SLYT Tsunami July 31, 2010 12:05 PM   Subscribe

SLYT Saturdays?

I know, I know; we shouldn't suggest what other people post or don't post, but it strikes me as a bit much when half of the posts on the front page are YouTube videos. Really? The best of the web? If someone posts a great SLYT and you have another one to share why not post it in the comments instead of making a new post?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy to Etiquette/Policy at 12:05 PM (61 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

I happened to choose this day to recommend the site to my sister as one of the most articulate places on the net. Sigh.
posted by chmmr at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2010 [4 favorites]


Metafilter filters the web for good stuff. There's some good stuff on YouTube. YouTube is on the web. People will filter good stuff from YouTube.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:09 PM on July 31, 2010 [13 favorites]


Jesus I just came in here to post the same MeTa thread. Five out of seven of the most recent posts on MeFi at this moment are SLYT, and one more is a MLYT.

Really do not want.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:09 PM on July 31, 2010 [12 favorites]


I like the visual uniformity of all the single line posts.

Today I will be boycotting paragraphs.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 12:11 PM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


Yeah, this isn't nearly as fun as Mole Day.

IMHO, if this is going to become a regular thing, it would be better to keep it all in one big "SLYTerday" thread. It sounds like a job the collaborative thread idea could work well for.
posted by Rhaomi at 12:12 PM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


All the Youtube links would not bother me so much if (a) people could avoid the incoherent mystery meat bullshit which is apparently the Official Posting Style of the Single-Link Youtube Post, or (b), Youtube could drag its sorry ass out of 1997 and use meaningful URLs so you could at least maybe have some idea on mouseover of what you were going to get. Both of these things combined with the fact that you can't skim a video the way you can written text or images to get a quick sense of whether it's worth watching the whole thing make these posts really annoying.
posted by enn at 12:13 PM on July 31, 2010 [26 favorites]


I have no objection to single-link posts or SLYT posts on principle, but I thought most of these were on the weak side. Flagged a few of them, but as usual with little hope that anybody else would.

Really, it's not that they're single-link, or that they're on YouTube (neither of which necessarily makes a bad post), just that they're weak sauce, is all.
posted by Gator at 12:15 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


Really do not want

Phew, I'm glad I'm not the only one. And Rhaomi, I think that is an excellent suggestion.

I don't think I spelled phew right. That totally looks weird.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:15 PM on July 31, 2010


I remember that mathowie once posted a SLYT on a Tuesday and declared it YouTubesday. Apparently that didn't catch on.
posted by geekyguy at 12:19 PM on July 31, 2010


I am happy. Happiness floods my soul, this night. Both the crass excess of SLYT posts and the upset they have caused contribute to my happiness. It is good to be back. Life moves in circles. If we are fortunate, the centre of those circles advances.
posted by Decani at 12:20 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


IMHO, if this is going to become a regular thing

If this is going to become a regular thing we will tell people to cut it out, is my opinion. At the moment, my feeling is that this a weirdly one-liner morning and that barring some evidence to the contrary that's all it is: one weird Saturday morning, and so be it.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:21 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


It sure is weird looking front page. I was thinking about a meta post but then couldn't really quantify what I didn't like about it; something about a lack of substantiveness coupled with passive entertainment. I guess my old man GOMLness still has an aura of restraint.

I hate the mystery meatness of most SLYT posts but on that score at least we're doing pretty well toay as far as SLYTery goes, only the Sisyphean box and the fortune cookie posts seem to be a mystery. I say seem because I only looked at the toilet one so some of the apparently descriptive posts could be not as advertised.
posted by Mitheral at 12:21 PM on July 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


You know, sometimes we have Flash Friday. So why not a bit of SLYT Saturday? Sometimes SLYTs are some of the best of the web. I see no problem with this until and unless the front page always looks like this.
posted by Tomorrowful at 12:26 PM on July 31, 2010


I don't like SLYT posts, but Caturday!1!
posted by lukemeister at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'm at work, my boss (and the only other person who works here) has been on vacation, I'm not feeling well, he can't afford to have me work the full week -- leaving the shop closed most of the time and excessively busy when its open, and I've really been starting to loathe all of our clients.

The point is, all of these SLYT posts suit me just fine.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:28 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


I don't like mystery SLYTs very much because my connection is a little slow, but also when I'm on the computer I prefer to read and write as opposed to watch. They have to be pretty damn spectacular to capture my interest and those are few and far between.

