Too popular for MeFi?

October 25, 2005 4:24 AM

What's the etiquette on posting stuff you've just seen at somewhere like BoingBoing? So far this morning, there's been 2 posts that appeared on BB in the last week. I saw them when they first came up there, and thought, "hey, this is neat, people on Mefi would like this," but then decided against posting them here. I know that sometimes one can encounter a flurry of "Xfilter!!!!" comments by doing something like that.

Should we actively avoid posting things we've seen on other, highly popular link-oriented blogs?
posted by rxrfrx to etiquette/policy at 4:24 AM (97 comments total)

Some people will certainly complain, and a lot of people here do read the linker big names (kottke, waxy, boingboing, delicious popular, digg, etc.) and pick up memes from thereabouts.

On the other hand, the unofficial guideline is "Best of the Web", not "Best of the Undiscovered Web". (Plus not a single one of those "linker big names" allows comment threads.) I'd prefer to see a dozen neat links I've seen before than see the 100th NewsFilter Story of the Week FPP. But I would try to hold my snarks on both.
posted by Plutor at 4:32 AM on October 25, 2005

Depends on whether you have psychic powers or not:

A good post to MetaFilter is something that meets the following criteria: most people haven't seen it before

If you lack psychic powers, or access the browsing history of most people on the interweb, I suppose you just have to decide whether the link is interesting enough. I certainly don't mind seeing something here that I've seen before on the sort of site you mention, since the ensuing discussion can throw up new links, interpretations, opinions, etc.
posted by jack_mo at 4:35 AM on October 25, 2005

I swear this argument pops up every couple months.
posted by my sock puppet account at 5:22 AM on October 25, 2005

My personal belief is that, if you find something interesting at Boingboing, find something else to add to it before bringing it to mefi. Not just filler links, mind you, but some reason or research that adds to the topic.

Because just reproducing the boingboing content ("OMG LOOK AT WHAT BB/SA//. DID TODAY!") is a waste of time. I don't think anyone wants mefi to be an elaborate rss reader for other blogs.
posted by shmegegge at 5:27 AM on October 25, 2005

and for your own safety don't post fark links.
posted by shmegegge at 5:28 AM on October 25, 2005

I try not to post anything here that I have seen at BoingBoing or SlashDot on the theory that most people here read those blogs and that would make the post redundant. I used to include MonkeyFilter, and subconsciously still do, but now I am not so sure anymore. In any event, I don't actively search those other sites before posting here, I just avoid the post if I remember seeing it there. That is just me, and rules are made to be broken, but I think we are starting to reach a phase in Metafilter in which there are almost too many posts. I don't think we are quite there yet, but the day is fast approaching. Skipping material which is already all over everyone else's blogs forestalls that time perhaps a little.
posted by caddis at 5:28 AM on October 25, 2005

I wouldn't avoid posting things I'd seen at BoingBoing because of BoingBoing specifically, and Plutor's post is why. He lists five blogs. I read one of them. I've heard of two others. The last two, I've never even heard of. Seeing something in one place doesn't make it a bad link. What I do tend to do, though, is check DayPop and see if it's getting coverage all over hell's half acre.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:36 AM on October 25, 2005

If it's really good, post it regardless of whoever else has linked to it -- this is the web, linking to stuff is how it works, and popular stuff gets linked a lot, and really good stuff is popular. Simple enough.

If it's not really all that good, well, it doesn't very well matter who has linked it already. It remains not really all that good.

I don't read any other major link site. I'd guess there are a lot of us out there. (I do read Language Log, though, and frankly I am sick and tired of this endless LinguisticCommentaryFilter littering the front page.)
posted by cortex at 6:10 AM on October 25, 2005

This has been debated before. I've made this very comment before, I think.

I myself thought about posting the San Francisco jello thing when I spotted it the other day on BoingBoing, but decided against it. I can't decide now if that was the right thing to do. It's a great link. I sorta feel like all truly great links should be posted here. But it already feels like MetaFilter is the last place good links appear these days. Sometimes I've already seen half the posts on a given day, not only because they are often culled from the same sources, but because those sources are so incestuous.

