You do read digg and reddit, don't you?

October 23, 2007 6:52 PM

Regarding the the derail in the Google Translation System post. It was proposed that - to paraphrase BeerFilter - posts which contain material from other popular websites shouldn't appear here.

Uh, I don't read those other web sites.
I realize that it must seem like everyone reads them; this is mistaken. Some of us are busy, some just don't like those other sites, and some of us might ask, "what's a digg?" But please don't assume, "well, everyone must read all those popular websites! I do, and everyone I know does!" The plural of anecdote is not data. Metafilter consistently eats one or two hours of my life, each and every day. I couldn't possibly add any more websites to my diet.

posted by Richard Daly to etiquette/policy at 6:52 PM (65 comments total)

I don't read them either, FWIW.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 6:55 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't read 'em either, so I have no problem seeing these stories popping up on the front page. The one exception I'd make is Fark links, because that just not the quality I'm used to seeing here.
posted by lekvar at 7:03 PM on October 23, 2007

I don't care if it was on Fark, Digg, Reddit, and BoingBoing, you can still post it here, although I personally try not to post something here that seems to be everywhere else. Nevertheless, not everyone is a rabid consumer of the internet link sites.
posted by caddis at 7:06 PM on October 23, 2007

I also don't read the other sites.

As well, I also enjoy the discussion here, which is the other half of the site, right?
posted by heeeraldo at 7:07 PM on October 23, 2007

Yeah, I'd rather see posts here from those sites (which I only read every now and then) than derails like BeerFilter's. I hadn't seen those links before, and I found it interesting.
posted by brundlefly at 7:13 PM on October 23, 2007

I don't read those sites. Would like to see fewer derails of that sort.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:14 PM on October 23, 2007

That could not have been on reddit. If it were on reddit, it would be "ronpaul ronpaul ronpaul".
posted by mullacc at 7:14 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

Eighthed. As far as my net.life's concerned, the existence of MetaFilter makes these other sites unnecessary.
posted by Kattullus at 7:20 PM on October 23, 2007 [7 favorites]

I used to fool around a little on the side, but these days if I go to any sites other than MetaFilter my browser won't speak to me for a week.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:23 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

I read Metafilter because it FILTERS those other sites. Digg and reddit (et al) have too much cruft, the cream floats on top. On top of Metafilter. Or some such nonsense. Either way I agree with the poster, complaining you've seen something before should result in an insta-time-out.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:24 PM on October 23, 2007

Eighthed. As far as my net.life's concerned, the existence of MetaFilter makes these other sites unnecessary.

I ditto the eighthed, which is not the same a ninthing the original.
posted by Bookhouse at 7:24 PM on October 23, 2007

You do read digg and reddit, don't you?

Naw. Why would I want to read Ron Paul campaign sites?
posted by brownpau at 7:29 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

If I ditto your ditto, would that be... illegal in some states?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:29 PM on October 23, 2007

I don't read them. In my view, if something's not posted on Metafilter, its existence is doubtful until proven otherwise.
posted by chinston at 7:31 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

I read all of the 'other sites' (except boingboing, these days) and a whole hell of a lot more besides.

I prefer to see things on Metafilter (and on every site I visit) that I haven't seen elsewhere, because that's the most optimal use of my ridiculously copious free time.

But, to reopen the wounds of Metatalk link-vs-discussion arguments past, if something is genuinely interesting to me and worth talking about, I'd rather see it here even if I have seen it elsewhere, because the ensuing discussion is often (usually) better here than anywhere else I know of.

If I never ever saw anything new-to-me on the blue, that would suck, but there's never been a day when that has happened, and I don't expect it will any time soon.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:32 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

I noted my thoughts on this question a while ago.
posted by yhbc at 7:32 PM on October 23, 2007

I don't read Fark, Reddit, or BoingBoing, and only make it to Digg once in a blue moon, so I say, post away.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:36 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't read any other sites, but I didn't understand gnfti's post so I didn't read it either. I'm not reading this right now.
posted by jessamyn at 7:39 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Could somebody record an mp3 of jessamyn's comment for me? I didn't read it.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:43 PM on October 23, 2007

I ventured onto reddit for the first time in a while (actually, it may be the first time as it didn't look anything like I thought it would). Anyway, this photo, which is #6 on reddit, legally obliges me to mention that in Icelandic "píka" means "vagina" and that in the Icelandic version of Pokemon Pikachu still runs around shouting "píka píka" all the time.
posted by Kattullus at 7:45 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

How about this then:

Just because you saw it on goddamned Digg doesn't mean that your sarkosy/google easter egg is worth posting here, even if you pad it with a wikipedia link.

