MetaFilter: a time capsule from another internet
July 12, 2024 8:47 AM Subscribe
Wired's Steven Levy writes about MF in his newsletter (archived): This month, the venerated site celebrates its 25th anniversary. It’s amazing it has lasted that long; it made it this far in great part thanks to West, who helped stabilize it after a near-death spiral. You could say it’s the site that time forgot—certainly I’d forgotten about it until I decided to mark its big birthday. Metafilter is a kind of digital Brigadoon; visiting it is like a form of time travel. To people who have been around a while, Metafilter seems to preserve in amber the spirit of what online used to be like. The feed is strictly chronological. It’s still text-only. Some members may be influential on Metafilter, but they don’t call themselves influencers, and they don’t sell personally branded cosmetics or garments. As founder Matt Haughey, who stepped down in 2017, says, "It's a weird throwback thing—like a cockroach that survived.”
Congrats Bella Donna if this was your pitch!!! Well done! Let’s welcome any newbies with style and grace.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:51 AM on July 12 [37 favorites]
posted by warriorqueen at 8:51 AM on July 12 [37 favorites]
MF is like an infinite-line BBS from back in the day, without the warez and pr0n. And no games. And multiple SysOps.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:53 AM on July 12 [14 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:53 AM on July 12 [14 favorites]
Twenty-five years? Why didn't somebody say something? Happy birthday, MeFi!
posted by grubi at 8:53 AM on July 12 [13 favorites]
posted by grubi at 8:53 AM on July 12 [13 favorites]
Thank you, warriorqueen. I really hope to get additional press as well but there are no guarantees. Levy is something of a throwback, as Halloween Jack says, so he seemed like one of the few journalists who could actually appreciate the meaning of our anniversary.
posted by Bella Donna at 8:55 AM on July 12 [33 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 8:55 AM on July 12 [33 favorites]
I’m able to read the first two sentences and then it’s a blank page with ads.
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:55 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:55 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Same here.
posted by grubi at 8:56 AM on July 12 [3 favorites]
posted by grubi at 8:56 AM on July 12 [3 favorites]
Jon_Evil, I had that problem as well. So I opened a new browser window, pasted in the URL, and then I could read the whole thing.
Also: Seriously, Matt: Like a cockroach?
posted by Bella Donna at 8:57 AM on July 12 [22 favorites]
Also: Seriously, Matt: Like a cockroach?
posted by Bella Donna at 8:57 AM on July 12 [22 favorites]
Twenty-five years? Why didn't somebody say something? Happy birthday, MeFi!
Be sure to check out IRL, there's some meetup celebrations planned (and plenty of room to plan more)
posted by CrystalDave at 8:57 AM on July 12 [8 favorites]
Be sure to check out IRL, there's some meetup celebrations planned (and plenty of room to plan more)
posted by CrystalDave at 8:57 AM on July 12 [8 favorites]
I'm a very recent join to the site, but I've lurked since this kind of site was the norm. (I was thinking about bare-bones front pages the other day. Google's front page is still relatively bare bones, though not as much as it was, but remember what Amazon looked like when it launched?) Interestingly, the closest I've found to the Metafilter aesthetic is on Hacker News, and so I enjoy browsing that site for the feel—and for the hacker news—even while I'm trying to learn to stay well away from any political discussion. Anyway, thanks, Metafilter, for staying true, for being a breath of fresh air, and for being a place that always has something to teach me.
posted by It is regrettable that at 8:59 AM on July 12 [36 favorites]
posted by It is regrettable that at 8:59 AM on July 12 [36 favorites]
If a new browser window doesn't work, here is an archived version.
posted by Bella Donna at 9:00 AM on July 12 [12 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 9:00 AM on July 12 [12 favorites]
Welcome to commenting glory, It is regrettable that! Nice to hear from you.
posted by Bella Donna at 9:01 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 9:01 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]
Happy Birthday, MF! While I am in the very small non-lefty minority here at Mefi, I always come back because I appreciate people who can actually write complete sentences and rely on text to convey meaning. No memes, no outrage gifs, no strange layouts, etc.
posted by davidmsc at 9:02 AM on July 12 [39 favorites]
posted by davidmsc at 9:02 AM on July 12 [39 favorites]
Very nice! (Despite the "cockroach" burn. Ugh) I did not know about Jessamyn's "charming connection to computer history," so cool!
posted by evilmomlady at 9:09 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]
posted by evilmomlady at 9:09 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]
It’s a rare survivor of the early internet that has maintained its heartbeat and kept its dignity. Metafilter is what it is, while also being what it was.
Yay!
posted by evilmomlady at 9:11 AM on July 12 [12 favorites]
Yay!
posted by evilmomlady at 9:11 AM on July 12 [12 favorites]
I would say this makes me feel internet old, but I was on The WELL for years so I am internet ancient.
posted by misterpatrick at 9:11 AM on July 12 [21 favorites]
posted by misterpatrick at 9:11 AM on July 12 [21 favorites]
If a new browser window doesn't work, here is an archived version.
Thanks for this. You might want to ask the mods to change the original link, the browser window thing didn't work for me and seems like others too.
posted by star gentle uterus at 9:22 AM on July 12 [3 favorites]
Thanks for this. You might want to ask the mods to change the original link, the browser window thing didn't work for me and seems like others too.
posted by star gentle uterus at 9:22 AM on July 12 [3 favorites]
Thanks, star gentle uterus. I have made that request.
posted by Bella Donna at 9:34 AM on July 12
posted by Bella Donna at 9:34 AM on July 12
So the technology here is old hat. Big deal. But being simple, it makes it easy to get past the interface and just deal with the ideas and the people. But those ideas came from the people here, and this is what makes MF so important. The people. I’ve been here since 2007, thanks Kevin, and every time I see that blue background, I know I am now entering a huge community of very diverse people, and that offers me the chance to meet and learn that I never had before except in the good old days of Usenet newsgroups. I’m also on Mastodon, where things for me originally were centered in a like minded group (though discordant on purpose) and slowly evolved into a much broader group. It’s been good there, but it lacks the general focus on things that MF provides. Here, behind all those made up user names, I feel like there are real people here, and those made up names are for me the real names of those real people I’ve gotten to know only by what they have written.
posted by njohnson23 at 9:43 AM on July 12 [15 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 9:43 AM on July 12 [15 favorites]
We're cockroaches, baby!
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:45 AM on July 12 [12 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:45 AM on July 12 [12 favorites]
Also: Seriously, Matt: Like a cockroach?
I believe the phrase you're looking for is:
WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.
MATT?
posted by briank at 9:48 AM on July 12 [41 favorites]
I believe the phrase you're looking for is:
WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.
MATT?
posted by briank at 9:48 AM on July 12 [41 favorites]
Also: Seriously, Matt: Like a cockroach?
I am the cockroach. I probably live in your house.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:52 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]
I am the cockroach. I probably live in your house.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:52 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]
My fellow cockroaches! I'd be offended but it's too true!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:01 AM on July 12 [8 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:01 AM on July 12 [8 favorites]
MeFites: We don't die; we multiply.
posted by grubi at 10:06 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
posted by grubi at 10:06 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
MF is one of the only places on the internet I trust. Not really to be accurate or true, it's not always. But MF is never trying to sell me something. People just say what they think unmediated by silly memes, commercial interests, algorithms and with some stellar moderation. And that's pretty rare.
posted by Glibpaxman at 10:20 AM on July 12 [51 favorites]
posted by Glibpaxman at 10:20 AM on July 12 [51 favorites]
* scuttles under the refrigerator *
Meep!
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 10:21 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Meep!
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 10:21 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
We Bebe's Fites?
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:21 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:21 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]
> but they don’t call themselves influencers
so i'm here to weird up the ideas of a few mildly influential writers in the interest of getting interesting books out of them, that and the ego boost from getting a lot of favorites
on edit: also to talk about how incredibly handsome i am
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 10:27 AM on July 12 [6 favorites]
so i'm here to weird up the ideas of a few mildly influential writers in the interest of getting interesting books out of them, that and the ego boost from getting a lot of favorites
on edit: also to talk about how incredibly handsome i am
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 10:27 AM on July 12 [6 favorites]
There's something amusing about some people (me included) on a low tech site having issues with high tech site. Though it's probably a browser thing (I'm on MacOS Chrome at the moment).
