Do Some Users Really Only Stick With ONE Subsite?

November 26, 2007 11:43 PM

I've often heard/read the anecdotes that "Only the die-hard Mefites look at MeTa" and "Most of the AskMe regulars don't venture into MeFi." Is this validated by actual user data and/or site hits? (I don't know if that's the right terminology to use). When I first came across Metafilter (2-3 years before I actually became a member) I immediately clicked on the other links at the top (AskMe and MetaTalk were the ones I remember being there when I first found the site). Do some users really only stick with one subsite or is that just a myth?
posted by amyms to MetaFilter-Related at 11:43 PM (136 comments total)

I'm only here for the flameouts.
posted by spiderwire at 11:50 PM on November 26, 2007

"Only the die-hard masochistic Mefites look at MeTa"

Fixed that for you, etc.
posted by Avenger at 11:56 PM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

I only go to MeFi if AskMe is terribly slow. I was traumatized by all the flameouts about poor FPPs when I joined and can't bring myself to attempt one. I go to Metatalk for the flameouts too. They're fun because no-one knows who I am and that means they can't pick on me.
posted by b33j at 11:57 PM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

amyms, please check your MetaMail.
I just happen to live fairly near the abducted mayor guy and didn't want anyone to think we're all that crazy.
posted by lilywing13 at 11:59 PM on November 26, 2007

Actually it's "Only die-hard MeTas look at MeFi or AskMe. " Especially the cloying love and "I-know-the-answer-to-that, thanks-for-asking-this-proves-I'm-smarter-and-more-caring than-you that is AskMe".
But I'm an assh**le.
Apologies in advance.
posted by vapidave at 12:03 AM on November 27, 2007

Ah, crap. I didn't respond to your comment very directly.

Personally, my usual order is MeTa, Mefi, and AskMe, but that's all purely personal. I balance that all out with a healthy dose of MetaChat.
posted by lilywing13 at 12:03 AM on November 27, 2007

Those with no tolerance for gags, puns, in-jokes, japery (yes, japery - the word has been used here before) and other offenses never read any part of MetaFilter, especially MeTa.
In the good old days, the abstainers included those who hated the img tag, the big tag, colored print etc.
Now we are lucky to have the small tag and my all-time favorite blink. (Hope blink still works.)
It is a matter of taste, but MetaFilter comes in many flavors. When this thread reaches the attention of cortex, he may put down his ever-present giant doughnut and search for actual usage comparisons.
posted by Cranberry at 12:06 AM on November 27, 2007

lilywing13, I read your MeMail reply, and yeah that doesn't have anything to do with this MeTa post, but thanks :) lol.
posted by amyms at 12:08 AM on November 27, 2007

Here are the usage stats for the ten askers at the top of AskMe right this second:

Phyltre
MeFi: 0 posts , 1 comment
MetaTalk: 0 posts , 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 15 questions , 42 answers
Music: 0 songs , no comments, no playlists
Projects: 0 posts
Jobs: 0 posts

aflores
Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA
Gender: Male
Joined: August 25, 2002
Contributions
MeFi: 1 post, 8 comments
MetaTalk: 0 posts , 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 1 question , 1 answer
Music: 0 songs , no comments, no playlists
Projects: 0 posts
Jobs: 0 posts

kanemano
MeFi: 0 posts RSS feed of posts by kanemano, 6 comments
MetaTalk: 0 posts , 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 6 questions , 89 answers
Music: 0 songs , no comments, no playlists
Projects: 0 posts
Jobs: 0 posts

913
MeFi: 0 posts , 0 comments
MetaTalk: 0 posts , 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 10 questions , 34 answers
Music: 0 songs , 1 comment, no playlists
Projects: 1 post
Jobs: 0 posts

DandyRandy
MeFi: 0 posts , 5 comments
MetaTalk: 0 posts, 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 13 questions , 137 answers
Music: 0 songs , no comments, no playlists
Projects: 0 posts
Jobs: 0 posts

verytres
MeFi: 0 posts , 0 comments
MetaTalk: 0 posts , 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 7 questions , 8 answers
Music: 0 songs , no comments, no playlists
Projects: 0 posts
Jobs: 0 posts

xz
MeFi: 0 posts , 3 comments
MetaTalk: 0 posts , 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 1 question , 10 answers
Music: 0 songs , no comments, no playlists
Projects: 0 posts
Jobs: 0 posts

daninnj
MeFi: 7 posts , 155 comments
MetaTalk: 1 post , 37 comments
Ask MeFi: 24 questions , 99 answers
Music: 0 songs , no comments, 1 playlist
Projects: 0 posts
Jobs: 0 posts

drinkspiller
MeFi: 0 posts , 0 comments
MetaTalk: 0 posts , 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 6 questions 28 answers
Music: 0 songs , no comments, no playlists
Projects: 0 posts
Jobs: 0 posts


Totally unscientific, to be sure, but this small sample seems to indicate that, with some exceptions, AskMe participants tend not to venture out to other MeFi areas.
posted by googly at 12:08 AM on November 27, 2007

googly, that doesn't even make any sense. You have aflores as the second-to-the-top person on AskMe, and she/he has only asked one question.
posted by amyms at 12:14 AM on November 27, 2007

oops, just looked at the gender: he*
posted by amyms at 12:16 AM on November 27, 2007

googly, that doesn't even make any sense

Not the "Top 10" but the ten at the top of the page.
posted by meech at 12:20 AM on November 27, 2007

meech said: Not the "Top 10" but the ten at the top of the page.

