Outrageous Spontaneous Filings December 1, 2011 5:36 AM Subscribe
An article on "professional online moderators" in Bloomberg Businessweek, including Jessamyn and the Metafilter Russian Incident.
Interesting discussion on the business of online moderation.
Interesting discussion on the business of online moderation.
Fake and other moderators once helped stop a case of human trafficking. Should this read "West and other moderators"? It's particularly confusing because there's MeFi's own fake and then there's Caterina Fake, who is mentioned in the article, but is neither a MeFi moderator (AFAIK) nor the user fake. *brainexplodesatprobablyinnocuoustypo*
posted by knile at 5:54 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by knile at 5:54 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
Nice Markov-chain headline, Bloomberg.
I also wish they hadn't included the "Extreme racism and bigotry, images of pedophilia, and even personal threats are all too common" in the same subsection where Jessamyn is mentioned, since that's not at all what Metafilter is like. And yeah, the Russian Incident description is a mess.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:57 AM on December 1, 2011
I also wish they hadn't included the "Extreme racism and bigotry, images of pedophilia, and even personal threats are all too common" in the same subsection where Jessamyn is mentioned, since that's not at all what Metafilter is like. And yeah, the Russian Incident description is a mess.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:57 AM on December 1, 2011
Wow, somebody here actually voluntarily read that? It looks like that whole article was generated entirely without human interaction. I mean, I'm glad to see Jessamyn's name in print & stuff, but good lord. Can we get MetaFilter's (MFCX) stock exchange ID crammed in there somehow?
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:05 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:05 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Someday, the robot that writes Bloomberg word salad articles will be taught to love.
But this intrigued me:
posted by SpiffyRob at 6:06 AM on December 1, 2011 [8 favorites]
But this intrigued me:
Friedman recently contacted authorities when threats against President Barack Obama appeared on a website discussing Home Improvement reruns.Does anyone know more about this? Some quick googling didn't turn anything up. I'm really hoping this is an actual story, and not something else they got totally wrong.
posted by SpiffyRob at 6:06 AM on December 1, 2011 [8 favorites]
SpiffyRob: "a website discussing Home Improvement reruns."
Wow, there really is something for everyone on the internet, isn't there?
posted by Grither at 6:08 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Wow, there really is something for everyone on the internet, isn't there?
posted by Grither at 6:08 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Nice Markov-chain headline, Bloomberg.
I'm glad it's not just me. I thought I was suffering from not-enough-coffee syndrome when I read it and couldn't parse it worth a damn.
posted by rtha at 6:10 AM on December 1, 2011
I'm glad it's not just me. I thought I was suffering from not-enough-coffee syndrome when I read it and couldn't parse it worth a damn.
posted by rtha at 6:10 AM on December 1, 2011
It looks like that whole article was generated entirely without human interaction.
No shit, I thought I was having a mild stroke while I was reading it.
posted by marxchivist at 6:10 AM on December 1, 2011 [7 favorites]
No shit, I thought I was having a mild stroke while I was reading it.
posted by marxchivist at 6:10 AM on December 1, 2011 [7 favorites]
The author was stroking something.
posted by flabdablet at 6:22 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by flabdablet at 6:22 AM on December 1, 2011
Metafilter: Extreme racism and bigotry, images of pedophilia, and even personal threats
posted by nathancaswell at 6:33 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by nathancaswell at 6:33 AM on December 1, 2011
Weird way to order things. "racism and bigotry, images of pedophilia, and even personal threats" is almost "Arson, murder and jaywalking".
posted by dunkadunc at 6:41 AM on December 1, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by dunkadunc at 6:41 AM on December 1, 2011 [5 favorites]
"Extreme racism and bigotry, images of pedophilia, and even personal threats are all too common"
Who gave them a log-in to the Cabal sub-site?
posted by Abiezer at 6:56 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Who gave them a log-in to the Cabal sub-site?
posted by Abiezer at 6:56 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think it's more like the 21st century version of The Great Train Robbery where the guy fires his gun at YOU, THE VIEWER!
posted by griphus at 6:57 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by griphus at 6:57 AM on December 1, 2011
New York Times overhauls comment system, grants privileges to trusted readers.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:57 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:57 AM on December 1, 2011
I did some spontaneous filing today. End result: two pairs of outrageous spontaneous earrings.
posted by daniel_charms at 6:57 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by daniel_charms at 6:57 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
....grants privileges to trusted readers.
This will go great with my invisible PBS tote bag.
posted by griphus at 6:59 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
This will go great with my invisible PBS tote bag.
posted by griphus at 6:59 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
outrageous spontaneous filings sounds like messy cabinets in the back office...
posted by infini at 7:01 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by infini at 7:01 AM on December 1, 2011
Weird way to order things. "racism and bigotry, images of pedophilia, and even personal threats" is almost "Arson, murder and jaywalking".