Cheers to 25 years at the neighborhood bar!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:33 AM on July 12 [6 favorites]
Nice to see that Wired is still keeping an appreciative eye on MetaFilter. I first came across MetaFilter in an article way back in February of 2001 about the All Your Base Are Belong to Us meme.
posted by Kattullus at 10:35 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 10:35 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Also, the partner and I have just started rewatching LOST, which came out in 2004 and I keep muttering this about the actors: "They look so young!" MetaFilter looks basically the same and I view that as a positive.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:39 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:39 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
I love this site. A very dear, very talented friend of mine, who is very sadly no longer with us, mentioned it to me some almost 20 years ago, and I felt like he'd somehow both uncovered a treasure hidden in plain sight, but also, like the people posting here, chosen to do the best thing you can possibly do with treasure: share it.
For years after, I lurked quietly, my internet life - and my life outside that - so often enriched by things interesting people who I didn't have to be friends with (this is a great requirement not to have) would post here. Far, far later I stumped up my five bucks and I occasionally ramble here, too. It changes and doesn't change, but has so much more to tell than any mirror or broadcast.
I think, for me, metafilter remains as close as you can get in a flawed world to an idealised version of interaction and sharing and ideas, whether they're agreeable or not. I'm not monetised here, and neither act as or am treated as product. I'm not mithered, and the terms are entirely as they seem; neither is there a cacophony of posing or attempts to be pleasing or provocative for the sake of something hidden, or self image.
Metafilter often reminds me of my old friend, who shared ideas I'd never had, and sparked off my own burblings, and I miss the many kinds of smart nonsense or dumb sense we would pinball through in conversation. The ongoing conversations I sometimes imagine with him live here too, and that spirit it turns out is still here, too, in simple text on a blue background, but so much more than that. And that's my sentimental bit for the day. It's nice to reflect on that sometimes.
posted by onebuttonmonkey at 10:41 AM on July 12 [26 favorites]
For years after, I lurked quietly, my internet life - and my life outside that - so often enriched by things interesting people who I didn't have to be friends with (this is a great requirement not to have) would post here. Far, far later I stumped up my five bucks and I occasionally ramble here, too. It changes and doesn't change, but has so much more to tell than any mirror or broadcast.
I think, for me, metafilter remains as close as you can get in a flawed world to an idealised version of interaction and sharing and ideas, whether they're agreeable or not. I'm not monetised here, and neither act as or am treated as product. I'm not mithered, and the terms are entirely as they seem; neither is there a cacophony of posing or attempts to be pleasing or provocative for the sake of something hidden, or self image.
Metafilter often reminds me of my old friend, who shared ideas I'd never had, and sparked off my own burblings, and I miss the many kinds of smart nonsense or dumb sense we would pinball through in conversation. The ongoing conversations I sometimes imagine with him live here too, and that spirit it turns out is still here, too, in simple text on a blue background, but so much more than that. And that's my sentimental bit for the day. It's nice to reflect on that sometimes.
posted by onebuttonmonkey at 10:41 AM on July 12 [26 favorites]
"They don't call themselves influencers."
Ctrl-f cabal: Phrase not found
Interesting.
posted by Depressed Obese Nightmare Man at 10:44 AM on July 12 [17 favorites]
Ctrl-f cabal: Phrase not found
Interesting.
posted by Depressed Obese Nightmare Man at 10:44 AM on July 12 [17 favorites]
but just think how great we could be if Matt had gotten VC money and the site was now run by SEO types obsessed with dwell time and cpm
same as in town
posted by clawsoon at 10:45 AM on July 12 [16 favorites]
same as in town
posted by clawsoon at 10:45 AM on July 12 [16 favorites]
I can't remember how I got here but I'm glad I stayed.
BBSes are gone and USENET is a 300TiB/day wreck but Metafilter remains. And I love that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:50 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]
BBSes are gone and USENET is a 300TiB/day wreck but Metafilter remains. And I love that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:50 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]
Also: Seriously, Matt: Like a cockroach?
Try to step on us and find out we can fly!
posted by tommasz at 10:53 AM on July 12 [6 favorites]
Try to step on us and find out we can fly!
posted by tommasz at 10:53 AM on July 12 [6 favorites]
Does this mean I'm immune to radiation?
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:54 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:54 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]
Vote #1 the quidnunc kid for last surviving cockroach!
posted by rock swoon has no past at 11:00 AM on July 12 [30 favorites]
posted by rock swoon has no past at 11:00 AM on July 12 [30 favorites]
Oy, I started lurking here 20 years ago and paid for my first account in I think 2006 and I still think of myself as a noob. I really can't handle the notion that my participation on Metafilter is old enough to vote, and that I've been around on the site for most of its operating life. TIME!! STOP PASSING, THIS IS WEIRD
posted by potrzebie at 11:01 AM on July 12 [13 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 11:01 AM on July 12 [13 favorites]
Fully here to embrace being on Team Cockroach - it's much better than the butthole spiders. (Also weird to think I've been here for almost of MF's history in one form or another)
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:03 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:03 AM on July 12 [2 favorites]
Great article. I remember Steven Levy from the world of BBS long, long ago.
posted by freakazoid at 11:04 AM on July 12 [1 favorite]
posted by freakazoid at 11:04 AM on July 12 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I guess the Big Story is how little MetaFilter has changed in 25 years. But really? It's changed a fucking lot! Whenever someone posts a link to a thread from 20 years ago I wince. Those of us who were here for the Quonsar Years remember. Yes, it was snarky and chaotic and "fun" but it was boyzone as hell and casual slurs were common.''
I've learned a lot from MeFi's growing pains. About Emotional Labor, about Microagressions, about Trans 101 (even as that's been evolving itself). I'm a better person because I've been here for that growth, and I hope this place is a better place because I've grown up too.
At our best, we make each other better people, both online and off. Y'all have taught me so much, and I wouldn't trade that for all the fish in all the pants on the Internet.
posted by rikschell at 11:08 AM on July 12 [60 favorites]
I've learned a lot from MeFi's growing pains. About Emotional Labor, about Microagressions, about Trans 101 (even as that's been evolving itself). I'm a better person because I've been here for that growth, and I hope this place is a better place because I've grown up too.
At our best, we make each other better people, both online and off. Y'all have taught me so much, and I wouldn't trade that for all the fish in all the pants on the Internet.
posted by rikschell at 11:08 AM on July 12 [60 favorites]
BBSes are gone and USENET is a 300TiB/day wreck but Metafilter remains. And I love that.
Hey, BBSes are not gone, I still visit a couple of them on a daily basis. You can connect to them from any modern machine and there is an active community developing new hardware and software to keep ancient machines connected as well if you don't have access to a modem and a land-line.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:11 AM on July 12 [10 favorites]
Hey, BBSes are not gone, I still visit a couple of them on a daily basis. You can connect to them from any modern machine and there is an active community developing new hardware and software to keep ancient machines connected as well if you don't have access to a modem and a land-line.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:11 AM on July 12 [10 favorites]
> so i'm here to weird up the ideas of a few mildly influential writers in the interest of getting interesting books out of them
also though if any of you writes a somewhat borgen-flavored and also a little bit trashy novel giving an insider view of a political system and the compromises both moral and personal involved in wielding power but it's in a setting where members of parliament are selected via sortition before i can get mine published i will devote the remainder of my days and nights to destroying you in whatever way i can and i promise you those ways will be both vicious and incredibly confusing
p.s. if you need a reason to take my threats seriously i remind you that i am, as previously stated, quite handsome
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 11:14 AM on July 12 [3 favorites]
also though if any of you writes a somewhat borgen-flavored and also a little bit trashy novel giving an insider view of a political system and the compromises both moral and personal involved in wielding power but it's in a setting where members of parliament are selected via sortition before i can get mine published i will devote the remainder of my days and nights to destroying you in whatever way i can and i promise you those ways will be both vicious and incredibly confusing
p.s. if you need a reason to take my threats seriously i remind you that i am, as previously stated, quite handsome
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 11:14 AM on July 12 [3 favorites]
My only regret is not creating an account when I first found the site ca. 2000 or so. I had to wait until 2004. But still, this site has been a part of my life for ... damn near half my life. I have IRL friends I have not known half as long as I've known The Blue.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:19 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]
posted by caution live frogs at 11:19 AM on July 12 [4 favorites]
> Those of us who were here for the Quonsar Years remember. Yes, it was snarky and chaotic and "fun" but it was boyzone as hell and casual slurs were common.''
also pretty much everyone has cameras these days, and most of them vibrate
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 11:20 AM on July 12 [7 favorites]
also pretty much everyone has cameras these days, and most of them vibrate
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 11:20 AM on July 12 [7 favorites]
I'm a very recent join to the site
Welcome! Also I added that archive link. Love you nerds.
posted by jessamyn at 11:24 AM on July 12 [27 favorites]
Welcome! Also I added that archive link. Love you nerds.
posted by jessamyn at 11:24 AM on July 12 [27 favorites]
The day after Metafilter’s 25th will mark 22 years since I “hacked” my way in here (translation: bypassed the paper-thin blocker Matt installed on the signups page, not a for-realsies hacking). Mostly motivated by a desire to fight with amberglow about gun control policy; I was still emerging from an evangelical fundamentalist conservative mindset and just beginning my misogynistic Internet edgelord / shitlord phase. A lot of awful followed (much of it recorded in my early comment history which I urge you to avoid) and then in 2006 I found medication that worked and almost immediately after that came my first divorce, the start of my career, and something like functional adulthood.