Ohh, you mean the ten most recent askers?... Thanks, but I still want to know if the anecdotes bear out with actual user data over time.
posted by amyms at 12:25 AM on November 27, 2007

But isn't that pretty much what that data is saying? Of this not so random sampling, a large chunk of them have never made a single comment or post on the grey or blue, so I'd say it is entirely within reason that there are a large number of users that stay on the green entirely.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:55 AM on November 27, 2007

amyms, that list isn't "anecdotal" - its a small random sample of actual user data on one of the subsites. The pertinent points are:

3/9 (I inadvertently omitted one) appear to use only AskMe and do not participate anywhere else.

Another 4/9 have a very small number of comments in MeFi to go along with their AskMe participation.

I looked through the rest of the front page of AskMe, and the trend seems to continue. A bigger sample size will tell you more, but I think this gives a bit of insight into patterns of AskMe use.
posted by googly at 12:57 AM on November 27, 2007

It seems like the least hardcore mefites are the askMe people, followed by people who never venture outside the green and the blue, followed by people who occasionally stumble into metatalk. Do you know who the most hardcore ones are?

We live in the black.
posted by tehloki at 1:02 AM on November 27, 2007

I get what you're saying, googly. Thanks.
posted by amyms at 1:06 AM on November 27, 2007

I should visit MefiMusic more often. Thanks for the reminder, tehloki.
posted by amyms at 1:09 AM on November 27, 2007

It took me quite a while to figure out what metatalk was all about. It's very 'in-crowd' and it takes a lot of time for an outsider to make sense of it. The purpose of it seems pretty clear on the surface, but inside most threads lies madness and unchecked sarcasm.

I check all three pages pretty much daily, but rarely contribute to metatalk as this still feels like an in-crowd area where most opinions by non-name members are ignored. This is after three years of stalking and two actually signed up.

Like someone said in a previous thread about this topic, of the three primary sites (filter, ask, talk), if pushed, I would only revisit askme. It's the least likely to raise my blood pressure and the rude asshole filter is set to high.
posted by slimepuppy at 1:26 AM on November 27, 2007

I asked a similar question about this in Sept 2006, and we got some neat usage pie charts. It doesn't answer the question though about whether people venture across borders so to speak. I also believe however that there is a morass of AskMe-ers who couldn't give a damn what happens elsewhere in the MeFiniverse.
posted by roofus at 1:28 AM on November 27, 2007

Oh man, roofus. A flashback to the internet past. Chuck norris jokes. The IMG TAG! EEEEEEEE
posted by tehloki at 1:31 AM on November 27, 2007

I gotta get back in black!

(I'll have to record that now when I do finally have the ability to record again)
posted by TwoWordReview at 1:32 AM on November 27, 2007

I definitely started by following the green more, but now I have 17 posts and more than 1200 comments in the blue. I think AskMe is the gateway drug for the rest of the site.
posted by grouse at 1:36 AM on November 27, 2007

Thanks for that, roofus!
posted by amyms at 1:38 AM on November 27, 2007

I joined MetaFilter because of the green, but now I spend a lot of my time on the site lurking in MetaTalk. I rarely comment in the gray because I feel that most of the time, someone else has said what I want to say, only much more eloquently. Actually, that's how I feel a lot of times over on the blue, too, so I rarely comment over there, either.
Actually my favorite place on the site now is the gray, if I may venture to admit this, because a lot of the people who spend time here seem to care a lot about the site and are vocal about it. Sometimes I just look here and nowhere else. Especially these past few days with the monster threads on sexism. So, although I don't speak up much, I do follow most of what goes on here. I wonder if there are others like me?
posted by misozaki at 2:36 AM on November 27, 2007 [6 favorites]

It's hard to tell just from where users are posting, too, because so many of us are lurkers.

AskMe is way less intimidating than the rest of the site. So while I don't hesitate to ask or answer in the green anymore, I read but am much less likely to post in the blue or the gray.
posted by rosethorn at 2:55 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

There are at least two of us, misozaki.
posted by prosthezis at 2:55 AM on November 27, 2007

I'd be curious to see how the actual traffic breaks down, assuming it's not a secret or anything.

I'm relatively certain there are a ton of lurkers in the grey who read the flameouts.
posted by generichuman at 3:33 AM on November 27, 2007 [2 favorites]

I used to spend a lot of time on Ask. Now, I almost never go there. It turned into a wasteland of relationship and other junk questions. They pushed the remaining interesting stuff off the front page so fast that it wasn't worth the effort any more.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:33 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I check AskMe and MeTa pretty religiously, even if I don't comment all the time. AskMe because that's how I started following MeFi at all, and MeTa for a daily dose of humour and flameout. I tend to only venture onto the blue if I'm really, really bored, and even then it's hard to find the type of FPP I like (one or two substantial links and *lots* of in-depth discussion)
posted by Phire at 4:08 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I know one anecdotal answer isn't the statistical breakdown you're looking for, amyms, but:

I read the blue and grey, roughly equally, BUT I read the grey first, so if I'm pressed for time, I don't get around to the blue. The green, on the other time, just goes too fast and has too many questions that I don't know the answers to to bother reading much. Instead, I just thought "what field do I actually know about?", and the answer was "japan", so I subscribed to the RSS feed for questions tagged with "japan". The other questions don't show up in my rss feed, so I never see them unless there's a MeTa explosion regarding one.

slimepuppy writes "I check all three pages pretty much daily, but rarely contribute to metatalk as this still feels like an in-crowd area where most opinions by non-name members are ignored. This is after three years of stalking and two actually signed up."