I think they were probably going for "passive or targeted-at-other things like x, y, z, and even targeted-at-the-mod personal threats" but, yeah, it's a bit weird no matter how you clump those things together.
Anyway, I get the impression that this is more a gloss of the actual article in Bloomberg Businessweek. Any idea if that will be up online soon?
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:08 AM on December 1, 2011
I think they were probably going for "passive or targeted-at-other things like x, y, z, and even targeted-at-the-mod personal threats" but, yeah, it's a bit weird no matter how you clump those things together.
Anyway, I get the impression that this is more a gloss of the actual article in Bloomberg Businessweek. Any idea if that will be up online soon?
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:08 AM on December 1, 2011
Any idea if that will be up online soon?
We have subscription access to it at work, so I thought I'd check and see if it's there, but not yet. It occurred to me, though, to search EBSCO for Metafilter, and I found an interesting article from the May 2001 issue of Yahoo Internet Life:
OVERWHELMED BY THE BILLIONS OF SITES OUT THERE? THEN LINK UP TO A "WEBLOG," WHERE SEASONED SURFERS POINT THE WAY TO THE NEW, THE USEFUL, AND THE SURPASSINGLY STRANGE
...
MetaFilter [metafilter. com] attempts an antidote to the annoyingly widespread epidemic of multiple webloggers linking to the same site by producing a single page to which any weblogger can contribute. Still, one wonders whether such a group endeavor undercuts the charm of a single personality driving the aesthetic and editorial value of the individual weblog. Playfully, MetaFilter's motto changes when you reload the site, offering such self-descriptions as "The Plastic.corn it's okay to like."
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:23 AM on December 1, 2011 [11 favorites]
We have subscription access to it at work, so I thought I'd check and see if it's there, but not yet. It occurred to me, though, to search EBSCO for Metafilter, and I found an interesting article from the May 2001 issue of Yahoo Internet Life:
OVERWHELMED BY THE BILLIONS OF SITES OUT THERE? THEN LINK UP TO A "WEBLOG," WHERE SEASONED SURFERS POINT THE WAY TO THE NEW, THE USEFUL, AND THE SURPASSINGLY STRANGE
...
MetaFilter [metafilter. com] attempts an antidote to the annoyingly widespread epidemic of multiple webloggers linking to the same site by producing a single page to which any weblogger can contribute. Still, one wonders whether such a group endeavor undercuts the charm of a single personality driving the aesthetic and editorial value of the individual weblog. Playfully, MetaFilter's motto changes when you reload the site, offering such self-descriptions as "The Plastic.corn it's okay to like."
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:23 AM on December 1, 2011 [11 favorites]
Sorry, I forgot the headline, which is just too timecapsule perfect:
"Who let the blogs out?"
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:25 AM on December 1, 2011 [16 favorites]
"Who let the blogs out?"
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:25 AM on December 1, 2011 [16 favorites]
Nice Markov-chain headline, Bloomberg.
The whole article was Markovian! This is the first time I've read a Bloomberg piece and it was the single most telegraphic and glancing piece of writing I've ever read. Is it always like that? What a weird-ass house style.
posted by Miko at 7:26 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
The whole article was Markovian! This is the first time I've read a Bloomberg piece and it was the single most telegraphic and glancing piece of writing I've ever read. Is it always like that? What a weird-ass house style.
posted by Miko at 7:26 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Who can forget good ol' Plastic.corn.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:33 AM on December 1, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:33 AM on December 1, 2011 [6 favorites]
Sorry, I forgot the headline, which is just too timecapsule perfect: "Who let the blogs out?"
I tried to find this article in Nexis, and it turns out that Who Let the Blogs Out? has been used as an article title 13 times, most recently in 2008. Although several of those are reviews of Biz Stone's eponymous book. "Metafilter" appears an impressive 1425 times in Nexis. With the newest being the Sydney Morning Herald linking to the "Is Time Magazine dumbed down?" thread, and the oldest being from 5 years before Matt launched Mefi.
posted by Infinite Jest at 7:38 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
I tried to find this article in Nexis, and it turns out that Who Let the Blogs Out? has been used as an article title 13 times, most recently in 2008. Although several of those are reviews of Biz Stone's eponymous book. "Metafilter" appears an impressive 1425 times in Nexis. With the newest being the Sydney Morning Herald linking to the "Is Time Magazine dumbed down?" thread, and the oldest being from 5 years before Matt launched Mefi.
posted by Infinite Jest at 7:38 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
I've spent entirely too much time trying to get to the bottom of this Home Improvement BO Death Threat mystery. Obviously the comments in question are gone, and I can't find any news write-ups of this, so even if we could figure out which site it was (there are some decent candidates looking at LiveWorld's client page, as they've worked with AOL (TV Squad), ABC, and JumpTheShark, which got bought out by TVGuide IIRC.) I don't think there's much more to be discovered.
But it did allow me to find some real gems of discussion topics, including:
Who was more mean and tough on Mark? Brad or Randy?
