Ow! You broke MettaFiltter!

March 16, 2011 6:36 PM

I like reddit, and I have an account it, but do single link reddit FPP belong on the blue?

I have found that most of the FPP that do single links to reddit do in someway relate to the aesthetic of MetaFilter, but do they really constitute a FPP?

posted by wcfields to Etiquette/Policy at 6:36 PM (76 comments total)

Nobody is going to upvote this unless you provide an imgur link.

Personally, I think the answer is no, they don't belong on the blue. I don't care if Jesus comes back to do an AMA.
posted by allen.spaulding at 6:48 PM on March 16, 2011 [7 favorites]

I don't have a problem when a link in a post to the blue goes to new and unusual and evocative material (or super-weird, or fantastic or not-to-be-missed). If it satisfies those kinds of criteria, then the destination URL is (mostly) not so important.
posted by peacay at 6:52 PM on March 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

Anything can constitute a FPP if it is both interesting and has appreciable content. If a SLYT post can stand, so can links to reddit.
posted by flatluigi at 6:53 PM on March 16, 2011 [7 favorites]

A single link reddit post certainly can be a valid post, and we've had them stand before. It's also certainly not guaranteed to be a good post, and we've deleted some. It pretty much depends.

I'm guessing this was prompted specifically by this post, which, eh, I think is thinnish and given the inherent "is it or isn't it" hoax discussion is almost purpose built to lead to more arguing over the nature of the linked content than discussion of the content itself. I've been sort of chewing on it and watching the site reaction, which has been a steadily growing pile of flags even before this metatalk came up, so I'm gonna go ahead and run with my instinct and a quick confab with (airporting, at the moment) jessamyn and nix it.

But, well, that's this specific case and not the end-all be-all of single link reddit posts or single link posts in general. It takes all kinds, if not necessarily all examples of IAMA-of-uncertain-provenance in specific and we've kind of had a couple of those recently as I recall already.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:02 PM on March 16, 2011

I don't care if Jesus comes back to do an AMA.

What if Jesus came back to do a 24 city farewell tour?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:05 PM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

What if Jesus came back to do a 24 city farewell tour?

Take it to IRL!
posted by crossoverman at 7:08 PM on March 16, 2011 [6 favorites]

I don't have a problem when a link in a post to the blue goes to new and unusual and evocative material (or super-weird, or fantastic or not-to-be-missed). If it satisfies those kinds of criteria, then the destination URL is (mostly) not so important.

Shhhhhh! Don't upset the Banal Minutia Police.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:14 PM on March 16, 2011

Is a SLR worse than a SLYT? We sure let enough of those pass.
posted by Decani at 7:15 PM on March 16, 2011

You know, one of the things that I really like about reddit is the almost total absence of "Is this a good post for reddit?" posts. There's a certain refreshing lack of self-important preciousness about that.
posted by Decani at 7:17 PM on March 16, 2011

Single links are great. One arrow pointing the way to one thing on a map. One button that says push me. One mushroom that says eat me.

Link extravaganzas can be interesting but my favorite posts are almost always single links to something cool. I'm tired of the idea that a single link in and of itself isn't worthy. If it's on the web and interesting point me to it... no cruft required.
posted by Babblesort at 7:24 PM on March 16, 2011 [11 favorites]

You know, one of the things that I really like about reddit is the almost total absence of "Is this a good post for reddit?" posts.

And this is why I can't figure out how to deal with Reddit in a way that doesn't waste copious amounts of my time on crappy stuff. For me the "filter" in MetaFilter is a feature, not a bug.

Your mileage varies, obviously, but I'd hardly describe the existence of post standards as "self-important preciousness."
posted by lalex at 7:25 PM on March 16, 2011 [16 favorites]

You know, one of the things that I really like about reddit is the almost total absence of "Is this a good post for reddit?" posts. There's a certain refreshing lack of self-important preciousness about that.

And a whole fuckton of shit.
posted by ericost at 7:30 PM on March 16, 2011 [4 favorites]

You know, one of the things that I really like about reddit is the almost total absence of "Is this a good post for reddit?" posts.

What? I don't even go there more than a few times a week and I see it all the time. In fact, there was one tonight with someone saying stop being the hospice of memes, quit using the rage face for everything, etc.
posted by cashman at 7:32 PM on March 16, 2011

I would post a single link from metafilter to reddit. I don't have any issue with the reverse. There's good stuff there sometimes.

