What are the most popular posts ever for metafilter? January 13, 2011 2:23 PM   Subscribe

What are the most popular posts ever for metafilter?

The one about Congresswoman Giffords is the first I've seen break 2k. The metatalk FAQ links to the most popular tags, most popular comments and to some popular posts, but not the most popular.

I'm just curious.

Also, could someone please link to that cool info-graphic that was posted recently describing all the different metafilter stats from 2010?

Cheers!
posted by fartknocker to MetaFilter-Related at 2:23 PM (70 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

If you go to the blue, look to the upper left corner, follow: HOME | FAQ | ABOUT | ARCHIVES |TAGS | POPULAR | RANDOM
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:26 PM on January 13, 2011


Infographic here.

I think the Palin selected as VP candidate may be the thread with most comments, i"m too lazy and gotta go can't look for it right now.
posted by marxchivist at 2:27 PM on January 13, 2011


Here's the Palin one, a nice round 5555 comments.
posted by marxchivist at 2:29 PM on January 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


The infodumpster lists these as the most commented on
posted by brainmouse at 2:29 PM on January 13, 2011


(note that it was last updated Dec 31)
posted by brainmouse at 2:30 PM on January 13, 2011


Note that the infodumpster comment counts may differ from the comment counts listed on actual threads because the former include deleted comments and the latter do not.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:30 PM on January 13, 2011


Note also that it's fun to start clarifying comments with "note that".
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:31 PM on January 13, 2011 [5 favorites]


You're mixing "most active" (in terms of number of comments) with "most favorited" (in terms of favorites). In usual terms of MetaFilter, "popular" is the latter (favorited).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:34 PM on January 13, 2011


If you're using favorites to measure, the most popular posts of all time are here. You can get there by clicking on the Popular tab on the front page and clicking 'all time' at the top of the page.

Here are the top 10 posts with the most comments:

http://www.metafilter.com/74487/Sarah-Palin-as-McCains-runningmate (5555)
http://www.metafilter.com/72928/Boing-Boing-Finds-21st-Century-Trotsky (2553)
http://www.metafilter.com/99323/Lone-nut-or-something-worse (2393)
http://www.metafilter.com/76227/We-have-the-facts-and-were-voting (2076)
http://www.metafilter.com/56002/Ted-Haggard-New-Life-Church (1829)
http://www.metafilter.com/74881/Palin-pancakes-and-the-straight-talk-express (1755)
http://www.metafilter.com/9622/metafilter-parody (1729)
http://www.metafilter.com/1142/Now-this-is-something-I-just-dont-get (1614)
http://www.metafilter.com/75675/Elections-are-fun (1600)
http://www.metafilter.com/75125/Because-there-are-more-important-things-to-do-on-Friday-night (1584)
posted by pb (staff) at 2:34 PM on January 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Contrarily, I find that the best way to begin comments is with adjectives that apply only to the comment itself.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:36 PM on January 13, 2011


What do you mean by "most popular"?
posted by John Cohen at 2:36 PM on January 13, 2011


Here are the top 10 posts with the most comments:

That's only on the Blue, though. There are quite a few Grey threads with 1500+ comments.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:38 PM on January 13, 2011


Is there any way the Infodumpster can be rejiggered to be able to get search results for "all sites" combined, rather than site by site?
posted by Gator at 2:41 PM on January 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


That's a question for Combustible Edison Lighthouse; the dumpster is his baby, it just runs off of imported Infodump files that we generate.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:48 PM on January 13, 2011


The most popular threads are the ones with a good personality.
posted by amyms at 2:50 PM on January 13, 2011


The most popular threads are the ones with a good personality.

That just means they're ugly.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:51 PM on January 13, 2011 [5 favorites]


Comments != Favorites != Popular

We'd need page view data.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:53 PM on January 13, 2011


See Also: the Wiki.
posted by yeti at 2:57 PM on January 13, 2011




pb: "http://www.metafilter.com/1142/Now-this-is-something-I-just-dont-get (1614)"

"What would make such an old thread have such huge activi ~ oh, it's a proto-metatalk thing."
posted by boo_radley at 3:12 PM on January 13, 2011


Happily note those adverbs that would modify your behavior.
posted by salvia at 3:17 PM on January 13, 2011


Mine, but they're so good people get a little shy.
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:17 PM on January 13, 2011


Yeah, I went out with a few of the "popular" threads in high school, hell probably freshman year in college even. Pretty, but mostly total dead fishes, if you know what I mean. That being said, their fathers' were so much more well-connected than I knew, and that would be so much more important later in life than I knew.

