Is it time to give Letters of Note a time out? June 2, 2011 11:14 AM Subscribe
Several websites that post great content on a regular basis have been flagged as needing some sort of extra spectacular event to be worth posting to the blue. For instance, OKCupid's blog, The Daily Show, and Reddit IAMA posts. Is it time that Letters of Note gets the same treatment?
I think it's a great blog, but after 16 posts over the past couple of years, maybe we're all set for a while?
I think it's a great blog, but after 16 posts over the past couple of years, maybe we're all set for a while?
Wait, I want to change my answer to 'Hmm.'
posted by box at 11:17 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by box at 11:17 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
yes and no
posted by found missing at 11:20 AM on June 2, 2011
posted by found missing at 11:20 AM on June 2, 2011
I always look forward to LoN in my google reader, so whenever I see it posted here first it feels like a spoiler and I get a little angry.
posted by Think_Long at 11:24 AM on June 2, 2011
posted by Think_Long at 11:24 AM on June 2, 2011
I'm probably unable to be objective but I'd say probably.
Also on this list
- Onion
- McSweeney's
What else?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:24 AM on June 2, 2011 [11 favorites]
Also on this list
- Onion
- McSweeney's
What else?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:24 AM on June 2, 2011 [11 favorites]
I could give 10 reasons why CRACKED lists are played out, and it would only take one webpage of space.
posted by Smart Dalek at 11:28 AM on June 2, 2011 [42 favorites]
posted by Smart Dalek at 11:28 AM on June 2, 2011 [42 favorites]
Lately, Hairpin as well probably.
Actually, you could probably add many more too. But then I would have to read lots more websites and instead prefer you all to be my daily research assistants for when particularly cool stuff shows up. So... keep me posted, I guess?
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:33 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
Actually, you could probably add many more too. But then I would have to read lots more websites and instead prefer you all to be my daily research assistants for when particularly cool stuff shows up. So... keep me posted, I guess?
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:33 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
Please, for the love of God or gods or waffles or whatever you hold dear, can we add Cracked to this list?
posted by katillathehun at 11:36 AM on June 2, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by katillathehun at 11:36 AM on June 2, 2011 [4 favorites]
Fnord.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:37 AM on June 2, 2011
posted by entropicamericana at 11:37 AM on June 2, 2011
I don't mind Letters of Note even if I see it other places, but I can see why people are over it. If I never saw the Oatmeal or Cracked again here, though, I'd be a really happy camper.
posted by immlass at 11:40 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by immlass at 11:40 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
Can we also add the New York Times?
posted by empath at 11:42 AM on June 2, 2011 [10 favorites]
posted by empath at 11:42 AM on June 2, 2011 [10 favorites]
I just want another rule, don't really care what it is.
posted by carsonb at 11:43 AM on June 2, 2011 [40 favorites]
posted by carsonb at 11:43 AM on June 2, 2011 [40 favorites]
I just want another rule, don't really care what it is.
Everyone must favorite everything I say.
posted by never used baby shoes at 11:44 AM on June 2, 2011 [31 favorites]
Everyone must favorite everything I say.
posted by never used baby shoes at 11:44 AM on June 2, 2011 [31 favorites]
We'd also have to put a moratorium on The Big Picture and anything with the words "Roger Ebert" in it, and maybe just links with the word "roger" in them, just to be on the safe side.
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
I just think there should be a moral obligation for there to be at least one non-letters-of-note link too.
posted by shothotbot at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011
posted by shothotbot at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011
MORE LIKE LETTERS OF NOT
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011 [14 favorites]
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011 [14 favorites]
Since we're discussing sites to moratoria, can we also list topics?
Because, really.
posted by jivadravya at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Because, really.
posted by jivadravya at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
I think the site would be worse without today's Letters of Note post.
posted by shothotbot at 11:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by shothotbot at 11:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Enough with the links, already. The rest of the Internet is pretty boring. I come here because MetaFilter is more interesting than the rest of the Internet. So let's make a rule that we stop linking at all. This is the best of the web, right here. Mission Accomplished!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [27 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [27 favorites]
Burn Cracked with fire.
posted by klangklangston at 11:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by klangklangston at 11:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Eh, fuck it, dude. Let's go bowling.
posted by mattbucher at 11:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by mattbucher at 11:47 AM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
And youtube, I mean really. Haven't we seen enough fucking cat videos?
posted by empath at 11:49 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by empath at 11:49 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think the community should seriously consider making an FPP each time I post an update to my webcomic, so that we can then add it to the list. This would make MeFi a better place, somehow.
posted by COBRA! at 11:49 AM on June 2, 2011
posted by COBRA! at 11:49 AM on June 2, 2011
Cat fucking videos? I haven't seen any.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:50 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:50 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I for one lurk on MF precisely bc there are so many posts to chose from, and they are continually updated in the threads, which is mainly where I lurk, having never made a(n?) FPP yet. I sometimes see threads in other places Ii lurk which are common to MF, but I don't mind the duplication BC of the banter that goes on under the FPP, which in my opinion, even if I don't contribute, is some of the most interesting (in English) on the web. Please don't self-censor y'all. It's one of (Y)our best qualities, and one that sets (us?) apart from general blather.
-lcc
posted by primdehuit at 11:50 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
-lcc
posted by primdehuit at 11:50 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Regarding CRACKED: I never thought I'd say that CRACKED was better than anything at all when it was a magazine, but, well, here we are.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 11:51 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 11:51 AM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: Memento moritorium.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:53 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:53 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
We'd also have to put a moratorium on The Big Picture
as a reminder - mefi's own is now over at in focus.
posted by nadawi at 11:54 AM on June 2, 2011
as a reminder - mefi's own is now over at in focus.
posted by nadawi at 11:54 AM on June 2, 2011
Hyperbole and a Half is another one where I feel like everybody who likes it already reads it off the blue, and everybody who dislikes it will now not kvetch when there's a FPP about a new H&AH.
posted by knile at 11:57 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by knile at 11:57 AM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Slap*Happy: "We'd also have to put a moratorium on The Big Picture"
The Big Picture kinda got the same treatment, too.
posted by Plutor at 11:57 AM on June 2, 2011
The Big Picture kinda got the same treatment, too.
posted by Plutor at 11:57 AM on June 2, 2011
Metafilter clearly needs a sistrer site that's for interesting things people find on the internet.
posted by Artw at 11:58 AM on June 2, 2011 [34 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:58 AM on June 2, 2011 [34 favorites]
I'd really like each post to be considered on its merits regardless of where it came from. If it's a meh post, it's a meh post, regardless of whether it's from the Onion or Cracked or Letters of Note. There's a filter in MetaFilter, let's let it do its job and not preemptively judge.