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:43 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
But it did allow me to find some real gems of discussion topics, including:
Who was more mean and tough on Mark? Brad or Randy?
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:43 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
Huh, I talked to that guy about moderation back in September at which point I think restless_nomad was already full time. It's clear that there's a huge difference between people who are basically keeping their heads above water with the influx of nastiness, and places where we mostly get to just keep things on track. I am thankful every day that I do not do moderation on a large newspaper site, a parenting site or on Craigslist. It's also a little curious because they're like "OMG that lady's personal info was posted online!" which I guess is a problem if it's a problem, but I've had my personal information online for a decade and it's just No Problem. I still don't know what outrageous filings is supposed to mean but I just read it as "outrageous fillings" and think it's a new panini place.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:54 AM on December 1, 2011 [8 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:54 AM on December 1, 2011 [8 favorites]
..."Who Let the Blogs Out? has been used as an article title 13 times...
Try "Between Iraq and a Hard Place."
posted by griphus at 7:55 AM on December 1, 2011 [4 favorites]
Try "Between Iraq and a Hard Place."
posted by griphus at 7:55 AM on December 1, 2011 [4 favorites]
The line about how quickly some ICUC moderators quit was just plain sad.
posted by tommasz at 8:00 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by tommasz at 8:00 AM on December 1, 2011
That Yahoo Internet Life article is almost certainly where I first heard about MetaFilter, and when I started lurking for almost a year.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:05 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:05 AM on December 1, 2011
I am also certain that I never said "I can work with a community to make a model of good behavior." which is curious since it's supposedly a direct quote. Relatedly, did people know that Gawker does commenter "executions"? I did not.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:06 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:06 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
The line about how quickly some ICUC moderators quit was just plain sad.
It's not super surprising, though. Moderation in a old-school boutique sense has been something that you kind of get into because there's a combination of a need and some familiarity with the site you'd be moderating—mods working (whether as employees or just volunteers) from within the context of a community they're already familiar with are not so likely to be surprised by what they find on the job.
But when you commoditize a job, when you turn it into something someone can just start doing cold to fill a generic job opening, that familiarity isn't necessarily there. People show up to do the job because it's a job they think they can do, and they don't find out until afterward that, man, it turns out this is Not For Them.
Some of that may be that the moderation gigs they end up with are soul-sucking—like Jess, I'm super glad I work here and not most other comment-enabled places on the internet—but I think some of it is just culture shock as well.
There's a ton of turnover in call center work for a similar mix of reasons, I think: they're not going out and handpicking people who love doing phone-based problem solving, they're putting butts in seats to make or take phone calls and a lot of people who take a job like that are looking for a jay oh bee first and foremost and are thinking "yeah, I don't mind phone calls" secondarily. So you get just massive attrition on the front end of the new hire waves, because a bunch of folks realize, whether after a day or or a week or month, that this is just not something that they can deal with as a job dynamic.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:09 AM on December 1, 2011 [4 favorites]
It's not super surprising, though. Moderation in a old-school boutique sense has been something that you kind of get into because there's a combination of a need and some familiarity with the site you'd be moderating—mods working (whether as employees or just volunteers) from within the context of a community they're already familiar with are not so likely to be surprised by what they find on the job.
But when you commoditize a job, when you turn it into something someone can just start doing cold to fill a generic job opening, that familiarity isn't necessarily there. People show up to do the job because it's a job they think they can do, and they don't find out until afterward that, man, it turns out this is Not For Them.
Some of that may be that the moderation gigs they end up with are soul-sucking—like Jess, I'm super glad I work here and not most other comment-enabled places on the internet—but I think some of it is just culture shock as well.
There's a ton of turnover in call center work for a similar mix of reasons, I think: they're not going out and handpicking people who love doing phone-based problem solving, they're putting butts in seats to make or take phone calls and a lot of people who take a job like that are looking for a jay oh bee first and foremost and are thinking "yeah, I don't mind phone calls" secondarily. So you get just massive attrition on the front end of the new hire waves, because a bunch of folks realize, whether after a day or or a week or month, that this is just not something that they can deal with as a job dynamic.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:09 AM on December 1, 2011 [4 favorites]
"a website discussing Home Improvement reruns."
To be fair, all the websites for discussing new episodes of Home Improvement have been a little dead lately.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:10 AM on December 1, 2011 [5 favorites]
To be fair, all the websites for discussing new episodes of Home Improvement have been a little dead lately.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:10 AM on December 1, 2011 [5 favorites]
I am also certain that I never said "I can work with a community to make a model of good behavior." which is curious since it's supposedly a direct quote.
I had this problem with Wired, they just made up quotes left and right.
posted by fake at 8:22 AM on December 1, 2011
I had this problem with Wired, they just made up quotes left and right.
posted by fake at 8:22 AM on December 1, 2011
Relatedly, did people know that Gawker does commenter "executions"?