Just like the short posts or newsfilter, the essence of the complaint is really "This is shit," and things that have been "dugg" or whatever the huffers are calling it are simply more likely to be shit.
posted by klangklangston at 7:50 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wait. Let's go for infinite regression. I'll post this thread to Digg.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:52 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Yeah, isn't the idea of Metafilter that it's a...meta filter? In that it filters the other filters (i.e. digg, reddit, boing boing, fark)?

It's like you get all of the stool-binding fibrous nut meat from the other sites but without all of the posts about 10 Totally Sweet Grapefruit Hacks You Can Use To Make Juice.

(1. Use a juicer. A steampunk juicer.)
posted by StopMakingSense at 7:56 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

MetaFilter: the stool-binding fibrous nut meat from the other sites
posted by brundlefly at 7:59 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Could somebody record an mp3 of jessamyn's comment for me? I didn't read it.

But mp3s sound crappy, wonderchicken. Let me dump the audio to Logic, give it some compression and limiting, a hint of reverb (maybe a small wooden room), a bit of stereo spread, and save it as a WAV or AIFF file. Now that's the way to hear a comment!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:59 PM on October 23, 2007

Digg has turned into a checkout line tabloid. Somewhere between People and the Enquirer.

"Beautiful But Deadly –The Top Ten Poisonous Plants "

"Pirate Lore: 7 Myths and Truths About Pirates"

"New police department policy -- "Stop having sex on duty""

Yes those are actual headlines from the last few hours. That said, the occasional cross-over doesn't damage MeFi notable quality in posts. I still consider it the PBS of community link sites. Its amazing how a $5 cover keeps the riff-raff out.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 8:02 PM on October 23, 2007

I meant no harm or derail. My comment was based on my opinion, and as I stated I realize we all don't read the same sites. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I've noticed a lot of Blue posts lately that are kinda thin, and are also on 4 other "metasites" at the moment. The dog-baby pics, the wake-up cat, OiNK busted, Windows start-up sounds, Solar Decathalon, and more were all hot posts on these other websites before they got posted to MeFi. All I was saying was that I thought I would start flagging the weaker ones as "it breaks the guidelines" since the guidelines say a "good post" is something "most people haven't seen [...] before."

The great thing about the flag system is that I'm just one person. The mods are free to disagree with or ignore the things I flag. Indeed, the mods have hinted before that users who overflag don't make as much impact. I don't like viral ad posts, and I flag them, but many of them stay up. It's a working system. There's input and output. It's like a constant work-in-progress. You're free to flag my comment about weak posts from other metasites. I'm free to flag posts I think are weak-sauce reposts from other metasites. In the end, MetaFilter keeps on keeping on, and we have a big orgy once a month to make sure everyone's satisfied.

(Oh, wait... That's that other site with the orgies. Not MeFi. My bad.)
posted by BeerFilter at 8:03 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Free to be you and me!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:04 PM on October 23, 2007

I am so happy. It is Tuesday at about 11pm on the east coast of the US, and lots of people are drunk like me. Some, I'm presuming, are not in the same time zone.

Again: I'm so happy about this.
posted by Sk4n at 8:05 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Yes, I read them. No. I don't catch all the stuff from there. I liked the original post. Lighten up.
posted by mdoar at 8:22 PM on October 23, 2007

A steampunk juicer is just a hammer. Every Top Whatever List for Better Nonsense should automatically have an appended last item.

last: go outside.
posted by jessamyn at 8:34 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

Ok, so don't post lame things that are appearing all over sites where lame things appear regularly.

Feel free to shorten that to "Don't post lame things."