Metafilter’s been a constant for me virtually my entire adult life, an ideological tentpole alongside Iain Banks’ Culture novels that keeps me oriented as to what is right and good in this world, what people and society ought to be. Jessamyn’s superhero act of dragging Metafilter out of the muck of early Internet culture was paralleled by a simultaneous, equally heroic feat of dragging me out of the muck with it. I cannot sufficiently convey my gratitude that this place exists, nor to the many, many people here who’ve helped me out over the years. I’ll see at least a few of you for the Boston 25th anniversary meetup on Sunday.
posted by Ryvar at 11:30 AM on July 12 [51 favorites]
Metafilter’s been a constant for me virtually my entire adult life, an ideological tentpole alongside Iain Banks’ Culture novels that keeps me oriented as to what is right and good in this world, what people and society ought to be. Jessamyn’s superhero act of dragging Metafilter out of the muck of early Internet culture was paralleled by a simultaneous, equally heroic feat of dragging me out of the muck with it. I cannot sufficiently convey my gratitude that this place exists, nor to the many, many people here who’ve helped me out over the years. I’ll see at least a few of you for the Boston 25th anniversary meetup on Sunday.
posted by Ryvar at 11:30 AM on July 12 [51 favorites]
I really don't think I'd have the patience for a site structured differently than metafilter.
- No visual clutter. Like, I sometimes look at reddit for specific topics and there's so much clutter in each page that distracts the eye. It's fine if you're just looking for three sentences from a real person about the best cat food, but it's no way to read for pleasure.
- Nothing to click to continue to read a discussion. I know that a lot of people like the idea of threaded conversations, but I read pretty fast and when I have to click little carrots to continue to read the page, it interrupts the flow. I don't enjoy reading threaded discussions nearly as much as I enjoy metafilter.
- everything is basically the same size - it's not like there's three small text comments then a massive gif, etc.
I do use twitter, which has clutter and drop-downs and so on, but twitter is for laughter or doomspiraling or book recommendations, short form stuff. Even when twitter was still good, it did not enable metafilter-like conversations.
Also, I know that folks think that metafilter politics threads, etc get completely bananas and exhausting, but they are nothing like certain anarchist threads or neighborhood listservs.
posted by Frowner at 11:36 AM on July 12 [27 favorites]
- No visual clutter. Like, I sometimes look at reddit for specific topics and there's so much clutter in each page that distracts the eye. It's fine if you're just looking for three sentences from a real person about the best cat food, but it's no way to read for pleasure.
- Nothing to click to continue to read a discussion. I know that a lot of people like the idea of threaded conversations, but I read pretty fast and when I have to click little carrots to continue to read the page, it interrupts the flow. I don't enjoy reading threaded discussions nearly as much as I enjoy metafilter.
- everything is basically the same size - it's not like there's three small text comments then a massive gif, etc.
I do use twitter, which has clutter and drop-downs and so on, but twitter is for laughter or doomspiraling or book recommendations, short form stuff. Even when twitter was still good, it did not enable metafilter-like conversations.
Also, I know that folks think that metafilter politics threads, etc get completely bananas and exhausting, but they are nothing like certain anarchist threads or neighborhood listservs.
posted by Frowner at 11:36 AM on July 12 [27 favorites]
rikschell, agreed with you on old posts sometimes provoking winces, but also on the learning—although it was far from the first post here that taught me something, the first post that I remember seriously making me question my own beliefs, not once but repeatedly, was the 2016 one on UChicago's "safe spaces" letter, which I'd like to link but sadly can't find. Also, Metafilter's always had moments of gold; we shouldn't let this thread go by without pointing to Help me help my friend in DC, which I didn't see live but which still sets my heart to pounding when I re-read it, as I have a few times.
Also, a personalized welcome from jessamyn! I'll be signing autographs in the lobby.
posted by It is regrettable that at 11:41 AM on July 12 [9 favorites]
Also, a personalized welcome from jessamyn! I'll be signing autographs in the lobby.
posted by It is regrettable that at 11:41 AM on July 12 [9 favorites]
Also, thanks again Bella Donna for helping to make this happen.
posted by freakazoid at 11:53 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
posted by freakazoid at 11:53 AM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Happy birthday, MetaFilter! I can't believe I have had an account for over 12 years here, almost a third of my life. While my posting activity sort of petered out after a while, I've diligently lurked ever since and even continued commenting at a sedate pace of, oh, once a year. I ought to contribute more - this place means so much more to me than my own level of activity would suggest.
(Ironically I found out about this post from Jessamyn's Mastodon post, it had passed me by when I scanned The Blue earlier.)
posted by Talkie Toaster at 12:13 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
(Ironically I found out about this post from Jessamyn's Mastodon post, it had passed me by when I scanned The Blue earlier.)
posted by Talkie Toaster at 12:13 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
On what, if you could travel back in time, you would tell Matthew Haughey:
JESSAMYN WEST:
For me, it would be like, get help sooner. Like get help running the website, not like get help.
posted by Wordshore at 12:15 PM on July 12 [18 favorites]
JESSAMYN WEST:
For me, it would be like, get help sooner. Like get help running the website, not like get help.
posted by Wordshore at 12:15 PM on July 12 [18 favorites]
cortex just “a staffer” :(
You gotta trim a story for a newsletter, but a little sad.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:16 PM on July 12 [18 favorites]
You gotta trim a story for a newsletter, but a little sad.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:16 PM on July 12 [18 favorites]
The day after Metafilter’s 25th will mark 22 years since I “hacked” my way in here (translation: bypassed the paper-thin blocker Matt installed on the signups page, not a for-realsies hacking).
This is how I got my account during the closed to new sign up period, too.
For those that are curious, it was just a hidden or non-public URL that was passed around word of mouth by those in the know, and then presumably Mathowie manually approved your signup or something. My brother was a friend of Matt's and turned me on to the site and then it was all downhill from there. (Kidding, this site and the people on it has literally has saved my life a couple of times now.)
I'm not sure what the user number range is for this but I think it's something like 13,000 to 20,000 ish.
Mostly motivated by a desire to fight with amberglow about gun control policy; I was still emerging from an evangelical fundamentalist conservative mindset and just beginning my misogynistic Internet edgelord / shitlord phase.
Ryvar, I totally remember arguing with you during this period and to be honest I don't even remember what it was about. I do remember getting so pissed off a few times that I could have legit flipped a table.
But you've mellowed out a LOT since then and I find you quite likeable now, so I'm glad you're around!
I also used to be WAY more intense and intentionally weird or just way too judgemental and argumentative, and I know for sure there's problematic posts from back then in the boyzone or just generally gross categories, but MetaFilter has helped me grow and learn and mellow out, too.
Like a lot of members here, before MetaFilter I first cut my teeth on BBSes, Usenet and email group lists and it taught me a lot of valuable things about rhetoric, debate and presenting coherent arguments and criticisms, and then MetaFilter taught me how to dial it back and be more mellow, human and humane about all that.
And I cant believe it's been 25 years. Time flies. Happy Birthday, MetaFilter!
posted by loquacious at 12:18 PM on July 12 [19 favorites]
This is how I got my account during the closed to new sign up period, too.
For those that are curious, it was just a hidden or non-public URL that was passed around word of mouth by those in the know, and then presumably Mathowie manually approved your signup or something. My brother was a friend of Matt's and turned me on to the site and then it was all downhill from there. (Kidding, this site and the people on it has literally has saved my life a couple of times now.)
I'm not sure what the user number range is for this but I think it's something like 13,000 to 20,000 ish.
Mostly motivated by a desire to fight with amberglow about gun control policy; I was still emerging from an evangelical fundamentalist conservative mindset and just beginning my misogynistic Internet edgelord / shitlord phase.
Ryvar, I totally remember arguing with you during this period and to be honest I don't even remember what it was about. I do remember getting so pissed off a few times that I could have legit flipped a table.
But you've mellowed out a LOT since then and I find you quite likeable now, so I'm glad you're around!
I also used to be WAY more intense and intentionally weird or just way too judgemental and argumentative, and I know for sure there's problematic posts from back then in the boyzone or just generally gross categories, but MetaFilter has helped me grow and learn and mellow out, too.