Ha! It's neat that the closest Metafitler equivalent is "Maybe you should go outside for a while. No? Ok we're gonna give you a time out and we'll talk about this privately."
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2011 [6 favorites]
Ha! It's neat that the closest Metafitler equivalent is "Maybe you should go outside for a while. No? Ok we're gonna give you a time out and we'll talk about this privately."
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2011 [6 favorites]
it's a new panini place
FWIW, I read it that way too and what flashed through my mind was someone laughing so hard that he shows his amalgam fillings.
posted by hat_eater at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2011
FWIW, I read it that way too and what flashed through my mind was someone laughing so hard that he shows his amalgam fillings.
posted by hat_eater at 8:39 AM on December 1, 2011
Some of that may be that the moderation gigs they end up with are soul-sucking
Respect to people who moderate communities they love, but generally speaking, "internet moderator" sounds like one of the worst jobs imaginable, a dead-eyed chore combining all of the worst aspects of tech support, law enforcement, retail, and burger-flipping with few, if any, of the positives.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:08 AM on December 1, 2011
Respect to people who moderate communities they love, but generally speaking, "internet moderator" sounds like one of the worst jobs imaginable, a dead-eyed chore combining all of the worst aspects of tech support, law enforcement, retail, and burger-flipping with few, if any, of the positives.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:08 AM on December 1, 2011
I am a little sorry that the web series Moderationtown never made more than six episodes. I always found it sort of hilarious.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:10 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:10 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
I am also certain that I never said "I can work with a community to make a model of good behavior."
Sloppy journalists. I've had this happen to me a few times too. This is one of the reasons my organization really dislikes print journalism and prefers live interviews.
posted by bonehead at 9:15 AM on December 1, 2011
Sloppy journalists. I've had this happen to me a few times too. This is one of the reasons my organization really dislikes print journalism and prefers live interviews.
posted by bonehead at 9:15 AM on December 1, 2011
Try "Between Iraq and a Hard Place."
Two.hundred.and.thirty.six.
Jeez.
posted by Infinite Jest at 9:15 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Two.hundred.and.thirty.six.
Jeez.
posted by Infinite Jest at 9:15 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Should this read "West and other moderators"? It's particularly confusing because there's MeFi's own fake and then there's Caterina Fake, who is mentioned in the article, but is neither a MeFi moderator (AFAIK) nor the user fake.
Sloppy indeed. When I read this I was like WHA!? Caterina Fake is OUR fake?! Bitchin'!!
posted by Melismata at 9:19 AM on December 1, 2011
Sloppy indeed. When I read this I was like WHA!? Caterina Fake is OUR fake?! Bitchin'!!
posted by Melismata at 9:19 AM on December 1, 2011
Sloppy indeed. When I read this I was like WHA!? Caterina Fake is OUR fake?! Bitchin'!!
I saw a comment by fake the other day and thought "I wonder if that's Caterina Fake." Then I clicked through and remembered the Russian Saga. Sorry fake. I'll try not to do that again.
Caterina Fake is our caterina, however.
A decade of membership, and all we know is that she likes aerodynamic turkeys. Or MonkeyToes' stories about them.
posted by gauche at 9:27 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
I saw a comment by fake the other day and thought "I wonder if that's Caterina Fake." Then I clicked through and remembered the Russian Saga. Sorry fake. I'll try not to do that again.
Caterina Fake is our caterina, however.
A decade of membership, and all we know is that she likes aerodynamic turkeys. Or MonkeyToes' stories about them.
posted by gauche at 9:27 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I had just remembered that caterina was the name of her account, but riddle me this: how could I remember that when she has zero comments or posts listed? Are they not recorded after a certain very early point in MeFi history, or am I just spooky as hell?
posted by furiousthought at 9:28 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by furiousthought at 9:28 AM on December 1, 2011
A decade of membership, and all we know is that she likes aerodynamic turkeys. Or MonkeyToes' stories about them.
If that isn't lurking, then I don't know what is.
posted by Melismata at 9:29 AM on December 1, 2011
If that isn't lurking, then I don't know what is.
posted by Melismata at 9:29 AM on December 1, 2011
Their description of the Russian Incident makes it sound a lot tamer than it really was, I think.
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 9:32 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 9:32 AM on December 1, 2011
Caterina Fake is our caterina, however.
Huh. I thought Caterina Fake was some sort of horrible mangling of Kathrine and fake.
Because I failed to read the article. And don't know who the co-founders of Flickr are, apparently. I do like that she's been completely inactive with the exception of one and only one favorite.
posted by 6550 at 9:35 AM on December 1, 2011
Huh. I thought Caterina Fake was some sort of horrible mangling of Kathrine and fake.
