I tried. I failed. Why?

April 9, 2008 2:29 PM

My first ever MeFi post failed miserably. Where'd I go wrong?

I posted this. It got deleteninged. Why?

It wasn't a double. It linked to the previous story on the same topic. Delmoi posted a link to the response video in the original thread, but didn't do so until after I posted my link. Help me avoid making an ass of myself in the future.

posted by alby to Etiquette/Policy at 2:29 PM (103 comments total)

It probably belongs as a comment in the previous thread.
posted by Brocktoon at 2:31 PM on April 9, 2008

There was already a thread about this. You created a new, redundant thread when you should've posted the update in the original thread.

Next time just post a video of a cat passing out and all will be forgiven.
posted by mullingitover at 2:32 PM on April 9, 2008 [7 favorites]

It seemed like an update to a thread that was only 2-3 days old. Usually those things need to go in the still-open thread. You didn't fail, you are fine. Ignore anyone who says you are not.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:32 PM on April 9, 2008

Help me avoid making an ass of myself in the future.

Don't make MetaTalk posts about your deleted MetaFilter posts.

You're welcome.
posted by timeistight at 2:33 PM on April 9, 2008 [5 favorites]

You should ignore timeistight.
posted by 0xFCAF at 2:35 PM on April 9, 2008 [3 favorites]

It's not major enough news to warrant a new post about the same subject in two days and would be better as an update in a comment on the original thread.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:35 PM on April 9, 2008

I'd missed the first post. So, I found it through your deleted one. Does that make things any better? No?
posted by Elmore at 2:36 PM on April 9, 2008

Seems liek a reasonable post asside from the whole being a double thing. My own first posts were worse. And TBH my own current posts are frequently questionable.

Try again later.
posted by Artw at 2:40 PM on April 9, 2008

Town square. Clock tower. High velocity rifle.

You know it makes sense.
posted by i_cola at 2:43 PM on April 9, 2008 [7 favorites]

Okay, I can't hold my tongue on this any longer. These funny-ha-ha reasons for deletion? They kind of suck. Not because they're not occasionally funny, but because they serve no purpose whatsoever and are, in fact, sometimes uninstructive and counterproductive. Like this time, for instance.

I don't see who they're supposed to benefit: the OP? The audience over at deletedthread.blogspot.com? The mod him or herself? Is it really such a drag getting paid to moderate this place that ones' day needs brightening up with zings and quips? FlagDelete it and move on.

No offense, mathowietex, I think y'all are thoroughly aces. I'm just saying.

/grouchy and hungover
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 2:46 PM on April 9, 2008

You should ignore timeistight.

No, you shouldn't.
posted by katillathehun at 2:46 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

These funny-ha-ha reasons for deletion?

They are oxygen, my friend. Oxygen.

Not the kind that makes iron rust, mind you...the kind that helps you respirate.
posted by Burhanistan at 2:49 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

Help me avoid making an ass of myself in the future.

You didn't make an ass of yourself at all, just wasn't a post strong enough to stand on it's on. No worries. The one thing I suggest changing is this part:

"His movies suck, no doubt, but I can't help thinking the filmmaking world is more interesting with Uwe Boll in it ..."

It's bordering on editorializing, which never goes down well, so it's best to leave it out.

Also, it's fine to ask why your post was deleted, as long as you it with a generally inquisitive tone, as opposed to demanding why your special post was deleted and calling the admins or other users names. Everyone has had posts deleted, even the admins, so really, it's not a big deal. Just learn from it and make better posts in the future.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:51 PM on April 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

Okay, I can't hold my tongue on this any longer. These funny-ha-ha reasons for deletion? They kind of suck. Not because they're not occasionally funny, but because they serve no purpose whatsoever and are, in fact, sometimes uninstructive and counterproductive. Like this time, for instance.