I'd actually never even heard of Letters of Note until this Meta, because the subject matter of your example FPP did not interest me, so I did not click on the link. Apparently I didn't click on any of the previous 15 links either, and as you all know, I'm here all the damn time and click on a lot of stuff. It's easy to avoid sites you don't care for or aren't interested in.
posted by desjardins at 11:59 AM on June 2, 2011 [50 favorites]
I'd actually never even heard of Letters of Note until this Meta, because the subject matter of your example FPP did not interest me, so I did not click on the link. Apparently I didn't click on any of the previous 15 links either, and as you all know, I'm here all the damn time and click on a lot of stuff. It's easy to avoid sites you don't care for or aren't interested in.
posted by desjardins at 11:59 AM on June 2, 2011 [50 favorites]
I think the difference between the NYT or Youtube and Letters of Note (which I love and probably should subscribe to) is that LoN really only has one very specific topic - it would be like continually posting videos from a single Youtube channel, or only posting articles from a particular NYT journalist. When we make a NYT post or a Youtube post, we're separating the bit of wheat from the big ol' chaff. When we post about LoN once, we've already done that - pulled the wheat off the whole blogosphere.
and everybody who dislikes it will now not kvetch when there's a FPP about a new H&AH
I did kvetch in the last H&AH post and I think it was deleted.
posted by muddgirl at 12:00 PM on June 2, 2011
and everybody who dislikes it will now not kvetch when there's a FPP about a new H&AH
I did kvetch in the last H&AH post and I think it was deleted.
posted by muddgirl at 12:00 PM on June 2, 2011
"Regarding CRACKED: I never thought I'd say that CRACKED was better than anything at all when it was a magazine, but, well, here we are."
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER
And when Cracked was a magazine, Mad was still way better. Ahh, Mort Drucker, Don Martin, Dave Berg... *sighs*
I agree as for OKC, Reddit IAMA, and the nyt. Apart from that, meh.
posted by marienbad at 12:00 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER
And when Cracked was a magazine, Mad was still way better. Ahh, Mort Drucker, Don Martin, Dave Berg... *sighs*
I agree as for OKC, Reddit IAMA, and the nyt. Apart from that, meh.
posted by marienbad at 12:00 PM on June 2, 2011
Can we also suspend posts about topics that make me feel stupid? More Batman posts, in other words, please.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:06 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by shakespeherian at 12:06 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
whenever I see it posted here first it feels like a spoiler and I get a little angry.
I'm just an angry, bitter person in general. What are we throwing stones at today? Maaaaaargle!!!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:06 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm just an angry, bitter person in general. What are we throwing stones at today? Maaaaaargle!!!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:06 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Also on this list
- Onion
- McSweeney's
What else?
Metafilter
posted by NoMich at 12:15 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
- Onion
- McSweeney's
What else?
Metafilter
posted by NoMich at 12:15 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Can we also autoban anybody who posts an "obligatory XKCD" link in the comments?
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:16 PM on June 2, 2011 [26 favorites]
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:16 PM on June 2, 2011 [26 favorites]
Threeway Handshake for mayor.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:19 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by shakespeherian at 12:19 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
I'm in Chicago, so I get to vote for him eight or nine times.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:25 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 12:25 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Can we also autoban anybody who posts an "obligatory XKCD" link in the comments?
In AskMe, doing this will get you autobanned for 90 seconds.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:39 PM on June 2, 2011 [13 favorites]
In AskMe, doing this will get you autobanned for 90 seconds.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:39 PM on June 2, 2011 [13 favorites]
Surely there's a Greasemonkey script that could put the onus on the folks to whom this sort of thing is important?
posted by DWRoelands at 12:40 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by DWRoelands at 12:40 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Could we also ban all of this talk about MefaFilter in the gray? That's not what MetaTalk is for.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 12:41 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 12:41 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's really a 90 second Autoban in ask? Neat.
posted by boo_radley at 12:46 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by boo_radley at 12:46 PM on June 2, 2011
The worst part is that the Obligatory XKCD comics only ever go to the 'someone is wrong on the internet' one or to the more recent 'the important thing is that you've found a way to feel superior to both' one. So I don't even need to click on your link. I already know what it is. Stop posting it.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:47 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 12:47 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's really a 90 second Autoban in ask? Neat.
Yeah, you get on it near Feldkirchen and then you're off again a few km down the road at Parsdorf.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:50 PM on June 2, 2011 [34 favorites]
Yeah, you get on it near Feldkirchen and then you're off again a few km down the road at Parsdorf.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:50 PM on June 2, 2011 [34 favorites]
I drove on the autoban when I was in eUrope. It was fast, but not fast fast, if you know what I mean. I've been kicked out of other places faster.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:50 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:50 PM on June 2, 2011
Can we have an autoban on the Bill Hicks advertising rant? It's tiresome and makes me think that the posters are dumb schmucks.
Also and autoban on autobahn.
posted by Mister_A at 12:50 PM on June 2, 2011 [8 favorites]
Also and autoban on autobahn.
posted by Mister_A at 12:50 PM on June 2, 2011 [8 favorites]
Bill Hicks wouldn't have made that mistake!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:52 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:52 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Ooh can we just have an autoban on posters who are dumb schmu
posted by shakespeherian at 12:55 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 12:55 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
What about next week when he puts up a comic about Obligatory XKCD links. We can link to that one right?
posted by shothotbot at 12:56 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by shothotbot at 12:56 PM on June 2, 2011
I love how predictable the backlash is on some things. XKCD was perhaps the most inevitable, like it's not that people honestly dislike it now, but they just with that their annoying co-worker hadn't discovered it and started sending them inks to it every M-W-F.
But yeah, a lot of sources of fun internet stuff are played out here. It's good that not every funny Onion article gets posted, because that would make this a much different, shittier place. I'm just simultaneously amused and disheartened by the way people turn on shit after it's been posted here more than a few times, as if it's the source's fault that they are getting overexposed.
Silly and utterly predictable.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:58 PM on June 2, 2011
But yeah, a lot of sources of fun internet stuff are played out here. It's good that not every funny Onion article gets posted, because that would make this a much different, shittier place. I'm just simultaneously amused and disheartened by the way people turn on shit after it's been posted here more than a few times, as if it's the source's fault that they are getting overexposed.