In the end I think if the link is good enough, it's okay to post. But it has to be really good. fandango probably did the right thing with this one. There's no doubt that more people will see and enjoy it here who don't read BoingBoing. I only read it myself about once a week.
posted by scarabic at 6:21 AM on October 25, 2005

Should we actively avoid posting things we've seen on other, highly popular link-oriented blogs?

Probably. But even more so we should actively avoid being assholes to one another when we've seen something before.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:25 AM on October 25, 2005

But even more so we should actively avoid being assholes to one another when we've seen something before.

Ding!
posted by cortex at 6:33 AM on October 25, 2005

BoingBoing may be popular, but that makes them the mainstream -- anything on BoingBoing will be on a billion other websites within 3 hours. That means it definitely doesn't need to be on Metafilter. Anyone who takes a link from boingbong and posts it here is lazier than someone who doesn't post anything at all. They are intellectually bankrupt and a boring, unoriginal sheep, bleating someone else's words in our ears. They are the Starbucks and the McDonalds of Metafilter. They completely suck, and if I were king, I'd ban them.
posted by crunchland at 6:53 AM on October 25, 2005

Should we actively avoid posting things we've seen on other, highly popular link-oriented blogs?

No. It's a fantasy of people who read, say, BoingBoing regularly that everybody reads BoingBoing regularly because BoingBoing is just so fucking cool. But I seriously doubt a majority, let alone a vast majority, of people here read it regularly. I used to, back when they allowed comments, but that was a long time ago; most of the "highly popular" blogs I never even look at. As for this:

a lot of people here do read the linker big names (kottke, waxy, boingboing, delicious popular, digg, etc.)

I've never even heard of digg, whatever that is, and I don't visit the others. It's clearly a case of people parochially assuming that everybody else is just like them, an attitude cortex cleverly parodies a few comments back (yeah, I read Language Log too, and I wish people wouldn't make all these damn phonology posts on MeFi!).

So I'd say go ahead and post good stuff that hasn't been here before; just be prepared to ignore the solipsists who complain that everybody's seen it before. Because most of us haven't.
posted by languagehat at 6:58 AM on October 25, 2005

On nonpreview: if this is a parody, it's brilliant. If it's serious, it's egregious asshattery.
posted by languagehat at 6:59 AM on October 25, 2005

No.
posted by delmoi at 7:06 AM on October 25, 2005

No. It's a fantasy of people who read, say, BoingBoing regularly that everybody reads BoingBoing regularly because BoingBoing is just so fucking cool. But I seriously doubt a majority, let alone a vast majority, of people here read it regularly. I used to, back when they allowed comments, but that was a long time ago; most of the "highly popular" blogs I never even look at. As for this:

Exactly, I don't read any of those sites. Maybe I should, but, I don't.
posted by delmoi at 7:08 AM on October 25, 2005

languagehat: "I've never even heard of digg, whatever that is, and I don't visit the others. It's clearly a case of people parochially assuming that everybody else is just like them..."

But everyone is just like me. Personally, I only follow two of the five "big name linkers" I listed, so even I'm not just like me, I guess. Really, I think If I Had An Anus got it right. Hmm.. I find myself agreeing with that guy a lot.
posted by Plutor at 7:11 AM on October 25, 2005

, BoingBoing regularly that everybody reads BoingBoing regularly because BoingBoing is just so fucking cool. But I seriously doubt a majority, let alone a vast majority, of people here read it regularly

yes and no. maybe not a majority, L-Hat, but even if you don't read it, a LOT of people do -- I don't have any data, but I bet it's more popular than MetaFilter, and rightly so because it's always much more interesting than us (not that's saying much, but still)
I have only recycled their content once on our front page -- once in almost 200 FPP's I made. I'd be very wary to turn this place into "best of BoingBoing". you may not read it, L-Hat, but it's not an obscure site. if we put more BoingBoing stuff on the front page, we'll just look lazy. hell, I could link to three interesting stories from BoingBoing every day here, with three accounts, and they'd be generally better than our regular content.

but then, we'd at least recycle from a better site, not from Fark. and you see, at BoingBoing they certainly don't recycle many of our posts, that's for sure -- they know better than to recycle from a lesser source
posted by matteo at 7:26 AM on October 25, 2005

Cattiness Alert Level Raised To Orange
posted by cortex at 7:33 AM on October 25, 2005

What LH said. I also don't read BoingBoing or any of those other sites (though I do check Fark occasionally).