However, I am only one not-so-special-snowflake and my personal taste does not always mesh with the community standards.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:29 PM on July 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


They're worth it for the brick in a washing machine, right?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:33 PM on July 31, 2010 [4 favorites]


I am a special hailstone.
posted by Decani at 12:33 PM on July 31, 2010 [5 favorites]


I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.
posted by ninjew at 12:36 PM on July 31, 2010


one weird Saturday morning without fights
I'm gonna a load up the site
and maybe post a single youtube
how the kittens fight
and how the washer ends

One weird Saturday morning without fights.
posted by The Whelk at 12:42 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


I came here to make this exact post as well. WTF, people?
posted by sveskemus at 12:42 PM on July 31, 2010


SYTLs are like broken windows: if we do not decide to do something about them as a community, the Italian-hating glazier cartel will keep us covered in them like a bad suit.
posted by cgk at 12:48 PM on July 31, 2010 [6 favorites]


Only if there are no SLYT posts the rest of the week!
posted by Carol Anne at 12:48 PM on July 31, 2010


*shrug* I don't mind them at all...there is good stuff on youtube, perhaps even the best of the web.

FIAMO or just MO...I prefer the latter since it avoids being a squeaky wheel on something that isn't explicitly breaking guidelines.
posted by schyler523 at 12:51 PM on July 31, 2010


I noticed it but really do not care. If it's good and on the internet it is fair game. It's a weird coincidence and nothing else.
posted by josher71 at 12:51 PM on July 31, 2010


Damn it, I can't post again today, could someone post this awesome duck for me? Thanks.
posted by homunculus at 12:57 PM on July 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


I want to post this because there's only two weeks to go before the Premiership season starts. Turn up the volume for this one.
posted by L'OM at 1:01 PM on July 31, 2010


L'OM, I hear you.
posted by josher71 at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


The best thing about MetaFilter? Nobody is making you read or participate in threads you aren't interested in. If the Blue isn't carrying the material you'd like to see, quit complaining and post something you think is worthy. Otherwise, it's just how the energy of the ether is today, or something.

For myself, I'm having a lot of fun this morning. But there are plenty of days when even the meatiest of posts just don't click with me. Welcome to the internet -- something for everyone, but not always something for you personally.
posted by hippybear at 1:08 PM on July 31, 2010 [5 favorites]


He's right: everyone was watching the ball.
posted by L'OM at 1:09 PM on July 31, 2010


Could there be an unofficial weekly SLYT thread where everyone throws in their YT videos for the week?

The problem is that the thread would be kind of hard to follow, but it would be a single thread rather than multiple ones.

And if it got popular enough, it would warrent a shoot-off mefi site, where a small bit of the population would go, and eventually we'd be back to square 1. So nuts to that.

I, personally, don't mind either way.
posted by hellojed at 1:12 PM on July 31, 2010


I have no issues with SLYT. I just stopped by to see if I'd missed the memo.

/fondly remembers Elephant Day/
posted by lekvar at 1:28 PM on July 31, 2010


                                                               
                                    ((_,-.
                                     '-.\_)'-,
                                        )  _ )'-   ELEPHANTS FOREVER
                               ,.;.,;,,(/(/ \));,;.,.,
posted by The Whelk at 1:30 PM on July 31, 2010 [4 favorites]


Yet my post about Chewbacca riding on a squirrel chasing down Nazis got deleted. Slow news day, I guess.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:06 PM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


I've never been a big fan of SLYT myself, and have yet to post a link to youtube, but today's batch has actually been pretty fun. The Sisyphean box particularly transfixed me.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:08 PM on July 31, 2010


Would all of these videos be more acceptable if they were on a different video hosting site?
posted by brundlefly at 2:16 PM on July 31, 2010


My iPod (on shuffle) just followed Fred Neil's "Sweet Cocaine," with "Snowblind" by Styx.

Random, my sweet ass.
posted by jonmc at 2:27 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


Once upon a time, people complained bitterly about being tricked into clicking on link that turned out to be a youtube video. The solution at the time was to include "SLYT" in the post, so that people who were so inclined could fucking scroll on, and not bother with the post. It's almost a perfect system.
posted by found missing at 2:32 PM on July 31, 2010


I'm gonna be honest. It's Saturday - I'm not really in the mood for discussing the latest in the economics of information or masculinity in the Western World. I want to watch a box roll around a conveyor belt for 5 minutes. Why would you take that from me?

I still believe that a video of cats eating broccoli does not prevent anyone from making the posts they always seem to wish other people were making.
posted by Think_Long at 2:38 PM on July 31, 2010 [8 favorites]


Look, sometimes serendipity happens.

I remember years and years ago how we had a series of posts that were all and I do mean all, rabbit related. It was glorious.