Silly and utterly predictable.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:58 PM on June 2, 2011
This is the same reason I don't read National Geographic articles anymore. It's kind of a shame really because this issue has a piece on archaeological evidence in Turkey regarding the earliest traces of religion as a human activity, and I'd be really interested in that. But they've been sending me the magazine at least once a month for like two years now - totally different content, obviously but the same yellow cover, same typography, same stupid ads for Rosetta Stone - and it's just getting so overdone.
It would have been nice if the authors had been a little more thoughtful and published their great story someplace else. Someplace like US Weekly, perhaps, that I haven't read to death lately.
posted by Naberius at 12:59 PM on June 2, 2011 [14 favorites]
It would have been nice if the authors had been a little more thoughtful and published their great story someplace else. Someplace like US Weekly, perhaps, that I haven't read to death lately.
posted by Naberius at 12:59 PM on June 2, 2011 [14 favorites]
Let's add Ebert's blog to the list.
posted by crunchland at 1:01 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by crunchland at 1:01 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
Have you guys realized that nearly every single FPP links to the Internet? After thousands of posts to the Internet, I think it could use a break for a while.
posted by spaltavian at 1:02 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by spaltavian at 1:02 PM on June 2, 2011
like it's not that people honestly dislike it now
No, it's pretty bad - "dislike" is a strong word but it always seems like Munroe didn't put much time into it so neither should I.
I'm just simultaneously amused and disheartened by the way people turn on shit after it's been posted here more than a few times
I don't "turn on" anything - I subscribe to it using my feed reader (or if you have an iPhone, there's probably an app for that) the second or third time I see it and like it. After that, I don't need Metafilter to constantly update me on the goings-on.
posted by muddgirl at 1:06 PM on June 2, 2011
No, it's pretty bad - "dislike" is a strong word but it always seems like Munroe didn't put much time into it so neither should I.
I'm just simultaneously amused and disheartened by the way people turn on shit after it's been posted here more than a few times
I don't "turn on" anything - I subscribe to it using my feed reader (or if you have an iPhone, there's probably an app for that) the second or third time I see it and like it. After that, I don't need Metafilter to constantly update me on the goings-on.
posted by muddgirl at 1:06 PM on June 2, 2011
Metafilter is not supposed to be a substitute for Google Reader.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:12 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by shakespeherian at 1:12 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
We'd also have to put a moratorium on The Big Picture and anything with the words "Roger Ebert" in it, and maybe just links with the word "roger" in them, just to be on the safe side.
But that would nix my upcoming post about a certain wig-wearing cartoon alien having British-style sexual relations!
posted by Sys Rq at 1:17 PM on June 2, 2011
But that would nix my upcoming post about a certain wig-wearing cartoon alien having British-style sexual relations!
posted by Sys Rq at 1:17 PM on June 2, 2011
Also, tumblr.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:18 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by eyeballkid at 1:18 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh oh oh and youtube.com.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:20 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by eyeballkid at 1:20 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
We should also consider the under-exposed topics on MeFi, like hardcore furry porn and cornpone curry farms.
posted by Mister_A at 1:24 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Mister_A at 1:24 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Acceptable MeFi subject matters:
- Someone has knitted something.
- Someone has played something unusual on a Banjo. They probably have a hat. That is knitted.
- Someone has knitted a banjo.
posted by Artw at 1:26 PM on June 2, 2011 [16 favorites]
- Someone has knitted something.
- Someone has played something unusual on a Banjo. They probably have a hat. That is knitted.
- Someone has knitted a banjo.
posted by Artw at 1:26 PM on June 2, 2011 [16 favorites]
Oh oh oh and youtube.com. --- And then, metafilter closed its doors, because there was nothing left for anyone to post about.
posted by crunchland at 1:28 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by crunchland at 1:28 PM on June 2, 2011
No more links to ".com" websites. Those commercial enterprises don't deserve our link love.
posted by vidur at 1:28 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by vidur at 1:28 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
*baits Artw with youtube post about banjo ode to a knitted Alien*
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:35 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:35 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
- Someone has knitted a banjo.
But not cats playing a knitted banjo. I think that crosses a line.
posted by Sparx at 1:36 PM on June 2, 2011
But not cats playing a knitted banjo. I think that crosses a line.
posted by Sparx at 1:36 PM on June 2, 2011
Hey, the XKCD I linked wasn't either of those!
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 1:41 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 1:41 PM on June 2, 2011
Do you suggest we all conform to your methods, or is it okay that people are different and maybe what you don't need MetaFilter for might be okay for others?
If it's OK for Metafilter to replicate a feed reader, maybe I should make a post every time CNN.com updates their front page.
I'm OK with Metafilter being what it is - a place to post good content from the web. Once that content is posted, I'm OK with it not getting posted again. Maybe we could make a Mefi Wiki page with "Mefi's Favorite Blogs," so that people who don't use feed readers could just go to that page and see what's been updated since the last time they checked.
posted by muddgirl at 1:42 PM on June 2, 2011
I think from now on whenever someone does the "IF I CAN EAT CHEESE, WHY CAN'T I EAT PLUTONIUM? I CAN'T POSSIBLY BE EXPECTED TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE IF I'M ALLOWED TO EAT THINGS!" thing I'm going to take them at face value and assume that they are actually as completly helpless and lacking in judgement as they pretend to be, rather than using a rhetorical device.
posted by Artw at 1:46 PM on June 2, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:46 PM on June 2, 2011 [6 favorites]
Both cnn.com and Kate Beaton are in my feed reader. So really CNN is American cheese and Beaton is a nice Gouda.
posted by muddgirl at 1:48 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by muddgirl at 1:48 PM on June 2, 2011
What about making a MeFi blog roll so those links would always be on the front page (optional view of course)
posted by wheelieman at 1:51 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by wheelieman at 1:51 PM on June 2, 2011
Maybe someone could just make a Greasemonkey script that blocks out any links to [website of choice].
Who is it that does those scripts again? I forgot.*
* I did not forget.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:57 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Who is it that does those scripts again? I forgot.*
* I did not forget.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:57 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm the one who killed Everything is Terrible.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 1:58 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by The Devil Tesla at 1:58 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
So I don't read any of these other sites at all regularly. But I'm happy that y'all will prevent me from doing so by filtering FPPs. I won't even know what I'm missing.
posted by maxwelton at 2:04 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by maxwelton at 2:04 PM on June 2, 2011
I continue to be bitter about the fact that I introduced Letters of Note to Metafilter, and I got all of seven favorites for my troubles.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 2:13 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 2:13 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I am opposed to XKCD on account of it reading like a word from Outer Qwghlm.
posted by Babblesort at 2:39 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Babblesort at 2:39 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
This is the same reason I don't read National Geographic articles anymore... It would have been nice if the authors had been a little more thoughtful and published their great story someplace else. Someplace like US Weekly, perhaps, that I haven't read to death lately.
