• Divyanshu (unregistered)

    First :)

  • R Flaum (unregistered)

    116532 minutes isn't 6 months -- it's less than 3 months.

  • (nodebb)

    "emials"?

  • my name is missing (unregistered)

    When I played baseball X is all I ever did.

  • typographical (unregistered)

    Frist emials

  • Foo AKA Fooo (unregistered) in reply to PJH

    Yes, "emials" are the gamificationized version of emails. Srsly, who needs an "engagement rate"?

    And somehow, 80.9 days for Remy last around 6 months!? (Surely feels like it in 2020 ...)

  • Naomi (unregistered) in reply to Foo AKA Fooo

    Yes, "emials" are the gamificationized version of emails. Srsly, who needs an "engagement rate"?

    Marketing staff, for one.

    And somehow, 80.9 days for Remy last around 6 months!?

    No, for James G.

  • british (unregistered) in reply to PJH

    bro u people are so pedantic about tiny spelling errors and stuff. typical of what you would expect on a site full of articles criticizing people

  • MiserableOldGit (unregistered) in reply to british

    Interesting, a truly pedantic speaker of British English would spell that "criticising", even though the reasons are down to somewhat questionable attempts to distance the language from the inferior American dialect.

  • Angela Anuszewski (google)

    The 24 hours isn't necessarily wrong, since it aggregates multiple devices on the account (if you have it set up that way, it is optional). But it is definitely funny!

  • (nodebb) in reply to Foo AKA Fooo

    I originally read that as some sort of dating metric...

  • Joahi93 (github)

    Sounds like a reminder that both the mistake and the system behind it deserve criticism, not excuses.

  • Joahi93 (github)

    This whole story with emails and “6 months” made out of minutes is a good example of how easily metrics turn into a game instead of having any real meaning.

    Addendum 2026-01-12 12:22: This whole story with emails and “6 months” made out of minutes is a good example of how easily metrics turn into a game instead of having any real meaning. When numbers start living their own life, people argue about wording, but the real problem is that the system encourages pretty reports instead of accuracy. I had the same thing with email spam: the message bragged about “engagement” and dragged me to https://teenpattilivegames.com/ and I caught myself discussing the phrasing instead of asking why I even got this in the first place. I’d rather have people nitpick my typos than silently swallow crooked statistics.

Leave a comment on “Hate the Error and Hate the Game”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #519210:

Log Out

« Return to Article