If it were up to me I would say that if every once in a while you find something that's insanely great, post it, no matter where it came from.

AND if you got it from Boing Boing, say so with a "via."

AND if you're commenting in said thread and you think it came from BoingBoing and think you should call the poster out with your own "via" comment, just STFU.
posted by soyjoy at 7:34 AM on October 25, 2005

It's always really obvious to me when something is a BoingBoing post (and they don't have discussion, so you get more from it if it's posted here).

Recently, i've seen 2 mefites mentioned there too as sources--vidiot and It's Raining.
posted by amberglow at 7:35 AM on October 25, 2005

I don't have any data

'Nuff said.

if you're commenting in said thread and you think it came from BoingBoing and think you should call the poster out with your own "via" comment, just STFU.

A hearty "amen" to that.
posted by languagehat at 7:37 AM on October 25, 2005

I also don't read any of those other sites so I would have no objection to see anything posted on another blog posted here.

assuming that the post doesn't suck of course
posted by Stynxno at 7:41 AM on October 25, 2005

i don't read boing boing ... if people have seen it somewhere else they can simply not look
posted by pyramid termite at 7:52 AM on October 25, 2005

Stynxno!
posted by cortex at 8:01 AM on October 25, 2005

Boingboing isn't the real issue here. I get pissed when people post stuff that is in the Google index without giving credit. If they had it first they deserve some recognition. Linking is hard work after all.
posted by srboisvert at 8:25 AM on October 25, 2005

There's no reason not to post stuff here if it meets the guidelines. If the link is here then I don't have to read the egregious self-congratulatory smack that is BoingBoing.
posted by OmieWise at 8:26 AM on October 25, 2005

It is possible that a significant percentage of the Metafilter readership do not have a blog or read the "big" blogs as a matter of course, or use aggregators, daypop whatever. These people would welcome someone else competently "filtering" the best from these sites and presenting them here, preferably with some other links/research thrown in. Most members have a good idea of what other members deem worthy reading material.

I don't read boing boing - from the amount of (via) FPP's I see I know hundreds of Metafilter members are reading it every day for me, eagerly waiting to post anything they deem worthy here.
posted by fire&wings at 8:35 AM on October 25, 2005

Sifting through all the crap on Boing Boing so that others don't have to is a completely selfless act. rxrfrx may not be grateful, but I am.
posted by cillit bang at 8:51 AM on October 25, 2005

I think links from boingboing should be allowed, because I'm too lazy to do anything but hit refresh on Metafilter. (Could someone please come here and predigest my lunch for me?)
posted by crunchland at 8:52 AM on October 25, 2005

There's also the issue of a link being from boing-boing, and a link being on boing-boing. Not everyone reads boing-boing, so not all FPPs that have a link that's on boing-boing are necessarily due to the poster getting the link from boing-boing.
posted by Bugbread at 9:05 AM on October 25, 2005

I think links from boingboing should be allowed, because I'm too lazy to do anything but hit refresh on Metafilter. (Could someone please come here and predigest my lunch for me?)

Okayyyyyyy... so that's sarcasm, which means that this was, in fact, sincere.

I can't tell whether that's hilarious or disturbing... or both.
posted by soyjoy at 9:07 AM on October 25, 2005

So, everybody, before posting anything to the MeFi front page, make sure that you thoroughly search boingboing, slashdot, monkeyfilter, metachat, plastic, harmony central, and at least 6 other comment sites of your choosing to assure that your link is absotively, posilutely fresh and virgin.
posted by mischief at 9:37 AM on October 25, 2005

crunchland : "I think links from boingboing should be allowed, because I'm too lazy to do anything but hit refresh on Metafilter. (Could someone please come here and predigest my lunch for me?)"