To be fair, it's more like if you subscribed to both National Geographic and the Utne reader, and over time some disproportionate amount of Utne pages were dedicated to National Geographic articles. It'd be like, hey, if I want to know about every damn story from that magazine, I can just read it.
I'm not saying "letters of note" has gotten to that point yet on MeFi, but it's a different issue than whether or not "letters of note" has lots of good content.
posted by rkent at 2:43 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
To be fair, it's more like if you subscribed to both National Geographic and the Utne reader, and over time some disproportionate amount of Utne pages were dedicated to National Geographic articles. It'd be like, hey, if I want to know about every damn story from that magazine, I can just read it.
I'm not saying "letters of note" has gotten to that point yet on MeFi, but it's a different issue than whether or not "letters of note" has lots of good content.
posted by rkent at 2:43 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
empath: "And youtube, I mean really. Haven't we seen enough fucking cat videos?"
Blasphemer! Burn him!
posted by deborah at 2:48 PM on June 2, 2011
Blasphemer! Burn him!
posted by deborah at 2:48 PM on June 2, 2011
Also, just because you saw something somewhere doesn't mean I've seen it too.
And yes, things posted to Mefi should be "extra spectacular"; I mean, what else is MetaFilter for?
posted by deborah at 2:53 PM on June 2, 2011
And yes, things posted to Mefi should be "extra spectacular"; I mean, what else is MetaFilter for?
posted by deborah at 2:53 PM on June 2, 2011
This is the same reason I don't read National Geographic articles anymore...
You're kidding, right? Nobody reads National Geographic for the articles.
posted by m@f at 2:55 PM on June 2, 2011
You're kidding, right? Nobody reads National Geographic for the articles.
posted by m@f at 2:55 PM on June 2, 2011
We read it for the maps, obviously.
posted by m@f at 2:56 PM on June 2, 2011 [8 favorites]
posted by m@f at 2:56 PM on June 2, 2011 [8 favorites]
Can we have an autoban on the Bill Hicks advertising rant? It's tiresome and makes me think that the posters are dumb schmucks.
Oh, please yes. It seems to be some kind of Pavlovian response whenever anything advertising-related comes up, and it's usually irrelevant. Plus it makes me want to post up the list of undoubtedly artistically useful people who have appeared in/directed/voiced ads, and that's just no fun for anyone.
Advertising isn't brain surgery and it isn't going to save the world, but it's no more intrinsically evil than a thousand other jobs, and it means that companies pay people with ideas money to make cool things, and if you really hate it you can just appreciate the idea that a big corporation funded a film of a drumming gorilla instead of something that made more sense, just because someone thought it was funny.
posted by mippy at 3:15 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
Oh, please yes. It seems to be some kind of Pavlovian response whenever anything advertising-related comes up, and it's usually irrelevant. Plus it makes me want to post up the list of undoubtedly artistically useful people who have appeared in/directed/voiced ads, and that's just no fun for anyone.
Advertising isn't brain surgery and it isn't going to save the world, but it's no more intrinsically evil than a thousand other jobs, and it means that companies pay people with ideas money to make cool things, and if you really hate it you can just appreciate the idea that a big corporation funded a film of a drumming gorilla instead of something that made more sense, just because someone thought it was funny.
posted by mippy at 3:15 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
Also, just because you saw something somewhere doesn't mean I've seen it too.
But that's why we have an Metafilter archive, with lots of tagging and stuff. Letters of Note the blog was posted to Metafilter once. I'm not arguing that these should not have been posted ever - I'm saying that once there here, it's here, and anyone can (hopefully) find them again by browsing the blog tag.
I recognize that there are grey areas (like the aformentioned NYT - is it more like a blog? Or is it more like a content aggregator that happens to also host the content so you can't even like follow the link back to the original author?) But most things seem pretty clear cut.
posted by muddgirl at 3:20 PM on June 2, 2011
But that's why we have an Metafilter archive, with lots of tagging and stuff. Letters of Note the blog was posted to Metafilter once. I'm not arguing that these should not have been posted ever - I'm saying that once there here, it's here, and anyone can (hopefully) find them again by browsing the blog tag.
I recognize that there are grey areas (like the aformentioned NYT - is it more like a blog? Or is it more like a content aggregator that happens to also host the content so you can't even like follow the link back to the original author?) But most things seem pretty clear cut.
posted by muddgirl at 3:20 PM on June 2, 2011
(wow, a lot of commas int hat sentence - i was distracted trying to find Ken Loach's McDonalds commercial.)
posted by mippy at 3:22 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mippy at 3:22 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
That's OK, I not only wrote "there" instead of "they're," I also switched between plural and singular.
posted by muddgirl at 3:26 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by muddgirl at 3:26 PM on June 2, 2011
The worst part is that the Obligatory XKCD comics only ever go to the 'someone is wrong on the internet' one or to the more recent 'the important thing is that you've found a way to feel superior to both' one.
Hm. Strange, this time shakespeherian had me at Batman.
If anyone needs me I'll be in the corner.
posted by rokusan at 3:29 PM on June 2, 2011
Hm. Strange, this time shakespeherian had me at Batman.
If anyone needs me I'll be in the corner.
posted by rokusan at 3:29 PM on June 2, 2011
Blimey.
The voice at the end of this is Gil Scott-Heron. Though as I guess Tango didn't start a revolution, at least he was consistent.
posted by mippy at 3:42 PM on June 2, 2011
The voice at the end of this is Gil Scott-Heron. Though as I guess Tango didn't start a revolution, at least he was consistent.
posted by mippy at 3:42 PM on June 2, 2011
For the record, I've been pretty active on Metafilter for the past five years (5th year anniversary coming up on Sunday!) and I don't think I'd ever noticed a "Letters of Note" post before today's Bond one, which was super cool. There are a bunch of sites which, once you've found your way to MeFi, I think we can presume that you've also had a chance to regard or disregard: The Onion, McSweeney's, Cracked, etc. (I'll mention that I actually like Cracked, for the most part, but understand that it isn't considered coll around these parts. I'm fine with that and don't need MeFi to tell me if something funny or interesting pops up over there.)
I'm not sure if Letters of Note fits in with those others though. And this brings up another problem... well maybe not "problem," per se, but something I've noticed.
