Can I link to my classmates' MySpace Music pages? May 30, 2010 8:25 AM Subscribe
I study popular music, and needless to say I go to school with some pretty amazing musicians and song-writers, many of whom have MySpace profiles and websites with their songs on them.
So, what I'm wondering is, would it be okay to make a front-page post linking to these amazing musicians' MySpace pages, or would that be in violation of the self-link thing, since they're my friends? Is this something better left for MeFi Music Talk, perhaps?
So, what I'm wondering is, would it be okay to make a front-page post linking to these amazing musicians' MySpace pages, or would that be in violation of the self-link thing, since they're my friends? Is this something better left for MeFi Music Talk, perhaps?
It definitely violates the self-link policy.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:30 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:30 AM on May 30, 2010
Friends-linking is pretty much not okay. If you know them enough to know their names and vice versa, that's too close.
The basic thing about the friendslinking is this
1. People are often not the best judge of how awesome their own friends are.
2. we don't want to have to second guess and think "Are they linking to this site because there's some money angle and they're trying to help out their friend?"
3. We think the internet is full of enough awesome stuff that this rule does not negatively impact the amount of good stuff there is availble to post about
4. Feel free to get your friend an account and they can post their stuff to Projects (or music). That way the MeFi community can enjoy it and maybe elevate it to the front page.
Our feeling is a post should pass the smell test. That is, if you were totally above board and described your exact relationship with the people in the post, would commenters call bullshit on that or not?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:35 AM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
The basic thing about the friendslinking is this
1. People are often not the best judge of how awesome their own friends are.
2. we don't want to have to second guess and think "Are they linking to this site because there's some money angle and they're trying to help out their friend?"
3. We think the internet is full of enough awesome stuff that this rule does not negatively impact the amount of good stuff there is availble to post about
4. Feel free to get your friend an account and they can post their stuff to Projects (or music). That way the MeFi community can enjoy it and maybe elevate it to the front page.
Our feeling is a post should pass the smell test. That is, if you were totally above board and described your exact relationship with the people in the post, would commenters call bullshit on that or not?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:35 AM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
But I'd want to share them even if I didn't know them; it has nothing to do with our personal relationship, and I don't even know them all very well, I just happen to go to school with them. If I had just heard them at a concert, I'd still want to share their music, because it's awesome.
posted by MaiaMadness at 8:37 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by MaiaMadness at 8:37 AM on May 30, 2010
Our feeling is a post should pass the smell test. That is, if you were totally above board and described your exact relationship with the people in the post, would commenters call bullshit on that or not?
So... I go to school with them, have had beers with them, but never been to their houses or met anyone else they know is too close?
Can I post the links in MeFi Music Talk?
posted by MaiaMadness at 8:39 AM on May 30, 2010
So... I go to school with them, have had beers with them, but never been to their houses or met anyone else they know is too close?
Can I post the links in MeFi Music Talk?
posted by MaiaMadness at 8:39 AM on May 30, 2010
Tell them about Mefi, get them an account and point them to Projects/Music. They will thank you because this is good exposure for them.
( reminding self to take self's advice, now what did I do with that midi cord, grumble grumble )
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 8:40 AM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
( reminding self to take self's advice, now what did I do with that midi cord, grumble grumble )
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 8:40 AM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
There's still a personal connection, though. So it's a no-go.
If you want to help promote them, why not do something with their music that turns it into a project? Get them all together and produce a compilation disc, or some kind of collaborative music thing. Then submit it to Projects and hope it's cool enough that somebody else thinks it's worth an FPP.
posted by Rory Marinich at 8:41 AM on May 30, 2010
If you want to help promote them, why not do something with their music that turns it into a project? Get them all together and produce a compilation disc, or some kind of collaborative music thing. Then submit it to Projects and hope it's cool enough that somebody else thinks it's worth an FPP.
posted by Rory Marinich at 8:41 AM on May 30, 2010
I'd want to share them even if I didn't know them; it has nothing to do with our personal relationship
Nothing personal MaiaMadness, but this is exactly why we have this rule. Yes "had beers with" is too close. You can put the links in your own profile page. You can encourage them to get MeFi accounts. MetaFilter does a lot of great things, but there are a few things that it doesn't do well and offering a place to promote friends' works is one of them. I should probably make a list of all the other things MeFi isn't designed to do.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:46 AM on May 30, 2010 [6 favorites]
Nothing personal MaiaMadness, but this is exactly why we have this rule. Yes "had beers with" is too close. You can put the links in your own profile page. You can encourage them to get MeFi accounts. MetaFilter does a lot of great things, but there are a few things that it doesn't do well and offering a place to promote friends' works is one of them. I should probably make a list of all the other things MeFi isn't designed to do.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:46 AM on May 30, 2010 [6 favorites]
But I'd want to share them even if I didn't know them; it has nothing to do with our personal relationship, and I don't even know them all very well, I just happen to go to school with them. If I had just heard them at a concert, I'd still want to share their music, because it's awesome.