So you come to MetaFilter, a site which exists to filter out interesting stuff from the totality of the net, but you find using MetaFilter as a net filter to be excessively lazy?
posted by Bugbread at 9:38 AM on October 25, 2005

It's a fantasy of people who read, say, BoingBoing regularly that everybody reads BoingBoing regularly because BoingBoing is just so fucking cool.

yes, because a lot is precisely the same thing as everybody.

look, there'll be a lot of people who say "well, I don't read boingboing, so post away!" It's precisely the kind of short-sighted selfishness that creates the bloated crap-filled front page a lot of people think we have too much of nowadays. It doesn't matter who reads boingboing or kottke, or slashdot. Mefi isn't bloglines. It shouldn't be. And these same people who couldn't care less what bothers a lot of other people would be up in arms if, for instance, the user base here managed to reproduce every link boingboing (or especially slashdot) produced every day. They just don't realize it because it hasn't bothered them, yet. People don't hate seeing ONE link to boingboing enough to get pissed off about it. They hate the idea that suddenly it would be okay to post every interesting thing from boingboing or elsewhere without contributing anything to make it more worthy of our front page. Maybe that's a slippery slope argument, but it seems to me that it's just a matter of saying "there should be standards for what we allow, and I think that should be one of them."
posted by shmegegge at 9:47 AM on October 25, 2005

Look, first you get people to stop posting things from CNN and the New York Times and shit, and then maybe you can start worrying about Boingboing.
posted by furiousthought at 9:52 AM on October 25, 2005

Well ok, but where do you draw the line, and how do we all know where to draw the line. I, for one, am not suggesting that since it doesn't bother me it should be allowed, I'm suggesting that the internet is full of hyperlinks, and almost any page that shows up as an FPP has been linked somewhere. So, is there a list of 5 pages that should be treated with care when reposting something here, ten, 20? Your argument is fine as long as we can agree on that list.
posted by OmieWise at 9:53 AM on October 25, 2005

shmegegge : "Maybe that's a slippery slope argument, but it seems to me that it's just a matter of saying 'there should be standards for what we allow, and I think that should be one of them.'"

I think it's a possibly faulty argument, because it is based on the assumption that, even if everyone here doesn't read boing-boing, that the majority does. MeFi should provide links that other MeFites haven't seen. If the majority of MeFites does read boing-boing (not every MeFite, but even just 51%), then a boing-boing post violates guidelines, in that a boing-boing post isn't a link that most other MeFites haven't seen. So, if that's the case, the rest of what you say logically follows. However, if the initial assumption, that most people read boing-boing, is false, then I can't see why people would be up-in-arms if every link were reproduced, as they would neither know, nor (if it were pointed out) would they care.

There should be standards for what we allow, and they should be decided by us to the extent that matt is cool with them. Every person saying "I don't care, so post away" is basically 'voting' on the standard. It's no more or less short-sighted selfishness than the person who says "I read boing-boing, so you shouldn't post it here". That's also a 'vote'. But telling people who disagree with you that they're being selfish for wanting it their way, because you would rather it be your way, seems hypocritical.
posted by Bugbread at 9:57 AM on October 25, 2005

I highly doubt that even 10% of MeFites read boingboing.
posted by mischief at 10:18 AM on October 25, 2005

The idea is to take the time to make really great posts. Some single link posts from Boingboing, Slashdot, etc. are okay, but could be a lot better with additional links.
posted by theora55 at 10:36 AM on October 25, 2005

Some single link posts from Boingboing, Slashdot, etc. are okay, but could be a lot better with additional links.

That's if you believe that multi-link posts are inherently better than single-link posts. Which I don't. A single link to something cool is way better than a paragraph of complicated text, peppered with hyperlinks that I'll never bother to click.
posted by rxrfrx at 10:39 AM on October 25, 2005

bugbread: not at all. What I'm talking about is that people are saying, "look, not everyone reads boingboing, so it should be fine." that's different than just saying "I'm not bothered by it, so that's my vote." It's specifically saying, "it doesn't matter whether you read boingboing or not, because it's ok with me." that's what bothers me. personally, I think I should be more tolerant of posts via sites I read (and if you read my posting history (please don't) you'll see that I haven't bothered any bb or /. posters in months.) BUT, I still think it's a bad idea for the reasons I've stated.