I've tried to shepherd a number of people into becoming Mefites over the years, people who are basically like my IRL counterparts to this community, and who I think would fit in very nicely. This is not an easy process. Through the gestalt process, we've made a ton of largely unspoken rules which make getting into this site as an active member quite daunting, and we can be dicks about them when they are broken. The blacklist of certain sites is the epitome of this, to me, because it is not only unwritten (at least in any way that a new user is likely to come across it) but also arbitrary (The Onion is on the list, but the A.V. Club isn't, at least not until this very moment, I guess) and by it's very nature the sort of things that a new user might be most likely to make a first FPP out of, before the group then smacks them down for their efforts.
I've said before that Metafilter is like an ongoing party of people with wildly varying interests, and it's one that I adore, but I wish sometimes that our list of what constitutes "party fouls" were a little more intuitive to people just showing up now.
posted by Navelgazer at 3:44 PM on June 2, 2011 [8 favorites]
I'm not sure if Letters of Note fits in with those others though. And this brings up another problem... well maybe not "problem," per se, but something I've noticed.
I've tried to shepherd a number of people into becoming Mefites over the years, people who are basically like my IRL counterparts to this community, and who I think would fit in very nicely. This is not an easy process. Through the gestalt process, we've made a ton of largely unspoken rules which make getting into this site as an active member quite daunting, and we can be dicks about them when they are broken. The blacklist of certain sites is the epitome of this, to me, because it is not only unwritten (at least in any way that a new user is likely to come across it) but also arbitrary (The Onion is on the list, but the A.V. Club isn't, at least not until this very moment, I guess) and by it's very nature the sort of things that a new user might be most likely to make a first FPP out of, before the group then smacks them down for their efforts.
I've said before that Metafilter is like an ongoing party of people with wildly varying interests, and it's one that I adore, but I wish sometimes that our list of what constitutes "party fouls" were a little more intuitive to people just showing up now.
posted by Navelgazer at 3:44 PM on June 2, 2011 [8 favorites]
Could we just ban links to the internet? Solve the whole fucking problem right there!
posted by tomswift at 3:45 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by tomswift at 3:45 PM on June 2, 2011
Let's add Ebert's blog to the list.
I'm patiently waiting for an Ebert-based post in which I could legitimately mention how awkwardly awful the new TV show is.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:19 PM on June 2, 2011
I'm patiently waiting for an Ebert-based post in which I could legitimately mention how awkwardly awful the new TV show is.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:19 PM on June 2, 2011
I see what you're saying, Navelgazer, but maybe we need to make clear that having a post deleted isn't meant to be a punishment.
posted by muddgirl at 4:21 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by muddgirl at 4:21 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
"....having a post deleted isn't meant to be a punishment."
unless it's done by the cabal..cabal...cabal....
posted by tomswift at 4:24 PM on June 2, 2011
unless it's done by the cabal..cabal...cabal....
posted by tomswift at 4:24 PM on June 2, 2011
Could we just ban links to the internet? Solve the whole fucking problem right there!
Could we ban that joke? Three times in one thread is more than enough.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:33 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
Could we ban that joke? Three times in one thread is more than enough.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:33 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
BAN EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME
posted by tumid dahlia at 4:37 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by tumid dahlia at 4:37 PM on June 2, 2011
It's about time for a ban on banning stuff.
posted by Sailormom at 4:40 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Sailormom at 4:40 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
We should just have one big super-post, which is a link to Google, and shut this thing down. Thanks for the fun times mathowie and co., it's been real.
posted by tumid dahlia at 4:47 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by tumid dahlia at 4:47 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I was hoping I could find that Ban deodorant commercial with Iron Butterfly.
posted by box at 4:49 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by box at 4:49 PM on June 2, 2011
I never said "fuck off if you don't." In case you didn't notice, I don't actually set policy here - I'm expressing an opinion just like you are. I really don't understand the hostility just because we disagree about a rather minor point of Metafilter culture.
posted by muddgirl at 4:52 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by muddgirl at 4:52 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
I love how predictable the backlash is on some things. XKCD was perhaps the most inevitable, like it's not that people honestly dislike it now
I honestly dislike XKCD. For real. It's OK if people post them though, that's what a good eyeroll is for.
posted by cj_ at 4:55 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I honestly dislike XKCD. For real. It's OK if people post them though, that's what a good eyeroll is for.
posted by cj_ at 4:55 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
No more Scott Adam's posts unless they are certifiably brilliant.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:08 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by cjorgensen at 5:08 PM on June 2, 2011
What if Lady Gaga writes a letter to Randall Munroe about declawing your cat while simultaneously circumcising it? And that letter makes it onto Letters of Interest?! Wouldn't that make a great FPP?
posted by schyler523 at 5:40 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by schyler523 at 5:40 PM on June 2, 2011
On a serious note, I don't think that any site should be totally blacklisted. Not everyone makes bookmarks to the things they enjoy reading regardless of how many times it has been posted on Metafilter...
In my opinion, creating a blacklist will be very very bad for metafilter.
posted by schyler523 at 5:44 PM on June 2, 2011
In my opinion, creating a blacklist will be very very bad for metafilter.
posted by schyler523 at 5:44 PM on June 2, 2011
Up until just a monet ago, I did not know that this Letters of Note contraption existed, so I suppose something was accomplished. Or something.
posted by jonmc at 5:45 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 5:45 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Ever since jonmc saw those waterliles, he has known of a cool blog about letters. :)
posted by schyler523 at 5:55 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by schyler523 at 5:55 PM on June 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
I'd rather only see really obscure roma photos of windmills and banjos, or other such hipster nonsense (except not actually about hipsters because those fuckers are like kryptonite to metafilter's superman.)
posted by schyler523 at 6:03 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by schyler523 at 6:03 PM on June 2, 2011
I think only hama7 should be able to link to stuff.
posted by maxwelton at 6:11 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by maxwelton at 6:11 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
So, let me see if I have this right: we need to put spoiler warnings on Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Lord of the Rings, because there's people that still haven't seen or read those - but everyone's seen Letters of Note so just stop posting it already. Have I got that right?
posted by mstokes650 at 6:20 PM on June 2, 2011 [15 favorites]
posted by mstokes650 at 6:20 PM on June 2, 2011 [15 favorites]
I only see Letters of Note through this site.
I check Cracked and the AV Club every day, but I assume that they're on the list so I don't post anything from them. The Awl is marginal.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:22 PM on June 2, 2011
I check Cracked and the AV Club every day, but I assume that they're on the list so I don't post anything from them. The Awl is marginal.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:22 PM on June 2, 2011
Regarding CRACKED: I never thought I'd say that CRACKED was better than anything at all when it was a magazine, but, well, here we are.
