While attending San Jose State, I was living in a house with 13 other guys. I don't remember what exactly the thread was, but one of my housemates showed me some game that had been linked to on the blue. I wasn't addicted from the start, but it was nice to have another place I could go to find a cool link or game or animated .gif once in a while.
Eventually though, I started reading full threads and checking out AskMe and MeTa, and so when Mathowie opened sign-ups in November '04 I gladly paid the cover.
#MetafilterWithdrawalTriageRecommendations
My favorite Metafilter-related memory was back when the site went down back in January '09 and Mefites across the world took to Twitter with the hashtag #MetafilterWithdrawalTriageRecommendations. I just started following the hell out of everyone who used the tag, and in a few hours I think I maxed out at something like 350 people. I felt like I had done something right when someone (I forget exactly who) made a tweet along the lines of: "#MetafilterWithdrawalTriageRecommendations: Use hashtag and wait for @sambosambo to add you to twitter."
I didn't realize at the time what a big deal that would be for me. I've been fortunate--blessed, some might say--to have connected with Mefites in the Bay Area through meetups, but Twitter has is what has been able to keep us in touch. More than that, I've been able to connect with cool people I wouldn't have otherwise had a chance to meet, in places from here in the Bay Area to LA, to St. Louis, Tampa, Boston and beyond.
I may not be a very visible user on the site, but I'm proud to be called a Mefite, and honored to be a constant recipient of the incredible amount of goodwill that that title bestows. Thank you mathowie, pb, jessamyn, cortex and to everyone else who makes this site the very best of the web.