MetaFilter in the Ruins

March 4, 2003 7:16 AM

MetaFilter in the Ruins:gentle ribbing, vicious attack, cautionary tale, or dead-on satire? And just how quickly can we get this thread to devolve into a parody of itself?
posted by GreyWingnut (76 comments total)

Doublepost!
posted by iconomy at 7:22 AM on March 4, 2003

Look, if you can’t take two seconds on preview to see if someone else has posted the same story… For Chrissakes, how long have we been doing this?
posted by eas98 at 7:26 AM on March 4, 2003

*click*

Six minutes. Not too shabby.
posted by Pinwheel at 7:27 AM on March 4, 2003

Brilliant.

It's strange, but when the day comes, I'll almost certainly log on to MetaFilter in my waning moments. Assuming, of course, that I survive the initial shockwave, etc.
posted by aladfar at 7:27 AM on March 4, 2003

I'm sorry, but wouldn't that post be Newsfilter? Matt has said again and again that MeFi doesn't do Total Nuclear Armageddon well.
posted by vraxoin at 7:31 AM on March 4, 2003

This nuclear war... it vibrates?
posted by RylandDotNet at 7:34 AM on March 4, 2003

I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.
posted by Ynoxas at 7:37 AM on March 4, 2003

It certainly does vibrate. On the Richter scale! It will also cook an enormous amount of pancakes, provided of course, you prepare the batter in advance.
posted by a3matrix at 7:37 AM on March 4, 2003

i'm cold.
posted by Peter H at 7:38 AM on March 4, 2003

I'm so confused right now.
posted by oissubke at 7:40 AM on March 4, 2003

And I, for one, welcome our new atomic monster overlords.
posted by toothgnip at 7:42 AM on March 4, 2003

How about a nice game of chess?
posted by mookieproof at 7:42 AM on March 4, 2003

It's official, we've become a punchline to jokes.
posted by mathowie at 7:48 AM on March 4, 2003

I'm okay. I'm wearing my tinfoil hat.

Mwuhahahahahahahaha!
posted by twine42 at 7:50 AM on March 4, 2003

I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.
posted by Ynoxas at 7:37 AM PST on March 4

Self post!
posted by Espoo2 at 7:52 AM on March 4, 2003

Where the hell does 'X-post' come from? No one says that...or do they?

Slowly going insane, worried that I'll get shouted down with cries of 'OF COURSE WE DO, ASSHAT!'
posted by Orange Goblin at 7:55 AM on March 4, 2003

MetaFilterFilter
posted by Armitage Shanks at 7:56 AM on March 4, 2003

Hey people!
We shouldn't be giving this guy ANY feedback!

I've just sent Matt an e-mail asking him to delete this thread. This sort of behavior . . .

Ok, I can't do it.
Good work Kevin. (Although does anyone ever use the word "x-post" here?)
posted by jeremias at 7:56 AM on March 4, 2003

"X-post" doesn't acquire a certain retro-geek-chic until late 2007, actually.
posted by signal at 8:02 AM on March 4, 2003

I like to play the Xbox. What?
posted by mikrophon at 8:06 AM on March 4, 2003

Zippity BOP?
posted by daveadams at 8:09 AM on March 4, 2003

This nuclear armageddon ... is this something you'd have to own a TV to appreciate?

/its_a_trap
/fark
posted by KiloHeavy at 8:11 AM on March 4, 2003

Put a blanket up on the window pane
When the baby cries lullaby again
As the light goes out on the final day
For the people who never had a say

There is so much noise
There is too much heat
And the living floor throws you off your feet
As the final day falls into the night
There is peace outside in the narrow light

- Young Marble Giants
"Final Day"
posted by adamgreenfield at 8:12 AM on March 4, 2003

Not a dead-on satire, as there's no obligatory post taking the President (Jeb Bush?) to task for creating this false sense of insecurity. Besides, we all know that North Korea, Iraq, China, Iran, Pakistan, India, and France won't have weapons of mass destruction in 2009, as those hard-working UN weapons inspector will have certainly found them all ... and G.W. Bush will have rid the world of evil and terrorism by then too.
posted by marcusb at 8:17 AM on March 4, 2003

Shouldn't this be in MetaTalk under "MetaFilter Related"?
posted by Mick at 8:17 AM on March 4, 2003

It's official, we've become a punchline to jokes.

And jokes written for people who don't even read this site, to boot. There weren't any of the standard (inescapable, here) in-jokes, or even the typical lingo -- it was like a satire of MeFi written for people who don't read MeFi to begin with.
posted by mattpfeff at 8:19 AM on March 4, 2003

When the time comes I'll be way to busy squeezing off one last one to log on to Metafilter.