Slimepuppy:

Don't feel that way. I don't think it's the case, for two reasons: 1) opinions by everyone are ignored. It's not just a name-member thing. And, 2) I recognize your name, and I'm bad at names, so I'm sure that means other people do too. So you are a name member.
posted by Bugbread at 4:28 AM on November 27, 2007

I am here to agree with tehloki . It's a shame that people don't visit it more often, and I don0t really understand it. Music seems to be one of the things that people look for more often on the Internet, there is great music on the black, yet it is largely ignored by the people who use the other subsites. Go figure.
posted by micayetoca at 4:29 AM on November 27, 2007

Misozaki, make that 3. That's my pattern exactly.
posted by pearlybob at 4:56 AM on November 27, 2007

I read everything (except projects, jobs, travel and music). MetaFilter posts I often only read the FPP, click the links and not get to the comments unless I have something cogent to say, same with AskMe (I'll read them but not comment). Podcast, I never go to because it's announced in MetaTalk. I defy anyone to do more than that unless they're 'between jobs', the sheer volume doesn't allow it.
I remember when I first discovered MetaFilter (as a non-member), many years ago. I was able to read just about every MetaFilter post and comment, and every MetaTalk post and comment, and still have time to trawl through the archives. Those days are long gone.
posted by tellurian at 5:07 AM on November 27, 2007

Back when I lurked I'd stick mostly to the Blue and Gray and that's what I still do. The other subsites are great but they don't make me feel like a man when a flameout hits my vein, when I'm rushing to comment I feel just like jessamyn's son, and I guess I just don't know the real answer to your question, amyms. But yeah, when the snark begins to flow then I really don't care anymore. Ah, when the MeTa is in my blood and that blood is in my head then thank mathowie that I'm as good as dead, then thank your mod that I'm not aware and thank God that I just don't care and I guess I just dont know and I guess I just dont know.
posted by Kattullus at 5:10 AM on November 27, 2007 [4 favorites]

Blue and grey for me. Green is meh.
posted by netbros at 5:12 AM on November 27, 2007

For quite a while I lurked on AskMe, then I joined and only stayed on AskMe, then I eventually ventured out started reading ask and blue. I don't comment very often, because no matter how brilliant my opinion is, no one else seems to think as much...
posted by Autarky at 5:33 AM on November 27, 2007

I'm among those who post and read the green a lot but mainly lurk in the grey and blue.
posted by fallenposters at 5:38 AM on November 27, 2007

bugbread I hear what you are saying but I lurk in MeTa more often than would ever post here. I enjoy flameouts as much as anyone (when they are justified) but there is some rampant egotism (rarely justified) that is more prevalent on MeTa that wouldn't be welcome in AskMe nor in the blue. That said, I think that there is a lot of sense spoken here too and I appreciate the time and effort that some people put in when they make considered and thoughtful responses (the main reason I read it- apart from the cracking flameouts).

But I think it is treated like a private members club by some people and it does make quieter souls less likely to post on MeTa. Just like in a bar, I am sure many of the people who don't post on MeTa are actually more fun those who shout the loudest but we still drink here anyway.

That said, Mefi, AskMe and MeTa are still my favourite sites on the internet by a country mile.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 5:41 AM on November 27, 2007

MetaTalk is the land of high adventure. Rewards and risks are greater and more personal. Other areas are useful for practicing your skills and earning goodwill.
posted by Free word order! at 5:47 AM on November 27, 2007

I started lurking Mefi back when signups were still closed and it was still just the blue and the grey and I always made sure to visit Metatalk because it was an excellent way to get to know the posters a little better and to learn the ins and outs of Metafilter etiquette. I got hooked on both. (I also spent a good deal of time mindlessly punching the "New Signups" link like a monkey on the offchance it might magically work.)

They're still my favorite sections of the site, although I visit AskMe quite often now.
posted by LeeJay at 6:00 AM on November 27, 2007

MetaTalk: inside most threads lies madness and unchecked sarcasm
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:17 AM on November 27, 2007

But I'm an assh**le.

Yeah I was meaning to MeMail you, I removed that comment about someone fucking Paris Hilton with your dick. HTH HAND.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:43 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I just have more to say in the Green. But I read the three main ones pretty much equally.
posted by gaspode at 6:50 AM on November 27, 2007

I've found my usage pattern has changed a lot since I switched to reading the site via RSS.

I used to start on the blue and read the posts, click in and read the comments on the ones that interested me, maybe leave a comment, etc. Then I'd do the same for the green, probably clicking into a few more posts because of 'more inside' and commenting on a few more because I have the female equivalent of male answer syndrome. Then I'd read the grey, which is secretly my favorite part of the site.

Now that I've switched to RSS, I'm much less likely to comment on a post in the blue, or even read the comments, because there isn't that nice yellow '27 comments, 12 unread' sitting there taunting me.

I'm less likely to click through and read the comments on an AskMe question, as well, unless it is specifically very interesting to me, or I have an answer, because in RSS the more insides are outside.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:04 AM on November 27, 2007

I hate those AskMe dicks.
posted by Mister_A at 7:06 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Man, you wouldn't believe how much of this dang site I read.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:13 AM on November 27, 2007

I started out reading only AskMe, because that's all I had time for, and I barely had time for work or personal life because of all the questions. I couldn't understand why all my answers ("I don't know", "beats me, but I'll ask my mom", "that's a really personal question, and I don't even know you!" etc.) kept getting deleted, until I realized they're not actually asking Me. How embarassing! But I bet that happens to a lot of people, which is why you don't see a lot of participation in MeTa, because what the hell is that, some kind of caveman talk?
posted by Koko at 7:16 AM on November 27, 2007 [2 favorites]

Jesus, I was going to admit to also being a happy little camper in the green side but being way too timid to post either here or that other place. But I changed my mind because you people are just way too fucking scary.
posted by worker_bee at 7:43 AM on November 27, 2007

I have read MeFi for a long time, but finally joined for AskMe. I got sick of only being able to shout my answers at the screen.

I read MeTa when I've run out of content on the main page and AskMe. It's kind of a guilty pleasure: there's an occasional nugget of gold here, but most of the posts are just outright PAINFUL.