Because I failed to read the article. And don't know who the co-founders of Flickr are, apparently. I do like that she's been completely inactive with the exception of one and only one favorite.
posted by 6550 at 9:35 AM on December 1, 2011
no problem here, gauche :)
posted by fake at 9:36 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by fake at 9:36 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Still, what’s good for Gawker is bad for intelligent life everywhere in the multiverse.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:37 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfdog at 9:37 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
A decade of membership, and all we know is that she likes aerodynamic turkeys. Or MonkeyToes' stories about them.
Well, I think the race to Caterina Fake's second favorite is on, which is convenient 'cause I have some great turkey stories planned for 2022.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:41 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
Well, I think the race to Caterina Fake's second favorite is on, which is convenient 'cause I have some great turkey stories planned for 2022.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:41 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
Caterina Fake's our caterina
But she ain't our fake
Leave it to Bloomberg Businessweek
To make this dumb mistake
posted by SpiffyRob at 9:46 AM on December 1, 2011 [10 favorites]
But she ain't our fake
Leave it to Bloomberg Businessweek
To make this dumb mistake
posted by SpiffyRob at 9:46 AM on December 1, 2011 [10 favorites]
dunkadunc: "Weird way to order things. "racism and bigotry, images of pedophilia, and even personal threats" is almost "Arson, murder and jaywalking""
"Kid, whad'ya get?"
I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage."
He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?"
And I said, "Littering."
posted by notsnot at 9:56 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
"Kid, whad'ya get?"
I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage."
He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?"
And I said, "Littering."
posted by notsnot at 9:56 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
Good God, that reads like it was written and filed at gunpoint for the Glorious Soviet Ministry of Helpful Words. Also, yeah, the Russian incident is completely misrepresented, like it went down something like this:
fake: so hai guys I was chatting up these two girls online and they said they were going to a job interview at a bar. Weird right?
Metafilter: Ooh! Which bar?
fake: The Sketchy Moustache! In Queens!
Metafilter: Oh bad news they human traffic there.
fake: oh damn
...
fake: it's cool I told the girls and they aren't going now.
Jesus that was a stressful day. And not mentioning internet fraud detective squade station number 9 in that story is just wrong.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:44 AM on December 1, 2011 [8 favorites]
fake: so hai guys I was chatting up these two girls online and they said they were going to a job interview at a bar. Weird right?
Metafilter: Ooh! Which bar?
fake: The Sketchy Moustache! In Queens!
Metafilter: Oh bad news they human traffic there.
fake: oh damn
...
fake: it's cool I told the girls and they aren't going now.
Jesus that was a stressful day. And not mentioning internet fraud detective squade station number 9 in that story is just wrong.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:44 AM on December 1, 2011 [8 favorites]
What a load.
Everyone knows the Sketchy Moustache is in Bushwick.
posted by griphus at 10:55 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Everyone knows the Sketchy Moustache is in Bushwick.
posted by griphus at 10:55 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
And it's a bar for mall cartoonists, policemen, and leather daddies.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:57 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:57 AM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Jesus that was a stressful day. And not mentioning internet fraud detective squade station number 9 in that story is just wrong.
Jesus Christ, she wasn't a moderator, like fake!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:09 AM on December 1, 2011
Jesus Christ, she wasn't a moderator, like fake!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:09 AM on December 1, 2011
I am also certain that I never said "I can work with a community to make a model of good behavior."
I thought that had a really odd and un-jessamyn-like ring to it. It also calls up visual images of models of good behavior, like little plastic figurines of Gallant or those horrible collectible angel children.
By the way this makes me think Gallant is a socialist
posted by Miko at 11:21 AM on December 1, 2011
I thought that had a really odd and un-jessamyn-like ring to it. It also calls up visual images of models of good behavior, like little plastic figurines of Gallant or those horrible collectible angel children.
By the way this makes me think Gallant is a socialist
posted by Miko at 11:21 AM on December 1, 2011
Yeah, seriously not loving that article, although it's nice when mainstream articles attempt to describe what I do - it makes conversations with the family easier.
I will say, though, that you guys are the best. I get the occasional "Sorry people are being shitty" memail, and while that's sweet, "shitty" is relative - while I was still part-time here, my other part-time job was moderating a major game company's Facebook pages for $8 an hour. After a four-hour shift of deleting illiterate rants about how everyone who works at [redacted] is a fag and so is everyone who doesn't play the same kind of character and also 'you random dude, your picture looks faggy, you must like the cock,' angry MetaTalk threads were a positive vacation. If nothing else y'all know more words.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 11:27 AM on December 1, 2011 [21 favorites]
I will say, though, that you guys are the best. I get the occasional "Sorry people are being shitty" memail, and while that's sweet, "shitty" is relative - while I was still part-time here, my other part-time job was moderating a major game company's Facebook pages for $8 an hour. After a four-hour shift of deleting illiterate rants about how everyone who works at [redacted] is a fag and so is everyone who doesn't play the same kind of character and also 'you random dude, your picture looks faggy, you must like the cock,' angry MetaTalk threads were a positive vacation. If nothing else y'all know more words.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 11:27 AM on December 1, 2011 [21 favorites]
someone please change MeTa's tagline to "feature requests, bugs, and plastic.corn discussion"
posted by secret about box at 11:36 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by secret about box at 11:36 AM on December 1, 2011
Metafilter: If nothing else y'all know more words.
posted by winna at 11:55 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by winna at 11:55 AM on December 1, 2011 [3 favorites]
'you random dude, your picture looks faggy, you must like the cock,'
A, I refuse to believe the comments were anything like that well-spelled.