Got it.
posted by mediareport at 8:38 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

Happy and drunk is a wonderful thing to be. I've got to settle for happy and full of fried rice, though, because it's just after lunch on a work day.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:40 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

too lame; didn't read
posted by flabdablet at 8:45 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

I don't care if it was on Fark, Digg, Reddit, and BoingBoing

Actually, BoingBoing regularly lifts stuff from MetaFilter, which is fine, but rarely actually attributes MetaFilter for this content, which is...so fucking like BoingBoing.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:46 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

I read Metafilter, Fark, and A&L Daily. Not really much overlap, so it works fine.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 8:52 PM on October 23, 2007

I saw this MeTa thread on Fark yesterday.
posted by Poolio at 8:56 PM on October 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

I was going to add my voice to the chorus of "I don't visit those other sites", but now alls I gots is Beth Ditto on the brain.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:58 PM on October 23, 2007

I don't read the other sites, and I also think this was interesting, however if I had posted it I probably would have looked for some supporting material about the machine translation theories behind it that are (presumably) causing these amusing bugs. I'm now going to look them up for myself :)
posted by jacalata at 9:15 PM on October 23, 2007

I like good posts, not whether it's appeared on site x, y or z.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:33 PM on October 23, 2007

Seen it.
posted by mattbucher at 9:44 PM on October 23, 2007

I scan fark and digg, never read the comments.

I would rather read Metafilter's comments from a cross-post than theirs.
posted by sourwookie at 9:55 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Six of meh, twelve dozen of whatever.
posted by y2karl at 10:10 PM on October 23, 2007

Not only don't I read other sites, but lots of times I won't even read the linked articles/sites. The discussion will give me the gist of it anyway, and if it actually sounds that good then I'll check it out.
posted by philomathoholic at 11:06 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't read any of the aforementioned sites with any regularity either.

You know what's worse than a posting a link to something also found on BoingBoing? Being the cockwad who points out that they saw this on BoingBoing ("don't you mean via BoingBoing?") as if the BoingBoing invented the fucking link.
posted by eyeballkid at 12:13 AM on October 24, 2007 [2 favorites]

heh, "the BoingBoing"

Whatchout jimmy! The BoingBoing is gonna getcha!

Man, I need a drink.
posted by eyeballkid at 12:14 AM on October 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't look at any sites except Metafilter, and actually, if someone could phone me when there's a good post, I'd appreciate it. A letter would do. Handwritten, not airmail.
posted by jennydiski at 12:33 AM on October 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

I dig fark and scan the boingboing
posted by Myeral at 12:54 AM on October 24, 2007

I think it's a given that stuff that has been Reddited/Dugg/Boingboinged is going to end up in the blue whether we like it or not, precisely because not all FFPers read all those sites.
However this post got picked on because the "easter egg" is exactly the sort of uber-nerd obscure tech nonsense that Digg likes. If you like tech minutiae, you probably did already see this elsewhere.
And although I'm something of a Boing-hata too, they are usually pretty good about giving due credit.
posted by roofus at 2:02 AM on October 24, 2007

FFP: Front Face Paste? Face Front Post?

You make the call! Here at Metafilter the people decide.
posted by blacklite at 2:27 AM on October 24, 2007

I'll be a bit of the naysayer, then, I guess.

I don't read any of those sites, either. But when someone makes that complaint, I think what it really means is that if it's already on those sites, it's probably everywhere else, too. And although I don't read any of the sites mentioned, I usually see a large number of these sorts of things elsewhere on the web before they appear on MeFi.

The "most people haven't seen it" test can't be normed to the users who read all those mentioned sites or read the web all day, like I do. But it also can't be normed against people who only read MeFi. Saying, "well, I hadn't seen this before" is no more a valid justification by itself than saying "well, I saw it yesterday" is a valid objection by itself.

I think that if something has appeared on a multiple number of the sites mentioned, then it's probably something that most mefites who don't just read MeFi have already seen.

Finally, let's not forget the other part of the test, the "something most mefites would find unusually interesting" part. Just because you've not seen it, just because no one's ever seen it, that still doesn't mean that it is good enough to post.