I guess I'm one of "those people" because while I read just about every post and most of the comment threads on all the main sites, my so-called contributions are just about all on AskMe.
posted by steveminutillo at 8:03 AM on November 27, 2007

I don't have any hard data on actual pageviews of each site, but according to my adsense stats (which is just non-logged in users), total traffic follows this pattern:

60%: Ask MeFi
30% MeFi
7%: MetaTalk
3%: Music, Projects, Jobs

Ask MeFi is getting about 2x the traffic of MeFi now, according to those stats.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:24 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

AskMe has primarily been valuable for teaching me about prejudices I didn't know I had.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:28 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I hardly ever click to the blue, but check here and askme daily.
posted by Pants! at 8:29 AM on November 27, 2007

Ask MeFi is getting about 2x the traffic of MeFi now, according to those stats.

hotfuckingshit.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:30 AM on November 27, 2007

I would think actual traffic would skew a little more to MeTa, then, under the assumption that people who aren't registered also don't bother to read MeTa.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:37 AM on November 27, 2007

I've created a swivel dataset for some user data that I'm currently in the process of generating. I haven't had a chance to look through all of the interesting graphs, yet, and the fact that it only applies for users up through about 17k, it's very MeFi-heavy (right now it shows the average user's contributions are 79.8% blue, 5.4% grey, 14.7% green, which I don't think is currently accurate).

I'll update that dataset when I have all of the data.
posted by Plutor at 8:37 AM on November 27, 2007 [2 favorites]

I visit AskMefi, MeTa and MeFi, in that order.

I read AskMefi because I love learning new things, MeTa because it's interesting to read people complaining about everything and MeFi... because I'm bored at the time.

I tend to post very little because I feel that the Metafilter 'crowd' is a closely knit group and the necessary effort to fit in is greater that my current interest on it.
posted by Memo at 8:43 AM on November 27, 2007

I expect the adsense data skew heavily away from metatalk if they only reflect "non-logged in users" (i.e., mostly, non-members), especially considering how prominently askmefi features in google queries these days. It's scary how often it is in the top 5 of a google query.

I probably look at these three parts of the site equally, more or less.
posted by Rumple at 8:47 AM on November 27, 2007

I read almost everything in Metatalk because it's usually possible to do so, and it's a way to keep my finger on the pulse of the site. When I have time, I read the blue, but it's not very often. I glance at AskMe about once every two weeks.
posted by Kwine at 8:47 AM on November 27, 2007

Here's a neat tidbit: Users who spend most of their time on the blue are far more likely to have a lot of contributions when compared to those who spend most of their time on the green.
posted by Plutor at 8:47 AM on November 27, 2007

I think that's normal, Plutor. You can't post things like 'all your wives are belong to me' on the green and have your comment survive.
posted by Memo at 8:55 AM on November 27, 2007

I read the Big 3 but post mostly on the Green because that's where I feel I have something to add (although in real life I'm a card-carrying member of the Snark Battalion, somehow when I know I'm leaving a permanent record courtesy of Google, I'm a lot less funny). But I love MeTa for the occasional gem of a flameout and the Blue is my brain food. However, I have a hard time finding anything good enough to post on the Blue, so I'm afraid I take a lot more than I give there. Sigh ...
posted by Quietgal at 8:57 AM on November 27, 2007

Yeah I was meaning to MeMail you, I removed that comment about someone fucking Paris Hilton with your dick. HTH HAND.

Holy shit, I don't want to derail the thread or anything, but can we please derail the thread to talk about this comment? What was the context, and the actual comment, and was it at least funny? also, what does HTH HAND mean? I though HTH was Hope This Helps. HAND is boggling me.
posted by shmegegge at 9:05 AM on November 27, 2007

FIIK. Have a nice day, though.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:06 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I think we should implement some sort of affirmative action, for every 10 visits to Ask.Metafilter.com, the user should be redirected to MetaTalk.Metafilter.com, and so on. We could spend the next few months debating appropriate ratios for all the subsites.
posted by blue_beetle at 9:06 AM on November 27, 2007

have a nice day?
posted by Rumple at 9:06 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Have a nice day!
posted by grouse at 9:10 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

HYONDFW.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:14 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I used to read every MeFi post and often the comments. Then I'd read every MeTa post and comment. Now that there are so many, I only skim the MeFi posts and rarely, if ever, read the comments unless someone links to one in MetaTalk. I read Ask Me every day and try to look at at least every post, if not the comments. I would say I spend the most time reading AskMe then MeTa then MeFi. I rarely read jobs, travel or music and since I'm on dialup at home, and can't listen to the podcasts at work, sadly, I rarely hear them. However, I made an exception for the ColdChef podcast, which was fascinating.
posted by Lynsey at 9:24 AM on November 27, 2007

I go to Meta because its like the Wild West. I'm so mean I once flamed a man just for typing that he snored too loud.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:30 AM on November 27, 2007

Do some users really only stick with one subsite

Two for me, MeTa and Ask. Once in a blue moon I'll check out Projects. But what about MeFi Proper, you ask? Yeah, I'll be brave and say it - I don't like the Blue one bit.
posted by goml at 9:31 AM on November 27, 2007

My home base is MetaTalk. I'll browse AskMe if MetaTalk is boring. I usually only go to Mefi if I'm really bored or if I wanted to check out a thread mentioned in the grey.
posted by timeistight at 9:34 AM on November 27, 2007

The problem with this discussion is that it's self-selecting -- you probably won't see anyone saying "I hardly ever read MeTa" in MeTa.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:36 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Ask MeFi is getting about 2x the traffic of MeFi now

That explains why it feels so different around here lately. It IS different.
posted by yhbc at 9:40 AM on November 27, 2007

I should visit MefiMusic more often.

You really should.