I don't see who they're supposed to benefit: the OP? The audience over at deletedthread.blogspot.com? The mod him or herself? Is it really such a drag getting paid to moderate this place that ones' day needs brightening up with zings and quips? FlagDelete it and move on.

No offense, mathowietex, I think y'all are thoroughly aces. I'm just saying.

/grouchy and hungover

Who says they have to benefit anyone?

and 'no offense'? The only reason to say that is because you might offend, and need to cya...
posted by pupdog at 2:51 PM on April 9, 2008

Actually, the deletion reason was my favourite part. Oxygen indeed. Better make that 3or4...
posted by Elmore at 2:53 PM on April 9, 2008

cortex said back in September that they were trying to cut down on jokey deletion reasons. Someone started a blog about it anyway.
posted by 0xFCAF at 2:54 PM on April 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

These funny-ha-ha reasons for deletion?


Are fine.
Zings and quips make life tolerable.
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:56 PM on April 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

alby, Uwe Boll versus Lowtax would have made a better FPP.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:57 PM on April 9, 2008

These funny-ha-ha reasons for deletion?

Are something I honestly try to keep restrained to deletions that are pretty self-evidently non-controversial stuff like doubles. In this case, it probably would have done me well to drop alby a line since it was their first post, but the long-standing account made me think, "okay, this person probably just missed the older thread and already basically knows the scoop on not doing non-worldshaking update posts when there was recent post already, so there's not a lot of work to do here".

And yes, little things to brighten our day are the sort of little things that brighten our day. I really am on a mission to not rugpull anyone or be overly snarky in deletion reasons, and if you look through the deleted threads you'll see that we're often very straightforward and explanatory when it's a deletion that seems to need some actual explaining. I may have miffed the call a little on this one, so, yes, look:

alby, you're fine. Updates when there's a recent thread on the topic don't usually merit a whole new post, so in the future just put updated info into the open thread and all will be well. But it's not a big deal, and you're A-OK.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:01 PM on April 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

FWIW, it really shouldn't have been "The Deletening". That was Highlander 2. Should have been "The Deleteror" or something like that.
posted by cog_nate at 3:10 PM on April 9, 2008

Deleterol helps reduce anxiety stemming from having your post deleted.
posted by Burhanistan at 3:15 PM on April 9, 2008 [3 favorites]

Highlander is entirely appropriate. There can be only one! ... post about this particular Uwe Boll topic.
posted by CKmtl at 3:18 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

Gee, I thought this was about Manute Bol. Nobody tells me anything.
posted by fixedgear at 3:36 PM on April 9, 2008

Ignore cortex. He's just gaslighting you.
posted by dersins at 3:37 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

You're more than fine. You just passed a key initiation point into the world of Metafilter. Welcome.
posted by Dave Faris at 3:37 PM on April 9, 2008

*views video* Damn, I totally want to box him now.

MetaTalk: Not a fucking retard.
posted by loquacious at 3:38 PM on April 9, 2008

So, it's a "rickroll" when I'm fooled by a YouTube link. What's it called when Burhanistan tricks me into clicking a link to a wiki page that doesn't exist?

Touche, you bastard.
posted by sdodd at 3:39 PM on April 9, 2008

Ignore all the advice you get in this thread, except mine. Ignore me.
posted by orange swan at 3:39 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

My pet peeve is when people make "cute" names for the moderators by smashing them all together. In real life, I would smack people who do this, but no one in real life seems to do this except for tabloid journalists, and I don't know any personally.
posted by BeerFilter at 3:43 PM on April 9, 2008

"Highlander is entirely appropriate."

Oh, indeed, but The Quickening was the subtitle to Highlander 2, whereas in his deletion reason cortex said Post 3, which doesn't correctly correspond to oh holy shit what has become of my life.
posted by cog_nate at 3:43 PM on April 9, 2008 [15 favorites]

Once you get past Highlander 2 that's where the series gets *really* bad...
posted by Artw at 3:44 PM on April 9, 2008

It wasn't a double. It linked to the previous story on the same topic. Delmoi posted a link to the response video in the original thread, but didn't do so until after I posted my link.