B, if you post that on Metatalk, you're just as likely to get back "Why yes, I'm quite the fan of cock, thank you for asking."
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:55 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
A, I refuse to believe the comments were anything like that well-spelled.
B, if you post that on Metatalk, you're just as likely to get back "Why yes, I'm quite the fan of cock, thank you for asking."
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:55 AM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
I refuse to believe the comments were anything like that well-spelled.
Dammit, the reports that contain the actual deleted comments are on the computer with no working video card. There are some choice examples there - and, of course, you're totally right.
(Also, Facebook is a thing with positive and negative qualities, but moderation tools it has none. Which is why I have excel sheets with copies of every single comment I deleted, who posted them, whether I banned them from the page or not, etc.)
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 12:03 PM on December 1, 2011
Dammit, the reports that contain the actual deleted comments are on the computer with no working video card. There are some choice examples there - and, of course, you're totally right.
(Also, Facebook is a thing with positive and negative qualities, but moderation tools it has none. Which is why I have excel sheets with copies of every single comment I deleted, who posted them, whether I banned them from the page or not, etc.)
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 12:03 PM on December 1, 2011
80k to be a mod ? I didn't know mods were straight up ballers like that. Mods are so 1%.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:19 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by Ad hominem at 12:19 PM on December 1, 2011
80k to be a mod ? I didn't know mods were straight up ballers like that. Mods are so 1%.
See above, re: $8/hr. Also, I love Matt forever.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 12:22 PM on December 1, 2011
See above, re: $8/hr. Also, I love Matt forever.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 12:22 PM on December 1, 2011
Plus holiday tips.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:25 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:25 PM on December 1, 2011
I find that news sites (i.e. newspaper sites) typically have the most wretchedly awful comments, despite the papers' claims that the threads are moderated. I wonder if this outsourcing of moderation is responsible for that.
I very much appreciate the dedication of the moderators here. I mean, this is how it should be done. And it pretty much never is out there.
posted by zomg at 12:27 PM on December 1, 2011
I very much appreciate the dedication of the moderators here. I mean, this is how it should be done. And it pretty much never is out there.
posted by zomg at 12:27 PM on December 1, 2011
Ever read Yahoo comments? Negative reactions form unhappy people who have no other outlet.
posted by Cranberry at 12:33 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by Cranberry at 12:33 PM on December 1, 2011
good ol' Plastic.corn.
A corn kern'll fix this right up.
posted by zamboni at 12:35 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
A corn kern'll fix this right up.
posted by zamboni at 12:35 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Slate just this minute published an article on angry commenters but they totally wrongfooted me by having Katie Roiphe - one of the people most likely to provoke me into youtube levels of apoplexy - write it.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:53 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by villanelles at dawn at 12:53 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
I guess only mods on asmallworld.net make 80k.
Is that like the dream gig for a mod ? You would get to delete shit from Paris Hilton and the Kardasians, might be quite fufilling.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:55 PM on December 1, 2011
Is that like the dream gig for a mod ? You would get to delete shit from Paris Hilton and the Kardasians, might be quite fufilling.
posted by Ad hominem at 12:55 PM on December 1, 2011
“Some Fridays you feel like you need to spend two hours in the shower because it’s so disgusting,” Bilous says.(almost) eponysterical.
That's some awful writing for sure - I was surprised to see that both the reporter and editor put their e-mail address at the end of the article. I wouldn't even put my name on it if I wrote something like that as a professional writer.
posted by dg at 1:15 PM on December 1, 2011
can earn $40,000 to $80,000 annually,
well 100k time 5 dollars is half a million or something..............
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:19 PM on December 1, 2011
well 100k time 5 dollars is half a million or something..............
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:19 PM on December 1, 2011
What was the name of that Twitter-clone that was immediately populated by people pretending to be celebrities and politicians and so on?
Because I would totally take a pro-bono job to make sure no one moderated that.
posted by griphus at 1:20 PM on December 1, 2011
Because I would totally take a pro-bono job to make sure no one moderated that.
posted by griphus at 1:20 PM on December 1, 2011
Anyway what about those threaded comments and bringing back img tags eh people ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:22 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by sgt.serenity at 1:22 PM on December 1, 2011
“You need good common sense, and you need a really thick skin,” she says.