Like a lot of members here, before MetaFilter I first cut my teeth on BBSes, Usenet and email group lists and it taught me a lot of valuable things about rhetoric, debate and presenting coherent arguments and criticisms, and then MetaFilter taught me how to dial it back and be more mellow, human and humane about all that.
And I cant believe it's been 25 years. Time flies. Happy Birthday, MetaFilter!
posted by loquacious at 12:18 PM on July 12 [19 favorites]
My Facebook friends sometimes ask where I get all the cool stuff I link to there, and the answer is MetaFilter.
I can't remember exactly how long I've been here; I was not that girl for a long time, which I think was the heyday of my MetaFilter life. I had to get rid of all my online presences when John Geddert of the Larry Nassar gymnastics sex abuse crimes threatened my son, who was a gymnast at Geddert's gym. My son was maybe eight at the time. He's 17 now, and moved on from gymnastics to cheerleading and then to diving, where he's been thriving.
As not that girl, I wrote about trans stuff a lot; my partner, my gymnast son, and an unlikely number of ex-lovers were all trans. Once, I mentioned Metafilter in the presence of a young trans person I knew, and he put together what he knew about me and said, "You're not that girl?!" Apparently my posts had been really important to his self-understanding and to his belief that there would be acceptance and love for him in the world, as he was lurking here in his teens. That meant a lot to me.
Even though I'm grateful for the way this place has improved on the sexism and racism fronts, I do sometimes miss the old days. Remember sixcolors? Every weekly post was a troll and a trainwreck, but I loved them in a shameful way. When the mods banned them, I was both glad and sorry.
Some other Metafilter favorites of mine over the years include the time a woman posted to Ask: she'd had an orgasm during a rape, and it was really messing with her. The answers were so uniformly compassionate, kind, and reassuring that I was really moved. It was really Metafilter at its best.
I also remember a gay man who posted a question a week (back when you had to wait a week between questions) during a rough period in his relationship, as people do. Week by week, I watched as the answers he got helped him to come to understand that his partner was abusing him, and decided to leave. It was fascinating to watch a person move through the process of overcoming denial, affirming their own self-worth, and freeing themself from a bad situation, and, again, I felt like MetaFilter had really done well by him.
posted by Well I never at 12:23 PM on July 12 [49 favorites]
I can't remember exactly how long I've been here; I was not that girl for a long time, which I think was the heyday of my MetaFilter life. I had to get rid of all my online presences when John Geddert of the Larry Nassar gymnastics sex abuse crimes threatened my son, who was a gymnast at Geddert's gym. My son was maybe eight at the time. He's 17 now, and moved on from gymnastics to cheerleading and then to diving, where he's been thriving.
As not that girl, I wrote about trans stuff a lot; my partner, my gymnast son, and an unlikely number of ex-lovers were all trans. Once, I mentioned Metafilter in the presence of a young trans person I knew, and he put together what he knew about me and said, "You're not that girl?!" Apparently my posts had been really important to his self-understanding and to his belief that there would be acceptance and love for him in the world, as he was lurking here in his teens. That meant a lot to me.
Even though I'm grateful for the way this place has improved on the sexism and racism fronts, I do sometimes miss the old days. Remember sixcolors? Every weekly post was a troll and a trainwreck, but I loved them in a shameful way. When the mods banned them, I was both glad and sorry.
Some other Metafilter favorites of mine over the years include the time a woman posted to Ask: she'd had an orgasm during a rape, and it was really messing with her. The answers were so uniformly compassionate, kind, and reassuring that I was really moved. It was really Metafilter at its best.
I also remember a gay man who posted a question a week (back when you had to wait a week between questions) during a rough period in his relationship, as people do. Week by week, I watched as the answers he got helped him to come to understand that his partner was abusing him, and decided to leave. It was fascinating to watch a person move through the process of overcoming denial, affirming their own self-worth, and freeing themself from a bad situation, and, again, I felt like MetaFilter had really done well by him.
posted by Well I never at 12:23 PM on July 12 [49 favorites]
One thing I learned about cockroaches recently is that they were imported from Europe to North America about 120 years ago.
Anyway, happy 25th birthday to the cockroach of the Internets, surviving still!
Still annoyed I didn't spring for a baseball top with my user number on it, but otherwise, it's been a great journey. I have met Mefites on three continents, and enjoyed great generosity from US Mefites in particular. The best of the world wide web! Hugs for those that want them.
posted by asok at 12:36 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Anyway, happy 25th birthday to the cockroach of the Internets, surviving still!
Still annoyed I didn't spring for a baseball top with my user number on it, but otherwise, it's been a great journey. I have met Mefites on three continents, and enjoyed great generosity from US Mefites in particular. The best of the world wide web! Hugs for those that want them.
posted by asok at 12:36 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Among several charming Metafilter tropes is the way it marks a death ... Mourners post a message consisting of a single period. The lone dot speaks eloquently of loss, as well as respect for a life lived well, or at least loudly.
Mine's a period of mourning.
Happy 25 years, cat-scanners and the people who comment down here.
posted by k3ninho at 12:46 PM on July 12 [6 favorites]
Mine's a period of mourning.
Happy 25 years, cat-scanners and the people who comment down here.
posted by k3ninho at 12:46 PM on July 12 [6 favorites]
Happy 25th! MeFi is solid evidence that there is no substitute for intelligent moderation by humans. Much harder to automate than go.
davidmsc, I'm also part of the non-lefty minority. Maybe we should form a club.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:52 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
davidmsc, I'm also part of the non-lefty minority. Maybe we should form a club.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:52 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Happy 25th Birthday!
I joined in (checks) ... 2006, followed it regularly for a few years, wandered away, and re-engaged here maybe 4 years ago.
I do not do social media, really. No Xitter, no FB, no [flavour of the month instant video platform] . I haunt a couple of technical subreddits and other forums for niche interests. And HackADay, and a few news sites (mostly EU). And MetaFilter.
I'm here for:
- front-page topics that frequently match my interests and concerns
- the thoughtful comments from many better-educated, engaged and deeply moral people
- ... who are often good writers
- ... and funny/witty
- it's hard work to marshal my thoughts and to try to craft a well-reasoned response to some comments that engage my thoughts. I often fail. Thanks for the edit window...
- good for testing my woke (or the gaps in same)
- I learn stuff. I think it's improved me, at least a little
I'm under no illusion that I'm well-regarded, or that many MeFites would wanna have a beer with me. It's ok. I like the challenge.
posted by Artful Codger at 12:59 PM on July 12 [14 favorites]
I joined in (checks) ... 2006, followed it regularly for a few years, wandered away, and re-engaged here maybe 4 years ago.
I do not do social media, really. No Xitter, no FB, no [flavour of the month instant video platform] . I haunt a couple of technical subreddits and other forums for niche interests. And HackADay, and a few news sites (mostly EU). And MetaFilter.
I'm here for:
- front-page topics that frequently match my interests and concerns
- the thoughtful comments from many better-educated, engaged and deeply moral people
- ... who are often good writers
- ... and funny/witty
- it's hard work to marshal my thoughts and to try to craft a well-reasoned response to some comments that engage my thoughts. I often fail. Thanks for the edit window...
- good for testing my woke (or the gaps in same)
- I learn stuff. I think it's improved me, at least a little
I'm under no illusion that I'm well-regarded, or that many MeFites would wanna have a beer with me. It's ok. I like the challenge.
posted by Artful Codger at 12:59 PM on July 12 [14 favorites]
That’s only because I don’t drink anymore. Happy to grab any other type of beverage with you, Artful Codger.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:08 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 1:08 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
Here's a disjointed story for you:
I once met jessamyn outside the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. I think she was wearing a t-shirt that I made a remark about (might've been a blogspot t-shirt?) and we had a conversation. She was real nice, even though I think she was waiting for someone and I might have been distracting her. I think she even gave me a business card? (Although my brain may be making that up.)
This was two years after I joined MF, and I had no idea jessamyn was the Jessamyn I met in person. I can't even remember when I put two and two together and figured it out.
posted by grubi at 1:09 PM on July 12 [7 favorites]
I once met jessamyn outside the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. I think she was wearing a t-shirt that I made a remark about (might've been a blogspot t-shirt?) and we had a conversation. She was real nice, even though I think she was waiting for someone and I might have been distracting her. I think she even gave me a business card? (Although my brain may be making that up.)