But there is a lot of trolling and noise, too. I like reddit but often it's about as reliable and moving as a bathroom wall.
posted by loquacious at 7:36 PM on March 16, 2011

Reddit looks like what would happen if a New York phone book fucked a dictionary. I have found great things there but the threading and layout just annoy the piss out of me. But hey, if someone wants to link to it here, why not? It'll stand on its own if its good.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:42 PM on March 16, 2011 [6 favorites]

Nobody is going to upvote this unless you provide an imgur link.

You also need to put the word fuck in the post title.
posted by birdherder at 7:45 PM on March 16, 2011

Reddit has a nice hide feature for links I really don't want to see
Sometimes it results in a mostly blank page.
posted by hellojed at 7:52 PM on March 16, 2011

For me, the difference between posting a SLYT and a SLR is the former is about the content of the video link and not about the YT comments while the later is all about the Reddit commenters contributions (the thread itself is the content). Reading those comments with little or any greater context about their community feels weird and voyeuristic.
posted by jamaro at 7:56 PM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

lalex: "You know, one of the things that I really like about reddit is the almost total absence of "Is this a good post for reddit?" posts.

And this is why I can't figure out how to deal with Reddit in a way that doesn't waste copious amounts of my time on crappy stuff. For me the "filter" in MetaFilter is a feature, not a bug.

Your mileage varies, obviously, but I'd hardly describe the existence of post standards as "self-important preciousness.""

I find that the ones with four million links tend to sit as unread tabs for a long time, because they seem like such a mountain to climb. Single links of interest are quickly read and absorbed.

Not that everything should be a single link, but they have their own value.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:12 PM on March 16, 2011

The only way that I'm going to see something on Reddit is if it's linked here so if it's worthwhile, I don't have a problem with it in concept.

If they'd get rid of the threaded comments I might actually read a thing or two over there but it's so hard to navigate.
posted by octothorpe at 8:29 PM on March 16, 2011

i don't mind single links from reddit if they're good. i don't think AMAs are usually (if ever) good enough for their own blue post. i flagged the thread in question as soon as i saw it. i'm glad it got closed. i think it's a worse time than usual to post those here since the whole guy maybe/maybe not dying from a couple weeks ago or whenever (and the ensuing pissing match with adrien chen).
posted by nadawi at 8:32 PM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

You know, one of the things that I really like about reddit is the almost total absence of "Is this a good post for reddit?" posts.

The whole purpose of the reddit and digg voting systems is to pre-sort the content so that the cream rises to the top before it hits the front page. Those sites don't trust the individual poster as much as they trust the hive mind. And yet, MetaFilter's front page contains far superior content. And it may be the potential for critical comments almost as much as deletion that makes it that way.

The Internet. It works like this. Except when it works like that.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:06 PM on March 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

I support a only linking to businessman cat posts policy.
posted by The Whelk at 9:27 PM on March 16, 2011 [4 favorites]

I have found that most of the FPP that do single links to reddit do in someway relate to the aesthetic of MetaFilter, but do they really constitute a FPP?

Not all single link posts are good. Some are very good.

Whether or not a link is on reddit, or was found on reddit, should be utterly irrelevant to the question of "is this a good post."
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:18 PM on March 16, 2011

Aw man I remember when this post was about BoingBoing
posted by klangklangston at 10:52 PM on March 16, 2011 [14 favorites]

I love Mad Men, own an iPhone and listen to music that you've not only not heard of, but that you'll never hear, ever - AMA.
posted by GuyZero at 11:25 PM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Okay, GuyZero, answer me this: why is it that every time I happen to accidentally catch an episode of Mad Men (not in the U.S.) it's always the same episode, where Don(?) is hanging out with beatniks or hippies or whatever in the Village smoking the weed, then he takes a photo of the girl and guy and he's all like whoah, you're in love, and she's like Wut? And then he can leave the apartment because he's wearing a suit, even though there are cops outside, but the beatniks can never leave the apartment because they're beatniks and don't understand about suits and the real world. Or love. Stupid hippies.

So, my question is: In the rest of the world, they show other episodes, right? Not just the one over and over? Because if I were that guy's kid when he comes home and wakes him up and says Ask me anything, I would say Daddy, why do they keep showing this one episode over and over in Greece? Why, daddy?
posted by taz at 12:13 AM on March 17, 2011 [6 favorites]

Cortex hates nice old grandmothers. There's just no other way to explain it.

