It's the $5 noob anniversary!

November 18, 2018 6:38 AM

Fourteen years ago today, Matt started the $5 signups allowing all of us noobs to come in and mess up the place.
posted by octothorpe to MetaFilter-Related at 6:38 AM (60 comments total)

Which makes tomorrow my 14 year meta-versary. Time flies.
posted by mce at 6:51 AM on November 18, 2018 [5 favorites]

Habby Noobversary eberyone!!
posted by taz (staff) at 7:10 AM on November 18, 2018 [6 favorites]

I didn’t notice until day 2 so tomorrow is my 14th MeFi-versary, but a lot of my favorite members are day 1 & 2 $5.00 N00bs. I think we probably all rushed in & rumpled the place up a bit, but also infused a ton of pent-up enthusiasm. I feel privileged to be counted amongst you fellow noobs.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:31 AM on November 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

After all these years, I'm still happy to be here. Thanks, and Happy Noobaversary!
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:04 AM on November 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

So great, happy you all are here!
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 8:29 AM on November 18, 2018 [6 favorites]

One of the best changes to Mefi culture over the past 15 years has been that signup-date is rarely dragged into an argument any more. Happy to be part of the last class of noobs!
posted by muddgirl at 8:32 AM on November 18, 2018 [11 favorites]

Woohoo! 14 years and I still remember joining like it was yesterday!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:58 AM on November 18, 2018

With all the talk of Half Life lately (I just beat HL2, in fact), this reminds me of the beginning of Half Life 1 . . . namely, in that the floodgates to a world of shit have been opened.
posted by Ryvar at 2:00 AM on November 18, 2004
[1 favorite +] [!]

Haha. I keep telling myself that sometime soon I’m going to finish HL2.
posted by notyou at 10:04 AM on November 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'm certain this wouldn't be the first "Eternal November" joke if I made one.
posted by rhizome at 10:07 AM on November 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

14?! I'm old. Love what you've done with the place.
posted by yoga at 10:57 AM on November 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

Dammit, means I missed my (16 year) anniversary again. The $5 post each year reminds me a month and a half too late to celebrate my own. Alas.

Anyways, woohoo!
posted by lazaruslong at 11:14 AM on November 18, 2018

So my MetaFilter account is old enough to fail high school.
posted by betweenthebars at 11:49 AM on November 18, 2018 [5 favorites]

My 14th anniversary is about six months from now. At the time, it felt like I was already hopelessly behind the curve. It's weird revisiting 10 year old threads and seeing the number of participants that have buttoned or wandered off in the intervening decade, it's actually fairly uncommon to see the name of still-active users in those old threads. I'm glad y'all are still here, and glad I'm here too.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 11:53 AM on November 18, 2018 [3 favorites]

I'll never forget the day I suggested that the $5 signup fee kept trolls away, and someone got really huffy and said "what, those of us whose accounts predate the fee are just trolls then?"

The question is, why won't I forget that? It's actually an extremely forgettable moment in my life.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:12 PM on November 18, 2018 [9 favorites]

Wow, I'm just over 2 weeks past my 16th anniversary on the site. That's nuts. I sneaked in during a free membership window that my friend who introduced me to the site missed out on.
posted by knapah at 2:09 PM on November 18, 2018

Shit - 14 years, huh? Sometimes it feels like longer…

I guess that means that in just 2 years I'll be legally allowed to have Mefi-sex, and a couple of years after that I'll be able to Mefi-vote and Mefi-drink!
posted by Pinback at 2:31 PM on November 18, 2018

Oh man. 17 1/2 years here. Next summer my MeFi account will be legal to vote. Happy to see noobs still here, you kids always had a fun energy.
posted by donnagirl at 3:25 PM on November 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

Happy fiverversary, you crazy kids. So glad you're all here.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:33 PM on November 18, 2018 [6 favorites]

I have no memory of signing up at all - perhaps I've allllways been here - but apparently it took me a month or two to get around to it after the $5 thing.
posted by moonmilk at 4:23 PM on November 18, 2018

I originally signed up in the infancy of the site under my then-pen-name wendell (yes, that's user number 206!). Exact date, neither I nor Mathowie were keeping track. Then when the $5 deal came up I bought oneswellfoop (1) as a backup, (2) to provide the site a little support and (3) to make sure nobody else claimed what was then my blog's domain name. Since then I decided to 'retire' the wendell identity though to this date, few people know me by my 'real name'. Still, the foop's 14th MeFiversary is 11 days away and there's at least a 50% chance I'll survive to see it.
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:36 PM on November 18, 2018 [7 favorites]

LOL 17k-ers. All the best users got in when there were 20 open spots a day. ;)
posted by Guy Smiley at 5:57 PM on November 18, 2018 [6 favorites]

I'm a noob! I'm a NOOB!!!