I only posted the followup because your thread was deleted.
posted by delmoi at 3:45 PM on April 9, 2008

Technically, I don't think any movie after The Quickening could actually be any worse than The Quickening itself, so it's more that you just wonder why they bothered.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:51 PM on April 9, 2008

alby, Uwe Boll versus Lowtax would have made a better FPP.

Nope, I made a post about that when it happened.
posted by puke & cry at 3:54 PM on April 9, 2008

Once you get past Highlander 2 that's where the series gets *really* bad...

What you have to remember with the Highlander films is that the rule "there can only be one" applies. Therefore, there is only one Highlander movie - the first.

The rule can also be applied to other sequels. For example, it also works with The Matrix.
posted by never used baby shoes at 4:13 PM on April 9, 2008

My pet peeve is when people make "cute" names for the moderators by smashing them all together.

Oh, ditto that. Out of respect for their hard work, I think we ought to strive to address them formally: Mr. Haughey, Ms. West, Mr. Ofnazareth. Much nicer that way.
posted by felix betachat at 4:29 PM on April 9, 2008 [6 favorites]

See, alby, not only did you not fail, but you also happened to create a delightfully geeky and self-aware metatalk discussion about Highlander entirely by accident. Complete success, I'd say.
posted by donnagirl at 4:31 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

You can't drown, you fool, you're immortal!
posted by Artw at 4:33 PM on April 9, 2008

> No offense, mathowietex, I think y'all are thoroughly aces. I'm just saying.

*taps water glass* 'Scuse me, all.

I think that at this particular point in time, it's appropriate to quote one of my favorite comments.

*clears throat*

"SWEET BUTTFUCKING JESUS STOP CONCATENATING THEIR NAMES OR I WILL COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND LEAVE A FLAMING TWO THIRDS SCALE SCULPTURE OF HITLER DOING A D&C ON RACHEL RAY MADE OUT OF HUMAN FECES AND DIESEL FUEL ON YOUR LIVING ROOM FLOOR."

Thanks.
posted by WCityMike at 4:46 PM on April 9, 2008

The next person that calls me Ms. West gets a mud-boot-clad foot in their ass, just saying. I have no opinion on concatenation.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:58 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

Can we add a line to the FAQ that says something like: "Your FPP is no indication of your value as a human being. (Unless you are self-linking, spamming, or deliberately causing a problem. Then, you suck.)"
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 5:06 PM on April 9, 2008

The next person that calls me Ms. West gets a mud-boot-clad foot in their ass


Yes ma'am.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:22 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

When my posts get deleted, I do what I always do in times of personal trial and blame my parents. Works great for sins of all shapes and forms.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:25 PM on April 9, 2008

Yes ma'am.

For a long time as a kid I just kind of assumed that "ma'am" was part of a interchangeable set of "words you can use to refer to female adults" and it was kind of boggling to me when I found out that a lot of women didn't really like getting ma'am'd after all.

Also apparently not so great: madame.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:29 PM on April 9, 2008

Oh yeah, shit, I left jessamyn out of my apparently-intolerably-obnoxious consapenation or whatever you call it!
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 5:39 PM on April 9, 2008

Getting the occasional post or comment deleted is no big deal. Learn from it, never complain, and never start a MetaTalk thread to protest the deletion (which I understand is not what you have done here.)
posted by LarryC at 5:43 PM on April 9, 2008

The next person that calls me Ms. West gets a mud-boot-clad foot in their ass, just saying. I have no opinion on concatenation.

What about Miz West? It may be pronounced the same, but it comes from a totally different place-- a place of "Yes'm Miz West, ma'am" rather than a place of "Yes, Ms. West, room service would be happy to bring you a cosmo."
posted by dersins at 5:48 PM on April 9, 2008

Ma'am in generally considered for older ladies, while Miss is considered for younger, at least here in the south. Maybe that's regional, I dunno.