Most of them have a very nice life in the suburbs and tons of kids now. I'm happy for them, really.
posted by digitalprimate at 3:17 PM on January 13, 2011


How about the most 'popular' / commented threads that don't involve American politics?
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:26 PM on January 13, 2011


http://www.metafilter.com/1142/Now-this-is-something-I-just-dont-get --- As if the man has never seen a 404 page before. Pfft.
posted by crunchland at 3:30 PM on January 13, 2011


2 out of 10....I guess Palin's goal of internet domination is going smoothly.
posted by edgeways at 3:32 PM on January 13, 2011


Her speech about Tucson was breathtaking.
posted by gman at 3:37 PM on January 13, 2011


Pageviews is on the right track to be a good metric, but I think even a SLYT today gets more views than a great post 8 years ago.

Maybe popular = Pageviews/Active Membership?
posted by auto-correct at 3:53 PM on January 13, 2011


The most popular threads are the ones with a good personality.

I thought the popular ones were the easy ones.
posted by Lutoslawski at 4:14 PM on January 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


I like the ones about owls.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:30 PM on January 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Time for a shout-out to my peeps...

This Chicago Meetup thread spanned the whole 6 months they keep them open and got to 1351 comments.
posted by phunniemee at 4:30 PM on January 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


Shut up shut up shut up that was supposed to be a secret!

(Though I can't imagine what possible harm could come in bringing it to light now that it's closed. Still. SEEKRIT!)

I also posted tour guide comments for the epic thread here and here. I can't imagine that anyone outside of the CC* would have any interest in braving those waters, but, if you do, there you go.

*TINCC
posted by SpiffyRob at 4:57 PM on January 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


Are they taking favorites away again?
posted by cjorgensen at 4:57 PM on January 13, 2011


I like the ones about owls.

Interruption!
posted by edgeways at 4:58 PM on January 13, 2011


#1 Who the fuck was Neale?

#2 Is there anyone who contributed to that thread who is still a part of MetaFilter? (Other than Matt, of course....)
posted by tzikeh at 5:07 PM on January 13, 2011


On to more important questions: McNuggets-side dish or main course?
posted by jonmc at 5:13 PM on January 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


pb did you know that if you hit the "link" button in the bottom right of the comment box you can make those internet address thingies you put in your comment into like clickable web addresses? It's like CSS or firefox or greasemonkey or something. Memail me for details!
posted by ND¢ at 5:14 PM on January 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Note that by not live-linking the threads, pb is avoiding an artificial skew of the popular results by eliminating the temptation for easy drive-by comments of contrarians messing with things.
posted by pineapple at 5:55 PM on January 13, 2011


tzikeh: " #2 Is there anyone who contributed to that thread who is still a part of MetaFilter? (Other than Matt, of course....)"

bradlands and anitar have both left us, sadly.

Maura still comments very infrequently. And one other participant has been reincarnated.
posted by zarq at 6:02 PM on January 13, 2011


#2 Is there anyone who contributed to that thread who is still a part of MetaFilter?

I made it about a third of the way down that thread before I got a headache, so I can't say for sure, but wendell's still around under another name.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:05 PM on January 13, 2011


This Chicago Meetup thread spanned the whole 6 months they keep them open and got to 1351 comments.

Sometimes I still try to find it in my Recent Activity so I can bullshit with the peeps.
posted by shakespeherian at 6:10 PM on January 13, 2011


Contrarily, I find that the best way to begin comments is with adjectives that apply only to the comment itself.

Ironically, that one started with an adverb.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:17 PM on January 13, 2011


9622 is classic, it should be at the top of the list. The fact that Sarah Palin eclipses the majesty that is 9622 is a sin against this site.
posted by geoff. at 6:21 PM on January 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


#2 Is there anyone who contributed to that thread who is still a part of MetaFilter?

cCranuim and yhbc are still around, eyeballkid still hates us all, Lynsey's still around, ColdChef and bingo. Skot, lia, thirteen and norm are around. I think I saw gluechunk fairly recently.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:23 PM on January 13, 2011


Here's the Palin one, a nice round 5555 comments.