You should also listen to the completely unofficial podcast. And there's videos on the blog!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:10 AM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't read the site. I just randomly drop into threads and post crap.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:15 AM on November 27, 2007

I used to read the blue. That was back when I had virgin brains. Then I began to do a little skinpop of green now and then, you know, just for a boost, nothing to get freaked over. Now I mainline the graaaaay awyeah.
posted by Don Pepino at 10:24 AM on November 27, 2007

I visit MetaTalk mostly, which I guess is kind of weird since I comment so infrequently. Maybe I'm just a policies and procedures nerd.

Someone should make one of those Cosmo-esque quizzes: What Your Favorite MeFi Subsite Says About You.
posted by bluishorange at 10:37 AM on November 27, 2007

I hit MeTa first, then spend most of the day jumping around in MeFi, and if I get bored I'll drop into AskMe.

I used to spend a lot more time on the green, until I had an epiphany and realized that I don't actually know anything, and no one with any common sense should ever follow any advice that I give them.
posted by quin at 11:27 AM on November 27, 2007

You should also listen to the completely unofficial podcast. And there's videos on the blog!
posted by Alvy Ampersand

Alvy, you are my hero. If someone appoints me as a Pope I'll make you a saint.
posted by micayetoca at 11:51 AM on November 27, 2007

I was just crafting this very question for here. Wow. OK, off to read the answer(s).
posted by Stewriffic at 12:14 PM on November 27, 2007

under the assumption that people who aren't registered also don't bother to read MeTa.

I began reading AskMe and after a few "take it to MeTa"s I became addicted on the stuff. I was kind of amazed to see there were links in the blue. I probably wouldn't have joined for a long time (I thought you had to register a cc with paypal) if not for MeTa and the love-hate relationships between the members. I'm bummed about quonsar.

What was the context, and the actual comment, and was it at least funny?
Nah. Flagged as noise.
posted by ersatz at 2:06 PM on November 27, 2007

Lynsey - my soul sister!
posted by tellurian at 2:23 PM on November 27, 2007

*blows kisses to tellurian!*
posted by Lynsey at 2:35 PM on November 27, 2007

count me in as another misozaki-like lurker, just here for the humanity of it all. i've been reading the green and the gray for months now, just registered recently, and am only just beginning to read the blue regularly.
posted by dizziest at 2:39 PM on November 27, 2007

As a lurker I started out on the Green, but I actually signed up for the Gray (the mushroom thread!).

Nowadays, every visit goes like this: read the Gray, along with any posts linked there, check the Green as far back as the last time I was there, skim the Blue. I check out Music every third or fourth day, and I check out Jobs/Projects maybe once every week or two.
posted by SassHat at 2:52 PM on November 27, 2007

I read them all, comment on all, and if I only knew how to insert a link on the blue, I'd be singin'. I have checked the FAQ, done a search, and still can't figure it out. Probably just as well...I have a touch of low self-esteem...
posted by wafaa at 2:53 PM on November 27, 2007

wafaa writes "I read them all, comment on all, and if I only knew how to insert a link on the blue, I'd be singin'. I have checked the FAQ, done a search, and still can't figure it out."

Here's how:

For example, to make a link to Metafilter:

This is a link to <a href="http://www.metafilter.com">Metafilter!</a>

To make a link to google:

<a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>

To make a link to the Wikipedia page about Metafilter:

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metafilter">Wikipedia article about Metafilter</a>

I think you get the idea.
posted by Bugbread at 3:44 PM on November 27, 2007

GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! HULK SMASH!!!!!!! METAFILTER MANGLE COMMENT!!!!!

Ok, wherever you see 60;, replace that with <>
(You know what? It's harder to write a comment describing how to make links than to actually make links)
posted by Bugbread at 3:45 PM on November 27, 2007

Ok, Matt, WTF? Is there any way to actually write this?

Waafaa: Ignore the comment right above this. Replace 60; with the less-than sign. MeFi won't let me type it, so I have to describe it.
posted by Bugbread at 3:47 PM on November 27, 2007

I'm probably an outlier, but 70% of my time is in Metatalk, the rest in the blue and green. Only occasionally visit the rest, though I've been meaning to check out Music more, and if Travel ever got finished, I'd probably spend time there, too.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:52 PM on November 27, 2007

I'm a "misozaki-like lurker" too. I usually start here to take the pulse of what's going on today, even though I never really contribute. Then I read Ask and make comments if I have anything to say. If I have time I check the front page, or at least the sidebar.
posted by gemmy at 4:01 PM on November 27, 2007

bugbread, is it really that involved? I was looking for a "duh" response--like ok, copy, paste, hit this button. I can't grasp what the "link" button is for, or am I a total dumbass? (rhetorically, of course)
posted by wafaa at 4:18 PM on November 27, 2007

<a href="http://www.google.com/">Google</a> for a link to Google is not involved.
posted by grouse at 4:24 PM on November 27, 2007

bugbread: the way to write it is to never hit the preview button, only post. Preview destroys HTML entities.
posted by grouse at 4:25 PM on November 27, 2007

bugbread, I fixed your initial example. I can't decide if fixing your broken reactions to the broken example would make anything clearer or just more confusing, so I'm leaving 'em.

Use &lt; to render <, and don't hit Preview before Post.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:28 PM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

OK, I get it. There is no duh answer. Carry on. Thanks anyway. NOT.
posted by wafaa at 4:39 PM on November 27, 2007

I'm with Stav. 80% gray, 10% blue, 10% green. I've been lurking for a very long time. Reading MeTa is sort of like watching Cheers, just less inane and contrived.
posted by SteveTheRed at 4:50 PM on November 27, 2007

I was driving through the misty rain
Searchin' for a mystery train
Boppin' through the wild blue
Tryin' to make a connection to you

wafaa, the link button is the way to go.