This was two years after I joined MF, and I had no idea jessamyn was the Jessamyn I met in person. I can't even remember when I put two and two together and figured it out.
posted by grubi at 1:09 PM on July 12 [7 favorites]
"I have posted 16 mostly low-effort or irritated comments ever" isn't as evocative as "I have lurked since before Pepsi Blue but didn't bother to sign up until The Russian Incident" but both statements are true for me. I am profoundly grateful for the countless threads that have truly been Best of the Web, while not forgetting the times I've blocked the site at the IP level because reading any more of the Blue (or more often the Gray) seemed like a Bad Idea.
There aren't many places where a decades-long one-sided parasocial relationship with a rotating cast of internet strangers made me a better person, but I genuinely believe MetaFilter has.
posted by structuregeek at 1:11 PM on July 12 [28 favorites]
There aren't many places where a decades-long one-sided parasocial relationship with a rotating cast of internet strangers made me a better person, but I genuinely believe MetaFilter has.
posted by structuregeek at 1:11 PM on July 12 [28 favorites]
so i'm here to weird up the ideas of a few mildly influential writers
But Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon hasn't posted here in years!
posted by Gerald Bostock at 1:14 PM on July 12 [11 favorites]
But Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon hasn't posted here in years!
posted by Gerald Bostock at 1:14 PM on July 12 [11 favorites]
cockroach
We do have a couple of stories about post-nuclear-war Metafilter, so surviving an apocalypse is pretty on-brand for us.
Happy birthday Metafilter. Here's to another 25.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 1:23 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
We do have a couple of stories about post-nuclear-war Metafilter, so surviving an apocalypse is pretty on-brand for us.
Happy birthday Metafilter. Here's to another 25.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 1:23 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
Happy birthday, MetaFilter! Thank you for all the book recs and the discussions and the jokes and the spark of common interest when I first started dating Mr. Foe.
posted by of strange foe at 1:27 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
posted by of strange foe at 1:27 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
I'm not sure what the user number range is for this but I think it's something like 13,000 to 20,000 ish.
FWIW the range is definitely not greater than upper 13K to lower 15K, and I believe it’s actually only about 700 people all in the 14K range - hence the old-enough-to-drink “14K Club” meme.
There were, to the best of my knowledge, no less than three separate ways around the block (not counting Matt just manually adding you), a couple of which were handed around word-of-mouth, but in my case I just got so upset about amberglow being WRONG WRONG WRONG ON THE INTERNET (how dare you!) that I worked one of the ways out for myself in a little less than 20 minutes. I have an unfortunate facility for transmuting umbrage into unauthorized access, and it has lead to Interesting Times on more than one occasion.
I do remember getting so pissed off a few times that I could have legit flipped a table.
But you've mellowed out a LOT since then and I find you quite likeable now, so I'm glad you're around!
I also used to be WAY more intense and intentionally weird or just way too judgemental and argumentative, and I know for sure there's problematic posts from back then in the boyzone or just generally gross categories, but MetaFilter has helped me grow and learn and mellow out, too.
Thank you and the feeling is definitely mutual (I also have no idea WTF we even argued about back then). I think this place has been good for us both.
posted by Ryvar at 1:39 PM on July 12 [6 favorites]
FWIW the range is definitely not greater than upper 13K to lower 15K, and I believe it’s actually only about 700 people all in the 14K range - hence the old-enough-to-drink “14K Club” meme.
There were, to the best of my knowledge, no less than three separate ways around the block (not counting Matt just manually adding you), a couple of which were handed around word-of-mouth, but in my case I just got so upset about amberglow being WRONG WRONG WRONG ON THE INTERNET (how dare you!) that I worked one of the ways out for myself in a little less than 20 minutes. I have an unfortunate facility for transmuting umbrage into unauthorized access, and it has lead to Interesting Times on more than one occasion.
I do remember getting so pissed off a few times that I could have legit flipped a table.
But you've mellowed out a LOT since then and I find you quite likeable now, so I'm glad you're around!
I also used to be WAY more intense and intentionally weird or just way too judgemental and argumentative, and I know for sure there's problematic posts from back then in the boyzone or just generally gross categories, but MetaFilter has helped me grow and learn and mellow out, too.
Thank you and the feeling is definitely mutual (I also have no idea WTF we even argued about back then). I think this place has been good for us both.
posted by Ryvar at 1:39 PM on July 12 [6 favorites]
It's a bit odd that Matt called us a cockroach that survived, because cockroaches are known for being able to survive despite humankind's best efforts.
We're more like a dodo bird that survived.
posted by orange swan at 2:01 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
We're more like a dodo bird that survived.
posted by orange swan at 2:01 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
> But Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon hasn't posted here in years!
so a little while back i was searching for that name for a reason and discovered that there's an obscure david brin (i think? some scifi author of roughly that age) fan forum with at least a couple of posters who were convinced that reclusive novelist thomas pynchon was in fact reclusive novelist thomas pynchon
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 2:01 PM on July 12 [7 favorites]
so a little while back i was searching for that name for a reason and discovered that there's an obscure david brin (i think? some scifi author of roughly that age) fan forum with at least a couple of posters who were convinced that reclusive novelist thomas pynchon was in fact reclusive novelist thomas pynchon
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 2:01 PM on July 12 [7 favorites]
cortex just “a staffer” :(
You gotta trim a story for a newsletter, but a little sad.
Yeah, the whole gloss on the Cortex era ("struggled to keep it going for the next several years"?) isn't really right, but I guess it gives the whole thing an uplifting arc leading up to today. Still, it makes my fairness and accuracy gland itch a bit.
posted by nobody at 2:09 PM on July 12 [11 favorites]
You gotta trim a story for a newsletter, but a little sad.
Yeah, the whole gloss on the Cortex era ("struggled to keep it going for the next several years"?) isn't really right, but I guess it gives the whole thing an uplifting arc leading up to today. Still, it makes my fairness and accuracy gland itch a bit.
posted by nobody at 2:09 PM on July 12 [11 favorites]
Yeah there was a LOT that I talked about that didn't make it in to the final edit, definitely some nuance in there including cortex and team's hard work during a really difficult time. I also started in 2004 not 2008.
I think she was wearing a t-shirt that I made a remark about
Blogger t-shirt probably. I was definitely wearing that one of those days.
posted by jessamyn at 2:29 PM on July 12 [10 favorites]
I think she was wearing a t-shirt that I made a remark about
Blogger t-shirt probably. I was definitely wearing that one of those days.
posted by jessamyn at 2:29 PM on July 12 [10 favorites]
Also also: a 25th anniversary interview with jessamyn on the Reimagining the Internet podcast.
posted by Scarf Joint at 2:34 PM on July 12 [8 favorites]
posted by Scarf Joint at 2:34 PM on July 12 [8 favorites]
User #15575 here; I don't remember using a workaround and am definitely not cool enough for someone to unclip the velvet rope for me. I may have meekly got an account once signups were "reopened" again.
posted by tss at 2:41 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]
posted by tss at 2:41 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]
From the podcast linked by Scarf Joint: “Owner Jessamyn West sat down for a deep conversation with Mike about how MetaFilter’s reliance on community-focusd governance and person-scale moderation has helped it achieve its status as the elder states-site of the Good Web.”
Before I parsed the phrase “elder states-site” properly, my brain started to build a world where there are the “Elder States”, a kind of United States explicitly ruled by eldritch horrors, these massive tentacled, amoebic shapes that slowly make their way around their state, eating those they deem worthy, driving insane those they abhor, and forcing the rest to toil for their magnificence.
posted by Kattullus at 2:46 PM on July 12 [12 favorites]
Before I parsed the phrase “elder states-site” properly, my brain started to build a world where there are the “Elder States”, a kind of United States explicitly ruled by eldritch horrors, these massive tentacled, amoebic shapes that slowly make their way around their state, eating those they deem worthy, driving insane those they abhor, and forcing the rest to toil for their magnificence.
posted by Kattullus at 2:46 PM on July 12 [12 favorites]
Heh, it's a slim word count; eliding a lot of the gooey middle part and keeping the cast of characters to a minimum is a pretty reasonable call. I'm proud of all the work I did here over the years but it has been a tremendous boon to me to not be doing it anymore, and I appreciate Jessamyn being willing to say yes to my unreasonable request to take all this on more than I can ever really convey. I'm glad MetaFilter is around still for me to chatter on.
posted by cortex at 2:47 PM on July 12 [56 favorites]
posted by cortex at 2:47 PM on July 12 [56 favorites]
If you like hacker news (but less community interaction), a couple other sites similar for techy shit would be:
http://lobste.rs
and
https://tilde.news/
Yay Metafilter!
Down with React, ADHD/Stream/Phone-based sites and apps and that sort of thing.
posted by symbioid at 2:55 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
http://lobste.rs
and
https://tilde.news/
Yay Metafilter!