I think I've made my point, whether for good or ill, and I'll stop frothing now. let my vote be on the "bring something more to the post before linking bb," side.
posted by shmegegge at 10:42 AM on October 25, 2005

why not just ask #1 to put a "Source" field on all posts. Everything comes from somewhere, unless you're typing in random URLS. It would be nice to be able to paste the URL of where the site came from or type in "My mom emailed it to me". I think that would elimate the majority of sass that we see in threads right now. It's slightly Meta, but it would give us a consistent way of back referencing ANY post. Sources on everything! Metabibliographacation!
posted by blue_beetle at 10:43 AM on October 25, 2005

theora55 : "The idea is to take the time to make really great posts. Some single link posts from Boingboing, Slashdot, etc. are okay, but could be a lot better with additional links."

As rxrfrx points out, that's another unresolved debate on Mefi.

Shmegegge: Ok, point taken. The phrasing "I don't read boing-boing, so you should be able to post boing-boing stuff" is indeed selfish. "I don't think links from boing-boing are a bad thing unless most people here read boing-boing. To figure it out, we need to figure out the numbers. To start with, I, myself, do not" would be much better (but I'm sure, unfortunately, the verbosity would annoy some people).
posted by Bugbread at 10:49 AM on October 25, 2005

i was just thinking the other day about how metafilter is the only discussion site i look at, and that my only impressions of fark and boing, etc. are what people here say, though i've never jumped over to check them out myself. (i'll admit i did check out slashdot for a while once upon a time, until i started to classify it as 'stuff that matters to some people way too much.') with metafilter i guess i was just lucky that my first taste of porridge was the one that was just right. (by the way, if i remember correctly, my first visits to metafilter were prompted by a link on drudgeretort.com, for which i give thanks to rcade)
posted by troybob at 10:49 AM on October 25, 2005

We've had this dicussion too many times. There has bnever been a consensus.
posted by raedyn at 10:52 AM on October 25, 2005

Back when I was trafficking in cocaine and hookers, my mother didn't give a shit when I brought home dufflebags of money. She'd ask "where did you get that?" I'd be all like "Boing-Boing you ho, you wanna do somethin' about it?" She be all like "Oh not at all, just askin'" then I'd buy her a toaster and we'd be all cool.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 11:46 AM on October 25, 2005

Son?
posted by cortex at 12:02 PM on October 25, 2005

I agree with languagehat. I don't read those other blogs, because MetaFilter has always delivered a higher proportion of links that interest me. I have no problem with links being posted that have also appearead at other major blogs, whether they were found there or not.
posted by nthdegx at 1:00 PM on October 25, 2005

The phrasing "I don't read boing-boing, so you should be able to post boing-boing stuff" is indeed selfish.

It may or may not be, but the only place it occurred was in shmegegge's comment, so it's kind of a straw man. I don't understand why shmegegge started off reasonable and wound up, in his words, frothing. Anyway, as raedyn said, there's never been a consensus, so post whatever you like (within the rules, which say nothing about BoingBoing) and don't worry about the hyperventilating vigilantes.
posted by languagehat at 1:10 PM on October 25, 2005

cortex!
posted by Stynxno at 1:18 PM on October 25, 2005

"I highly doubt that even 10% of MeFites read boingboing."

I highly doubt that even 10% of MeFites read MeFi.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:19 PM on October 25, 2005

Metafilter: Boing-Boing you ho, you wanna do somethin' about it?
posted by rxrfrx at 1:25 PM on October 25, 2005

Well ok, but where do you draw the line, and how do we all know where to draw the line.

Well, my point is, there are enough people around here that see absolutely nothing wrong with jumping to post FPPs of the latest NY Times op-ed that you've got a seriously uphill battle drawing the line right there, let alone Boingboing.

I'm quite sure that if you actually polled Metafilter users on whether it's always ok to post a CNN article on the front page you'll get depressed by the results like it was Americans on the topic of evolution.
posted by furiousthought at 1:43 PM on October 25, 2005

rfrfrx, I just saw your comment in the deleted double post about the jello San Francisco.