I mean I like you guys and all, but I don't want snarkiness to be my last memory...
posted by vito90 at 8:20 AM on March 4, 2003

I'm sorry, that sucked. Even I could have written something better than that.
posted by Stan Chin at 8:23 AM on March 4, 2003

It would have been funnier if the links had worked. I'm just sayin'.
posted by ColdChef at 8:23 AM on March 4, 2003

the in-jokes would'nt have made sense in the article, especially since you all are not the target readers, just the fish that took the bait.
posted by the aloha at 8:37 AM on March 4, 2003

I'd like to see Stan's version of a MeFi parody. Come on Stan, "You can do it!"
posted by riffola at 8:39 AM on March 4, 2003

...our new atomic monster overlords.
...it vibrates?
Please relieve yourself by spewing all Vibrating Memes in this thread...

More [good natured : ) ] META-fun (surprised no one has noticed it) here. Click "current episode" [warning! Loud music!] And don't snark on him too much, he's making fun of himself, too.
posted by Shane at 8:43 AM on March 4, 2003

I liked the screen names, all of them.
posted by asok at 8:57 AM on March 4, 2003

They were too pun-y.
posted by dong_resin at 9:12 AM on March 4, 2003

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I love it!

I particularly enjoyed this post over on MetaTalk:
Unfortunately Mr Guilfoile is trying to do something that has already been done to death by his betters. Late to the party and sadly bland. This type of parody is so obvious that I'm seriously wondering how he managed to come up with one so lacking in real wit.

This was even funnier to me. It's so boohoohoo hoo hooooo. I'm haughty and terribly important.

If you can't laugh at yourself and you take MetaFilter SO seriously, shouldn't you be in therapy? Or at least have a mirror handy so you can check yourself before you wreck yourself? There should be two MetaFilters, one for those with a sense of humor and another for those serious scholars of the Web proper.
posted by sparky at 9:12 AM on March 4, 2003

Ha ha! That's choice. Thanks for the link.
posted by botono9 at 9:19 AM on March 4, 2003

So this nuclear bomb, does it mutate? [runs away]
posted by mkelley at 9:42 AM on March 4, 2003

MetaFilter: Noone parodies us better than we do. Noone.
posted by freebird at 9:44 AM on March 4, 2003

Ah, no, got it:

MetaFilter: Self-Parody is the sincerest form of flattery.
posted by freebird at 9:45 AM on March 4, 2003

When I saw this on the Morning News this morning, I just knew someone would be posting it here.

Where the hell does 'X-post' come from? No one says that...or do they?

They use that a lot over at Readerville, where I believe Mr. Guilfoile is an active participant. The Metafilter equivalent is, of course, "On preview..."
posted by turaho at 9:49 AM on March 4, 2003

So what is an "x-post"? Cross-post? I've never seen anyone say that.

What mattpfeff said.
posted by sklero at 9:56 AM on March 4, 2003

Turaho...oh.
posted by sklero at 9:58 AM on March 4, 2003

Can I use my duct tape now?
posted by Argyle at 9:58 AM on March 4, 2003

.
posted by sacre_bleu at 10:01 AM on March 4, 2003

boop boop be-doop.

notice the little drawing of the author at the bottom... do you think it's purposely made to look like afred e newman...?
posted by t r a c y at 10:08 AM on March 4, 2003

Sorry, really lame. I agree w/some of the previous posters here - it sounds like it's written by someone who's read Mefi once. Maybe twice. None of the usual in-jokes and instead that whole X-post thing - poorly executed. I'm joining the chorus - we want YOU, Stan!
posted by widdershins at 10:27 AM on March 4, 2003

Oh my God. I've joined a cult!:

"American Culture: Assignment One

Instructions:

Choose one of the online communities lsted below. Some require membership, others do not. Your job is to observe the community and answer the following questions:

1. What is important to Americans?
2. What topics are most viewed? Most active?
3. How are the topics different? How are they the same?
4. How would you characterize the members of different communities?


You must write these answers in 1/2 a page in English. Include which communities you visited. The assignment must be turned in at the 3rd class meeting (see the Fall Schedule for when that meeting is)."


..."Metafilter is a closed community and allows new members only rarely. All the members know each other and they generally share the same political and cultural mentality." ......forgets to mention, also that we are an insectoid society, like bees, who are genetically engineered clones of Matt Haughey, all living together in a secret HIVE under Manhattan: despite our apparent, sometimes seemingly visceral differences of opinion, we all work together towards a common, sinister goal.....

(this was from a French Business school Am. Culture assignment...or a page which purported to be that. I saved the page but the URL - http://www.esc-pau.org/courses/amcult/assignment1.htm - no longer works and the domain has disappeared. Woo woo!

Here's a Blog called "Netmarketing" on which Metafilter pops up a few times: here
posted by troutfishing at 10:27 AM on March 4, 2003

Day after Nuclear Armageddon, Worst Case Scenario:

Mefi Poster 1: Milk sucks!