So happy I'm a noob.

14 year anniversary for me today!
posted by michswiss at 7:00 PM on November 18, 2018

I didn't get signed up till the next day but yay noobiversary. I didn't get courage to comment till a few days later, when I compared Dick Cheney to an alien lizard from V.

I stand by that comment.
posted by emjaybee at 8:01 PM on November 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

man, what does it say about me that I remember when I wasn't cool enough to be on Metafilter, but read it all the time anyway
posted by Countess Elena at 8:18 PM on November 18, 2018 [4 favorites]

Metafilter's eternal September continues, thanks to all of us 11/19 joiners. This might still be the plastic.com that's it's okay to like, if not for us.
posted by killdevil at 10:20 PM on November 18, 2018

At present I can't really conjure up much of a recollection of Plastic.com, though I remember being on it. I vaguely recall a discussion site that ran on Slashcode? I do remember Memepool pretty well, which is how I found Metafilter back in the day.
posted by killdevil at 10:23 PM on November 18, 2018

Crazy. I started lurking well before this and only stopped in 2007 when someone asked a question about roller derby. So that means I was a lurker for at least four years before ponying up my $5 and becoming a for reals member of this community. It's still one of the best decisions I ever made. MF has become an integral part of my daily life, even though I'm still relatively quiet around here.
posted by mynameisluka at 11:40 PM on November 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

I made sign-up day 14 years ago, but missed this thread by an hour.
posted by Cranberry at 12:59 AM on November 19, 2018

Happy anniversary, noobs! I just realized I missed my 16th anniversary last month, but I had been lurking December 2001, trying to get in.
posted by Ruki at 4:35 AM on November 19, 2018

Happy anniversary! I'm currently 12 1/3 and about to enter my teenage years. Don't say you haven't been warned.
posted by arcticseal at 5:57 AM on November 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

I didn't realize it was my 13th five days ago. UGH I AM SO OFF OF THIS WEBSITE IN FIVE YEARS.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:44 AM on November 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Cheers to Generation Noob! May your reign of terror continue unabated by the aches and rheums of age!

At present I can't really conjure up much of a recollection of Plastic.com, though I remember being on it.

Graphically, I remember it looking a like Feed.com, which helps exactly no one if you don't already remember Feed, I guess.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:26 AM on November 19, 2018

Long time listener, first time caller. I saw something about this anniversary online and was inspired to delete my facebook account (it was a long time coming) and (in some way that does 100% make sense to me) make a place in my life to finally join up here. So hello all - looking forward to everything with all of you!
posted by matchstick at 9:55 AM on November 19, 2018 [25 favorites]

heyo! Monkeyfilter represent!
posted by zenon at 10:00 AM on November 19, 2018 [4 favorites]

I signed up during one of the brief open registration windows in 2001 (edit: 17 years ago today!). At the time, I was barely aware of the comments and certainly didn't read them. (Mathowie would approve, right?) I don't remember why I bothered making an account at all, but I believe breathless hype from Boing Boing (redundant?) had something to do with it. Anyway, if you've ever wondered why someone would choose such a hopelessly inconspicuous username as aws17576 (but you probably haven't! because hopelessly inconspicuous!), it's because I conceptualized it purely as a login, not as a name other people would know me by. I alternate between regretting this choice and enjoying the feeling of anonymity it affords me...
posted by aws17576 at 10:18 AM on November 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Good reminder. 26 days to my tenth. I mean, that was aaages ago!
posted by Namlit at 11:20 AM on November 19, 2018

I joined then, but I had to be gifted a username, because I was still in high school and didn't have a credit card yet! I've been a Metafilter member for almost half my life, yikes.
posted by ITheCosmos at 12:45 PM on November 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Welcome, matchstick!
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:02 PM on November 19, 2018

14 years is 82% of my adult life.

