Most responses to a post ... ?

April 12, 2007 8:01 AM

I really started something yesterday, and it's got me curious - do we know what the greatest number of comments ever made on a MetaFilter topic is?
posted by jbickers to MetaFilter-Related at 8:01 AM (49 comments total)

Yeah, thread 1142 had thousands of comments before I shut it down.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:06 AM on April 12, 2007

Serious comments or joking?
posted by drezdn at 8:15 AM on April 12, 2007

And besides a few cult threads I'm fairly certain that the 9/11 thread was the next highest commented thread. There have also been a few MeTa threads that turned into wacky imagewars that got pretty long, but I can't remember any of them off the top of my head. Googling for longboat and metatalk will bring up a few of these.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:16 AM on April 12, 2007

Thread 9622, I think, is the champion.
posted by notsnot at 8:16 AM on April 12, 2007

I believe these are the statistics you are looking for.
posted by Partial Law at 8:17 AM on April 12, 2007

There's always the mushroom thread.
posted by drezdn at 8:17 AM on April 12, 2007

Hold this thread as I walk away.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:19 AM on April 12, 2007

1142: 1614
9622: 1729
posted by bru at 8:20 AM on April 12, 2007

Don't forget 56002. Ah, good times.
posted by crackingdes at 8:20 AM on April 12, 2007

Dammit, those waxy stats are out of date! The top dog is now Ted Haggard's resignation thread, at 1831 comments.
posted by cgc373 at 8:23 AM on April 12, 2007

Thank you, cgc373, for that tremendous non-sequitur.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:36 AM on April 12, 2007

Waxy Stats would be a great band name.
posted by jonmc at 8:46 AM on April 12, 2007

Yeah, I suppose the 9/11 post would be it - I'm more curious about the highest number of legitimate comments on a thread/question, not mad cut-n-paste antics.
posted by jbickers at 8:48 AM on April 12, 2007

The Haggard thread is basically on-topic throughout, jbickers. It's a weird monument, but it's a monument.

And wouldn't Waxy's Tats be a better name, jonmc?
posted by cgc373 at 8:50 AM on April 12, 2007

The Haggard thread is basically on-topic throughout, jbickers. It's a weird monument, but it's a monument.

Yeah, you're right. Somehow I missed that one.
posted by jbickers at 8:53 AM on April 12, 2007

spoonfed.net, incidently, is for sale.
posted by parmanparman at 9:00 AM on April 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

You made a post, like everyone else does. The topic, like most, was simply a catalyst creating a chain reaction of digressive missives fired off at random. Don't feel too proud.
posted by prostyle at 9:08 AM on April 12, 2007

all I know is I sincerely hope that the vonnegut thread is getting more comments than the fucking anna nicole one(s).
posted by shmegegge at 9:14 AM on April 12, 2007

prostyle: I authorize you to feel proud about the phrase "a chain reaction of digressive missives fired off at random." But not too proud.
posted by kosem at 9:14 AM on April 12, 2007

You made a post, like everyone else does. The topic, like most, was simply a catalyst creating a chain reaction of digressive missives fired off at random. Don't feel too proud.

You misjudge the purpose behind my asking ... not proud at all, just curious what kind(s) of topic(s) this crowd can stay interested in for a protracted period of time.
posted by jbickers at 9:19 AM on April 12, 2007

Yeah - not too proud. If the digressive missives were really fired off at random, then that wouldn't really be a chain reaction, would it?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:19 AM on April 12, 2007

and it's probably not terribly important to consciously play to the metaphorical bleachers

Yeah, I know, I'm exploring this from the standpoint of finding interesting stuff to read, not making popular posts.
posted by jbickers at 9:35 AM on April 12, 2007

digressive missives

At first glance I read this as "digestive missiles". My only thought was 'ewww, that can't be allowed under the Geneva Convention...'
posted by quin at 9:35 AM on April 12, 2007

I totally made out with Simile Suzie behind the metaphorical bleachers. It was like heaven, only without all the freaky winged babies playing harps.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:37 AM on April 12, 2007 [2 favorites]

At present, I think Martha Stewart's boyfriend is a digestive missile. Isn't he?
posted by cgc373 at 9:39 AM on April 12, 2007

Simile Suzie always does that at parties.
posted by yohko at 9:44 AM on April 12, 2007

Simile Suzie always does that at parties.

