I Could Understand this on MeFi but on the Blue?

"If you absolutely must post another link within 24 hrs, email me the post for approval."

This notice is listed on the New Post page on MeFi when you try to craft (okay, I'm being generous) an FPP before your 24 hours is up. Out of curiosity, can mathowie or anyone else point me in the direction of one of these so-called emergency posts? Has it ever happened?

I could understand this happening in AskMe, but it's hard to imagine a situation in which someone "absolutely must" post something to the front page.

posted by dhammond to MetaFilter-related at 12:19 AM (27 comments total)

Okay, so I totally borked that title field.
posted by dhammond at 12:21 AM on November 28, 2007

1. It's a race.
2. Second post is the first loser.
3. The one with the most favorites wins.
4. The internet stops for nobody.
5. If we don't post it, the YouTubists win.
6. Metatalk has been slow lately.
7. The world cannot wait.
8. Must. Feed. The Trolls.
9. This list is padded.
10. I double-dare you.
posted by iamkimiam at 1:17 AM on November 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

11. As long as it's in list form, chances are that everybody that looks at this site will find it funny enough to make them reconsider a lot of hostile feelings. As an example, I was all set to go slit my neighbor's throat with a dull but adequate blade, then take a Tofurkey brand vegan sausage and cram it into said neighbor's open neck wound. I was planning on letting the food item slide in and out, in and out, until the acidic residue that would eventually start seeping up through my neighbor's system started to decompose the fake sausage .

At that point, I was planning on going out to hit the town in a 3-piece suit, oblivious of the massive brownish red stains that covered most of my jacket and a good deal of the slacks. The vest and tie would remain in decent condition, though, so I might just use them in a different ensemble sometime in the near future.

Fortunately for all parties involved, I caught another one of those painstakingly and unmistakably funny 'list' comments, and my reaction was that it made me realize that there's humor in this world outside of ending my neighbor's lives.
posted by item at 1:49 AM on November 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Dear Matt,

You've probably already seen my FPP about Bu$h's plans to harness some Mexican people to his chariot to pull him through the streets of Washington in celebration of his latest pseudo-triumph (it's not too late to sign my email petition against this - I notice I didn't see your signature, but maybe you forgot) but anyway I've JUST heard that Cheney is planning to molecularly combine his own DNA with Condi's in a secret teleportation chamber in order to morph into a gestalt conservo-creature that can continue to torture babies in New Orleans without being troubled by his heart-murmur.

I'm sure you'll agree that MeFi needs to find out about this PRONTO so we can all boycott electricity, and I'm emailing YOU because I think you'll want this opportunity to prove that you're not a fascist (like that a$$hole cortex).

Yours in peace and revolution,
posted by the quidnunc kid at 2:25 AM on November 28, 2007 [18 favorites]

It's for those times when people will actually, for real, die if they don't get to post the latest thing they've found on YouTube today, obviously. We wouldn't want to be responsible for a death, now, would we?
posted by dg at 2:26 AM on November 28, 2007

I'm guessing that the use-case of this is that someone posts what would otherwise be a good post (i.e. it has good links and is interesting) but it's deleted for some reason such as bad formatting and they want to redo it and try again. Just a wild guess.
posted by Rhomboid at 2:46 AM on November 28, 2007

what if the poster is worried about getting scooped by boingboing?
posted by Hat Maui at 2:54 AM on November 28, 2007

Approval wasn't needed in the olden days but Postroad had a change of heart less than half an hour later (not that it made much difference).
posted by tellurian at 3:02 AM on November 28, 2007

Do people not just use their spare account for this?

Or do we not all have spare accounts?
posted by No Mutant Enemy at 3:29 AM on November 28, 2007

Emergency posts are what you take in cases of restless toe syndrome, irritable bowling, and the heartbreak of neuralgia. Apply liberally, except in the Washington, DC suburbs and much of South Carolina.
posted by ardgedee at 3:52 AM on November 28, 2007

Must... tell... everyone... about... abandoned Japanese mining island.
posted by cillit bang at 3:53 AM on November 28, 2007 [3 favorites]

[ear-swivel /]

what's this about an abandoned japanese mining island?
posted by lodurr at 5:19 AM on November 28, 2007

Hey, did I miss a memo? We can remove threads from our "Recent Activity" page! It's one of those features that I never realized I needed until it materialized. Now I can git rid of that damn "quonsar wtf?!" thread.
posted by lodurr at 5:22 AM on November 28, 2007

Well, if you're really strapped for cash, and if the first self-link to your blog isn't generating enough ad revenue, you can ask the mods to post another one within the next 24 hours in order to try to scoop up more clicks from users in different time zones.
posted by googly at 6:59 AM on November 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Or do we not all have spare accounts?

Golly, I hardly use the one I have. Don't know what I'd do with a spare!
posted by Karmakaze at 7:27 AM on November 28, 2007

And let my sockpuppet get all the credit?? Not bloody likely!
posted by Koko at 7:35 AM on November 28, 2007 [2 favorites]

There used to be a simple URL hack to post ahead of time but that bug is long gone and the message is outdated. I used to tell people to just wait a few more hours or try the special URL if they just had to. Now I just tell them to wait.
posted by mathowie at 7:38 AM on November 28, 2007

You should still slaughter your neighbors, item.
posted by Mister_A at 8:15 AM on November 28, 2007

Especially if the tofurkey is theirs.
posted by dersins at 8:36 AM on November 28, 2007

Metatalk: I could understand this on MeFi but on the Blue?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:52 AM on November 28, 2007

Now I can git rid of that damn "quonsar wtf?!" thread.

Which one?
posted by timeistight at 9:27 AM on November 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Nitpick: Because linking to your own site, or a project you worked on, in this space will result in a deletion and...

I seriously doubt that any self-linkers were confused by whether a "project they worked on in this space" counts as a self link. But, the sentence is clearer after adding those commas.
posted by philomathoholic at 12:53 PM on November 28, 2007

Uh, the text in italics in my last comment was taken from the new post page, in case that wasn't clear.
posted by philomathoholic at 12:56 PM on November 28, 2007

You can tell if a post is an emergency because it's got flashing lights and a siren on it.
posted by cortex at 5:58 PM on November 28, 2007

Emergency post:
An Oakland resident best known to Metafilter users as salvia is trapped under a fallen bookshelf. But who will call 911? Will it be you?
posted by salvia at 9:00 PM on November 28, 2007

You've probably already seen my FPP about Bu$h's plans to harness some Mexican people to his chariot to pull him through the streets of Washington in celebration of his latest pseudo-triumph (it's not too late to sign my email petition against this - I notice I didn't see your signature, but maybe you forgot) but anyway I've JUST heard that Cheney is planning to molecularly combine his own DNA with Condi's in a secret teleportation chamber in order to morph into a gestalt conservo-creature that can continue to torture babies in New Orleans without being troubled by his heart-murmur.

I'm sure you'll agree that MeFi needs to find out about this PRONTO so we can all boycott electricity, and I'm emailing YOU because I think you'll want this opportunity to prove that you're not a fascist (like that a$$hole cortex).

Anyone else see something missing here?

That's right.

RON PAUL 4 PRESIDENT!!!!!
posted by dw at 11:16 PM on November 28, 2007

I Could Understand this on MeFi but on the Blue? November 28, 2007 12:19 AM Subscribe

I Could Understand this on MeFi but on the Blue?
November 28, 2007 12:19 AM Subscribe