On the day in question, another lurker rushed into my dorm room and shouted, "Metafilter sign-ups are open!"

I am, of course, a different person than I was then, and I like to think Mefi has helped me grow in a positive direction. I have learned so much here.
posted by mai at 2:39 PM on November 19, 2018 [4 favorites]

Oh man, I remember the announcement, and I was *so* excited to finally (after lurking for years) be a member! I’ve loved this place for so long, it’s hard to imagine life without it.
posted by dbmcd at 5:58 PM on November 19, 2018

Wow, think how much that $5 would be in today's money!
posted by Miko at 7:22 PM on November 19, 2018 [9 favorites]

Damn it, now I’m curious and have to look it up…

Based on the Consumer Price Index, $5.00 in 2004 is equivalent to $6.69 in 2018.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:25 PM on November 19, 2018

All $5.00 noobs can expect an update bill for $1.69 from cortex. ;-)
posted by Cranberry at 1:21 AM on November 20, 2018 [3 favorites]

nice
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:29 AM on November 20, 2018 [3 favorites]

Woohoo!! I'm still here! Happy noobversary everyone!
posted by ramix at 1:32 AM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Holy crap, 16y 5m I've been here (although not so much lately)! So much has changed for me, it's hard to even imagine I'm the same person. This is still the greatest place on the web, though, so it's nice to know some things never change :-0
posted by dg at 2:14 AM on November 20, 2018 [6 favorites]

Nice to see you, dg!
posted by Miko at 6:34 AM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've only been here just under 8 years.

I think I knew of Metafilter, but didn't really pay much attention to it until I was lucky to read the Russian Sex trafficking - Don't worry it ends up ok thread *mostly in real time* in May of 2010. I signed up a few days after that, because I figured any site that facilitated people being rescued from human trafficking was putting out measurable good into the world.
posted by Faintdreams at 7:01 AM on November 20, 2018 [4 favorites]

Zenon - Monkeyfilter was a great alternative to MF when we couldn't get in. Remember it well.
posted by lloyder at 7:15 AM on November 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

lloyder - it was a great place to hang, although I mostly lurked. Which is what I mostly do.
posted by zenon at 10:27 AM on November 20, 2018

As a $5 noob, and proud of it, I look on this nominal fee as the best deal I ever made on the Internet. It's an innovation that so many other web forum/"social platform" sites should have adopted and have since paid the price for their lack of recognition.

Congratulations and thanks to Matt and all the Metafilter crew!
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:17 PM on November 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

With all the talk of Half Life lately (I just beat HL2, in fact), this reminds me of the beginning of Half Life 1 . . . namely, in that the floodgates to a world of shit have been opened.
posted by Ryvar at 2:00 AM on November 18, 2004

I was a terrible person back then (as always: sorry about that), but in this particular case I happened to be right.
posted by Ryvar at 5:02 PM on November 20, 2018

Monkey filter was originally a statuette of Dr. Zaius as John Houston tied behind a outcrop of Laguna Beach slag.
posted by clavdivs at 6:02 PM on November 20, 2018

No
posted by clavdivs at 6:02 PM on November 20, 2018

I still haven't finished Half-Life 2.
posted by octothorpe at 7:51 PM on November 20, 2018

As one of the sneaky few who crawled in through a secret tunnel during the great close-down and is thus on 14 years and 3 months, it falls to me to say "Git off my laaaaawn!" to all you n00bs, as I proudly polish my brass "17ker" plaque.
posted by penguin pie at 8:59 AM on November 21, 2018

jesus christ ive been lurking and posting for over a decade [nb - not as this username]
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 2:30 PM on November 21, 2018

I’m a teenager here!! 14 years and a bit. Soon my voice will change, and then a growth spurt.
posted by seawallrunner at 1:46 AM on November 27, 2018

a statuette of Dr. Zaius as John Houston tied behind a outcrop of Laguna Beach slag.

Yep, pretty much.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:33 AM on November 30, 2018

I'm in the 14 club! I'm a part of this!
posted by mmmbacon at 12:50 PM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]