Filterfilter: are there other hives?
March 9, 2010 9:29 AM   Subscribe

Are there other paid, respectful communities with websites that have linear layout such as Metafilter? I know they are out there, and search doesn't do it.

Metafilter operates on a paid basis, and it enforces a code of conduct.

What I'm looking for is a site that also does this, AND allows for chatfilter-oriented things to go on, such as "x movie ending was such a joke! how would you have done it?" or "Beethoven's Fifth is the 'Freebird' of classical music-- am I right?"

...OK, so those are pretty poor examples, but you see what I'm getting at-- especially in cases where the response is a 'Previously' link, which is actually always helpful.

Discussion rooms that I've found with 'topic' links are like long piles of crap leading to other piles of crap-- I've never been able to search for any topics that interest me whatsoever by "surfing" the web and find any kind of decent discussion.

As I mentioned, the way that MeFi is organized is optimal, and I would love to see that applied with convos that can be more, er.. topical in some cases, and more chatty, without sacrificing the standard for manners and staying relevant.

I stumbled on MeFi (& its 10,000+ strong hive) when I typed a question into the google search field; now I'm having considerable trouble intentionally looking for something similar.
posted by herbplarfegan to Technology (17 answers total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well, there are the MeFi offspring: MetaChat, SportsFilter, PoliticalFilter, MonkeyFilter, BBQ, and probably some more I'm forgetting. They all have their own guidelines; most are expressly anti-chat (I'll let you guess which ones aren't).

I think they might all be free, actually. But, see, since they're made up of mostly MeFites--the cool MeFites who know, for example, that SportsFilter doesn't go on the Blue--they don't really need the $5 speedbump.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:56 AM on March 9, 2010


Yeah, I think this is basically what spawned MetaChat - MeFites doing the linear posting thing, but it's ok to, say, ask, "What did everyone have for breakfast?"
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:00 AM on March 9, 2010


MonkeyFilter isn't paid as far as I remember, but it's generally more chatty, less judgmental, and generally has a lighter feel than MeFi. Much lower traffic, however.
posted by LordSludge at 10:01 AM on March 9, 2010


A friend of mine really likes the Something Awful forums, which require a paid account to post. I am not active there myself, but there seems to be some decent discussion to be had, and it's certainly more chatty than MeFi.
posted by oulipian at 10:14 AM on March 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


The Republic of Pemberley is a site full of Jane Austen fans who meet your requirements for manners and relevant (mutatis mutandis for the topic at hand, which may well be "things that aren't relevant to Jane Austen novels"). Not so much the paid and linear, though, and they have some interesting quirks like using real names and being really, really enthusiastic about Jane Austen novels.
posted by d. z. wang at 10:19 AM on March 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


Oops, I didn't understand what you meant by "linear layout" until I reread the question. Maybe the SA forums are not what you're looking for, then.
posted by oulipian at 10:19 AM on March 9, 2010


Response by poster: Sys_Rq-- I can't find anything called BBQ...
posted by herbplarfegan at 10:23 AM on March 9, 2010


True, the SA forums are ruthlessly moderated and depending on what sub-forum (or sub-sub-forum) you're in can be pretty restrained as opposed to the stereotypical SA offensiveness. It also has sub-forums dedicated to a fairly broad range of subjects - film, music, TV, cars, games (video- and roleplaying), politics, comics, guns, sport, cooking off the top of my head. Bare in mind that some (most? Can't remember and can't check right now) forums can't be read by non-logged in users so you might have to risk your :10bux: to see if it's for you or not.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:26 AM on March 9, 2010


BBQ is "The Big Big Question", I think, and IIRC is run by Mefi's own cortex.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:27 AM on March 9, 2010


Here it is. Sadly in disuse.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:29 AM on March 9, 2010


Yeah, I think this is basically what spawned MetaChat

MetaChat is great, and I would certainly recommend it as the answer to this question, but while I can't speak for taz, I think the genesis was as much frustration at the downtime (JRun errors) on MetaFilter. The ethos there is different, more gentle, and chatting is encouraged, but it was initially born of a different kind of frustration.
posted by OmieWise at 12:19 PM on March 9, 2010


The Well?
posted by iviken at 1:15 PM on March 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


The Straight Dope forums are pretty close. The General Questions (a web 1.0 version of askmefi) part is all business but there's more than a few forums for chatty stuff like TV, comics, games, etc. I find it to be similiar to mefi, more lighthearted, and generally pleasant.

Its not paid, though, but it maintains something of a low profile and attracts certain types of people. The kind of people that read Straight Dope.
posted by damn dirty ape at 1:53 PM on March 9, 2010


How about Slashdot? I don't find most of it in the least entertaining but sometimes (at least 2-3 times a week) they have a really interesting story to discuss.

My suggestion for the most out of slashdot is to set moderation limits so you are only reading stuff rated 5 (the highest). Then if someone has something interesting you can follow the links to read the following discussion. It is free to join and you can put your ideas out there and see where it goes. Not for everyone but i think it provides a lot of valuable insight and information to big stories affecting the type of people of get a lot out of the internet.
posted by bartonlong at 2:23 PM on March 9, 2010


ikven's right, The Well is what you're looking for. Linear layout, paid membership, respectful discussions but without some of MetaFilter's more restrictive rules. The Well is where everybody smart went when Usenet went to hell.
posted by scalefree at 9:26 PM on March 9, 2010


iviken, sorry. My bad.
posted by scalefree at 9:26 PM on March 9, 2010


I've been on ECHO since 1990. It's short for East Coast Hang-Out, because it was Stacy Horn, the founder's, New York answer to the California-based Well. There is a monthly fee. It's still text-based, which means you have to use something like Putty or Secure NetTerm to access it.

But you join via their website, http://www.echonyc.com, and you can see samples of posts there and get a sense of the community.

A lot of people on ECHO are writers and computer-types. There are many fewer people on now than there used to be because Stacy never put ECHO on the web and a lot of people who join are perplexed by the (CAUCUS) software, which takes a little bit of getting used to.

I've made a lot of friends and one husband (who is also a friend) there.

Because of the population decrease, I'd been looking for alternate online communities, and this one (MeFi) is the first one I've found that I sort of like, except I'm finding the set-up a bit too constricted. (I probably want to spend more time on MetaChat). On ECHO we talk about serious topics but we also get stupid at each other, and the days are long gone where moderators (we call them hosts) step in and "wave the bossy stick." Most people on ECHO have been there for a long time, and at this point we've pretty much learned to live with each other (after being friends with each other, sometimes lovers, spouses, ex-lovers, -friends, -spouses, etc.)

The conversations can still be very good.
posted by DMelanogaster at 5:06 AM on March 10, 2010


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