That Reddit post has about 2500 comments so far. The 96 year old's identity was vetted pretty early on in those comments, if you bothered to look.

I'm with the Reddit OP: I don't know what you have to gain from calling an old lady a troll when she's just trying to help people but you should be ashamed of yourselves. I am livid.

You people are nasty cynical shits. And cortex hates grandmothers.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:47 AM on March 17, 2011

heh. I was just reading the reddit thread; real or fake, I love this: I wish the self checkout supermarket thing was never invented. When I get out, I feel like a robot is going to steal my groceries.

I'm reminded of Mamika.
posted by taz at 2:07 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's a certain refreshing lack of self-important preciousness about that.

Heal your soul, you sad, sad person.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 2:07 AM on March 17, 2011

OK, either it's a hoax or grandma has a really bad memory. Can we go now?
posted by teraflop at 5:18 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

> Aw man I remember when this post was about BoingBoing

I remember when it's going to be about ebaumsworld.
posted by jfuller at 5:41 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

IAMA would be so much better if people didn't spend half the comments trying to debunk it.
posted by smackfu at 5:54 AM on March 17, 2011

I saw this imgur on Reddit yesterday and it made me laugh so hard I almost made it a FPP.
posted by yeti at 5:57 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

...or maybe it would be better if the site users weren't constantly trying to get one over on the site. Perhaps just a lost cause.
posted by smackfu at 5:57 AM on March 17, 2011

The thing I dislike most about AMA's is that it technically stands for "Ask Me Anything", but instead I tend to read it (as do many) as "(I) am a...". Maybe Mefi can have an IAMA and reddit can have its AMA, and as such you don't ask the person anything, you just listen.
posted by yeti at 6:07 AM on March 17, 2011

IRL AMA IANA(X) SLYT FPP

ASAP had a lot of babies in digital land.
posted by whimsicalnymph at 6:15 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

i love it when people go "I DONT CARE IF ITS REAL I JUST LOVE IT"

really? You don't care if someone's autobiography is real? Well then I am a 15th Century Portuguese pirate in the South Seas. AMA!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:19 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

have you ever had scurvy?

Nah, I developed a taste for limes in my gin so that helped a lot. I have had scabies four times but that is easily cured by climbing into a cauldron of boiling lard.

have you ever made anyone walk the plank

It's much easier to just toss captives over the side. Not that we're in the habit of taking captives! Lol!

Have you heard anything about Australia?

I've heard of it, but, I mean, nobody's officially discovered it yet. I did go to New Zealand once by accident when being chased by the Dutch East India Company's militia, but only for a weekend. It was quite lovely, and I brought back a few dozen dodo eggs as souvenirs.

CIAO
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:25 AM on March 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

Reddit is a mess, in more ways than just layout and threading. But, like panning for gold, there's always a possibility that there's something valuable there. Whether it's worth sifting for is the question you should ask yourself.
posted by tommasz at 6:27 AM on March 17, 2011

Reddit is a mess, in more ways than just layout and threading. But, like panning for gold, there's always a possibility that there's something valuable there. Whether it's worth sifting for is the question you should ask yourself.

Following smaller subreddits makes the experience a lot less painful. The front page and a few of the larger subs (politics, etc.,) are rarely worth the time and effort.
posted by zarq at 6:35 AM on March 17, 2011

What makes the thread Poetry is the words you didn't post.
posted by paisley henosis at 6:38 AM on March 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

I like reddit, and I have an account it, but do single link reddit FPP belong on the blue?

Oh, and just to weigh in... if it's something interesting, sure why not?
posted by zarq at 6:40 AM on March 17, 2011

I like reddit, and I have an account it, but do single link reddit FPP belong on the blue?

Yes. Single link posts are fine and permitted. I've heard of reddit but don't go there regularly.
posted by juiceCake at 7:08 AM on March 17, 2011

There's a certain refreshing lack of self-important preciousness about that.

I feel the same way about houses that lack bathroom plumbing. "Who you suppose you think you're impressing with your terlit," I say in other people's homes, "Too good to just dig a squat hole in the yard, are you?"
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:05 AM on March 17, 2011 [5 favorites]

"You have to listen to the notes she's not playing."

"I could do that at home."
posted by box at 8:23 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

really? You don't care if someone's autobiography is real? Well then I am a 15th Century Portuguese pirate in the South Seas. AMA!

