18, 2001 - monkeyboy
June 9, 2001 - JDC8
June 5, 2001 - machaus
May 29, 2001 - crunchland
May 29, 2001 - jjg
May 22, 2001 - plinth
May 21, 2001 - Erendadus
May 21, 2001 - bkdelong
May 18, 2001 - Zebulun
May 18, 2001 - sixdifferentways
May 16, 2001 - canoeguide
May 14, 2001 - dfowler
May 2, 2001 - skallas
April 27, 2001 - thunder
April 17, 2001 - Bootcut
April 12, 2001 - todd
April 12, 2001 - riley370
April 11, 2001 - frednorman
April 8, 2001 - the_ill_gino
April 3, 2001 - bison
March 31, 2001 - hit-or-miss
March 27, 2001 - dancu
March 26, 2001 - Markb
March 22, 2001 - netbros
March 22, 2001 - normy
March 21, 2001 - Postroad
March 21, 2001 - Postroad
March 20, 2001 - igloo
March 20, 2001 - bclark
March 20, 2001 - briank
March 18, 2001 - holloway
March 10, 2001 - stbalbach
March 7, 2001 - stevridie
March 6, 2001 - donkeysuck
March 5, 2001 - darren
March 5, 2001 - Postroad
March 4, 2001 - cfj
March 3, 2001 - holgate
March 2, 2001 - cfj
February 26, 2001 - freakytrigger
February 24, 2001 - asamee
February 23, 2001 - AkulaIX
February 20, 2001 - davidgentle
February 13, 2001 - dan_of_brainlog
February 9, 2001 - lagado
February 9, 2001 - owillis
February 9, 2001 - hijinx
February 9, 2001 - Foaf
February 4, 2001 - aflakete
January 30, 2001 - mrmorgan
January 30, 2001 - lizardboy
January 25, 2001 - aflakete
January 25, 2001 - aflakete
January 24, 2001 - JParker
January 23, 2001 - tomcosgrave
January 19, 2001 - jhiggy
January 18, 2001 - rschram
January 18, 2001 - bytecode
January 14, 2001 - stazen
January 13, 2001 - aflakete
January 12, 2001 - Steven Den Beste
January 12, 2001 - Princess Buttercup
January 11, 2001 - Foaf
January 10, 2001 - AkulaIX
January 10, 2001 - nedbatchelder
January 10, 2001 - Potsy
January 8, 2001 - Steven Den Beste
January 6, 2001 - Steven Den Beste
January 5, 2001 - plinth
January 2, 2001 - karenh
posted by tellurian at 9:32 PM on November 28, 2005 [1 favorite]