1) Copy the URL you wish link to.

2) Hit link button. (A small box appears)

3) Paste URL in box.

4) Accept and HTML magic happens.

Sing away.
posted by phoque at 4:53 PM on November 27, 2007

Why I love the green:

I love answering as well as asking; heck, I'm a librarian.

I learn more from it.

I already know about Richard Thompson, thanks.

Blue is still too harsh and in-jokey for me; I have only been here a year or so as a regular reader, so the context is often lost on me (was that rape joke supposed to be ironic? I don't know because I don't know the poster.) So the return on investment is poor.

Green is often good reading on human life.

***

Aside: as I read these comments, I imagine the posters in striped t-shirts which look like flags, bands of color: blue, green, gray, in the proportion they feel best.

I also think there should be an orange just for jessamyn.
posted by Riverine at 4:55 PM on November 27, 2007

phoque, thanks. Now, was that so hard? sheesh...
posted by wafaa at 5:00 PM on November 27, 2007

As I understand, Riverine, she actually just parades around in a dog suit and a cravat most of the time. Beats the hell out of me.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:02 PM on November 27, 2007

Now, was that so hard? sheesh...

It was hard enough for you not to be able to figure it out. And then to be rude to people who were trying to provide an alternative method which always works (the link button sometimes doesn't).
posted by grouse at 5:06 PM on November 27, 2007

I subscribe to the MeTa RSS feed - I guess that's the one don't-miss part of the site for me. I used to get the AskMe RSS, but it's too damn prolific and overwhelmed me. So, I just visit AskMe when I have a chance - probably a couple times a day. MeFi is only for when I've run out of other internet content and don't want to get back to work.
posted by misskaz at 5:17 PM on November 27, 2007

grouse, i figured it out after I read phoque's post. I'm not savvy in HTML, unfortunately. I wasn't rude, at least by MeTa standards. I asked a simple question and I returned hoping to get that simple answer and all I read was alot of freaking symbols that I will never understand. Of course I'm exaggerating, but it was turning out to be "ignore wafaa's post and tell each other what it's all about", and ok, yes it was hard enough for me not to be able to figure it out. All you or anyone else had to say was the link button sometimes doesn't (work).
posted by wafaa at 5:47 PM on November 27, 2007

I have been around here a long time - well before AskMe - but have primarily been a lurker, due to the fact someone before me usually said it better and wittier than I could have ever done. When the floodgates opened, I simply couldn't maintain reading everything and what with real life and all, I kind of dropped out of the mefi world. I eased back in this year, but using an rss reader and as of now, can only really maintain just the metatalk feed, as the others just grow too quickly. I do check in on the others, but not as much as I did when it was easy to read a days worth of posts in a reasonable amount of time.
posted by thatothrgirl at 6:17 PM on November 27, 2007

grouse writes "bugbread: the way to write it is to never hit the preview button, only post. Preview destroys HTML entities."

I know that, but here's the funky thing: I didn't hit preview. I never hit preview, I just use the Live Preview. And I know it wasn't one of those "I thought I hit Post Comment, but I really hit Preview" things, because that takes two steps to do, and I only did one step. And because after it borked the first time, I took extra special care to do it right the second time.

But, here, let me test again:

60;This is a test>
posted by Bugbread at 6:24 PM on November 27, 2007

Yeah. That was definitely "Post Comment", not "Preview".

Perhaps I should have used lt?

Let's see:

<This is a test>
posted by Bugbread at 6:25 PM on November 27, 2007

Dude. Don't use &#60;.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:32 PM on November 27, 2007

wafaa writes "I wasn't rude, at least by MeTa standards."

wafaa writes "Thanks anyway. NOT...Now, was that so hard? sheesh...all I read was alot of freaking symbols that I will never understand. Of course I'm exaggerating, but it was turning out to be 'ignore wafaa's post and tell each other what it's all about', and ok, yes it was hard enough for me not to be able to figure it out."

You call that "not-rude"? What the fuck is your problem? I was only trying to help. Do you always shit on people who try to help if their attempts aren't good enough for you? If so, I expect a fucking cheque.

Here, let me try to help again, in case you ever go somewhere where there is no link button. I'm going to be condescending but thorough, so hopefully even with all the freaking symbols, you'll get the idea:

A link to google.com:
<a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>
A link to yahoo.com:
<a href="http://www.yahoo.com">Yahoo</a>
A link to metafilter.com:
<a href="http://www.metafilter.com">metafilter</a>
A link to youtube.com
<a href="http://www.youtube.com">Youtube</a>
A link to facebook.com
<a href="http://www.facebook.com">Facebook</a>
A link to myspace.com
<a href="http://www.myspace.com">myspace</a>
A link to microsoft.com
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com">Microsoft</a>
A link to dictionary.com
<a href="http://www.dictionary.com">Dictionary</a>
A link to sony.com
<a href="http://www.sony.com">Sony</a>
A link to nintendo.com
<a href="http://www.nintendo.com">Nintendo</a>

Now, hopefully, with that many examples, you'll understand, and I'll be able to say "Now, was that so hard? sheesh..." It doesn't matter what the freaking symbols are, and it doesn't matter that you'll never understand them. Just replace the relevant part.
posted by Bugbread at 6:37 PM on November 27, 2007 [2 favorites]

I started off slow; it was innocent. A bit of the blue, just on weekends, when friends were passing it around. Then, sometimes, the days were dragging, and I'd pop over for a for minutes of the grey. Nothing serious, you understand, just enough to get me through till the evening. After a while I noticed I was feeling twitchy, wondering what I should name the corpse that was slowly decomposing in my basement, and whether I should make it a mix tape of some kind, and how it felt about linux, and I'd find myself scanning AskMe without even noticing. Fast forward a few months and I'm squatting in a back alley, pleasuring hobos in exchange for MeTa lurking time. You, all right? I learned it by watching you. *

*I just lurk on all three sites. I'm only even posting this now because I'm drunk.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 6:39 PM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Most of the time, I read the blue and skim the green but seldom post anywhere.