Huh? Cracked is awesome. Sociology, history, badassery, random bullshit... it's got Seanbaby! And David Wong! Gotta love it.
As for topics:
Lady Gaga
HP Lovecraft
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:24 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Nah, you're forgetting the XKCD where they say "look non-techies, we just google the problem and tell you what to do" and also the one where the apartment is made into a ball pit because "we're the adults now and we get to decide what that means."
posted by IndigoRain at 6:25 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by IndigoRain at 6:25 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm OK with Metafilter being what it is - a place to post good content from the web. Once that content is posted, I'm OK with it not getting posted again.
Content doubles get purged all the time.
Maybe we could make a Mefi Wiki page with "Mefi's Favorite Blogs," so that people who don't use feed readers could just go to that page and see what's been updated since the last time they checked.
If content from a website can only be posted once and all further links to that website are purged, how does anyone know what constitutes "Mefi's Favorite Blogs"? Favorites from that one thread? There might be people that didn't find the first three Letters of Note interesting but found the fourth one fascinating. They would have missed it.
Personally, I thought Nothing is Forgotten was nice but I didn't bookmark the guy so I was pleased to see Our Blood Stained Roof on the front page the other day. If Metafilter didn't allow multiple links to the same site I would have missed it.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 6:32 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Content doubles get purged all the time.
Maybe we could make a Mefi Wiki page with "Mefi's Favorite Blogs," so that people who don't use feed readers could just go to that page and see what's been updated since the last time they checked.
If content from a website can only be posted once and all further links to that website are purged, how does anyone know what constitutes "Mefi's Favorite Blogs"? Favorites from that one thread? There might be people that didn't find the first three Letters of Note interesting but found the fourth one fascinating. They would have missed it.
Personally, I thought Nothing is Forgotten was nice but I didn't bookmark the guy so I was pleased to see Our Blood Stained Roof on the front page the other day. If Metafilter didn't allow multiple links to the same site I would have missed it.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 6:32 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
BUT - the post I'm working on about that hot new social mash-up site, EbertKnits.com, is A-OK, right?
posted by Mister_A at 6:32 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by Mister_A at 6:32 PM on June 2, 2011
I think we can all agree that the only link anyone ever needs is the one place where the infinite is possible - at zombocom.
posted by namewithoutwords at 6:40 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by namewithoutwords at 6:40 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Only link to sites that are probably in Eastern Europe and will likely give all the lurkers malware. Let's put that in the FAQ.
posted by Existential Dread at 7:36 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by Existential Dread at 7:36 PM on June 2, 2011
Huh? Cracked is awesome. Sociology, history, badassery, random bullshit... it's got Seanbaby! And David Wong! Gotta love it.
Thank you LiB. Cracked seems to fall into that category of sites that you can get a cheap 'heh, indeed' for disliking, but the quality is pretty high.
I mean Valve snaffled Jay Pinkerton for Portal 2, and they don't fuck around.
posted by Sebmojo at 8:35 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Thank you LiB. Cracked seems to fall into that category of sites that you can get a cheap 'heh, indeed' for disliking, but the quality is pretty high.
I mean Valve snaffled Jay Pinkerton for Portal 2, and they don't fuck around.
posted by Sebmojo at 8:35 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
5 Reasons Twitter Isn't Actually Overthrowing Governments might be a MeFi post...
If only we could combine Cracked's content with the comments here.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 8:38 PM on June 2, 2011
If only we could combine Cracked's content with the comments here.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 8:38 PM on June 2, 2011
LiB, I'd thought about posting that on the blue.. but I wondered how the discussion might go, given the source, and decided to let it be.
posted by vidur at 8:43 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by vidur at 8:43 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Up until just a monet ago..."
"Ever since jonmc saw those waterlilies..."
I think me meant "merlot". "Up until just a merlot ago..."
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:44 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Ever since jonmc saw those waterlilies..."
I think me meant "merlot". "Up until just a merlot ago..."
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:44 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
LiB, I'd thought about posting that on the blue.. but I wondered how the discussion might go, given the source, and decided to let it be.
I think the last article on the subject was by Thomas Friedman. Eventually someone the site doesn't dislike will post about it!
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:03 PM on June 2, 2011
Mister_A: "Splunge - I cannae parse yer comment, lad!"
My job here is done well I hope springs eternal damnation alley mcbeal.
posted by Splunge at 9:44 PM on June 2, 2011
My job here is done well I hope springs eternal damnation alley mcbeal.
posted by Splunge at 9:44 PM on June 2, 2011
I had no memory of Letters of Note prior to today, though I certainly remember some of those posts.
I dislike links to Cracked because they smell too much like a linkfarm. No list of seven to ten things needs to be split into multiple pages.
I don't read most of the sites listed as being posted "too often" and I certainly don't think most of them are. I'm pretty certain that my GR feeds don't overlap a lot with those folks who post a lot to the front page. I appreciate links to the best of other sites.
I'd just like to add my voice calling for the best of the web to continue to be posted to the front page, regardless of their origins. If some site consistently produce good stuff, then perhaps posting from them often is a good idea. I don't think we're in danger of getting too overwhelmed by a single site.
Except, we perhaps don't need every single NYT Style section article posted to the blue.
posted by bonehead at 10:07 PM on June 2, 2011
I dislike links to Cracked because they smell too much like a linkfarm. No list of seven to ten things needs to be split into multiple pages.
I don't read most of the sites listed as being posted "too often" and I certainly don't think most of them are. I'm pretty certain that my GR feeds don't overlap a lot with those folks who post a lot to the front page. I appreciate links to the best of other sites.
I'd just like to add my voice calling for the best of the web to continue to be posted to the front page, regardless of their origins. If some site consistently produce good stuff, then perhaps posting from them often is a good idea. I don't think we're in danger of getting too overwhelmed by a single site.
Except, we perhaps don't need every single NYT Style section article posted to the blue.
posted by bonehead at 10:07 PM on June 2, 2011
I dislike links to Cracked because they smell too much like a linkfarm. No list of seven to ten things needs to be split into multiple pages.
Except all their content is original, and most of the 'lists' are excuses for really god articles.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:28 PM on June 2, 2011
Except all their content is original, and most of the 'lists' are excuses for really god articles.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:28 PM on June 2, 2011
Fix that and please, magic edit!
Something something something the posters are dumb something something something schmucks.