And frankly, if this is all someone has to complain about on this beautiful Saturday, life must be pretty darn freaking good.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


yay Decani is back!
posted by terrapin at 2:46 PM on July 31, 2010


yay Decani is back!
posted by terrapin at 5:46 PM o


Someone remembers me! I am complete!

Who are you again? :-)

Say hi to the cutest llama for me, dude. Just the cutest one. I don't care about those other ugly bastards.
posted by Decani at 2:59 PM on July 31, 2010


Is this the place to posta SLYT of Ron Livingston as Keyboard Cat?
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 2:59 PM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


When there isn't much to see on the blue, I just come here to the grey to make bullshit jokey comments. Until there's some sort of policy to improve the quality of content on the blue, you're gonna just have to deal with my jokey bullshit.

BUTTS LOL
posted by slogger at 3:22 PM on July 31, 2010


SLYT posts = weaksauce. It really aggravates me that good fpps like this get deleted and shit SLYT lowest common denominator fpps get a free pass.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 4:17 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


I overslept this morning. I hope this makes up for it. (Flag it and move on)
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:09 PM on July 31, 2010




Is it so wrong to post a [SLYT] because others were posting and it became this thing to do. All the 'cool' kids are doing it.

Waits for snark.
posted by Fizz at 5:42 PM on July 31, 2010


I don't mind them except the way they're written, or not written...

> All the Youtube links would not bother me so much if (a) people could avoid the incoherent mystery meat bullshit which is apparently the Official Posting Style of the Single-Link Youtube Post.

Why do people use that style? Is it shock value so you're all "OMG!" when you click it?
I wouldn't mind SLYT's so much if there was a little more effort on describing what the link will contain, or other interesting related links with it. (well then it wouldn't be a single link you tube, but you know...)
posted by NoraCharles at 6:25 PM on July 31, 2010


I came to MetaTalk as soon as I saw the overabundance of SLYTs; so glad I'm not the only one that was put off... even if I only saw them 4 hours behind everyone else.
posted by inmediasres at 9:18 PM on July 31, 2010


Why do people use that style? Is it shock value so you're all "OMG!" when you click it?

Misdirects can provoke fun reactions. And outrage.
posted by zarq at 9:24 PM on July 31, 2010


I think the mods already delete nearly all of the bad or lazy ones anyway, and it's always fun to see which others take on a weird sort of life of their own.

But ultimately, posting a good [SLYT] is a sort of art form, and I enjoy seeing people attempt it.
posted by hermitosis at 9:29 PM on July 31, 2010


{Ray} Now, try not complaining on MetaTalk.

{Todd} I... I... argh! I don't know how!
posted by boo_radley at 11:15 PM on July 31, 2010


I don't care for most SLYT posts... and so I made a non-YT post today, (second post this week sheesh) to break it up a bit.
posted by edgeways at 12:32 AM on August 1, 2010


YouTube Title Adder is what you want.
posted by gleuschk at 5:19 AM on August 1, 2010 [4 favorites]


It's all good. Quit gripin'.

Yeah, I don't understand this reaction: "Quite Gripin'." "quit complaining." Why shouldn't I and other members complain if a) there is something we see going on in MetaLand we don't like and b) we are in MetaTalk? This is exactly the place and time to point out stuff we don't like. Just because you, personally, love YouTube doesn't mean the rest of us can't have other points of view.

In other words: This is me whining about the fact that you are whining about the fact that I am whining.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:19 AM on August 1, 2010


When browsing MetaFilter, I adhere to the complicated system of link filtering outlined below.

I tend to use that system as well much of the time. But (and while I cannot claim to be normal, I think I'm not alone in this) sometimes I use this system as well:
if( timeOnHands()) && manWhoKnows($post) ) {
    # fuck it dude, let's go bowling
    open(BRAIN, $link);
}
I don't think the "mystery meat or no?" debate is ever getting solved, and we'll always have a certain amount this stuff on mefi because, frankly, a lot of people don't have a problem with it even if a lot of other people dislike it and mefites in general are pretty decent about posting interesting mystery meat when they go in that direction. I agree that Youtube's url scheme sucks, and that a little bit of explication on a post is pretty much never a bad thing, but such is life in all its splendor and variety.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:46 AM on August 1, 2010


i like slyt posts.
posted by empath at 11:58 AM on August 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


Well, I don't. <> ;)
posted by northtwilight at 10:24 PM on August 1, 2010


Fuck the duck, someone post this wife-stealing deer.
posted by homunculus at 1:53 PM on August 5, 2010


I can't decide where this goes, so I'll just leave it here: Untitled
posted by homunculus at 9:56 AM on August 18, 2010


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