The one exception is when I'm procrastinating, in which case I hop into whatever fray is currently happening in the grey and throw popcorn at the participants until I'm physically ejected.

[oops, here they come. Bye now!]
posted by tkolar at 6:44 PM on November 27, 2007

(wafaa: I think bugbread was trying to give you the more internet-insider answer, as a gesture of respect, at first. The benefit is that that way of making a link will work anywhere, even where there is no button-shortcut.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:36 PM on November 27, 2007

When i first started reading MetaFilter, MetaTalk confused me, so I didn't read it much. Now, I feel like an old timer, and I read & comment in MetaTalk all the time, but I'm no less confused for the most part.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:05 PM on November 27, 2007

wafaa: If you copy/paste bugbread's comment above it comes out the other end (after you hit post) looking like this:

A link to google.com:
Google
A link to yahoo.com:
Yahoo
A link to metafilter.com:
metafilter
A link to youtube.com
Youtube
A link to facebook.com
Facebook
A link to myspace.com
myspace
A link to microsoft.com
Microsoft
A link to dictionary.com
Dictionary
A link to sony.com
Sony
A link to nintendo.com
Nintendo

You'll notice that the symbols and jibber-jabber disappear, and all you're left with is a neat link! Here's another hint, just an added optional step for phoque's Magic Link button tutorial:
1) Copy the URL you wish link to.

2) a. Highlight the text you wish to be linked.
   b. Hit link button. (A small box appears)

3) Paste URL in box.

4) Accept and HTML magic happens.

Then, when you're done, the HTML magic happens all over the word you highlighted.

Now, because I think you might be talking about posting a link to MetaFilter (The Blue) when you threaten to 'sing', you can always use the form provided to make a link. In the box marked Link URL copy/paste the URL you wish to link to. Then put the words you wish to become the linked text into the box marked Link Text. Then you can write a paragraph (or a sentence, or nothing) in the Description, but if you do remember to put a space at the beginning or it'll come out all rammed up against your link.

Finally, you really should take 20 minutes and learn basic HTML. There's a super-short tutorial and a list of MeFi's allowed tags (doesn't mention <blink> though) over at the FAQ, but basic tutorials with examples and test problems are readily available on the wide web and worth your while.

Oh, as for my usage, fuck metafilter; I read plastic.com.
posted by carsonb at 9:40 PM on November 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

Um, since we've sort of moved on towards the topic of basic HTML, could somebody please give me a brief lecture on how to make those yellow pop-up text boxes when you mouse over a link? Or is that something else entirely? I promise not to be rude...
posted by misozaki at 11:52 PM on November 27, 2007

timeistight: "My home base is MetaTalk. I'll browse AskMe if MetaTalk is boring. I usually only go to Mefi if I'm really bored or if I wanted to check out a thread mentioned in the grey."
Yup, me too. I only seem to have x amount of time for browsing the MeFiVerse and MetaChat now takes up a fair bit of that, so something had to go. I browse AskMe in my lunchhour if I have one, but the grey is where I make my home. I'm not sure if it is really because I am mainly interested in the community interaction or because I like to hang around arseholes because they make me look nicer.

I do scroll through the main page of MeFi most days to see if anything jumps out at me, but there is rarely anything that does these days.
posted by dg at 12:34 AM on November 28, 2007

mizozaki - add title ="blah fucking blah" like this:

<a href="http://www.google.com" title ="blah fucking blah">Google</a>

See:
Google
posted by dg at 12:38 AM on November 28, 2007

Great! Thanks, dg!
posted by misozaki at 12:46 AM on November 28, 2007

Huh. I'm mostly on the blue. I almost never go to the green or the gray, unless I have a specific question or problem. This is a rare exception.

I guess I can understand the fascination of AskMe, but MetaTalk? Why? Are people really that fascinated by procedural discussions about website management? I'm asking that in all honesty - I seriously don't get it.

(And yes, I know that the most spectacular flameouts occur here, but do those really occur often enough to merit daily checking?)
posted by kyrademon at 2:33 AM on November 28, 2007

I guess I can understand the fascination of AskMe, but MetaTalk? Why?

There's fewer rules here. It's kind of a sandbox. There's license to be punny, flippant, snarky, riffy, off-topic, etc. and so threads tend to be more enjoyable.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:50 AM on November 28, 2007

kyrademon: "MetaTalk? Why? Are people really that fascinated by procedural discussions about website management? I'm asking that in all honesty - I seriously don't get it."
Well, yes, I am. Plus, as noted above, I really am interested in the meta-ness of MeTa - it's about the seamy underbelly of the whole place, where all the pipes and gears are and where you can see all the window-dressing for what it really is - a false front made of lath and canvas.

MeTa seems to have evolved (devolved, perhaps) from a place that was all business all the time to somewhere people who care about the how and the why hang out, mostly to talk about these things but, after the business is done, to play around.

I would be interested to know what kind of jobs the people who frequent MeTa above other areas of the site do - I bet there would be some similarities, because it takes a certain kind of fool to want to hang here, I guess. Me, I work in quality system auditing, so the link there is obvious.
posted by dg at 3:44 AM on November 28, 2007

but MetaTalk? Why?
After commenting that I'm a lurker, I seem to be blabbering away in this thread, but...