Ma'am is also the equivalent of Ms, hence the use of it there, ha ha. Was considering Imperatrix, but Gräfin of Askme sounds better.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:52 PM on April 9, 2008

AFAICT, no mention yet of the [more inside], so I'd just like to point out that I feel "His movies suck, no doubt" might be interpreted as egregious editorializing, which is a bit of a faux pas in and of itself.

Kudos to you for asking advice though, alby.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:53 PM on April 9, 2008

What about Miz West?

No. I find social titles vaguely ridiculous.

Fuzzy: all set.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:08 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

I find social titles vaguely ridiculous

Ahem. Archbishop Spiritual Warrior the Reverend Doctor dersins here. For reals.
posted by dersins at 6:24 PM on April 9, 2008

Maybe a pony, but it would be worthwhile to get an automatically generated email from the mods when a post gets clobbered.

I like collecting things.
posted by mattoxic at 6:24 PM on April 9, 2008

No. I find social titles vaguely ridiculous.

Korea would drive you absolutely nuts.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:35 PM on April 9, 2008

Bah, at least your post had the closure of deletion. My last one faded away with a "posted at 4AM in 1999" level of activity, the internet equivalent of dying of neglect.

Oh, you laugh. But little do you realize that the Tasmanian animation industry is utterly dependent on Internet success. And they're hurting bad down there. Even a modestly successful 20-comment thread on Metafilter would have been a shot in the arm, re-inspiring their leathery papersmiths to new heights of creative endeavor. But no, Metafilter, it was too little, too late.

The future of comedic Tasmanian cardboard art died that night.

PS: I vote for ¡Señorita Oeste! (fancy upside-down exclamation points included, of course). It's so... chévere.
posted by Rhaomi at 6:50 PM on April 9, 2008

You can call me Miss Swan. Whether or not you're nasty.
posted by orange swan at 7:13 PM on April 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

Fuzzy: all set.
posted by jessamyn

Ha! Awesome! Thanks jessamyn. Finally I have contributed something of value.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:26 PM on April 9, 2008

Ignore anyone who says you are not.

You are not.
You are not.
You are not.
You are not.
You are not.

you heard the little lady; just ignore me.

Also: we are here, we are here, we are here, we are here, we are here!
posted by davejay at 7:27 PM on April 9, 2008

alby,

Your post was deleted because one million of Us signed a petition to remove it.

We have Our reasons.

Today, that reason was Donut Day. The petition was accidentally appended to the Oversize Donut order form.
posted by the Cabal at 7:48 PM on April 9, 2008

So, Fuzzy Skinner got something he/she said both noticed by an adiminstrator AND posted to the FAQ within ONE MONTH of signing up.

I say we kill him/her. Who's with me?
posted by yhbc at 7:50 PM on April 9, 2008

Yeah, well, beginner's luck I guess. Aw shucks. :: kicks dust, blushes ::

Add to my list of accomplishments that this is my second death threat today!

Oh, and I'm a boy-person. Guess I should edit my profile.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:55 PM on April 9, 2008

Isn't concatenation still illegal in states south of the Mendoza line?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:56 PM on April 9, 2008 [2 favorites]

felix betachat writes "Oh, ditto that. Out of respect for their hard work, I think we ought to strive to address them formally: Mr. Haughey, Ms. West, Mr. Ofnazareth. Much nicer that way."

That seems a little dangerous.

jessamyn writes "The next person that calls me Ms. West gets a mud-boot-clad foot in their ass, just saying. I have no opinion on concatenation."