She's like a strong F2, possibly an F3.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:50 AM on April 12, 2007

Don't forget the simile.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:51 AM on April 12, 2007

"Many shitty posts get several hundred comments and the OP gets nothing but a debt to the universe for helping to make it a noisier place."

Some posters get only a handful of comments but do benefit by a new prescription. Are there any statistics correlatating Metafilter usage with pharmaceuticals' profits?
posted by davy at 10:12 AM on April 12, 2007

Contact your doctor if your "benefit" lasts longer than four hours.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:18 AM on April 12, 2007

MetaFilter can be used medicinally—print out a hard copy (unless, like me, you get the print edition delivered to your door daily), roll it up, and stick it up your butt! Then get someone you don't like to smoke it. Hilarious way to chase those blues away!

I recommend taking it out of your butt before lighting it, but do as you will.
posted by Mister_A at 11:16 AM on April 12, 2007

"...print out a hard copy (unless, like me, you get the print edition delivered to your door daily), roll it up, and stick it up your butt! Then get someone you don't like to smoke it."

Ah, ass candling.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:34 AM on April 12, 2007

Gets the ass wax out.
posted by klangklangston at 12:23 PM on April 12, 2007

AssWiki: Gets the ass wax out
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:28 PM on April 12, 2007

Extra points for linking to your own thread here in an effort to drive up traffic. Well played, sir.
posted by The God Complex at 12:28 PM on April 12, 2007

Ass candling is pernicious hippie nonsense, you have to use a giant q-tip or a rolled up copy of US News and World Report, just like your doctor told you. I bet you go to an ass chiropractor too, hippie weirdo.
posted by Divine_Wino at 12:45 PM on April 12, 2007

jbickers-

It was a good post with interesting current event context and background. I also note that it hasn't been touched on here in quite a while, so I suspect that had something to do with haveing so many on-topic comments.
posted by Pastabagel at 1:05 PM on April 12, 2007

Ass candling is pernicious hippie nonsense, you have to use a giant q-tip or a rolled up copy of US News and World Report ...

But never anything sharper than your elbow, so The Economist is right out!
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:21 PM on April 12, 2007

MetaFilter: Apply directly to ass.
posted by dw at 3:04 PM on April 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

Ted Haggard drinks processed milk?
posted by staggernation at 4:23 PM on April 12, 2007

The top dog is now Ted Haggard's resignation thread, at 1831 comments.

That makes me sad. What has happened to my ancient, noble village?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:07 PM on April 12, 2007

"Ted Haggard drinks processed milk?"

Is that what the kids are calling it?
posted by klangklangston at 5:21 PM on April 12, 2007

I'm more curious about the highest number of legitimate comments on a thread/question, not mad cut-n-paste antics. . . just curious what kind(s) of topic(s) this crowd can stay interested in for a protracted period of time.

The two longest conversation threads appear to be Haggard resignation thread [1831 comments] (working link), and Christian conservatives denounce birth control thread [1194 comments]. The topics are strongly related - religious nuts who want to control your nuts.
posted by dgaicun at 6:04 PM on April 12, 2007

Whoa. I had no idea I botched that link, and hence no idea what cortex was referring to with the non sequitur remark. Sorry for the bizarre milk business. Weird. Thanks for the redirect, dgaicun, and sorry for the slip-up. Links!
posted by cgc373 at 6:48 PM on April 12, 2007

N.B. Both those threads—51500 and 56002—also have peeping_Thomist's involvement in common.
posted by cgc373 at 6:51 PM on April 12, 2007

More than a 2 to 1 Favorite to comment ratio seems ideal

*snorts beer out nose*
posted by mediareport at 6:59 PM on April 12, 2007

peeping_Thomist

Eeeek, 194 comments in the Haggard thread. 402 comments out of 1194 in the birth control thread!

Perhaps that thread doesn't count.
posted by dgaicun at 8:41 PM on April 12, 2007

This thread is still but an infant in comparison to the Haggard and mushroom threads. And as far as I can tell, most of the traffic there is from 2 or 3 people.

Drop us a line in a month or so if it's still going.
posted by psmealey at 5:54 AM on April 13, 2007

I suspect that we might see the Virginia Tech Massacre thread take first place, as there is so much yet to be hashed out -- emotions, thoughts and opinions.
posted by ericb at 6:54 PM on April 19, 2007