A community, until there is credit to be given

October 24, 2001 4:42 PM

Many web-loggers include links to items found at Metafiler -- but in their [via ...] only feature 'Metafiler'. Wouldn't it be more correct to include Mefi and the profile name or website of the person who derived the post? Or are we all merely journalists and researchers contributing to a greater whole?
posted by feelinglistless to General Weblog-Related at 4:42 PM (15 comments total)

It's a community weblog. I take that to mean that we all contribute to it, but anything here belongs to the hive collective. Places like the BlogBook refer to MeFi in the same sense as, say Camworld - I tend to agree that they should be cited in the same way.

Many people cross-post their posts here to their own blogs, if they have one. It's not hard to trace these things back if you're really interested.

posted by gleuschk at 4:53 PM on October 24, 2001

Well, I'd think it's best for the person to link to the actual thread rather than just the main page (because two weeks from now, that link ain't gonna convey any information). That way you get all the info you need. If I find a link offa MeFi, that's because I got here and not offa Joe Shmoe's weblog (even if Joe Schmoe is the person who posted the original link).

But I'm all about permalinks.
posted by bjennings at 5:43 PM on October 24, 2001

feelinglistless. dude.
I do that very via thing sometimes and here's why I do it.

It simply seems like the polite to do when I feel compelled to comment on something but don't feel like it would add anything to the thread. If I link you because of a post you made here my three readers probably wouldn't send fan mail but if you'll give me the url to your amazon wish list maybe they'll buy you a pony.
posted by auntbunny at 5:55 PM on October 24, 2001

if I'm just picking up a link I credit metafilter; if I'm referring to a discussion that's going on here, I link to the thread. same with any other weblog; the point is to not build my reputation on someone else's hard work, not to point my readers to the exact spot the credited weblogger linked the same item.

I've considered citing the contributer, but frankly I'm too lazy to go get that link and add it into the mix. I'm in a hurry when I put together my weblog; I already spend around 2 hours a night on it, so, though that wouldn't be *that* much more work, I don't do it. I know from archiving and producing a pda version of the pocket by hand that those little extras add up.


posted by rebeccablood at 6:58 PM on October 24, 2001

Well, I'd think it's best for the person to link to the actual thread

I always link to the thread, unless I'm posting about a specific comment, in which case I use the anchor link in the thread. This way, people can see everything I saw about the link including the discussion.

The only time I link to Metafilter is when I'm talking about Metafilter, which I think makes perfect sense.

But then again, what do I know...
posted by fooljay at 7:10 PM on October 24, 2001

We ain't journalists when we're at MeFi, but we sure are prickly.
posted by NortonDC at 7:27 PM on October 24, 2001

So the general concensous seems to be ... we don't know ...
posted by feelinglistless at 11:22 PM on October 24, 2001

I don’t see an obligation for a citation. If everyone mentioned exactly where they got a link, it would be like ‘via MetaFilter via Steven Den Beste via Steven Den Beste’s neighbor via Steven Den Beste’s neighbor’s wife via Steven Den Beste’s neighbor’s wife’s secret lover,’ etc.
posted by gleemax at 11:28 PM on October 24, 2001

I got a great link via Martha Stewart.

I'd never actually, in realtime, tell anybody about it.
posted by crasspastor at 12:44 AM on October 25, 2001

crasspastor, I bet you've seen this before, but for other secret Martha Stewart linkers out there, here is National Lampoon's brilliant Halloween, er, lampoon.

start by clicking on the owl



posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:56 AM on October 25, 2001

I don’t see an obligation for a citation.

I tend to agree. Never seen blogdex? It seems many, many people link to the same thing all the time. Just cuz you found it on a particular site, doesn't mean that was the only or the first place that linked to it.

For me it's the actual information that's important. How it came to my attention is almost completely peripheral (and therefore boring).
posted by walrus at 3:51 AM on October 25, 2001

FWIW, my latest method is to insert a title="via MeFi [thread #]" into the href and let the dedicated few do their own url-hacking.
posted by rory at 5:51 AM on October 25, 2001

So the general concensous seems to be ... we don't know ...

Rather, it's that other hobgoblin: each of us does know, but we each know different things. Personal preference, I guess it comes down to.
posted by gleuschk at 6:21 AM on October 25, 2001

If we're worried that we're hurting someone's feelings by not crediting them directly, we should consider the fact that that person posted the link on a community weblog rather than a personal one. If they were out for fame wouldn't they get their own show?
posted by owen at 9:05 AM on October 25, 2001

I love anything that parodies (the evil) Martha... but... it looks like this'll have to wait until I'm home... the language is a little.. umm, inappropriate for replay at work.

Miguel, you rock.
posted by mattee at 7:20 PM on October 26, 2001