Gross violation of AskMe etiquette.

December 17, 2006 3:02 PM

Gross violation of AskMe etiquette.
posted by tkolar to Etiquette/Policy at 3:02 PM (64 comments total)

The reason for the callout is that I would like to see the user banned and the thread entirely deleted. Nuke this turd from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.
posted by tkolar at 3:02 PM on December 17, 2006

I say we hang, then we tattoo him, and then we kill him.
posted by jonmc at 3:06 PM on December 17, 2006

Ugh. Yeah, that's obnoxious.
posted by veggieboy at 3:06 PM on December 17, 2006

So if he never admitted to anything, everything would be a-okay, right?

Punish him for being stupid enough to ask a completely hypothetical question, and being even more stupid for honestly admitting as much. But don't delete the thread. A lot of people put a lot of effort into those answers. Like jessamyn said a couple days ago about the smoke rings thread, the only people you really punish by deleting the thread are those who commented and those who want to hear the responses. The offending party has already done the deed.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 3:10 PM on December 17, 2006

Here was her original comment. And I agree with her sentiment. There, and how it relates here.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 3:12 PM on December 17, 2006

So if he never admitted to anything, everything would be a-okay, right?

Yep, if we never knew that he committed, with forethought, a breach of trust with the community then we would not be having this callout.

I follow Jessamyn's reasoning with regards to punishment, but I would submit that leaving posts like this intact will result in more posts like this. After all, the true record of what is acceptable on metafilter is ... well, what gets accepted on metafilter.
posted by tkolar at 3:21 PM on December 17, 2006

It's Banhammer time. Go hammer.
posted by mattbucher at 3:21 PM on December 17, 2006

but I would submit that leaving posts like this intact will result in more posts like this. After all, the true record of what is acceptable on metafilter is ... well, what gets accepted on metafilter.

But the entire premise of the question was hypothetical. So surely you blame the admins for allowing such a question to get answered in the first place as you do the original poster for posting a hypothetical, right?
posted by SeizeTheDay at 3:23 PM on December 17, 2006

meh. I thought it was actually an interesting thread.
posted by delmoi at 3:23 PM on December 17, 2006

Aren't we all dancing around the real issue here? His posting history shows he sees nothing wrong with writing "anyways."

ANYWAYS!
posted by veggieboy at 3:26 PM on December 17, 2006

That question will probably get deleted, and rightly so, but it will be a shame if only because rkent's excellent answer to the question will be lost.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:26 PM on December 17, 2006

banned, and I'll close that thread with a note explaining why just so people don't stomp on his ass in that thread. I stand by what I said earlier though, if the thread weren't destined for straight-to-trainwreck, I'd like to try to leave it open.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:26 PM on December 17, 2006

What exactly was the lie? Wasn't the original question a hypothetical anyways?
posted by smackfu at 3:27 PM on December 17, 2006

Hmm, actually maybe Matt or Jessamyn could just remove his "ha ha, I'm an assclown" post and everything following it as a derail.
posted by tkolar at 3:27 PM on December 17, 2006

And does that mean jessamyn can ban people now?
posted by smackfu at 3:28 PM on December 17, 2006

I saw her list - you're on it!
posted by shoesfullofdust at 3:34 PM on December 17, 2006

I feel used.
posted by matty at 3:35 PM on December 17, 2006

I dunno. It's a little annoying to come back and say, "ha ha, I fooled you all."

But let's look at what the kid actually did. The difference is between:

"I have a plan about the future that I'm going to use to organize the next 10 years of my life. Tell me what's wrong with it."

and

"I have a hypothetical plan about the future that I'm thinking about maybe using to organize the next 10 years of my life. Tell me what's wrong with it."

The difference between these two questions isn't really enough to qualify as a crucifixion-worthy betrayal of the community. In fact, I think I'd probably answer each of these questions identically, under the supposition that when someone asks a) they're really asking b).
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:35 PM on December 17, 2006

But the entire premise of the question was hypothetical. So surely you blame the admins for allowing such a question to get answered in the first place as you do the original poster for posting a hypothetical, right?

Sure, but unlike most of the idio... er, individuals who spend their waking lives looking for inconsistent moderation so they can post yet another MetaTalk screed about how all that is wrong and unfair in the world is represented bodily by either Matt or Jessaymn or both, I prefer to reserve my ire for people who undermine the usefulness of AskMefi by peeing in the communal pool.

But hey, whatever floats your boat.
posted by tkolar at 3:36 PM on December 17, 2006

eh, I don't think he really lied - I think he was just embarrassed at how dumb his idea was, so he came back to say, "ha ha, just kidding, just wanted to see how you'd react - sorry for tricking you into thinking I was retarded, 'cause it turns out I'm actually not!"
posted by mdn at 3:39 PM on December 17, 2006

No, I think he is.
posted by bob sarabia at 3:40 PM on December 17, 2006

I agree with ikkyu2. Though he confessed to lying, he didn't really. Close the thread, slap 'im on the wrist and move on.
posted by wemayfreeze at 3:58 PM on December 17, 2006

No, I think he is.