The bottom line: MetaFilter shouldn't be an aggregator of stuff that other sites which find good stuff have found. That direction points to increasing mediocrity. MetaFilter should be a primary source. With 60K members, that shouldn't be too difficult.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:38 AM on October 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't read the boingboing, and I don't dig the dugg. In fact, I can't even keep up with the metafilter... I just now discovered the Voodoo Funk post. hot dang.
posted by taz at 2:39 AM on October 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oh shit! Not to totally jump back in on my own joke seven hours later like a champ, but breakfast reminded me that I should take my hacked grapefruit and mash it up with these eggs I remixed earlier and then combine it with my toast breadmod and call it "The Rooty Tooty Fresh and Freeware."

And then I could shoot myself in the face!
posted by StopMakingSense at 3:48 AM on October 24, 2007

Ah, Voodoo Funk comes back. I hope that guy isn't having bandwidth issues!

I don't really care if stuff is posted elsewhere - it's quality, not obscureness that I'm after. Obscure can be good though!
posted by algreer at 3:56 AM on October 24, 2007

I meant obscurity. [Goes away from computer. Eats dictionary]
posted by algreer at 3:59 AM on October 24, 2007

But, to reopen the wounds of Metatalk link-vs-discussion arguments past, if something is genuinely interesting to me and worth talking about, I'd rather see it here even if I have seen it elsewhere, because the ensuing discussion is often (usually) better here than anywhere else I know of.

Annnnnd scene. That's a wrap folks. Lets hit the craft services truck and knock back a few.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:38 AM on October 24, 2007

A steampunk juicer is just a hammer. Every Top Whatever List for Better Nonsense should automatically have an appended last item.

I regret missing this discussion on account of having been rocking people's faces off.
posted by cortex at 7:59 AM on October 24, 2007

i don't read those other sites either. i figure if it's really worth my attention, it'll show up on metafilter somewereh.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:15 AM on October 24, 2007

I don't read those sites. Would like to see fewer derails of that sort.

Likewise, and I'm glad to see so many fellow don't-read-'em, sick-of-derail MeFites in this thread. Maybe it'll silence the nannies for a while.
posted by languagehat at 9:14 AM on October 24, 2007

Go away nannies! I'm a one aggregator man.
posted by Kwine at 9:38 AM on October 24, 2007

Yeah, isn't the idea of Metafilter that it's a...meta filter? In that it filters the other filters (i.e. digg, reddit, boing boing, fark)?

Oh fuck no. no no no. It is nothing of the kind. It is its tagline, and that's all: The best of the web. Not the best of your mama's rss feed. Part of the reason people get uptight about reposting stuff from digg and reddit is that we're supposed to, ideally, be a community full of people who find and share neat things on the web, not just a bunch of people who want to go "LOLZ! Check out what I just saw on this better site that finds its own content!" We're supposed to be the better site. Now, if you happen to see soomething worth sharing, it shouldn't really matter where you found it, so I'll ultimately put myself in the clan that says "don't worry so much about where else you've seen the link." But I'll do so with the disclaimer that if metafilter ever actually becomes a site that simply distills other community blog sites down to some elitist core, i will personally go and visit the building the servers are kept in and burn it to the ground.
posted by shmegegge at 9:43 AM on October 24, 2007

How often does anyone actually find anything original? Usually it's just a lift from some obscure blog, instead of from boingboing. Like, one less common vector is from private email lists -> jwz's livejournal -> Metafilter.
posted by smackfu at 10:56 AM on October 24, 2007

well, as of now people find things all sorts of places, including our own projects subsite. sure, sometimes it comes from some obscure blog, and I don't think anyone has a problem with that. As I said, the only thing I would have a problem with is if people started believing that metafilter is just a repository for the best of digg. Other than that, post what you want, no matter where you found it.
posted by shmegegge at 11:26 AM on October 24, 2007

We've had this discussion in the past, many times. About boingboing, about fark, etc. Since I don't read those sites, then I don't have a problem with links showing up here if they're interesting.
posted by delmoi at 1:31 PM on October 24, 2007

Metafilter: Use a juicer. A steampunk juicer.
posted by klausness at 4:12 AM on October 29, 2007