Part of the reason the rule is pretty flat and straightforward is that we don't want to have to spend a lot of time (a) trying to hash out the thorny territory between Clearly Okay and Clearly Not Okay or (b) dealing with the fallout when people figure out an undisclosed connection in a post and pull out the torches and pitchforks.
So while on the one hand it's sometimes a bummer to have to think, "man, if it weren't for that part of the guidelines this would be a good post", the guidelines are there to make this place work on the whole rather than to make personal, specific cases work out optimally for the poster. So a bummer it may be, but that's the rule and the unimpeachable move is to restrict what you post about to the 99.99% of the internet's content that you have no specific connection to or affiliation with or personal relationship to.
Can I post the links in MeFi Music Talk?
If we have a "hey who out there are you listening to who is awesome that no one has heard of" thread in Music Talk, that'd be totally fine, and it might indeed be fun to have one some time. Just making a unilateral balls-out "hey, go check out these myspaces" post might come off a little weirder in that it'd look a tad more like random promotion than is really okay anywhere on the site other than Projects for your own stuff.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:59 AM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
Part of the reason the rule is pretty flat and straightforward is that we don't want to have to spend a lot of time (a) trying to hash out the thorny territory between Clearly Okay and Clearly Not Okay or (b) dealing with the fallout when people figure out an undisclosed connection in a post and pull out the torches and pitchforks.
So while on the one hand it's sometimes a bummer to have to think, "man, if it weren't for that part of the guidelines this would be a good post", the guidelines are there to make this place work on the whole rather than to make personal, specific cases work out optimally for the poster. So a bummer it may be, but that's the rule and the unimpeachable move is to restrict what you post about to the 99.99% of the internet's content that you have no specific connection to or affiliation with or personal relationship to.
Can I post the links in MeFi Music Talk?
If we have a "hey who out there are you listening to who is awesome that no one has heard of" thread in Music Talk, that'd be totally fine, and it might indeed be fun to have one some time. Just making a unilateral balls-out "hey, go check out these myspaces" post might come off a little weirder in that it'd look a tad more like random promotion than is really okay anywhere on the site other than Projects for your own stuff.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:59 AM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
hey who out there are you listening to who is awesome that no one has heard of
this doesnt exist now? i'm going to start it. As a music writer/nerd I'd love to hear the community's recommendations for this.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:10 AM on May 30, 2010
this doesnt exist now? i'm going to start it. As a music writer/nerd I'd love to hear the community's recommendations for this.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:10 AM on May 30, 2010
Yay! Problem solved.
And Maia: Because nobody else has said it, welcome to MetaFilter!
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:17 AM on May 30, 2010
And Maia: Because nobody else has said it, welcome to MetaFilter!
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:17 AM on May 30, 2010
Make sure if you're linking to friends' stuff you indicate that it's people you know and don't just act like it's some random group you tripped over. Glad this got worked out.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:23 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:23 AM on May 30, 2010
> But I'd want to share them even if I didn't know them; it has nothing to do with our personal relationship, and I don't even know them all very well, I just happen to go to school with them. If I had just heard them at a concert, I'd still want to share their music, because it's awesome.
You do not know this. It is impossible to know how you would react to the work of friends if you didn't know them. Every parent and grandparent thinks their (grand)children are particularly smart, gifted, and wonderful. I know for a fact that my grandsons are smart, gifted, and wonderful. That's exactly why I am not allowed to post whatever they might produce to MetaFilter: I have no perspective on it, just as you have no perspective on your friends. If you insist you do, you're just fooling yourself.
posted by languagehat at 9:57 AM on May 30, 2010 [9 favorites]
You do not know this. It is impossible to know how you would react to the work of friends if you didn't know them. Every parent and grandparent thinks their (grand)children are particularly smart, gifted, and wonderful. I know for a fact that my grandsons are smart, gifted, and wonderful. That's exactly why I am not allowed to post whatever they might produce to MetaFilter: I have no perspective on it, just as you have no perspective on your friends. If you insist you do, you're just fooling yourself.
posted by languagehat at 9:57 AM on May 30, 2010 [9 favorites]
The self-linking question seems beside the point to me -- linking to somebody's myspace page will never be a good post, regardless of whether you know the person or not. Not even if it's a totally awesome band.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:37 AM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by ludwig_van at 11:37 AM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
This plays to my unofficial policy for dealing with friends who want me to check out their bands (etc) live. Once I've seen them a few times, I generally fall back to once, maybe twice a year. If they give me grief about it, I say, "Man, if your long term success is dependent on me fanatically going to all your gigs, then just give up now."