OK, is a little dangerous.
posted by Mitheral at 8:28 PM on April 9, 2008

I could've really turned up the gaslighting and hammered out a quick Deleterol wiki article, but I'm just too bleedin' lazy to follow through with prank ideas.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:54 PM on April 9, 2008

Alby,

You failed because for you, HC/A <>H is your girlfriend's hotness, C is the number of countries you've visited, and A is your age. You do have an awesome email address, though.
posted by lukemeister at 9:22 PM on April 9, 2008

Um, let's try that again. That was supposed to be HC/A is less than 1,000,000. Last time I try to insert inequalities into Metatalk. There's enough inequality anyway.
posted by lukemeister at 9:23 PM on April 9, 2008

Mods,

Please delete my last two comments. Upon closer inspection, I withdraw my snark about the 'My worst nightmare has become true: I've turned 30!' thread.
posted by lukemeister at 9:40 PM on April 9, 2008

I think we ought to strive to address them formally: Mr. Haughey, Ms. West, Mr. Ofnazareth. Much nicer that way.

You have to be careful with cortex - his last name looks like it should be pronounced "muh-LARD", but should be pronounced "MILL-erd".
posted by Meatbomb at 10:00 PM on April 9, 2008

I prefer to call him Mr. Shatner.

(Pronounced Shat-nay.)
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 10:22 PM on April 9, 2008

Is it really such a drag getting paid to moderate this place that ones' day needs brightening up with zings and quips?

At pretty much any internet auditorium anywhere, the admins need the odd burst of free reign sarcasm to keep their sanity in the face of all the ooking. Ultimately, the best targets are the stuff that's just about to get nuked. There's a link to the double in there and it's not outright rude, plus alby's gotten the idea at this point, so why not? It's a far step up from a forum admin changing someone's avatar to a lolcat 'MY STOOPID AVATAR IZ TOO BIG' or an IRC admin forcibly changing someone's nick to My_Nick_Is_Stupid.

Full disclosure part 1: have done the latter, but only jokingly. Prefer making NickServ join the channel and lecture them at length.
Full disclosure part 2: wussed out of first post last night so alby's doing better than me.
posted by stelas at 2:59 AM on April 10, 2008

I find social titles vaguely ridiculous.

They are rather my guilty pleasure, I must say. Do please, everyone, address me as "Your Grace."
posted by JanetLand at 6:08 AM on April 10, 2008

Your Grace,

I salute thee, but beware of fake titles.
posted by lukemeister at 6:18 AM on April 10, 2008

Okay, I can't hold my tongue on this any longer. These funny-ha-ha reasons for deletion? They kind of suck. Not because they're not occasionally funny, but because they serve no purpose whatsoever

You are wrong and need to lighten up. Those deletion reasons brighten the day not only of the admins who make them (and Christ knows they need some brightening after hours spent dealing with this lot of dickwads) but of thousands of us humble users. I'm trying to get two books edited against deadline, and I need every chuckle I can get. Try providing chuckles instead of grump.
posted by languagehat at 6:42 AM on April 10, 2008 [2 favorites]

Oh, and my title is Grand Hospodar and Kaimakam.
posted by languagehat at 6:44 AM on April 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

the admins need the odd burst of free reign sarcasm

I have my own fits of acting out.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:44 AM on April 10, 2008

Oh, I thought it said free range sarcasm. I had visions of chickens with attitude.
posted by lukemeister at 6:48 AM on April 10, 2008

Oh, and my title is Grand Hospodar and Kaimakam.

At first I thought this said "...and Iamkimiam."

And I wondered if you asked first.
posted by pineapple at 7:14 AM on April 10, 2008

Ma'am in generally considered for older ladies, while Miss is considered for younger, at least here in the south. Maybe that's regional, I dunno.

This was a topic in my very first askme question.
posted by quin at 9:23 AM on April 10, 2008

it's like when you buy your first harley, you might as well just put up the kick stand and drop it on the ground... get that first dump out of the way....

when you join the meta, you might as well make some error, get deleted, never ask why....and then you can go on with life....
posted by HuronBob at 10:18 AM on April 10, 2008

when you join the meta, you might as well make some error, get deleted, never ask why....and then you can go on with life....