Down with React, ADHD/Stream/Phone-based sites and apps and that sort of thing.
posted by symbioid at 2:55 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
Active moderation + a nominal joining fee to dissuade knee-jerk rage posting = a site mostly populated by sensible people where basic courtesy is still valued.
Other sites please copy.
posted by Paul Slade at 2:56 PM on July 12 [11 favorites]
Other sites please copy.
posted by Paul Slade at 2:56 PM on July 12 [11 favorites]
I'm glad MetaFilter is around still for me to chatter on
I’m really glad you’re still here, dude, and that you quit while you were still here in a more fundamental sense.
posted by Ryvar at 2:57 PM on July 12 [7 favorites]
I’m really glad you’re still here, dude, and that you quit while you were still here in a more fundamental sense.
posted by Ryvar at 2:57 PM on July 12 [7 favorites]
The interview with jessamyn that Scarf Joint linked to is really worth listening to (or reading, there’s a transcript). It’s really fascinating to get her perspective on the past and present of MetaFilter.
posted by Kattullus at 3:39 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 3:39 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Y’all know too many of my secrets now and I can’t go nowhere else so…
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:58 PM on July 12
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:58 PM on July 12
I'm proud of all the work I did here over the years but it has been a tremendous boon to me to not be doing it anymore,
As a wiser man than me once sang:
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away and know when to run
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealing's done
I'm glad you're still around Cortex, and grateful for all the work you put into the site. Lots of love.
posted by signal at 4:21 PM on July 12 [6 favorites]
As a wiser man than me once sang:
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away and know when to run
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealing's done
I'm glad you're still around Cortex, and grateful for all the work you put into the site. Lots of love.
posted by signal at 4:21 PM on July 12 [6 favorites]
Love you nerds
posted by hydropsyche at 4:31 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 4:31 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Happy Birthday MetaFilter!
I found my way here when a friend posted about the great thread on AskMeta about the two eastern European girls that might have been the victims of traffickers. And then I joined when someone posted about parental dementia, as I had just gone through that (and LJ had basically died).
To be fair, one of the reasons I have been able to stick around is that my employer doesn't block the site.
posted by suelac at 4:33 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
I found my way here when a friend posted about the great thread on AskMeta about the two eastern European girls that might have been the victims of traffickers. And then I joined when someone posted about parental dementia, as I had just gone through that (and LJ had basically died).
To be fair, one of the reasons I have been able to stick around is that my employer doesn't block the site.
posted by suelac at 4:33 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
I’ll happily take being a cockroach over what passes for social media.
MeFi has been my estranged-but-always-there extended family for close to 20 years.
I don’t post much (anxiety is a real PITA) but this site is always on my short-list for visits.
posted by BustedCatalyzer at 4:34 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
MeFi has been my estranged-but-always-there extended family for close to 20 years.
I don’t post much (anxiety is a real PITA) but this site is always on my short-list for visits.
posted by BustedCatalyzer at 4:34 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Reading since mid-2000, not sure when I signed up, first comment November 2001 admitting that I was the writer of a short profile of the site that had just appeared in the Sunday Times. Still glad to be here, still reading almost daily.
Happy birthday Metafilter. Keep canning those scats.
posted by Hogshead at 5:04 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
Happy birthday Metafilter. Keep canning those scats.
posted by Hogshead at 5:04 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
Is it wrong to call this a Silver Anniversary? No, wait, I've got it - it's our Silver Jubilee!
#22009 here, signed up Feb 2005 when I heard it was possible, again. I wasn't that interested in the Blue but I was dying to participate in the Green. I'd gone back and read every old question! Once a member, it became part of my career-shift, from software to teaching, because I realized that I really liked answering questions. I also got into the Blue, eventually, even making the occasional post there.
posted by Rash at 5:45 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
#22009 here, signed up Feb 2005 when I heard it was possible, again. I wasn't that interested in the Blue but I was dying to participate in the Green. I'd gone back and read every old question! Once a member, it became part of my career-shift, from software to teaching, because I realized that I really liked answering questions. I also got into the Blue, eventually, even making the occasional post there.
posted by Rash at 5:45 PM on July 12 [5 favorites]
Happy birthday, MetaFilter. Sometimes this place drives me nuts, but there's nowhere else quite like it, and my life is richer for it. Thank you all for making this place what it is, and thanks to Matt, cortex, jessamyn, and all the mods and staff for keeping the lights on.
posted by biogeo at 6:10 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 6:10 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
MetaFilter: transmuting umbrage into unauthorized access.
posted by loquacious at 6:22 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 6:22 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
I realized that I really liked answering questions
And a quick check of my profile page indicates I've now Answered 5,000 times, here. I hope at least some of those were correct!
posted by Rash at 6:44 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]
And a quick check of my profile page indicates I've now Answered 5,000 times, here. I hope at least some of those were correct!
posted by Rash at 6:44 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]
This place has been a gift to me and has been giving so much every year, far more than I’ve given back. I signed up on Sept 11, 2001. I’m an old but not old enough to be a Founding member. I’m not prolific in my posts and comments but I’m definitely prolific in my attendance here because I can probably count on two hands and maybe a foot the amount of days that I haven’t visited my good friend MetaFiler. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that I will be here until the very end, mine or MetaFilter’s, whichever comes first.
I love the simplicity of design and the complexity of the ideas, there’s no other place like it! We live in a fast world and I’m glad that MF is too slow for most but damn! I don’t understand why this place isn’t more well known.
25 today, in no time another 5 years will have gone by and hopefully the paint on the walls is still going to be blue, green, purple and two shades of grey, and the infrastructure will be beefed up and ponies have been handed out and plates of beans will be had and things will still be vibrating and cats will still be getting wedged in scanners and perhaps a mystery will be solved or a psychological/sociologic fact will be explained in the easiest of ways and we’ll still be trying to get it right, whatever “it” may be, and maybe a news scoop will happen, and millions of people will have benefitted from great AskMe answers, and perhaps some of us will hear about the new trends here instead of out there , and fights will be had, and new friends made and friends lost and we’ll still know where to get the skinny on how to get rid of the body.
This place is a life and that’s why we love it and celebrate it and fight for it and get angry for it and take care of it. Happy birthday everybody, all of you who are MetaFilter!
posted by ashbury at 6:55 PM on July 12 [9 favorites]
I love the simplicity of design and the complexity of the ideas, there’s no other place like it! We live in a fast world and I’m glad that MF is too slow for most but damn! I don’t understand why this place isn’t more well known.
25 today, in no time another 5 years will have gone by and hopefully the paint on the walls is still going to be blue, green, purple and two shades of grey, and the infrastructure will be beefed up and ponies have been handed out and plates of beans will be had and things will still be vibrating and cats will still be getting wedged in scanners and perhaps a mystery will be solved or a psychological/sociologic fact will be explained in the easiest of ways and we’ll still be trying to get it right, whatever “it” may be, and maybe a news scoop will happen, and millions of people will have benefitted from great AskMe answers, and perhaps some of us will hear about the new trends here instead of out there , and fights will be had, and new friends made and friends lost and we’ll still know where to get the skinny on how to get rid of the body.
This place is a life and that’s why we love it and celebrate it and fight for it and get angry for it and take care of it. Happy birthday everybody, all of you who are MetaFilter!
posted by ashbury at 6:55 PM on July 12 [9 favorites]
Thanks for posting this Bella Donna, I was considering it myself but hadn't gotten around to it, great to see someone did!
posted by JHarris at 7:05 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 7:05 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]
But we have alphabet threads. What are they if not games?
User #15575 here; I don't remember using a workaround and am definitely not cool enough for someone to unclip the velvet rope for me. I may have meekly got an account once signups were "reopened" again.
There was a long while there where besides the back door, knowing a friend of Matt, way of signing up Matt would randomly turn sign ups off and on. IIRC at one point it was something like 20 sign ups available at noon on Tuesday or something. And I think Monkeyfilter would announce open sign ups. Anyways that's how I got in pre $5 noobs; by just being obsessive about checking for sign ups.
posted by Mitheral at 7:06 PM on July 12
User #15575 here; I don't remember using a workaround and am definitely not cool enough for someone to unclip the velvet rope for me. I may have meekly got an account once signups were "reopened" again.
