Even doubles do not need to be shat on. December 23, 2001 12:43 PM   Subscribe

A simple "double post" or "current thread is here" is enough, no need to patronize or fill the thread up with stupid comments.
posted by geoff. to Etiquette/Policy at 12:43 PM (20 comments total)

This has been discussed before to some degree. Things got better, but now they seem to be taking a turn for the worse. Let's have a general consensus that if it's a double post there's no need to post anymore comments after it has been pointed out.
posted by geoff. at 12:48 PM on December 23, 2001


I agree that the "let's see how juvenile and silly we can be before Thread #2 gets deleted" is way tired.
posted by rushmc at 3:39 PM on December 23, 2001


Of course, it'd be nice if people read before they posted. The second 'Person of the Year' thread was two threads away from the first--surely you can't be absolutely positively sure that no one beat you to the punch.
posted by somethingotherthan at 4:18 PM on December 23, 2001


Let's have a general consensus that if it's a double post there's no need to post anymore comments after it has been pointed out.

How about not? The moment someone self-importantly says "Let's have a general consensus that..." and starts unlilateraly legislating people's behaviour without actually asking anyone what they think is the moment I dig my heels in and start acting in precisely the opposite way, just to be stubborn.

I'm funny that way. I also dislike humourless killjoys who seem to derive some pleasure out of pointing out how silly people who are actually enjoying themselves look. Imagine how annoyed I'd be if I actually posted to that thread!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:31 AM on December 24, 2001


I realize when I posted it, it sounded like "this is the way to do it", but I couldn't put it any other way except in a question. Plus the fact that this had been discussed before (no link sorry) and the vote seemed to be that there's no need for that.

Are you saying everyone should go wild in double posts? I'm asking seriously do you have a better idea?
posted by geoff. at 7:52 AM on December 24, 2001


It was pretty funny the first time (maybe first couple of times) seeing in-jokery and community japery ignite in a double post into a mushroom cloud of fun but, having seen it before, don't you just feel like it's people jumping on the 'wacky joke' bandwagon? After all, it doesn't really matter if what you post isn't very funny because some helpful chap who does all the maintenance and tidying around here will be deleting it soon and no one will remember it too clearly.

Plus it's only really funny if you're in the loop. A newbie or casual browser encountering a thread full to the brim with ponies, pancakes and kitties is probably going to feel pretty confused and possibly alienated. Some folks may consider this a good thing (keep those user numbers down) but I'd be unwittingly much worse off if I'd wandered away from MeFi shaking my head in bemusement that first time I came visiting and I'd feel pretty selfish if I denied someone else the same bounty.
posted by MUD at 9:31 AM on December 24, 2001


"A newbie or casual browser encountering a thread full to the brim with ponies, pancakes and kitties is probably going to feel pretty confused and possibly alienated."

Speaking only for myself, that was actually one of the things that drew me in to MeFi. I like in-jokes. They demonstrate that the community has a pretty good sense of humor, and also that people tend to stick around for a while. You can't develop a reportoire of ponies, pancakes and kitties without people being here long enough to catch on and continue the tradition.


posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:45 AM on December 24, 2001


I agree with stavrosthewonderchicken. On the subject, as opposed to reposts which can result from faulty searches, I understand the double post to be more serious since it seems to show a lack of interest in what has been posted, often in the last few minutes; seems like Ken Keseys' death was announced at least four times, not counting today, which is different.
posted by Mack Twain at 9:57 AM on December 24, 2001


I like in-jokes

Where did you first come across the MeFi variety? I first noticed them in MeTa, once I'd been kicking around MeFi for a while and was starting to really get into the groove.

Mind you I could have passed over them in MeFi threads as they didn't/don't seem to crop up over there so much... Unless these damn-fool, runaway double post threads become the norm, by crikey. Won't somebody think of the children?
posted by MUD at 9:58 AM on December 24, 2001


If you can't be original, or at least creatively clever, copy those who have been. Pile on. Beat the dead horse. Catch vicarious whiffs of peer-approval. If it was funny (or somewhere in the ballpark) the first 20 times, it's a no-brainer! Wheeeeeeeee!

Repetition is, after all, the key and guaranteeing element of all humor.
posted by rushmc at 10:08 AM on December 24, 2001


I like in-jokes...

Me too, actually having one of your threads pelted with ponies and pancakes could qualify as the official MeFi initiation ceremony along with getting in your first "you suck" "no you suck" type of debate,being told you double-posted, and having regulars like stavros and rushmc weigh in on one of your posts. All kidding aside, injokes do foster a sense of community, all of the above things have happened to me, and it's helped me feel like one of the gang.
As far as confusion goes, the type of person who's gonna hang out on MeFi is gonna be able to figure out the jokes pretty quickly and join right in.

So, who wants pancakes?
posted by jonmc at 10:34 AM on December 24, 2001


"Where did you first come across the MeFi variety? I first noticed them in MeTa, once I'd been kicking around MeFi for a while and was starting to really get into the groove."

I think it was probably this thread that introduced me to MeFi in-jokes. It popped up just about the time I started reading regularly.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:46 AM on December 24, 2001


Repetition is, after all, the key and guaranteeing element of all humor.

You can say that again.
posted by rodii at 11:02 AM on December 24, 2001


One day they'll build cities around repetition
posted by holloway at 4:30 PM on December 24, 2001


Perhaps you could rephrase that?
posted by y2karl at 4:36 PM on December 24, 2001


One day they'll build cities around repetition

Actually, they already do.
posted by moss at 5:04 PM on December 24, 2001


I reconsidered overnight, to a degree, and recalled that Matt has weighed in against Excessive Frippery and injokes a time or two, but I still stand firm that a bit of silliness, just poking its head around the corner now and then to repeat itself again and fling a stinkbomb or two, is a healthy thing for any community.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:59 PM on December 24, 2001


I'd just like to repeat that I think silliness is a good idea, in moderation.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:11 PM on December 24, 2001


"I'd just like to repeat that I think silliness is a good idea, in moderation."

With that, I give you The Ministry of Silly Walks!

OK, maybe that was too silly, but I'm with stavros. We can't all be super-serious all the time. A thread here and there is OK with me.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:34 PM on December 24, 2001


Yes, because when we control comedy we will truly master it
posted by holloway at 2:34 PM on December 26, 2001


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