Of course, having an animated .gif of an uncooked chicken being sodomized is also helpful.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 1:24 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Of course, having an animated .gif of an uncooked chicken being sodomized is also helpful.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 1:24 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
$8/hr adds up when you work 24/7.
posted by crunchland at 1:25 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by crunchland at 1:25 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Does the act of sodomy depend on what is being sodomized, or the opening through which it is being sodomized? I'm only asking because cloaca.
posted by griphus at 1:27 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 1:27 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
Did Bloomberg Businessweek get bought by Demand Media or something? That is seriously content-mill-level journalism.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by strangely stunted trees at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2011
Of course, having an animated .gif of an uncooked chicken being sodomized is also helpful.
RIP puke&cry.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
RIP puke&cry.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh wow, that's the "Chuckles is a special snowflake" thread :)
posted by Chuckles at 2:04 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by Chuckles at 2:04 PM on December 1, 2011
I really want to know where they got that salary range, incidentally. Most pure moderation positions (i.e. having nothing to do with policy, marketing, content creation, etc) that I've seen have been in the $8-10/hr range - often part-time, very often contract with no benefits.
Higher-level positions (having direct reports, setting policy, being in charge of a budget or creating content/marketing campaigns) probably do fall into that range. In the game industry, that's about right (before you factor in the 25% salary discount, anyway.) Usually those positions are titled "Community Manager" or "Social Media Manager" or something like that, though. The mods here are what I'd call community managers - we do a lot of pure moderation, but we're all intimately involved in setting policy and making judgement calls, rather than just mechanically deleting stuff that breaks a written rule.
It's definitely a growing field, albeit one where all us old gamer hacks are continually amused by articles that imply it's brand-new - MMO companies have had director-level positions for community since 1999. The mainstream has been picking it up like gangbusters in the last five years or so, which has been great for all us egregiously underpaid (see above) gaming types.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:04 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Higher-level positions (having direct reports, setting policy, being in charge of a budget or creating content/marketing campaigns) probably do fall into that range. In the game industry, that's about right (before you factor in the 25% salary discount, anyway.) Usually those positions are titled "Community Manager" or "Social Media Manager" or something like that, though. The mods here are what I'd call community managers - we do a lot of pure moderation, but we're all intimately involved in setting policy and making judgement calls, rather than just mechanically deleting stuff that breaks a written rule.
It's definitely a growing field, albeit one where all us old gamer hacks are continually amused by articles that imply it's brand-new - MMO companies have had director-level positions for community since 1999. The mainstream has been picking it up like gangbusters in the last five years or so, which has been great for all us egregiously underpaid (see above) gaming types.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:04 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Well, I for one do not say it nearly enough -- thanks mods for all the hard work.
*sends chocolate*
posted by blurker at 2:23 PM on December 1, 2011
*sends chocolate*
posted by blurker at 2:23 PM on December 1, 2011
I too can work with a community to make a model of Good Behaviour. I choose not to do so because no-one really likes civic art.
posted by tigrefacile at 2:38 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by tigrefacile at 2:38 PM on December 1, 2011
> Slate just this minute published an article on angry commenters but they totally
> wrongfooted me by having Katie Roiphe
Anyway, the angry commenter is a new breed, and the study of them also new: I welcome, of course, any further evidence or information that would help our understanding of this fascinating and mysterious species.
Heh. I know what rockwe they crawled out from under; I'm guessing Katie Roiphe is too young to have known usenet, let alone BITNET or fidonet. Some of the stuff the early adopters said there left craters that are still smoking and glowing right now today and probably have a several hundred year half life yet to go.
posted by jfuller at 3:33 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
> wrongfooted me by having Katie Roiphe
Anyway, the angry commenter is a new breed, and the study of them also new: I welcome, of course, any further evidence or information that would help our understanding of this fascinating and mysterious species.
Heh. I know what rock
posted by jfuller at 3:33 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
I remember Bitnet!!!! argh
posted by Melismata at 4:46 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 4:46 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
restless_nomad: "I will say, though, that you guys are the best. I get the occasional "Sorry people are being shitty" memail, and while that's sweet, "shitty" is relative - while I was still part-time here, my other part-time job was moderating a major game company's Facebook pages for $8 an hour. After a four-hour shift of deleting illiterate rants about how everyone who works at [redacted] is a fag and so is everyone who doesn't play the same kind of character and also 'you random dude, your picture looks faggy, you must like the cock,' angry MetaTalk threads were a positive vacation. If nothing else y'all know more words."
Ha! I went through something similar when I was a mod at the forum for FaceBook's biggest game *coughFVcough* for free because I either liked the game or was temporarily insane or both. I have to agree that MeFi seems relatively easy after some of the shit that went on there.
posted by deborah at 5:09 PM on December 1, 2011
Ha! I went through something similar when I was a mod at the forum for FaceBook's biggest game *coughFVcough* for free because I either liked the game or was temporarily insane or both. I have to agree that MeFi seems relatively easy after some of the shit that went on there.
posted by deborah at 5:09 PM on December 1, 2011
If nothing else y'all know more words.