I'd like you to know that I saw posts on the jello sculpture in other places 2 days before BoingBoing picked it up. It's quite possible that the post was not via BoingBoing.
posted by reflecked at 1:55 PM on October 25, 2005

well, I think I was still being reasonable, just passionate. I'm now less passionate. Double Plus Good calm.
posted by shmegegge at 3:02 PM on October 25, 2005

I first saw the jello sculpture link on a small email list I'm on, apparently before it hit BoingBoing or MeFi.

I've posted stuff here I've recieved from various email lists.

Besides, where does BoingBoing get its links from? Word of mouth, IM, other linkblogs, stumbleupon, other, etc.

It seems like it's rare that people actually go and manually search for meme-like links anymore. I'm not saying that that is a bad thing.

The link-propogation model for "new and interesting stuff" these days seems to be more along the lines of Creator/Involved -> Local public group -> Wide area public group -> Link aggregation blogs and tools.

There's some room for flexibility in that model. It could go from Creator/Involved straight to StumbleUpon or Del.icio.us to here. Or straight from Creator to here. But for most of these non-news culture/arts/tech links the use of search engines seems to be missing.
posted by loquacious at 3:08 PM on October 25, 2005

I think links from boingboing should be allowed, because I'm too lazy to do anything but hit refresh on Metafilter

Wow, crunchland, I used to think you were a pretty cool guy, but you're actually just an asshole, huh?
posted by jonson at 3:32 PM on October 25, 2005

loquacious : "Besides, where does BoingBoing get its links from?"

Simple: MeFi and a time machine.
posted by Bugbread at 3:34 PM on October 25, 2005

Isn't this the Internet, where we Inter-connect things and share and stuff? I don't mind links that come from other places, I mean, what is truly original on this web thing? I just loathe pompous asses who pretend to know just where somebody got a link if they don't attribute it, or people that attribute incessantly.

Further more, BB in particular has about 45 ads on the page and a 12 year old (emotionally) child and a vapid LA scenester as their two chief posters. They got called on it so much they removed comments. So, well, that's why I don't go there. But I wouldn't mind a link that one of their readership handed in..

Ooh! 1 Part can't we all just get along and 1 Part hateful vitrol.. I did a double!
posted by cavalier at 3:52 PM on October 25, 2005

A good measuring stick is to take a post you're thinking about tossing up in the Blue and running it through something like Technorati's popularity index. If it scores on it then don't post it.

I don't read other websites anymore not even my own, I get all of my news and information from MetaFilter and the crazy guy who screams outside my window all day.
posted by fenriq at 3:55 PM on October 25, 2005

I want to see that in a referral: "via the crazy guy who screams outside my window all day." (Does he have a website?)
posted by languagehat at 3:57 PM on October 25, 2005

Put simply, rxfrx, if the link makes a good post, then post it, regardless of its origin. Ignore the couple naysayers, they don't even comprise 1% of MeFi's registered users, let alone all the lurkers.
posted by mischief at 4:17 PM on October 25, 2005

This thread is driving me nuts. I read BoingBoing first, so perhaps this is particular to me.

The reason I started coming to MeFi originally was that it used to have all kinds of weird links I'd never seen before. Anymore, not so much. I don't think MeFi should be a place where we race to get First Post on whatever the hell is coming across the memosphere. TWO posts on the Jello sculpture? Was it remotely that cool? Give me a link to some guy's weird art project over newsfilter "Guess Who Died Today" crap anytime.

Not to say that there aren't excellent links to be found at BoingBoing, but hey -- you believe you're the first person to think so?

If I didn't cruise the web a lot this would be less of an issue but for me its like getting email from the person who just got email set up and is going to forward me five bogus product warnings and the same tired jokes I've seen a dozen times already.