There was a long while there where besides the back door, knowing a friend of Matt, way of signing up Matt would randomly turn sign ups off and on. IIRC at one point it was something like 20 sign ups available at noon on Tuesday or something. And I think Monkeyfilter would announce open sign ups. Anyways that's how I got in pre $5 noobs; by just being obsessive about checking for sign ups.
posted by Mitheral at 7:06 PM on July 12
20 noon signups here as well. It was funny because I signed up when I'd gotten up early for something. Matt had set the signups for noon his time, which turned out to be my timezone as well. Because Seattle. I was around for the 9/11 thread as a lurker though. The old slashdot/k5/metafilter axis.
posted by stet at 7:14 PM on July 12
posted by stet at 7:14 PM on July 12
Man, we used to be the Plastic.com it was OK to like! What happened?
posted by stet at 7:14 PM on July 12 [9 favorites]
posted by stet at 7:14 PM on July 12 [9 favorites]
Wow, I don't believe I've been here since the place was in early elementary school (2005). Time flies.
Metafilter is absolutely the place I've been longest on the web. I've apparently made three FPPs, and answered 1,211 Answers. But I think I must be proudest that 2,180 of my posts have been favorited by others. It means I've made a small difference in someone's online life.
Thanks Matt, cortex, jessamyn, all the others who moderate and work behind the scenes.
Happy birthday, Metafilter! Best $5 I ever spent.
posted by lhauser at 7:44 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]
Metafilter is absolutely the place I've been longest on the web. I've apparently made three FPPs, and answered 1,211 Answers. But I think I must be proudest that 2,180 of my posts have been favorited by others. It means I've made a small difference in someone's online life.
Thanks Matt, cortex, jessamyn, all the others who moderate and work behind the scenes.
Happy birthday, Metafilter! Best $5 I ever spent.
posted by lhauser at 7:44 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]
Happy birthday Metafilter, and well done Bella Donna for making this happen, what a coup!
posted by unicorn chaser at 8:25 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]
posted by unicorn chaser at 8:25 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]
I've commented before about how much this place means to me and how much I've learned from y'all even if I don't comment particularly much or even as much as I'd like to (an online job will do that to you). I'd like thank Matt for making this place in the first place (I lurked early on before I joined during the great embiggening in 2004). cortex deserves a big thanks for his stewardship in difficult times, and I'd like to offer another big thank you to jessamyn for making sure the lights stay on as we move towards a community based model. Onward and upward! Happy birthday!
posted by mollweide at 8:51 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 8:51 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
And a thank you to Bella Donna too! (not to abuse this new-fangled edit window)
posted by mollweide at 8:54 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]
posted by mollweide at 8:54 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: A rare survivor of the early internet that has maintained its heartbeat and kept its dignity.
posted by not_on_display at 9:06 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 9:06 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
2002 regdate here. Happy bday MeFi!
Fun fact, some of the oldest digital photos I have are from 2003-2005 site meetups in NYC, featuring folks like Stynxno, brownpau, jonmc, and Ryvar. (And more whose faces I don’t remember as well! How has it been 20ish years already?!)
One such photo is of me holding up a handwritten sign saying “HEY RYVAR - YOUR NUTS!” which IIRC was the rest of us sending him some fairly specific well wishes while simultaneously impugning his sanity (ironic, given his abovestated trajectory!).
Metafilter: nuts.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 9:10 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
Fun fact, some of the oldest digital photos I have are from 2003-2005 site meetups in NYC, featuring folks like Stynxno, brownpau, jonmc, and Ryvar. (And more whose faces I don’t remember as well! How has it been 20ish years already?!)
One such photo is of me holding up a handwritten sign saying “HEY RYVAR - YOUR NUTS!” which IIRC was the rest of us sending him some fairly specific well wishes while simultaneously impugning his sanity (ironic, given his abovestated trajectory!).
Metafilter: nuts.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 9:10 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
Happy Berfday MF. My 15 year anniversary was last week.
I'm a curmudgeon, and I've read through good times and bad, including some bullying and pile-ons on commenters who've had opinions which were not wrong, but just unpopular with the majority at the time.
Like they say, MF is imperfect, but it's the best thing we have in internet discussion.
As always, much love to our excellent moderators.
posted by ovvl at 9:22 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
I'm a curmudgeon, and I've read through good times and bad, including some bullying and pile-ons on commenters who've had opinions which were not wrong, but just unpopular with the majority at the time.
Like they say, MF is imperfect, but it's the best thing we have in internet discussion.
As always, much love to our excellent moderators.
posted by ovvl at 9:22 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]
I joined a year before the 10th anniversary, and I've never stopped being grateful that MetaFilter has given me a place to both make silly jokes and learn far more about the world than I ever would have otherwise. Not only that, but through local IRL meetups I've met many fantastic people, some of whom have become the best friends I've ever had. I owe MetaFilter, and the people who have made it work, more than I could ever repay.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:04 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:04 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
like an infinite-line BBS from back in the day, without the warez and pr0n. And no games.
Is this an appropriate place to request that kirk's rebuild include LORD? or I guess I'd settle for TradeWars, but I feel like I have unfinished business with LORD
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 10:56 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
Is this an appropriate place to request that kirk's rebuild include LORD? or I guess I'd settle for TradeWars, but I feel like I have unfinished business with LORD
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 10:56 PM on July 12 [4 favorites]
/me peeps out from under the couch, wiggles antennae
posted by flabdablet at 1:09 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 1:09 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]
One such photo is of me holding up a handwritten sign saying “HEY RYVAR - YOUR NUTS!” which IIRC was the rest of us sending him some fairly specific well wishes while simultaneously impugning his sanity (ironic, given his abovestated trajectory!).
Holy shit I forgot about that! Yeah I was not a happy camper at the time, but things eventually got better, at least once I learned to stop overthin-
Fun trip down memory lane :) The got better link was probably my favorite Boston meetup ever (good lord the sideeye from not_on_display), but the overthinking link is to a stream from the 10th anniversary with a near-complete roster of Boston meetup regulars during the aughts.
posted by Ryvar at 1:16 AM on July 13 [4 favorites]
Holy shit I forgot about that! Yeah I was not a happy camper at the time, but things eventually got better, at least once I learned to stop overthin-
Fun trip down memory lane :) The got better link was probably my favorite Boston meetup ever (good lord the sideeye from not_on_display), but the overthinking link is to a stream from the 10th anniversary with a near-complete roster of Boston meetup regulars during the aughts.
posted by Ryvar at 1:16 AM on July 13 [4 favorites]
Mod note: [I'm pleased to say that this delightful celebration of cockroaches has been added to the sidebar and Best Of blog.]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:29 AM on July 13 [6 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:29 AM on July 13 [6 favorites]
Weird, I was definitely at the Boston 10th, see plenty of y’all there, but I don’t see myself.
It doesn’t help that I have no idea how long my hair was then (it was certainly brown, that was before I had noticeable gray or the now more noticeable purple). But my hair length has oscillated from just-beyond-pixie to dammit-I-keep-sitting-on-it, and I can’t recall how it was fifteen years ago.
The pictures do certainly contain multitudes though— a couple colleagues, lots of friends, all mefites. No mr. nat just yet; we didn’t get together until just before I left Boston in 2011.
posted by nat at 3:29 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]
It doesn’t help that I have no idea how long my hair was then (it was certainly brown, that was before I had noticeable gray or the now more noticeable purple). But my hair length has oscillated from just-beyond-pixie to dammit-I-keep-sitting-on-it, and I can’t recall how it was fifteen years ago.
The pictures do certainly contain multitudes though— a couple colleagues, lots of friends, all mefites. No mr. nat just yet; we didn’t get together until just before I left Boston in 2011.
posted by nat at 3:29 AM on July 13 [1 favorite]
Thank you, Metafilter, for existing. I can't remember when I started coming by here, but it was sometime in the very early 2000s when Kuro5hin was still also a thing. That makes this the longest-lasting community I've been some part of, except for my family.
posted by eemeli at 3:30 AM on July 13 [3 favorites]
posted by eemeli at 3:30 AM on July 13 [3 favorites]
Ok, so I have reconvinced myself I existed, since I found several photos of me in other Boston meetups from the around the 10th.
I did fail at finding the actual organizing thread for the 10th, but found instead the post-10th podcast thread, complete with this beautiful and relevant ColdChef comment.
posted by nat at 4:00 AM on July 13 [4 favorites]
I did fail at finding the actual organizing thread for the 10th, but found instead the post-10th podcast thread, complete with this beautiful and relevant ColdChef comment.
posted by nat at 4:00 AM on July 13 [4 favorites]
The interview with jessamyn that Scarf Joint linked to is really worth listening to (or reading, there’s a transcript). It’s really fascinating to get her perspective on the past and present of MetaFilter. posted by Kattullus
Agree! but as I listened I kept wanting to say 'I'm sorry Jessamyn!' 'I'm sorry Cortex!' 'I'm sorry Matt!' and THANK YOU for starting/keeping the site going all these years. Mefi may be a throwback to the old internet but that was (is) the best internet.
posted by bluesky43 at 6:24 AM on July 13 [2 favorites]
Agree! but as I listened I kept wanting to say 'I'm sorry Jessamyn!' 'I'm sorry Cortex!' 'I'm sorry Matt!' and THANK YOU for starting/keeping the site going all these years. Mefi may be a throwback to the old internet but that was (is) the best internet.
posted by bluesky43 at 6:24 AM on July 13 [2 favorites]
There's rarely a day when I don't visit MeFi, AskMe and FanFare (and even MetaTalk). This account dates to 2013, but I've lurked since sometime in 2002, and briefly had an account under a different name that I got via a backdoor when signups were closed... and which I then felt really guilty about, confessed to Matt and never used again, and went back to lurking.
