Double Didn't Die February 7, 2010 11:06 AM Subscribe
When an FPP gets flagged as a double (or, say, a double double), how come it sometimes isn't deleted?
Is it just a matter of there not being enough cumulative flags for the mods to notice? (Here's one more I noticed awhile back.)
Is it just a matter of there not being enough cumulative flags for the mods to notice? (Here's one more I noticed awhile back.)
Well, the one from Friday had exactly one flag and it looks like it just slipped by us, yeah. I'd feel a little silly about killing it two days later, so, eh.
No idea about the one from last August.
In general, we usually removed doubles but aside from us just not catching all of them we sometimes let 'em live if it's been a while since the original post and/or there's been significant new content added since the original post.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:22 AM on February 7, 2010
No idea about the one from last August.
In general, we usually removed doubles but aside from us just not catching all of them we sometimes let 'em live if it's been a while since the original post and/or there's been significant new content added since the original post.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:22 AM on February 7, 2010
Jaitcoh, nope, both links have been posted before, as Sys Rq points out in the thread. I get very "This is not Nam, there are RULES!" about things like double posts, but rationally, if one gets missed nobody is harmed. PB can chime in if he knows otherwise, but I don't think we're running out of space or anything.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:26 AM on February 7, 2010
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:26 AM on February 7, 2010
Not related, but the AskMe feed doesn't validate which means it doesn't work in feed readers. Somehow this post has two stray ^B characters in it which seems to be the problem.
posted by Rhomboid at 11:29 AM on February 7, 2010
posted by Rhomboid at 11:29 AM on February 7, 2010
Jaltcoh, nope, both links have been posted before, as Sys Rq points out in the thread.
I stand corrected. I only noticed the first comment pointing out the double and didn't notice the other one further down. In that case, I see no point in leaving that post up.
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:33 AM on February 7, 2010
I stand corrected. I only noticed the first comment pointing out the double and didn't notice the other one further down. In that case, I see no point in leaving that post up.
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:33 AM on February 7, 2010
I killed those weird characters, Rhomboid. Thanks for the heads up.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:36 AM on February 7, 2010
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:36 AM on February 7, 2010
cortex said: we sometimes let 'em live if it's been a while since the original post and/or there's been significant new content added since the original post
This happened with one of my posts a couple of years ago. I had unknowingly posted a link to a site that had first been featured in the early days of Metafilter. No one even noticed, or mentioned, it was a double until fairly late in the thread, at which point cortex deleted it. I had a very nice email exchange with him, pointing out that it had been several years since it had originally been posted, not many people had seen it previously, and that the thread had been going very well.
Looking back, I realize I was probably a bit over-invested in stating my case, but I quoted this part of the FAQ to him: There is no hard and fast rule on when a post is not a double anymore. For an identical URL and a site that hasn't changed in content "a few years" is a good guideline. He wrote back "Okay, you've convinced me" and he undeleted the post.
I like it that doubles are judged on a case by case basis.
posted by amyms at 11:51 AM on February 7, 2010
This happened with one of my posts a couple of years ago. I had unknowingly posted a link to a site that had first been featured in the early days of Metafilter. No one even noticed, or mentioned, it was a double until fairly late in the thread, at which point cortex deleted it. I had a very nice email exchange with him, pointing out that it had been several years since it had originally been posted, not many people had seen it previously, and that the thread had been going very well.
Looking back, I realize I was probably a bit over-invested in stating my case, but I quoted this part of the FAQ to him: There is no hard and fast rule on when a post is not a double anymore. For an identical URL and a site that hasn't changed in content "a few years" is a good guideline. He wrote back "Okay, you've convinced me" and he undeleted the post.
I like it that doubles are judged on a case by case basis.
posted by amyms at 11:51 AM on February 7, 2010
Ooh, I bet you're talking about this one, amyms. And yeah, it's a bit fuzzy as to where the line gets drawn; I think that for my part I was a little too absolutist about nixing doubles when I first started, and got a little more in sync with the nuances of Matt and Jess' approaches after a few months.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:04 PM on February 7, 2010
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:04 PM on February 7, 2010
Yeah, I've posted a couple of things that were technically doubles but the sites were buried in an old post under a barrage of links. There are doubles which I think are perfectly okay.
Though every once in a while someone posts something and I'm all "what?! I know that's been posted before, I found out about it from MetaFilter, why is it still up?" grumble grumble grumble And then I check and find out that it was posted in 2001 or 2002. And then I feel old.
posted by Kattullus at 12:11 PM on February 7, 2010
Though every once in a while someone posts something and I'm all "what?! I know that's been posted before, I found out about it from MetaFilter, why is it still up?" grumble grumble grumble And then I check and find out that it was posted in 2001 or 2002. And then I feel old.
posted by Kattullus at 12:11 PM on February 7, 2010
That's probably the one, cortex. I couldn't remember for sure.
I think that for my part I was a little too absolutist about nixing doubles when I first started...
FWIW, I was pleasantly surprised that you were being so flexible as a new mod, even when I was probably sounding like "But I'm a special snowflake and my post deserves special dispensation!"
posted by amyms at 12:40 PM on February 7, 2010
I think that for my part I was a little too absolutist about nixing doubles when I first started...
FWIW, I was pleasantly surprised that you were being so flexible as a new mod, even when I was probably sounding like "But I'm a special snowflake and my post deserves special dispensation!"
posted by amyms at 12:40 PM on February 7, 2010
But you are a special snowflake, honey.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:45 PM on February 7, 2010
posted by DarlingBri at 2:45 PM on February 7, 2010
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The second FPP: It's a link to a particularly hilarious blog post on a blog whose homepage was linked in an FPP years earlier along with other sites.
posted by Jaltcoh at 11:21 AM on February 7, 2010