For those who try to declare this as a "discussed before with no consensus", I'd argue that in this as with prior arguments a group has been illuminated that thinks ripping [MassivelyReadBlog] is weak shit. If you don't care, post away I suppose and we're free to leave.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 4:22 PM on October 25, 2005

Ogre Lawless : "a group has been illuminated that thinks ripping [MassivelyReadBlog] is weak shit"

Or, more neutrally, "using [MassivelyReadBlog] as a source". Whether it should or should not do so is the debate. To use the word "rips" is to sidestep the discussion entirely by framing the discussion with the conclusion already decided.
posted by Bugbread at 4:28 PM on October 25, 2005

Plus, the topic, as originally presented, is actually twofold: What is the policy/general opinion on posting links from boingboing, and what is the policy/general opinion on posting links that also appear on boingboing. rxrfrx treats the two issues as one, but a person who doesn't read boingboing might post a link that also appears on boingboing, and it does a disservice to them to assume that they ripped it off from boingboing.
posted by Bugbread at 4:31 PM on October 25, 2005

...we're free to leave.

Don't let the door, etc.
posted by languagehat at 5:05 PM on October 25, 2005

Zing! I'm slain by your wit. Again.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 5:57 PM on October 25, 2005

Wow, crunchland, I used to think you were a pretty cool guy, but you're actually just an asshole, huh?

Oh my. I'm crushed. I don't know how I can possibly continue now. Jonson doesn't like me any more.
posted by crunchland at 6:54 PM on October 25, 2005

'Oh my. I'm crushed. I don't know how I can possibly continue now. Jonson doesn't like me any more.'

It's probably best just to delete your favorites and cookies.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:01 PM on October 25, 2005

Ogre's comment made me realize something. boingboing is linked practically everywhere. metafilter is ranked 6 spots below boingboing in terms of being linked elsewhere. now, this is not a supreme indicator of quality or anyting like that, but i should think that as wide a membership as ours would have a pretty decent chance of hitting on undiscovered gold without resorting to forwarding other sites' links so often. I think that if we DID, then we'd be linked on other blogs and passed around by word of mouth much more than we are. As it stands, we're surpassed by a site that, while excellent, consists of a handful of well connected, far more industrious bloggers, both in terms of page hits and outside links.

shouldn't we strive to be where other bloggers go for the interesting stuff, rather than just collecting it from other places?
posted by shmegegge at 9:52 PM on October 25, 2005

nah. novelty for novelty's sake is not that fab.
posted by amberglow at 10:00 PM on October 25, 2005

"...great job on turning an article linked on /. into a good FPP." Sometimes a little elbow grease helps. I don't read BoingBoing because I don't know BoingBoing. I know MeFi reasonably well; enough to look at most FPPs on my livejournal RSS aggregation page and decide if they're worth a click through. And if I miss something there that's on /., well the second time I see it I'm more likely to click it.
posted by Eideteker at 10:24 PM on October 25, 2005

Let me cockblock the inevitable killjoys and say: please God, yes.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 10:40 PM on October 25, 2005

On post: should have previewed. Amberglow beat me to it. Let the mediocrity reign! Newsfilter forever! W00t! First Post!!

Etc.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 10:41 PM on October 25, 2005

Don't you have a dingy basement you're supposed to be rolling oddly-shaped dice in or something?
posted by loquacious at 11:38 PM on October 25, 2005

Anything goes now. Yahoo link? Salon? Cnn? It's all good. We have to serve the lowest common denominator. There's at least one member of mefi who only reads metafilter, and for that reason, no site is out of bounds.

It's not metafilter. It's super-meta. The wal-mart of link houses. Not that there's anything wrong with that ;)
posted by justgary at 12:44 AM on October 26, 2005

"Anything goes now. Yahoo link? Salon? Cnn?"

What do you mean now. Each of those have already been linked on numerous occasions.
posted by mischief at 3:14 AM on October 26, 2005

It is possible that a significant percentage of the Metafilter readership do not have a blog or read the "big" blogs as a matter of course, or use aggregators, daypop whatever.

You mean "It is possible that a significant percentage of the Metafilter readership have a life."
posted by Joeforking at 4:49 AM on October 26, 2005

justgary : "There's at least one member of mefi who only reads metafilter, and for that reason, no site is out of bounds. "

What part of the posting guidelines do you not understand?

A good post to MetaFilter is something that meets the following criteria: most people haven't seen it before, there is something interesting about the content on the page, and it might warrant discussion from others.

Unless you believe that Metafilter has less than 2 members, one person who only reads Metafilter does not constitute "most people", and posting something just because 1 person only reads MeFi, while everyone else has (presumably) seen it, is a clear violation of the guidelines.