Yes, but most of them are dirty.
posted by jonmc at 5:18 PM on December 1, 2011
Yes, but most of them are dirty.
posted by jonmc at 5:18 PM on December 1, 2011
I dialed into a free unix system in Arizona to get bitnet mail. I could get files as 64k uuencoded chunks, but I had no way to get them onto my beloved Amiga 500 as I didn't know how to use the SZ or RZ commands.
Bring back bitnet!
posted by Ad hominem at 5:26 PM on December 1, 2011
Bring back bitnet!
posted by Ad hominem at 5:26 PM on December 1, 2011
I dialed into a free unix system in Arizona to get bitnet mail. I could get files as 64k uuencoded chunks, but I had no way to get them onto my beloved Amiga 500 as I didn't know how to use the SZ or RZ commands.
Big Deal. I used to yell at passersby from my window.
posted by jonmc at 5:36 PM on December 1, 2011
Big Deal. I used to yell at passersby from my window.
posted by jonmc at 5:36 PM on December 1, 2011
I think I heard about that RLRC? You want to send someone a message you yell out your windows "Yo, tell Frank he owes me 50 bucks, I'm coming down to get it" worked the other way too, yell up at the window "Throw down the keys!"
Shit is old school. Not many people still familiar with that technology.
posted by Ad hominem at 5:45 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Shit is old school. Not many people still familiar with that technology.
posted by Ad hominem at 5:45 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Related - Australian Privacy Commissioner gives MeFi a shoutout (as a paragon of moderation).
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:59 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:59 PM on December 1, 2011 [2 favorites]
We saw that! "Metafilter has been observed to be characterised by a sense of community, high quality discussion, and robust debate... These attributes are not often found in unmoderated forums."
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:01 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:01 PM on December 1, 2011
I am also certain that I never said "I can work with a community to make a model of good behavior."
Well, that's straight from the extended version of this song.
posted by maudlin at 7:40 PM on December 1, 2011
Well, that's straight from the extended version of this song.
posted by maudlin at 7:40 PM on December 1, 2011
From that Australian report: "The site has clear, succinct positing and commenting guidelines."
Who can argue with that? It's just common sense. Self-evident, really.
posted by maudlin at 7:43 PM on December 1, 2011
Who can argue with that? It's just common sense. Self-evident, really.
posted by maudlin at 7:43 PM on December 1, 2011
"Metafilter has been observed to be characterised by a sense of community, high quality discussion, and robust debate... These attributes are not often found in unmoderated forums."
Yeah, I was wondering if the Australian Privacy Commissioner was one of MeFi's own - no cursory overview of the site by hard working interns will necessarily give you that level of nuance in understanding what makes MetaFilter different
posted by infini at 8:00 PM on December 1, 2011
Yeah, I was wondering if the Australian Privacy Commissioner was one of MeFi's own - no cursory overview of the site by hard working interns will necessarily give you that level of nuance in understanding what makes MetaFilter different
posted by infini at 8:00 PM on December 1, 2011
The report wouldn't have been developed by the Commissioner himself - it would have been written by his staff. It's not outside the realms of possibility that at least one of them hangs out here. Not an intern though - not really any such thing here.
posted by dg at 8:06 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by dg at 8:06 PM on December 1, 2011
That's true 'no interns allowed' has always been Metafilter's motto. Right after: Plastic Corn Welcome
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:25 PM on December 1, 2011
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:25 PM on December 1, 2011
That's true 'no interns allowed' has always been Metafilter's motto. Right after: Plastic Corn Welcome
I thought it was - "Welcome to MeFi. Would you like a nice plate of beans?"
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 8:32 PM on December 1, 2011
I thought it was - "Welcome to MeFi. Would you like a nice plate of beans?"
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 8:32 PM on December 1, 2011
I still haven't figured out if I do or not. :(
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:47 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:47 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Related - Australian Privacy Commissioner gives MeFi a shoutout (as a paragon of moderation).
Footnote 25 makes it complete.
posted by Upton O'Good at 9:46 PM on December 1, 2011
Footnote 25 makes it complete.
posted by Upton O'Good at 9:46 PM on December 1, 2011
Footnote 25 makes it complete.
that's a spicy meatball indeed but can I count it on a plate?
posted by infini at 10:54 PM on December 1, 2011
Decontextualised, those MeFi posts are kinda amazing. We still look smarter than Youtube, though.
posted by Infinite Jest at 12:28 AM on December 2, 2011
posted by Infinite Jest at 12:28 AM on December 2, 2011
For anyone else who wondered what the 'Nestle Incident' referred to.
posted by waraw at 6:42 PM on December 2, 2011
posted by waraw at 6:42 PM on December 2, 2011
When the Mainstream Media First Met the Blog.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 2:21 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by Horace Rumpole at 2:21 PM on December 5, 2011
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by Grither at 5:54 AM on December 1, 2011