Commentary in FPPs?

December 19, 2009 5:48 PM

A lot of posts get deleted because they have too much "commentary" but in the metafilter about section it describes an ideal post as a link accompanied by commentary, perhaps this should be changed?

The about section is here.

It says:

Thread: A thread (sometimes called a post) is one of the main messages you see on the MetaFilter homepage. These are the starting points for discussions, and are ideally unique, interesting, valuable links accompanied by commentary that starts an engaging conversation.

Maybe this should be changed to "information" or something else, because I feel like commentary implies opinions, which I believe are generally looked down upon in fpps.

posted by kylej to Etiquette/Policy at 5:48 PM (54 comments total)

Well, there's commentary, and then there's commentary.
posted by box at 5:49 PM on December 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

The real difference is commentary vs. editorializing. Commentary is fine, or explanation or I guess context. Editorializing is usually not a good thing, though maybe some in moderation can be okay but over the top editorializing is pretty much no good.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:54 PM on December 19, 2009 [3 favorites]

Perhaps "explanation" would be a better description. "Commentary" could be just about anything.
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:59 PM on December 19, 2009

Mmmm, commentary pie.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:06 PM on December 19, 2009

There's collaborative weblogging, that then there's get a blog.
posted by Artw at 6:06 PM on December 19, 2009

I think Jessamyn's explanation above is great, but it will soon be lost in the history of MetaTalk where no confused new user will ever find it. I tend to agree with kylej that the definition on the About page could be reworded to make it more clear.
posted by vytae at 6:34 PM on December 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Mmmm, commentary pie.

Delicious commentary pie from the commissary.
posted by zinfandel at 6:36 PM on December 19, 2009

For way too many years now, I have not been able to hear or read the word "commentary" without thinking of the Woody Allen line: "I heard that Commentary and Dissent had merged and formed Dysentery.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:43 PM on December 19, 2009 [3 favorites]

Metafilter: no confused new user will ever find it
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:44 PM on December 19, 2009 [3 favorites]

Dibs on Confused New Users as a band name.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:45 PM on December 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

A lot of posts get deleted because they have too much "commentary"

I've never seen this given as an explanation. Editorializing, yes. Commentary, no.
posted by DU at 6:49 PM on December 19, 2009

In terms everyone can understand.

Commentary/Explanation:
Famous guy died, he was a famous dude for these reasons etc.

Editorializing:
Famous guy died, good riddance for these reasons etc.
posted by Askiba at 6:49 PM on December 19, 2009 [6 favorites]

I just want to interject, apropos of nothing, that this is seriously nuts: Eyewitness Confirms: D.C. Cop Freaks Out Over Snowball Fight–Brandishes Gun
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 6:55 PM on December 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

I guess in my mind I associate commentary and editorial, rather than commentary and explanation.
posted by kylej at 7:21 PM on December 19, 2009

I just want to interject, apropos of nothing, that this is seriously nuts: Eyewitness Confirms: D.C. Cop Freaks Out Over Snowball Fight–Brandishes Gun

Dude, people were motherfucking cross country skiing on the Mall today. Right past the Lincoln Memorial. Civilization has basically collapsed.
posted by little e at 7:45 PM on December 19, 2009 [3 favorites]

I just want to interject, apropos of nothing, that this is seriously nuts: Eyewitness Confirms: D.C. Cop Freaks Out Over Snowball Fight–Brandishes Gun

Someone should be along in a second to lecture everyone about how cops are the great saviors of civilization an need to be worshiped at all times. Meanwhile, I'm going to call the Mayor's information line and ask what the hell they're going to do about this guy.
posted by OmieWise at 7:53 PM on December 19, 2009

I just want to interject, apropos of nothing, that this is seriously nuts: Eyewitness Confirms: D.C. Cop Freaks Out Over Snowball Fight–Brandishes

See, now a bunch of people will have to turn up and tell us why that guy isn't a dangerous asshole who should loose his job.
posted by Artw at 7:53 PM on December 19, 2009

Motherfucker!
posted by Artw at 7:53 PM on December 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Of course, Peter Watts kind of liked Avatar, so in MeFi terms he probably deserved that beating.
posted by Artw at 7:58 PM on December 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

because it wasn't worth an fpp, but i still wanted to show y'all, here's the burger king windows 7 whopper
posted by pyramid termite at 8:05 PM on December 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

This thread is going nowhere fast.

Kind of like that one Smiths song.

Called Nowhere Fast.

pointless culture reference: +1
posted by Askiba at 8:12 PM on December 19, 2009

oh, my god, someone ate the whole thing ...
posted by pyramid termite at 8:13 PM on December 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Man there is a ton of snow on the east coast tonight.
posted by The Whelk at 8:42 PM on December 19, 2009

Heh, some of my friends were there. The cop lied, but I guess nobody really needs to be told that.
posted by empath at 8:44 PM on December 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Video
posted by empath at 8:45 PM on December 19, 2009

More Video, 2, 3, 4, 5
posted by empath at 8:48 PM on December 19, 2009

Meanwhile here in Los Angeles, it was unseasonably warm. I rode my scooter around for a bit in a light jacket, and we picked up our Christmas tree (finally) in t-shirts.

and, uh, nyah nyah, I guess
posted by davejay at 9:09 PM on December 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Someone should be along in a second to lecture everyone about how cops are the great saviors of civilization an need to be worshiped at all times.

There could have been pebbles and/or small stones in those snowballs!

See, now a bunch of people will have to turn up and tell us why that guy isn't a dangerous asshole who should loose his job.