Except that if folks get wind of the fact that you're doing it on purpose, they'll probably savage you mercilessly, as is the idiom of the place.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:25 AM on April 10, 2008

Pony request: One merciless savaging, please.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:31 AM on April 10, 2008

Pony request: One merciless savaging, please.

Funny, I first read that as "one merciless rogering, please."
posted by pineapple at 10:34 AM on April 10, 2008

Rogering is a bonus, not a requirement.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:36 AM on April 10, 2008

> I have my own fits of acting out.

Yes, you do indeed. ;-)
posted by WCityMike at 10:37 AM on April 10, 2008

*refrains from mentioning a certain domesticated fowl*
posted by dersins at 11:14 AM on April 10, 2008

We’re guarding the Swedish fish.

Hurry. Come down.

We can’t leave the store. It’s wide open.
posted by lester at 11:42 AM on April 10, 2008

That's not acting out, that is a job perq. As is being able to ban dersins for eleven minutes just because he's irking me.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:43 AM on April 10, 2008 [2 favorites]

OMG I'M BANNED?
posted by dersins at 11:45 AM on April 10, 2008

well not anymore.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:55 AM on April 10, 2008

Oh, man. I was banned and I missed it? Rats!
posted by dersins at 11:59 AM on April 10, 2008

If your post contains "Remember when", then "when" better refer to something a looong time ago.
posted by Deathalicious at 12:16 PM on April 10, 2008

"France" SO DOES rhyme with "addresses"!
posted by Dr. Curare at 12:22 PM on April 10, 2008

For some of us, post deletion is not exactly failure. I post always with the idea in mind, how little can I put into this without it getting deleted? It's kind of a balancing act, and I've posted a couple of doozies that I expected to get deleted right away that stayed, and conversely what I thought were strong posts that got deleted. It's all about feeling the hive mind, and that is a new thing to a lot of us that we are still exploring.
posted by telstar at 1:21 PM on April 10, 2008

DOES NOT.

(HEE, dersins.)
posted by Phire at 1:42 PM on April 10, 2008

That's not acting out, that is a job perq. As is being able to ban dersins for eleven minutes just because he's irking me.

Ah! A p'irk!
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 2:51 PM on April 10, 2008

Feeling bold, are we?
posted by unknowncommand at 5:48 PM on April 10, 2008

I think jessamyn once banned mathowie for a few seconds, just to see if she could.

She could.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 6:18 PM on April 10, 2008

I also banned myself but that was more embarassing. But that was when it was just me and mathowie. Now pb and cortex would have to be simultaneously decommissioned as well.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:27 PM on April 10, 2008

Oh ya, here's the self-ban story.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 6:40 PM on April 10, 2008

I think jessamyn once banned mathowie for a few seconds, just to see if she could.

Now if only someone had been around to take a picture of Matt's face when he discovered that he'd been banned from MeFi.
posted by orange swan at 6:31 AM on April 11, 2008

Ms. Swan, you might be onto something.

Not just Matt, but lots of people. It would be the new "videotape someone watching 'Two Girls, One Cup'" -- videotape someone's reaction to finding out they've been banned from MeFi.
posted by pineapple at 8:00 AM on April 11, 2008

orange swan writes "Now if only someone had been around to take a picture of Matt's face when he discovered that he'd been banned from MeFi."

You'd have to be quick to catch him in the five seconds it takes to run a sql insert statement and reinstate himself.
posted by mullingitover at 2:57 PM on April 11, 2008

Well, we had also cut off his hands at this point.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:04 PM on April 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Now if only someone had been around to take a picture of Matt's face when he discovered that he'd been banned from MeFi.

I'm still picturing the look on jessamyn's face when she banned herself, then realized she had no way to undo it.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 3:14 PM on April 11, 2008