It's a big world out there. Success depends on the enthusiasm of strangers.
posted by philip-random at 11:45 AM on May 30, 2010 [6 favorites]
It's a big world out there. Success depends on the enthusiasm of strangers.
posted by philip-random at 11:45 AM on May 30, 2010 [6 favorites]
i'm with ludwig - yeah, it's self-linking - but an FPP filled with myspace music links seems like a non-starter anyway.
posted by nadawi at 11:56 AM on May 30, 2010
posted by nadawi at 11:56 AM on May 30, 2010
Not even if it's a totally awesome band.
Why is the link in that deleted FPP still there and not replaced with example.com?
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:44 PM on May 30, 2010
Why is the link in that deleted FPP still there and not replaced with example.com?
posted by Jaltcoh at 12:44 PM on May 30, 2010
It was a long time ago, relatively speaking; the example.com thing is something we started making a habit of some time after that whole ridiculous thing went down.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:52 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:52 PM on May 30, 2010
If you posted a bunch of myspace band pages to the blue, what you'd get in the comments is a whole lot of links to other bands, on myspace or otherwise, that others think sound better than yours. You'd also get a lot of side chatter about how myspace links don't make a good post, and people telling you to get your own blog. Five or fewer people would say "Hey, these people are good! Thanks for posting!"
Welcome to MetaFilter!
posted by hermitosis at 1:00 PM on May 30, 2010
Welcome to MetaFilter!
posted by hermitosis at 1:00 PM on May 30, 2010
Also:
Success depends on the enthusiasm of strangers.
This should be etched across the top of every writer, musician, and artist's computer screen.
posted by hermitosis at 1:03 PM on May 30, 2010 [9 favorites]
Success depends on the enthusiasm of strangers.
This should be etched across the top of every writer, musician, and artist's computer screen.
posted by hermitosis at 1:03 PM on May 30, 2010 [9 favorites]
Why is the link in that deleted FPP still there and not replaced with example.com?
Because it was from a million years ago before we really did that. Now fixed.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:05 PM on May 30, 2010
Because it was from a million years ago before we really did that. Now fixed.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:05 PM on May 30, 2010
I don't really think that links to any band(s)' Myspace(s) is ever "best of the web" unless there is something particularly unusual or innovative about the particular bands or it is exemplary of some sort of interesting movement or trend (like, "there is a burgeoning polka-funk scene coming out of Tulsa, OK with fifteen bands."). But maybe that's just me.
posted by ishotjr at 1:16 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by ishotjr at 1:16 PM on May 30, 2010
A "classmates' myspace". "A cousin's aol hometown page". "My barber's Xanga".
posted by cashman at 1:51 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by cashman at 1:51 PM on May 30, 2010
My barber's Xanga".
Hey, don't knock it - he'll cut you.
posted by djgh at 2:29 PM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
Hey, don't knock it - he'll cut you.
posted by djgh at 2:29 PM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't know, the Tindersticks have a myspace page. I consider anything those guys do to be the best of everything.
posted by cjorgensen at 3:13 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by cjorgensen at 3:13 PM on May 30, 2010
Wow, was that Pretty Flowers thread actually the first appearance of Ceiling Cat here? Haven't looked at that mess in a while.
posted by zoinks at 11:32 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by zoinks at 11:32 PM on May 30, 2010
You're not the only mefite with friends who make awesome music. The rest of us know better than to clog the front page with such links.
And when is that mefi gigs page coming? speicus is totes playing a show in NYC at City Winery on Tuesday. I made him a tuxedo shirt covered in googly eyes just for it!
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 12:01 AM on May 31, 2010
And when is that mefi gigs page coming? speicus is totes playing a show in NYC at City Winery on Tuesday. I made him a tuxedo shirt covered in googly eyes just for it!
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 12:01 AM on May 31, 2010
Why don't you create a website that exhibits the work of your friends, and then post that to projects once you've nursed it along for a while?
But yeah, having them join and post directly (to MeFiMusic) is probably best.
posted by davejay at 2:47 AM on May 31, 2010
But yeah, having them join and post directly (to MeFiMusic) is probably best.
posted by davejay at 2:47 AM on May 31, 2010
"I should probably make a list of all the other things MeFi isn't designed to do."
Well, put "change the oil on my car" on the list, 'cuz you guys just suck at that....
posted by HuronBob at 6:20 AM on May 31, 2010
Well, put "change the oil on my car" on the list, 'cuz you guys just suck at that....
posted by HuronBob at 6:20 AM on May 31, 2010
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posted by beelzbubba at 8:30 AM on May 30, 2010