Something.
posted by joe lisboa at 11:46 PM on June 2, 2011
Something something something the posters are dumb something something something schmucks.
Something.
posted by joe lisboa at 11:46 PM on June 2, 2011
Something something something the posters are dumb something something something schmucks
Ooh ooh wait I know this one ... is it Dinner for Schmucks?
posted by vidur at 11:51 PM on June 2, 2011
Ooh ooh wait I know this one ... is it Dinner for Schmucks?
posted by vidur at 11:51 PM on June 2, 2011
I like Cracked too, despite their articles being on two (gasp!!) whole pages. I think the hate here has more to do with the puerile humor that it adopts as a tone. Not for everyone, I guess.
posted by cj_ at 11:53 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by cj_ at 11:53 PM on June 2, 2011 [2 favorites]
Sometimes I'm tempted to link to every Hardcore Gaming post
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 12:57 AM on June 3, 2011
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 12:57 AM on June 3, 2011
It just reminds me of people saying "did you see the Daily Show last night?" Like either you watch the Daily Show already or you don't, and if you don't watch it, you probably don't care unless it was something really great.
posted by smackfu at 5:32 AM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by smackfu at 5:32 AM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Well, we don't even get The Daily Show now, so it's quite nice if I get a link posted up here that I can actually watch (seeing as Hulu don't believe I'm American anymore...)
posted by mippy at 5:36 AM on June 3, 2011
posted by mippy at 5:36 AM on June 3, 2011
This is my favorite newspaper; and I have no problem with the origin of the articles so long as they are of interest.
posted by buzzman at 7:18 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by buzzman at 7:18 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
It just reminds me of people saying "did you see the Daily Show last night?" Like either you watch the Daily Show already or you don't, and if you don't watch it, you probably don't care unless it was something really great.
That's exactly why The Daily Show should be posted here - if it's really great. I do like The Daily Show but I don't go out of my way to watch it (I don't have cable, and it's not CC'd online). However, if a mefite thinks that a particular episode is exceptional, I'm likely to want to check it out. I've become interested in a great lot of things specifically because of MetaFilter, and as such I tend to trust mefites' judgment more than the random person's. This same reasoning holds true for Cracked, the Onion, etc, which I also don't seek out every day.
posted by desjardins at 9:36 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
That's exactly why The Daily Show should be posted here - if it's really great. I do like The Daily Show but I don't go out of my way to watch it (I don't have cable, and it's not CC'd online). However, if a mefite thinks that a particular episode is exceptional, I'm likely to want to check it out. I've become interested in a great lot of things specifically because of MetaFilter, and as such I tend to trust mefites' judgment more than the random person's. This same reasoning holds true for Cracked, the Onion, etc, which I also don't seek out every day.
posted by desjardins at 9:36 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
What a fucking stupid idea
posted by Mick at 9:50 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Mick at 9:50 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
see, I disagree with this whole "site timeout" concept for a few reasons. Mainly because you never know when even some site like Salon or Cracked, or YouTube or even I CAN HAZ CHEEZBURGER (ffs) is going to come up with something transcendent. I know, hard to fathom, right?
Second, the thing that brings me to MetaFilter, in the main, isn't for the links. I can find a lot of that stuff elsewhere. Hell half the time something interesting comes up in my google reader, I pop off to the blue to see not whether it's been posted (because it typically has) but what's being discussed in the thread. That's the value of this site for me.
Third, we should actively engage newer members to post good stuff by encouraging them to flesh out and frame their posts with supporting content from good sources, and arguably all of the above can be, and have been, good sources in the past. This should not be done by setting the freaking bar so high that people (like me) who originally buy an account just so they can post answers on AskMe, become so terrified of the whole secret handshake / weird unspoken rules of posting theme that's kind of going on here, that it takes them something like 18 months to work up the courage to try posting to the blue in the first place.
It kind of reminds me of a local joke we tell around here: Welcome to Colorado! Now go home! It's like once someone has "made it" in the culture around here, they automagically become, I dunno, some kind of keeper of the policy?
Some of the greatest threads in MeFi history have been single links to (dare I say) well-worn sources. Not because of the source, but because of the strength of the content, the strength of the ensuing discussion, and that whole transcendent ephemeral quality of what makes the Best of the Web.
seriously, fuck knitted banjos anyway, that's so five-years-ago. The cool kids are collecting Roland T3s made out of candy corn now, at least last time I looked.
posted by lonefrontranger at 11:21 AM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Second, the thing that brings me to MetaFilter, in the main, isn't for the links. I can find a lot of that stuff elsewhere. Hell half the time something interesting comes up in my google reader, I pop off to the blue to see not whether it's been posted (because it typically has) but what's being discussed in the thread. That's the value of this site for me.
Third, we should actively engage newer members to post good stuff by encouraging them to flesh out and frame their posts with supporting content from good sources, and arguably all of the above can be, and have been, good sources in the past. This should not be done by setting the freaking bar so high that people (like me) who originally buy an account just so they can post answers on AskMe, become so terrified of the whole secret handshake / weird unspoken rules of posting theme that's kind of going on here, that it takes them something like 18 months to work up the courage to try posting to the blue in the first place.
It kind of reminds me of a local joke we tell around here: Welcome to Colorado! Now go home! It's like once someone has "made it" in the culture around here, they automagically become, I dunno, some kind of keeper of the policy?
Some of the greatest threads in MeFi history have been single links to (dare I say) well-worn sources. Not because of the source, but because of the strength of the content, the strength of the ensuing discussion, and that whole transcendent ephemeral quality of what makes the Best of the Web.
seriously, fuck knitted banjos anyway, that's so five-years-ago. The cool kids are collecting Roland T3s made out of candy corn now, at least last time I looked.
posted by lonefrontranger at 11:21 AM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
Look, as one of the proponents of general time outs (though I don't really think Letters of Note has risen to the level necessary), it might be helpful to remind everyone that MeFi functions largely on guidelines rather than rules. Asking for a moratorium is really saying that while it's OK to post things from these sources (and it still amuses me how many people can't seem to tell the difference between sources and aggregators), they need to be really special. It's entirely possible that there'll be a brilliant Cracked article that deserves posting, but every run of the mill Cracked article doesn't. This ties in with the posting note that it should be something that people haven't seen before — and I think that a broader reading of that is beneficial to the community.