I would upvote the shit out of this.
posted by empath at 8:27 AM on March 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

In the last 25 posts that included a link to reddit.com, there were two that were single links to Reddit: I'm 4 years old. AMAA. and Hoy por ti, mañana por mí. The other 23 either linked "via reddit," or included a random Reddit link within the rest of the content. Or it was deleted (there were 2 or 3 of those).

If you want to, you can see more by drafting a new FPP, entering reddit.com as the URL, and previewing. I got 140 results, and only checked the top 25.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:32 AM on March 17, 2011

IAM The Whelk, AMA
posted by The Whelk at 8:59 AM on March 17, 2011

Do you drink human blood?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:10 AM on March 17, 2011

I don't make a habit of it.
posted by The Whelk at 9:15 AM on March 17, 2011

What do you do with a bolt of black cloth if a nun in civvies tells you she's misplaced her work clothes and needs a replacement pronto?
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:19 AM on March 17, 2011

What's the coziest part of hell in your opinion?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:19 AM on March 17, 2011

Are you sure you're THE Whelk?
posted by empath at 9:22 AM on March 17, 2011

Why?

Just, why?
posted by flatluigi at 9:43 AM on March 17, 2011

Gastropod or stye?
posted by klangklangston at 10:27 AM on March 17, 2011

Who put the bop in the bop sh bop sh bop?
posted by Chrysostom at 10:31 AM on March 17, 2011

Is the "The" an official title or part of your given name? If, hypothetically, you were to become a doctor, would you be Dr. The Whelk or The Dr. Whelk?
posted by fight or flight at 11:25 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Take it to Metachat, The Whelk.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:33 PM on March 17, 2011

Do you ever lay wasted like an exhausted battlefield smoking and cold?
posted by Sailormom at 1:01 PM on March 17, 2011

Stay out of it, Nick Lachey.
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:19 PM on March 17, 2011

What would Joan Jett do?
posted by theredpen at 1:23 PM on March 17, 2011

What kind of a chance do you have in a supernova?
posted by galadriel at 1:48 PM on March 17, 2011

Do you ever lay wasted like an exhausted battlefield smoking and cold?

Yeah I went to college.
posted by The Whelk at 2:23 PM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

And it's Dr. Mr. The Whelk. Thank you.
posted by The Whelk at 2:24 PM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Currently there's an SLYT from Reddit on the main page... This is silly. Most of us already belong to Reddit.
posted by Raichle at 3:00 PM on March 17, 2011

No, actually, we don't.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:05 PM on March 17, 2011

Or maybe we do. But I think when we've discussed this before, I've found that I wasn't nearly alone in my lack of redditness.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:06 PM on March 17, 2011

Well, would it be safer to say that most people know about it and would belong if they wanted to.
posted by Raichle at 3:14 PM on March 17, 2011

Schrodinger's Reddit.
posted by The Whelk at 3:24 PM on March 17, 2011

DAE like Circlejerk, the metahumorous subreddit that makes fun of Reddit's current obsessions, memes, and tendencies?
posted by mccarty.tim at 4:50 PM on March 17, 2011

Reddit looks like what would happen if a New York phone book fucked a dictionary. I have found great things there but the threading and layout just annoy the piss out of me.

Heh. It's embarrassing, but I've gone from someone that habitually poo-pooed design and the sometimes over-preciousness of designers, many years ago, to a very firm believer in the over-riding importance of getting it right for users and making it look good, in terms of usability and just plain attractiveness.

I'm not a good designer myself, by any stretch, I admit, but I just can't use sites that are as aggressively ugly as Reddit. It just makes me vibrate with a low-level stress that steals any enjoyment from the experience.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:27 PM on March 17, 2011

I saw this imgur on Reddit yesterday and it made me laugh so hard I almost made it a FPP.
posted by yeti at 1:57 PM on March 17 [1 favorite +] [!]

That's from Married to the Sea, which I only mention because it was my favourite one until today's
posted by rollick at 6:14 PM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thanks to Reddit I just learned Sundown is not Gordon Lightfoot's only good song. Shine on, you crazy diamond.
posted by adamdschneider at 6:19 PM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thanks to Reddit I just learned Sundown is not Gordon Lightfoot's only good song. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

That's not a plus for Reddit, that's just a mark against your upbringing and general education.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:28 PM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

This Ken Jennings AMA certainly deserved a front page post. That dude is apparently hysterical.
posted by cyphill at 7:42 PM on March 19, 2011