MeFi has taught me to think and to listen. When I first came to this site I was an Evangelical Christian Pastor, and now I'm an atheist, and a lot of that is because I learnt here that it was OK to question my faith, and I read comments and thoughts from wise MeFites who had trodden a similar path.
I've answered a few Asks, commented in a few posts, and have certainly taken more than I've given. Thank you to everyone who has given so much.
There's a handful of people here I would love to meet in real life because reading what they write has inspired me, taught me different perspectives, and made me both laugh and cry. MeFi is a fundamental part of my life and who I am, which feels like kind of a weird thing to say about a website... but here we are.
posted by IncognitoErgoSum at 6:45 AM on July 13 [9 favorites]
MeFi has taught me to think and to listen. When I first came to this site I was an Evangelical Christian Pastor, and now I'm an atheist, and a lot of that is because I learnt here that it was OK to question my faith, and I read comments and thoughts from wise MeFites who had trodden a similar path.
I've answered a few Asks, commented in a few posts, and have certainly taken more than I've given. Thank you to everyone who has given so much.
There's a handful of people here I would love to meet in real life because reading what they write has inspired me, taught me different perspectives, and made me both laugh and cry. MeFi is a fundamental part of my life and who I am, which feels like kind of a weird thing to say about a website... but here we are.
posted by IncognitoErgoSum at 6:45 AM on July 13 [9 favorites]
Guys, I'm having a lot of trouble getting this article to load in Netscape Navigator. I tried resetting my modem, do you think I need to update Trumpet Winsock?
posted by whir at 7:06 AM on July 13 [12 favorites]
posted by whir at 7:06 AM on July 13 [12 favorites]
I enjoyed that write up. To me Metafilter is a wonderful conglomerate, a hodgepodge of so many happenstances of my personal and professional life.
That write up just brought back so many memories: The first time I read a Steven Levy book, was when I visited San Jose, to cover Apple's WWDC when Steve Jobs had just returned. I read Hackers on the airplane.
Very enjoyable book, and it put me in the mood to digest Apple's new direction. I got to see the prototype Bondi blue iMac (I hated the hockey-puck mouse), and what would become Mac OS X.
I never envisioned myself living in the US, but many years later here I am. And one of the first meetups I went to was a Mefite get together in Phoenix, AZ, where I met some uniquely wonderful people. People who were instrumental in my acclimatization to U.S culture, society and way of life.
Metafilter has indeed made my life better, and opened my perspectives a bit wider. I, for one, am grateful to be part of this throwback roach site. Stay wonderful all!
posted by Rabarberofficer at 7:08 AM on July 13
That write up just brought back so many memories: The first time I read a Steven Levy book, was when I visited San Jose, to cover Apple's WWDC when Steve Jobs had just returned. I read Hackers on the airplane.
Very enjoyable book, and it put me in the mood to digest Apple's new direction. I got to see the prototype Bondi blue iMac (I hated the hockey-puck mouse), and what would become Mac OS X.
I never envisioned myself living in the US, but many years later here I am. And one of the first meetups I went to was a Mefite get together in Phoenix, AZ, where I met some uniquely wonderful people. People who were instrumental in my acclimatization to U.S culture, society and way of life.
Metafilter has indeed made my life better, and opened my perspectives a bit wider. I, for one, am grateful to be part of this throwback roach site. Stay wonderful all!
posted by Rabarberofficer at 7:08 AM on July 13
Guys, I'm having a lot of trouble getting this article to load in Netscape Navigator. I tried resetting my modem, do you think I need to update Trumpet Winsock?
Don't worry about that, you can just switch over to the Gopher server.
posted by cortex at 7:30 AM on July 13 [9 favorites]
Don't worry about that, you can just switch over to the Gopher server.
posted by cortex at 7:30 AM on July 13 [9 favorites]
Happy Birthday, to all our fellow cockroaches. Appreciate you all.
posted by eustatic at 7:43 AM on July 13
posted by eustatic at 7:43 AM on July 13
As much as I can be amused by the urinating elephants, nixing graphics still one of the smartest moves.
posted by meehawl at 8:13 AM on July 13 [2 favorites]
posted by meehawl at 8:13 AM on July 13 [2 favorites]
I just noticed the coverage on Techmeme! Neato!
MetaFilter Milk can't be too far behind.
🪳🥛
posted by qthrul at 9:04 AM on July 13
MetaFilter Milk can't be too far behind.
🪳🥛
posted by qthrul at 9:04 AM on July 13
I'm newish, 2018, pretty quiet, (no FPPs a couple of answers and a comment a month), largely unknown, more of a lurker than a worker. I like the place a lot. There's a willingness here to engage in open, direct and uncluttered discussion of matters personal and emotional and others more socio political and economic that is not always the case in daily life. There's no great excess of ego and some genuinely authoritative voices.
I'm more quill pen and bewigged than tech nerd and accordingly, delighted that I can learn and just about follow developments in LLMs, "AI" etc which would otherwise pass me by completely - thanks to discussions here.
All in all, it is a very good site, solid and sensible more often than not, in a world in which froth and nonsense is the norm. Here's to 25 more years!
posted by dutchrick at 10:57 AM on July 13 [12 favorites]
I'm more quill pen and bewigged than tech nerd and accordingly, delighted that I can learn and just about follow developments in LLMs, "AI" etc which would otherwise pass me by completely - thanks to discussions here.
All in all, it is a very good site, solid and sensible more often than not, in a world in which froth and nonsense is the norm. Here's to 25 more years!
posted by dutchrick at 10:57 AM on July 13 [12 favorites]
Yay, welcome dutchrick!
posted by JHarris at 11:29 AM on July 13 [3 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 11:29 AM on July 13 [3 favorites]
18 years as a member and some number lurking beforehand, and I still regularly feel intimidated by the breadth and depth of knowledge and quality of the discussion here. Happy anniversary, Metafilter, and here’s to many more.
posted by mubba at 2:57 PM on July 13
posted by mubba at 2:57 PM on July 13
I actually think Metafilter has changed a lot since the early days. It used to be a much more general-interest site, and the userbase represented a greater diversity of viewpoints. Also, it used to be the only place on the internet where you'd actually want to read the comments. Now you can go to reddit for that, as long as you know which subreddits to follow.
Having said all that, of all the sites I used to read 20 years ago, MeFi is the only one I still check on occasion. I mean it's not like I spend a ton of time on Boing Boing anymore.
posted by panama joe at 2:59 PM on July 13 [3 favorites]
Having said all that, of all the sites I used to read 20 years ago, MeFi is the only one I still check on occasion. I mean it's not like I spend a ton of time on Boing Boing anymore.
posted by panama joe at 2:59 PM on July 13 [3 favorites]
BoingBoing has even changed its motto to "a directory of mostly wonderful things," probably because it has embedded ads now.
posted by JHarris at 6:00 PM on July 13
posted by JHarris at 6:00 PM on July 13
Also, about that Gopher server, I think I might actually use it from time to time, except all the posts on it are presented with HTML code, making them painful to read. Maybe with the site rewrite, the Gopher module could get some love too?
posted by JHarris at 6:03 PM on July 13
posted by JHarris at 6:03 PM on July 13
I couldn't have gotten through the last 16 years without y'all. <3
posted by ob1quixote at 6:59 PM on July 13 [5 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 6:59 PM on July 13 [5 favorites]
I've over posted and then ghosted at a series of sites since I made initial contact with a dial up bbs in the mid 80s. Found Metafilter about 23 years ago, did the same, but came back, and been happily semi-lurking ever since. No images or avatars, no downvotes, and active moderation, are I think particular strong points.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 7:14 PM on July 13 [2 favorites]
posted by inpHilltr8r at 7:14 PM on July 13 [2 favorites]
As much as I can be amused by the urinating elephants, nixing graphics still one of the smartest moves.
Engage professional white background
Zoom out
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j/k, it's cool to see this, especially from Levy, who is something of a throwback/survivor himself.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:49 AM on July 12 [19 favorites]