English is technically a second language for me, and I'm a Japanese person living in Japan IRL. I can speak and write English to some extent, but don't have any English-speaking friends living nearby, so the internet is basically the sole source of English-language communication for me. Someone mentioned this in another thread recently, but for me, MetaTalk is like a bar or a cafe where I can drop by and find people who are better at expressing themselves than I am and eavesdrop on them discussing everything from how to paint the walls (default theme or plain?!) to how to build a new room (where's the Travel section?!) to how to better furnish the place (where's my pony, dammit?!) to wondering what happened to a regular who's decided to leave the place for good (EB! quonsar!). And there are always those disagreements and arguments and brawls popping up everywhere, which I don't want to be directly involved in but are always interesting to watch. I know that I don't really know anybody here, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I do appreciate the discourse that goes on here (snark and all) and it's rarely boring.
posted by misozaki at 4:02 AM on November 28, 2007 [4 favorites]

Thank you, bugbread. It's not condescending to me to get detailed examples because I totally didn't get it, and I was frustrated. I'm sorry for being a jerk--I didn't mean to come across that way, I guess my sarcasm doesn't deliver well in writing. I have a lot to learn. With your thorough examples I'm getting there.

Now, because I think you might be talking about posting a link to MetaFilter (The Blue) when you threaten to 'sing'

carsonb: Yes! that's what I wanted to learn. My statement surely didn't reflect that, unfortunately. Thanks for the suggestions. I will try to practice this (but not here!) That was a joke, by the way.

There's fewer rules here. It's kind of a sandbox. There's license to be punny, flippant, snarky, riffy, off-topic, etc. and so threads tend to be more enjoyable.

And I guess I took it too far. Sorry, all. And thanks for your help. I and my new bag of freaking symbols will be shuffling away now.
posted by wafaa at 4:02 AM on November 28, 2007

Wafaa,

Thanks for the apology. I'm sorry I went off the handle up there above, too.
posted by Bugbread at 4:32 AM on November 28, 2007

(And yes, I know that the most spectacular flameouts occur here, but do those really occur often enough to merit daily checking?)

Oh, absolutely.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:23 AM on November 28, 2007

I've uploaded a new swivel set. It's complete, as of yesterday around 6pm, and a couple of parsing bugs have been fixed. And I added columns for user links.
posted by Plutor at 6:41 AM on November 28, 2007

I can speak and write English to some extent

i.e. only moderately better than the native-speaker mods, misozaki. You dang bilingual folks make me jealous.

MetaTalk? Why? Are people really that fascinated by procedural discussions about website management? I'm asking that in all honesty - I seriously don't get it.

Well...yeah. It's fascinating seeing, as dg says, the metaness of it all. This is the place where things that happen on mefi get noted—so it's both interesting as a view into the whole site and a scattered, inconstant reflection of a thousand different personalized views of the site. No two Metafilters are the same, and I like seeing how one compares to the other.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:47 AM on November 28, 2007

More people link to Jessamyn than to any other user, including mathowie
More recently-joined users are clearly less likely to use the blue

Unfortunately, the scatter plots look like they're being aggregated by join date. For instance, the outlier on this graph isn't a user with an id of 16 million and 243k contributions, but rather the combined user_ids and contributions of all of the first-day five dollar newbs. In fact, the second outlier is second-day FDNs and the third one is one of the twenty-a-day signup days.
posted by Plutor at 6:56 AM on November 28, 2007

Hey, anonymous is no. 5 on the list. The recent activity must resemble a soap opera.
posted by ersatz at 8:28 AM on November 28, 2007

More people link to Jessamyn than to any other user, including mathowie

I've probably met more users than any other users, I suspect. I try to link to everyone I've met, and every librarian.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:41 AM on November 28, 2007

MetaTalk? Why? Are people really that fascinated by procedural discussions about website management? I'm asking that in all honesty - I seriously don't get it.

I enjoy the direct communication and snarkiness, but...

The internet is a passion of mine. I've been watching its social and technical development since before there WAS an internet.

Metafilter is an interesting step in on-line social development. Basically it is an attempt to move from the small-scale, everyone knows each other, lots of in-jokes chatty format (which started with BBSs, moved into Usenet, and has continued in a lot of web forums including right here in Metatalk) to a much larger, much more welcoming and inclusive community.

But there are a whole slew of problems that come with scaling up an online community. How to address them? Well, Metatalk is the place where that question gets discussed. A lot. Sometimes in never-ending threads, other times in quick dogpiles on the posters of bad ideas, but most commonly as a comment here and a comment there while sorting out the day to day website management issues.

Even better, after all the pontificating is done a promising idea is often turned into an experiment.

I guess what I'm saying is that for someone like me, procedural discussions about website management *are* fascinating. It is a fast growing area of human knowledge, and this is the cutting edge right here.
posted by tkolar at 9:33 AM on November 28, 2007 [2 favorites]

... this is the cutting edge right here.
Which explains all the blood on the floor.

I've created a swivel dataset for some user data that I'm currently in the process of generating ...
Oh, now that is cool! The fact that I can (and have) download the whole thing into a spreadsheet and play with it makes my shrivelled heart beat just a tiny bit faster.
posted by dg at 2:48 PM on November 28, 2007

I agree with the kinds of high-minded Name of Science reasons of tkolar et al above, but also: gossip. Come on. This is by far the gossipiest, chattiest part of the site. I think it's a total no-brainer that it would be irresistible once one has hung around enough to know a few of the characters.
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:01 PM on November 28, 2007

Average user_id by day joined. Beautiful.
posted by Plutor at 5:28 PM on November 28, 2007

newish user- just under a year.
i came for the green, and i stay for the green.
when i'm bored, i'll browse the blue.
occasionally, i lurk on the grey.
i have no idea what goes on in music, jobs, projects, or podcast. i hadda scroll up to even remember what those were.
posted by twistofrhyme at 10:15 AM on November 29, 2007