I realize it was "exaggeration to make a point", but it was exaggerated to the point that it makes no point. By the same token, I could characterize your position as "For any interesting website, there is at least one other site on the net that links to it, and for that reason, all sites are out of bounds", but doing so would be both silly and pointless.
posted by Bugbread at 4:50 AM on October 26, 2005

As I said yesterday: We've had this dicussion too many times. There has never been a consensus.

Not only is this an unresolvable issue, the discussion gets more heated & more rude every time we rehash it. Super.
posted by raedyn at 8:43 AM on October 26, 2005

Metafilter: exaggerated to the point that it makes no point.
posted by soyjoy at 11:12 AM on October 26, 2005

Whether or not it's right to swipe links from boingboing, I think we can all agree that Metafilter would be a better place if they swiped more from us than we from them.
posted by crunchland at 11:53 AM on October 26, 2005

This is an example of a crap post. The main link is to a picture, and the second link is to an op-ed.

How much do you want to bet though that it stays up?
posted by mischief at 12:29 PM on October 26, 2005

It's an op-ed from a small-town paper that few here would read, about an event that's of interest outside of that town.
posted by transona5 at 12:34 PM on October 26, 2005

This is an example of a crap post. The main link is to a picture, and the second link is to an op-ed.

How much do you want to bet though that it stays up?

Rarely is your bitter crankiness endearing. Sadly for you, this is not one of those rare times. Read both articles, page back to the original MeFi thread, try to let the magnitude of this story sink in, and shut up.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 12:39 PM on October 26, 2005

Bullshit, mischief. I heard about this on CBC's The Current this morning, which was broadcast across Canada and around the world, and was so moved that I spent two hours creating the FPP. The picture as the first link was deliberate because I thought it was the most moving. Did you see the tear in her eye? Would have said the same thing about a Montgomery, Alabama paper's article on Rosa Parks in 1955?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:57 PM on October 26, 2005

I can't believe people spend time arguing about this shit every week.

The "why" is too painful to contemplate.
posted by SweetJesus at 1:09 PM on October 26, 2005

This is an example of a crap post. The main link is to a picture, and the second link is to an op-ed.

How much do you want to bet though that it stays up?


You want a fucking candy as a restitution?
posted by c13 at 2:13 PM on October 26, 2005

Yes please. I am interested in your offer of fucking candy. I must say it sounds like a most rare and exotic treat.
posted by loquacious at 2:27 PM on October 26, 2005

mischief lives to piss people off. Seriously, why are you responding? He's laughing at you.
posted by languagehat at 5:51 AM on October 27, 2005

Actually I'm laughing at Matt's inability to handle op-ed posts with any consistency.
posted by mischief at 7:26 AM on October 27, 2005

An Op-Ed is a piece of writing expressing an opinion. Such items are often found in a full newspaper page, containing such articles by columnists, letters to the editor, and other points, rather than news or facts. It is primarily an American term. --en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op-Ed

You are talking out of your ass, mischief. Not only is your point totally inconsistent with this thread, which is about linking to Boing Boing, but inconsistent with the definition of op-ed. My links are full of news and facts, and virtually devoid of opinion. I don't know what axe you are grinding, but I think languagehat hit the nail on the head.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:37 AM on October 27, 2005

Languagehat usually hits the nail on the head. He's very insightful. I often enter a thread where people are getting all worked up and when I read his comments, I often feel like that's exactly what needs to be said. It's because of this that he is my longest standing MeFi crush. Every once in a while I need to gush about it. Thanks for indulging me.
posted by raedyn at 12:28 PM on October 27, 2005

*blows another kiss at raedyn*
posted by languagehat at 2:53 PM on October 27, 2005

*blushes madly again*
posted by raedyn at 3:53 PM on October 27, 2005

This was linked today, and much discussed again, so I'd propose that the echo-chamber of recycling other blog posts be henceforth known as the "hall of robots" effect. Not because of any offense on the part of hall of robots- but because it's such a fantastic description of the effect.
posted by wzcx at 10:20 AM on November 5, 2005