Takes one to know one, eh?
posted by loquacious at 4:03 PM on December 17, 2006

Ah, a slap on the wrist is not adequate. Too much of this BS will lead to the erosion of Ask.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 4:07 PM on December 17, 2006

I say we hang, then we tattoo him, and then we kill him.

It's Banhammer time. Go hammer.

Ah, a slap on the wrist is not adequate.

I've got a bag of oranges, if that'll help.
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:15 PM on December 17, 2006

Ha, I'm with mdn.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:27 PM on December 17, 2006 [1 favorite]

Also, this is a 21 year old kid, and he's trying to figure out life balance issues, work, money, things like that. That's probably something worth encouraging. More people should think about these things.
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:51 PM on December 17, 2006

Yeah, he didn't lie in the question, just sorta in the follow-ups in which he said he had a plan in place, but that seemed more designed to get people to stop focusing on that aspect of his question and more on what he wanted help with. Which seems like pretty standard operating procedure when questions go slightly off-track.

I think he was more apologetic than he needed to be, which made it look like he committed a larger transgression than he actually did. As others have said, the original question was pretty hypothetical as it stood; the clarification doesn't change much.
posted by occhiblu at 4:55 PM on December 17, 2006

I think that not being able to gauge from the username "JokingClown" that this dude wasn't for serious is a sign of riding the short bus into the green.

Still though, if every whippersnapper with a half-baked idea of what to do with his life posted an outline on Ask and asked what was wrong with it, while giving the old-cranks a meaningful way to release pent up "get off my lawn" energy, worthwhile posts such as "What does vagina taste like?" would be lost in a sea of meaning.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:16 PM on December 17, 2006 [1 favorite]

He asked us to shoot holes in his plan, which reveals, rather openly and honestly, that he was less-than-certain about whether to proceed with the plan.

And he's supposed to be banned? That doesn't really make sense.

The following hypothetical is exactly analogous to what occurred in the thread in question, but brings the issues into sharper relief:

Question by JokingClown: "I'm planning to kill my friend. Please, Metafilter, shoot holes in my plan and tell me why I shouldn't do it."

Later, clarifying comment by JokingClown: "Okay, I'm sorry, I didn't really plan to kill my friend, but drew up several different courses of action pertaining to my friend, and killing him was one of those possible courses of action. Sorry to mislead everyone and waste everyone's time."

Metafilter dipshits: "Ban JokingClown! He abused our community, because he stated that he had definitely resolved to kill his friend and asked for us to dissuade him from that course of action, when, in fact, he had not in fact definitely resolved to do so, but was just considering it as one of several possible courses of action."
posted by jayder at 5:21 PM on December 17, 2006

If only Hitler with kidding this much with Mein Kampf.
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:25 PM on December 17, 2006 [1 favorite]

smackfu wrote...
What exactly was the lie?

Lies by JokingClown in AskMe thread 53207

"I intend to make 10 million dollars by the age of 31, in other words, 10 million in 10 years."

"I have an escape plan too:"

"I have a outline I am working on to achieve my goal."

"For those of you who pointed out I don't mention having a realistic linear plan, I do have one, and am continually working on it. But if I work to post the plan up here it would be too long, and I didn't think about linking it."
posted by tkolar at 5:30 PM on December 17, 2006

jayder wrote...
"Ban JokingClown! He abused our community, because he stated that he [X was definitely true], when, in fact, [X was definitely not true]."

Yeah, that about covers it.
posted by tkolar at 5:37 PM on December 17, 2006

Crap, that third "he" shouldn't be there.
posted by tkolar at 5:38 PM on December 17, 2006

Will we be banning quonsar? Because I sincerely doubt that there is a fish in his pants nearly as often as he says there is.
posted by Kwine at 5:50 PM on December 17, 2006

That's the best reason you can think of to ban quonsar?
posted by tkolar at 5:54 PM on December 17, 2006

quonsar has in fact been banned, IIRC. Maybe multiple times.

I'm pretty much with ikkyu2 on this one. The question was useful and really about gathering particular viewpoints, even if some specifics were fabricated.
posted by weston at 6:03 PM on December 17, 2006

First we stomp him. Then we tattoo him. Then we hang him. And then we kill him.

So if he never admitted to anything, everything would be a-okay, right?

No, it would still be fucked up, we just wouldn't know it.