PEBBLES AND/OR SMALL STONES.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:21 PM on December 19, 2009 [4 favorites]

Ice fragments even! Someone could have lost an eye! You could totally kill someone with an iced up snowball thrown fast enough AND IT WOULD MELT AND LEAVE NO EVIDENCE!
posted by Artw at 9:31 PM on December 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

oh, my god, someone ate the whole thing ...
posted by pyramid termite


*punches pyramid termite in the dick for posting that*
posted by nola at 9:33 PM on December 19, 2009

and, uh, nyah nyah, I guess

*sighs, adjusts knobs on the Earthquake Machine*
posted by The Whelk at 9:36 PM on December 19, 2009 [3 favorites]

Explanation is fine. Polemic is not fine.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:44 PM on December 19, 2009

I guess it would be more about contextualizing the links than commenting on them.

Also holy shit I clicked pt's link and I'm sorry, so sorry
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:58 PM on December 19, 2009

Ain't that just like a cop? Brings a gun to a snowball fight...
posted by GeckoDundee at 10:47 PM on December 19, 2009

And now I read on to discover that the crowd at the scene have also seen The Untouchables.
posted by GeckoDundee at 10:53 PM on December 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

That snowball fight looked like a lot of fun. That cop is crazy and wasn't even acting as a cop so should be treated the same way as any person who starts waving a gun around in public like that. To be fair, the other cop who turned up seemed pretty reasonable.
posted by Elmore at 2:14 AM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

oh, my god, someone ate the whole thing ...

I've got to say, that burger looks a whole lot more appetising in the advertising materials than it does in reality.
posted by Mike1024 at 3:13 AM on December 20, 2009

What did the crowd expect from a Hummer driver? Those guys are all kinds of insecure.
posted by flabdablet at 3:30 AM on December 20, 2009

I mean, seriously. Dude drives down the street in a car that says "don't mess with ME" and people mess with him. Where could he go but nuts?
posted by flabdablet at 3:31 AM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

That Windows 7 burger looks disgusting. But it's perhaps the first idea that hasn't been stolen from Apple in a long time, so megakudos to Microsoft on shifting their sights onto In'n'Out.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:55 AM on December 20, 2009

So right. If Apple had designed that burger, it would be really really hard to remove the totally plain white wrapper.
posted by flabdablet at 5:04 AM on December 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

You don't get a choice of toppings, but it's the hamburger you always wanted anyway.
posted by ardgedee at 5:25 AM on December 20, 2009

Any time you go to post, there are several dozen examples of good (or, at least, undeleted) posts on the front page and tens of thousands more in the archive. If you can't rough out the range of acceptable style from that, is a still-vague line in the About page going to help?
posted by Wolfdog at 6:22 AM on December 20, 2009

My oatmeal and espresso were good, but now I seriously have to think about shoveling two feet of snow.
posted by fixedgear at 6:38 AM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

but now I seriously have to think about shoveling two feet of snow.

The south may be hot, humid, filled with bugs and ass backwards but at least the only way we can get stranded in our house is due to being passed out drunk.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:02 AM on December 20, 2009 [2 favorites]

The south may be hot, humid, filled with bugs and ass backwards but at least the only way we can get stranded in our house is due to being passed out drunk.

From my memories of New Orleans, that's one of the biggest moneymakers for locksmiths and towing services.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:05 AM on December 20, 2009

I feel cheated. Snow was light on the ground here in NYC. I wanted a devastating 4-day long blizzard that forced everyone to stay inside for the Holiday Week and nurture warm-loving homey feelings.

(Or become axe murderers, whatever)
posted by The Whelk at 8:43 AM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

I am so ashamed this morning. I grew up in the snow and have spent all my time in these sunnier climes sneering at folk who can't drive in it.

And yet, this morning I got stuck in my parking lot. My car would not budge from out of the ruts of frozen ice. I had to get out with one of the big Mag Lites and beat at the rutted ice with the end of the flashlight to break up the furrows, then wiggle the steering wheel vigorously as I backed up to escape.

This afternoon I shall procure me of a small snow shovel to keep in the trunk in case of emergencies. I could have used it.
posted by winna at 9:01 AM on December 20, 2009

At least the cop wasn't brandishing a snowball at a mass gun fight.
posted by double block and bleed at 1:09 PM on December 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

At least the cop wasn't brandishing a snowball at a mass gun fight.
New York Cop John McClane didn't want to be a hero. But this holiday season, he doesn't have the choice.

Die Hard 5. Yippee ki-yay, Frosty.

In cinemas now.
posted by GeckoDundee at 3:47 PM on December 20, 2009

megakudos to Microsoft on shifting their sights onto In'n'Out.

100X100
Beats Windows 95 by 5 whole patties.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 3:57 PM on December 20, 2009

The south may be hot, humid, filled with bugs and ass backwards but at least the only way we can get stranded in our house is due to being passed out drunk.

Not here. I was not only stranded in my house all weekend due to the 17 inches of snow that fell Friday, I was stranded with my relatives who didn't have power for two days. And then we ran out of beer. Now I'm just trying to pick up the shattered remnants of my life.
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:54 PM on December 20, 2009

nothing like growing a personal collection of deleted FPPs, AskMes and MeTas as a way to learn... experience, grasshopper, is the best teacher
posted by infini at 2:20 PM on December 21, 2009

experience, grasshopper...

When you can snatch the deleted post from my hand...
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:57 AM on December 22, 2009 [1 favorite]