Mefi Poster 2: No, it doesn't.
posted by raysmj at 10:30 AM on March 4, 2003

All the members know each other and they generally share the same political and cultural mentality.

Whatever it is they were smoking when they came up with that conclusion, I want some. Next thing you know, people will say we all get along with each other.
posted by Orb at 10:39 AM on March 4, 2003

dong_resin - you never fail to make me laugh, even when you are being a grouch.
posted by asok at 10:42 AM on March 4, 2003

What Orb said.
posted by troutfishing at 10:46 AM on March 4, 2003

I blame SUV drivers for our current nuclear holocaust.
posted by Holden at 10:51 AM on March 4, 2003

That could have been much better.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 11:16 AM on March 4, 2003

Brilliant, I love it!
posted by VelvetHellvis at 11:21 AM on March 4, 2003

all living together in a secret HIVE under Manhattan

Well, yeay! I've always wanted to live in Manhattan!
posted by sparky at 11:22 AM on March 4, 2003

It looks like the entire downtown is in flames. Thick black smoke is everywhere. The heat on the back of my neck is intense.

You mean, no Mardi Gras. This thread is the bomb of boob-less.

On preview, all of the above.
posted by thomcatspike at 11:26 AM on March 4, 2003

Of all the MeFi parodies I've seen, this one sets a new nadir in obvious humor.
posted by ed at 11:51 AM on March 4, 2003

Nader!


oops
posted by whatnot at 12:41 PM on March 4, 2003

One day I expect Metafilter to be mentioned on "The Simpsons". And then the end will come.
posted by konolia at 1:06 PM on March 4, 2003

« Older We’re all going to die…. | Friday Flash Fun… Newer »

I would have deemed the thread uninteresting and gone to another one... Hey! Friday fun!
posted by orange swan at 1:26 PM on March 4, 2003

"one for those with a sense of humor and another for those serious scholars of the Web proper."

And one for shaved wombat nuubs with spastic colon.

Sparky - For future reference:

This is funny and original
This is a half-baked knockoff

Try and keep up Sparky.
posted by y6y6y6 at 2:00 PM on March 4, 2003

Everything's fine in Liverpool. Except the Mersey now has a nice orange glow ...
posted by feelinglistless at 2:33 PM on March 4, 2003

Boring, contrived and overall pretty lame. But are we going to let this attack on the very fibre of MetaFilter go unpunished? I say no! Who will avenge this dark deed?
*looks at stan*

konolia, that would certainly be the end, as the universe would fold back on itself and disappear with a small but distinct pop, leaving only a small puff of (blueish grey) smoke hanging in the still air.
posted by dg at 2:41 PM on March 4, 2003

If you think I'm going to work on a modest mockery of Metafilter and the Morning News on the midday of every 12 months called Mardi Gras that I can cunningly coerce caliguan coeds to ballast their boobs in a barter for beads and baubles in a drunken drama devised by the devil himself then you're all as asinine as all these alleged alliterations.

Maybe later. I've got tits to see.
posted by Stan Chin at 3:10 PM on March 4, 2003

Dead link, y6³?
posted by Shane at 3:10 PM on March 4, 2003

Stan, take pictures. They's worth money y'know...
posted by Wulfgar! at 4:14 PM on March 4, 2003

all living together in a secret hive under Manhattan

I can't afford to live under Manhattan. I have to live under Queens.
posted by Vidiot at 5:02 PM on March 4, 2003

But when do we get to discuss the Middle East?
posted by Postroad at 5:11 PM on March 4, 2003

all living together in a secret HIVE under Manhattan

Can't we live under Boston? It's been a while since I made a gratuitous reference to my neighborhood.

(note to folks who live in Greater Boston: no, I'm not.)
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:34 PM on March 4, 2003

On the short wave they’re saying the Chinese have another round of ICBM’s in the air.

This 'quote' is from the morning news site... Why do you suppose that every time there's supposition about a nuclear war, we're always reverting to outdated technology such as shortwave?
posted by schlaager at 5:46 PM on March 4, 2003

Anyone else notice that April 14, 2009 is not actually a Friday? It's a Tuesday.

God, I'm lame.
posted by quarantine at 6:28 PM on March 4, 2003

To all those criticizing the author for missing the in-jokes and not getting the lingo dead-on: Congratulations on proving his point.
posted by Space Coyote at 6:35 PM on March 4, 2003

Is this something that requires the internet? Because I do not have the internet.
posted by cohappy at 7:03 PM on March 4, 2003

Congratulations on proving his point.

Or maybe they're one step ahead, mocking the parody attempt.
posted by jaden at 10:00 PM on March 4, 2003

Matt just made the new slogan, and no one noticed!

MetaFilter: "It's official, we've become a punchline to jokes."
posted by Down10 at 2:04 AM on March 5, 2003

And I visit this site for serious discussions of news and current events, not these juvenile shenanigans!
posted by Down10 at 2:07 AM on March 5, 2003