That question was soooo poorly written I don't think it would even have baited me into a response (no offense to those who brought their generosity to the thread - I know that a lot of AskMe is rushing to the rescue of the retarded, I just don't always have the energy).

TEEHEE! I's gonna teach them "evil metafilters" a lesson.

What a dipshit.
posted by scarabic at 6:42 PM on December 17, 2006

quansar, have you in fact been banned? Do tell!!!
posted by The Deej at 7:15 PM on December 17, 2006

Glad you asked, The Deej! I once self-linked to a youtube video of me stuffing a pair of Dockers down the throat of a massive fucking tuna, but Matt and Jess were asleep at the wheel.
posted by quansar at 7:28 PM on December 17, 2006

"I intend to make 10 million dollars by the age of 31, in other words, 10 million in 10 years."

Is it a lie if no one actually believes it's true?
posted by smackfu at 7:31 PM on December 17, 2006

banned, and I'll close that thread

Banning him is a gross over-reaction, in my opinion. It wasn't nearly bad enough to warrant more than a closed thread and a slap on the wrist.
posted by The God Complex at 7:41 PM on December 17, 2006

O CRAP!!! I meant your other brother quonsar. But can I still see that video?
posted by The Deej at 8:10 PM on December 17, 2006

The word ban contains multitudes. I'll drop the guy an email and see if we can work something out.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:12 PM on December 17, 2006

Does Jessamyn contradict herself? Very well then, she contradicts herself.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:17 PM on December 17, 2006 [4 favorites]

smackfu writes...
Is it a lie if no one actually believes it's true?

I've often wondered the same thing while listening to political advertisements. An imponderable, I guess.
posted by tkolar at 8:31 PM on December 17, 2006

I'mjust happy to know my misspelling cost quonsar $5. Or was it..... quinsar????
posted by The Deej at 10:13 PM on December 17, 2006

Deej, it ain't necessarily q-Man hisself who blew five bucks on the quansar sockpuppet...it could be anyone. Yep, any idiot with five dollars could've been responsible for that terrible idea.
posted by Kwine at 11:47 PM on December 17, 2006

Heh, good one Astro Zombie. That Jessamyn, she large. (defs 6 & 7).
posted by mono blanco at 4:35 AM on December 18, 2006

Oh..... I get it!!!! You are saying I wasted $5!

Wait...
posted by The Deej at 5:59 AM on December 18, 2006

Will we be banning quonsar? Because I sincerely doubt that there is a fish in his pants nearly as often as he says there is.

Dollars to donuts, though, that "Dear AskMe: How do I get a fish out of my pants? xoxo quonsar" wouldn't live through the night.
posted by cortex at 6:24 AM on December 18, 2006

"How do I get a fish out of my pants?"

Tha's an easy one.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:08 AM on December 18, 2006 [2 favorites]

Followed by "How can I pee standing up with my new genital piercing?" and "Should I see a doctor about this?" at one two-week intervals.
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:29 AM on December 18, 2006

As someone who tried to help the guy, I feel kind of dirty and used.
Kind of like when you volunteer to help a psych student with their experiment and you spend 15 minutes waiting for them to get the equipment set up, and then you sit in front of a computer trying to recognize facial expressions for 20 minutes, but then later you find out that the whole experiment was really about how you acted in the waiting room.

I don't know if banning is the answer, but I'm certainly not going to give him any advice in the future.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 11:28 AM on December 18, 2006

“Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean.” Dag Hammarskjöld
posted by caddis at 12:35 PM on December 18, 2006 [1 favorite]

As someone who tried to help the guy, I feel kind of dirty and used.

I'm not nearly as upset by being "deceived" as I am by his silly insistence that being able to make 10 million in 10 years has nothing to do with luck. Heck, just avoiding disastrous illness or accident on a daily basis for 10 years has to do with luck, never mind earning money.
posted by juv3nal at 1:01 PM on December 18, 2006

If it wasn't for luck I would still be a virgin.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:15 PM on December 18, 2006

I feel out of a tree at just the right moment.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:26 PM on December 18, 2006

That's right. I feel out of a tree.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:27 PM on December 18, 2006

You got anything to add to this, Astro Zombie 3?
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:28 PM on December 18, 2006

MARRR.
posted by Astro Zombie 3 at 1:29 PM on December 18, 2006 [1 favorite]

I feel out of a tree at just the right moment.

It doesn't count as losing your virginity unless the tree feels out of you.
posted by juv3nal at 2:11 PM on December 18, 2006

Shit.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:36 PM on December 18, 2006

I continually fail to understand why I have not yet been banned. I've never even been called out, to my knowledge. Am I doing something gratuitously unoffensive, or am I just not replying enough?

In my favour I am drunk right this minute. WOOO. POWER TO THE SHEEPLE.
posted by Sparx at 1:44 AM on December 19, 2006