That's odd.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:24 PM on January 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


Also, when 9622 was around, I was a young, nubile teenager, not old enough to drive.
posted by geoff. at 6:24 PM on January 13, 2011


think I saw gluechunk fairly recently

Not according to his profile -- nothing since 2008.

Also, redfoxtail, snarkout, and rodii are still "here", for various values of "here". They and some of the others had their own private spinoff thing for a while. I assume they still do.
posted by gleuschk at 7:01 PM on January 13, 2011


Thanks Yeti --> Metafilter Wiki

Wow, Palin. Simultaneously sad and impressed to see that.

Yeah, definitions of popular... I was thinking number of comments, but number of favorites is perfectly valid, too.

#1 Who the fuck was Neale?

#2 Is there anyone who contributed to that thread who is still a part of MetaFilter? (Other than Matt, of course....)


It would appear that Neale commented on a post yesterday. Maybe he will read this. Hi Neale!
posted by fartknocker at 8:40 PM on January 13, 2011


What do you mean by "most popular"?

Most fighty.
posted by Artw at 9:17 PM on January 13, 2011


I would be funny if the Palin threads all had 666 comments. Then again, I have a warped sense of humor....
posted by annsunny at 10:13 PM on January 13, 2011


Here's the Palin one, a nice round 5555 comments

I stopped counting at 666.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:20 AM on January 14, 2011


Check out these threads! Spiffy, huh?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:55 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Uh, hate to get all Emperor's New Clothes on you, but those are feathers.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:19 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


2009-10-15 1463 empath UP

Balloon Boy coming in at # 10!

I miss Balloon Boy.
posted by R. Mutt at 4:29 AM on January 14, 2011


I like the ones on the grey where somebody complains about somebody else doing something they don't like.
posted by Decani at 5:01 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


I miss Balloon Boy.

You don't have to.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:20 AM on January 14, 2011


McNuggets-side dish or main course?

McNuggets should be removed from their brightly-colored paper coffin and then placed ON the Big Mac. Then the entire thing should be consumed as loudly as possible while the eater makes Jabba-the-Hutt-type chuckling and snarfling noises.

(Based on actual events.)
posted by BitterOldPunk at 5:34 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Check out these threads! Spiffy, huh?

WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ME?
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:10 AM on January 14, 2011


I like the ones on the grey where somebody complains about somebody else doing something they don't like.

Well I don't, and I think we as a community should agree to stop them right away.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:21 AM on January 14, 2011


Memail me for details!

The site throws sparks on some of those threads with over 1,000 comments so my gut reaction is to limit traffic to them. I'm a bad person for not linking to them and I feel bad for it.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:28 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


The most popular threads are the ones with a good personality.

You know who's a good TV personality? Martha Stewart. You know what's probably one of the laugh-out-loud funniest threads I've read in a while? This one.

Thank you, MetaFilter. Today is better now.
posted by kittyprecious at 8:37 AM on January 14, 2011


You're not a bad person pb. You're a good person. You make all the computers work and that is very important. You are good and you should feel good about yourself. Keep on computin'.
posted by ND¢ at 8:55 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Kind of surprised it wasn't the announcement of 9/11 going on.
posted by stormpooper at 11:40 AM on January 14, 2011


The site was much smaller then and people were a lot less used to "hanging out" in threads the way they do now.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:06 PM on January 14, 2011


Which is weird, because they had the IMG tag.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:08 PM on January 14, 2011


It was a simpler time.

With pissing elephants and ceiling cats.
posted by eyeballkid at 12:46 PM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


(and the occasional crying of the baby jessamyn)

*sighs wistfully*
posted by eyeballkid at 12:47 PM on January 14, 2011


Things have been okay lately, actually.
posted by baby_jessamyn at 1:22 PM on January 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


OMG baby_jessamyn is, like, 10 years old. Shouldn't it be prepubescent_jessam☀n or something now?
posted by b33j at 4:23 AM on January 15, 2011


baby_jessamyn, like denim jeans, is timeless.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:00 AM on January 15, 2011


stormpooper: "Kind of surprised it wasn't the announcement of 9/11 going on."

That might not have been the most trafficked thread, but it probably wins the prize for most threads spawned. I counted awhile back, and there were more than 200 9/11-related posts added to the site before September 14th.
posted by Rhaomi at 7:40 PM on January 15, 2011


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