Why you should join my favorite website

[tzikeh]

193 reasons (as of 8:50 pm Central time) to join MetaFilter.

The post asks: What do you know now that you didn't know before Metafilter?

Here's one of 226 answers (as of 12:51 am Central time):

I've learned a lot about being more sensitive in my conversation, most notably on the subject of rape culture.
I've learned about invisible backpacks and how racism is more about imbalances in power than anything else, often in ways the powerful can't see.
I've learned about some great musicians, movies and web resources.
I've learned the arguments against religion haven't changed in the last millennia or two, but the internet allows people to express those arguments and find support for each other like never before (which is a good thing).
I've learned what the "tone argument" is and that it is very unwelcome by some people.
And I learned about Minecraft... fuckers.

And here's another:

The most earthshaking thing was discovering that I've been peeling bananas the wrong way all my life. Seriously, I was staggered -- like, what other basic bedrock elements of daily existence have I been obliviously fucking up for 49 years?

And another:

I learned a better way to dispose of the bodies.

(BTW: this is entirely true.)

MetaFilter is the only place on the Internet where the mantra of "DON'T READ THE COMMENTS" is suspended. MetaFilter's raison d'être is for you to read the comments, because MeFites are pretty much the smartest, most interesting people on the Internet--even the ones I disagree with on every single thing there is to disagree on.

Join MetaFilter. Read the comments. And then, when you're ready, make comments of your own.

Comments

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

MetaFilter has three main sections, and five sub-sections.

The main site, MetaFilter (called "the blue," because the background is blue), is for members to post interesting finds on the web for discussion--they could be breaking news stories, or a link to a fascinating website of abstract art, or a collection of links about how the Internet changed deaf culture, or, well, absolutely anything. Post styles vary from a single link to something the poster feels is worth discussing, to a post crafted by the poster over several days about a particular subject, with links to all kinds of related sites. Discussion ensues in the comments.

Ask MetaFilter ("the green") is the part of the site where members can ask questions about absolutely anything, from "I'm looking for songs about people being put to death for crimes that someone else committed" to "I have a friend who wants to propose to his girlfriend in Napa Valley, CA in the spring. Any suggestions as to location?" to "How can I find this recently discontinued part for my GE Range hood?" to "In ColdFusion 7, How do I find every URL in a string containing HTML, and replace them with root-relative versions?" The rules of the site are quite clear about answers (first of all, they have to *answer the question*), and the AskMeFi site is carefully moderated (actually, the whole site is astoundingly moderated by amazing people).

MetaTalk ("the gray") is where members can post questions, suggestions, complaints, or compliments about the site itself, or where they can discuss posts that have been made on other parts of the site, when the specific discussion they want to have would be off-topic within the comments on the post in question.

The sub-sections are "projects," where members can link to things they've created/are working on; "music," where the (amazing number of) members who are musicians can post their music to share; "jobs" is self-explanatory; "podcast" is a once-a-month podcast that covers various things about the site (content and/or new code) from the past month; and "IRL" is In Real Life, where MeFites plan meetups at restaurants or coffeehouses or bookstores, and invite other MeFites in their areas to things like their performances, or trips to museum exhibits, or whatever.

I spend most of my time on the blue and the gray, with some on the green, depending. I've slowly begun to hang out in IRL, to see what's going on with Chicago MeFites.

Any other questions and I'm happy to answer them!