But like any time there's any sort of discussion about norms here, folks overreact and think that something they enjoy is being banished forever instead of realizing that just like how we don't need every local news of the weird story (and in general, that newsfilter should be held to a higher standard), we don't need to see every list that makes it to Cracked or every mildly amusing Onion article or whatever. If something's really great, it'll make the cut, but there's no harm in treating some sources with increased scrutiny, especially if everything they release is simply variations on a theme.
posted by klangklangston at 11:31 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
But like any time there's any sort of discussion about norms here, folks overreact and think that something they enjoy is being banished forever instead of realizing that just like how we don't need every local news of the weird story (and in general, that newsfilter should be held to a higher standard), we don't need to see every list that makes it to Cracked or every mildly amusing Onion article or whatever. If something's really great, it'll make the cut, but there's no harm in treating some sources with increased scrutiny, especially if everything they release is simply variations on a theme.
posted by klangklangston at 11:31 AM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Candy corn. Pffft! MY Roland T3 is made out of hammered copper, plasticized soy beans, and fine Italian Smurfskin leather.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:32 AM on June 3, 2011
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:32 AM on June 3, 2011
Usually sites that are on the verge of a "timeout" guideline have some posters saying "geez, another link to site blah" in the thread, which I'm not really seeing here.
posted by smackfu at 12:54 PM on June 3, 2011
posted by smackfu at 12:54 PM on June 3, 2011
I kinda like that streaming 24/7 Howiecam in the lower right hand corner idea. Much better than the daily show.
posted by buzzman at 1:01 PM on June 3, 2011
posted by buzzman at 1:01 PM on June 3, 2011
I'd really like each post to be considered on its merits regardless of where it came from. If it's a meh post, it's a meh post, regardless of whether it's from the Onion or Cracked or Letters of Note. There's a filter in MetaFilter, let's let it do its job and not preemptively judge.
I agree! I don't see why it matters if a site gets posted a lot, if the content is good. Some of us don't read those other sites, and if you do to the point that the doubles are driving you crazy, just stop reading one.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:32 PM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
I agree! I don't see why it matters if a site gets posted a lot, if the content is good. Some of us don't read those other sites, and if you do to the point that the doubles are driving you crazy, just stop reading one.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:32 PM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
A good alternative to calling for stuff to be banned is simply to come up with good posts, so that readers will ignore single link things and instead behold the awesome wonder that is the glow of amazingness from your post of incredible beauty.
posted by honest knave at 1:38 PM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by honest knave at 1:38 PM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
I care far less about repeat single links to any one thing than I do about repeat single links. Not that they're not awesome sometimes, but personally I think they need to be about 100x better than posts with some context/multiple links.
I care more about the discussion and chatter than the post anyway, but it seems like the SL* posts are the ones that usually languish in comments so that matches up with me.
But mostly I just don't care. Like was said above, 18 posts in 2 years is a lot? It's not that hard to just not click if you recognize the destination as a place you dislike.
posted by phearlez at 1:58 PM on June 3, 2011
I care more about the discussion and chatter than the post anyway, but it seems like the SL* posts are the ones that usually languish in comments so that matches up with me.
But mostly I just don't care. Like was said above, 18 posts in 2 years is a lot? It's not that hard to just not click if you recognize the destination as a place you dislike.
posted by phearlez at 1:58 PM on June 3, 2011
I'd really like each post to be considered on its merits regardless of where it came from. If it's a meh post, it's a meh post, regardless of whether it's from the Onion or Cracked or Letters of Note. There's a filter in MetaFilter, let's let it do its job and not preemptively judge.
posted by PugAchev at 2:36 PM on June 3, 2011
posted by PugAchev at 2:36 PM on June 3, 2011
In policy debate (well, as of the late 90s, when I got out of the activity) a common counterplan is to ban things. This often was discussed in strategy sessions like so:
"Ok, we'll run [nuclear war-impacting disadvantage] against [plan]."
"Yeah, but just negating [plan] isn't going to fully get rid of [policy that plan is based on], so our disad is non-unique."
"Good point. We'll also run a counterplan banning the shit out of [policy]."
I offer the counterplan of banning the shit out of the five most-linked sites, rotating quarterly.
I also still think we ought to temporarily ban the top five most-commenting non-employee MeFites monthly.
posted by norm at 2:36 PM on June 3, 2011
"Ok, we'll run [nuclear war-impacting disadvantage] against [plan]."
"Yeah, but just negating [plan] isn't going to fully get rid of [policy that plan is based on], so our disad is non-unique."
"Good point. We'll also run a counterplan banning the shit out of [policy]."
I offer the counterplan of banning the shit out of the five most-linked sites, rotating quarterly.
I also still think we ought to temporarily ban the top five most-commenting non-employee MeFites monthly.
posted by norm at 2:36 PM on June 3, 2011
I also still think we ought to temporarily ban the top five most-commenting non-employee MeFites monthly.
I'd amend this to the top four non-employees and the top employee. It's a weird type of reinforcement to work hard to get yourself a month off.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:00 PM on June 3, 2011 [4 favorites]
I'd amend this to the top four non-employees and the top employee. It's a weird type of reinforcement to work hard to get yourself a month off.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:00 PM on June 3, 2011 [4 favorites]
I also still think we ought to temporarily ban the top five most-commenting non-employee MeFites monthly.
I say we ban all mefites that share names with characters on 1980s sitcoms set in Boston bars.
posted by empath at 3:02 PM on June 3, 2011
I say we ban all mefites that share names with characters on 1980s sitcoms set in Boston bars.
posted by empath at 3:02 PM on June 3, 2011
Would someone please come to my house and just shoot me in the head and put me out of my misery? I've got poison ivy on both arms which has spread to my stomach AND my sciatic nerve has decided to be a pain in the ass. Clicking on that pregnancy thing didn't distract me at all, it just reminded me of how much I dislike Letters of Note. Reading this MetaTalk has just reminded me of how much I dislike XKCD.
On the other hand, maybe there are Mefites who don't have sciatica and poison ivy and who like LON and XKCD. I am too fractious at the moment to come up with any rules other than maybe we should stop making up rules about what should or should not be posted...other than it should, you know, be interesting.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:14 PM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
On the other hand, maybe there are Mefites who don't have sciatica and poison ivy and who like LON and XKCD. I am too fractious at the moment to come up with any rules other than maybe we should stop making up rules about what should or should not be posted...other than it should, you know, be interesting.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:14 PM on June 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
Can we also autoban anybody who posts an "obligatory XKCD" link in the comments?In AskMe, doing this will get you autobanned for 90 seconds.
In the future, everyone will be autobanned for 90 seconds.
posted by klausness at 8:23 AM on June 4, 2011
Could we construct a visualization of the community that shows the proportion of things (by some parameterizable notion of 'things') posted to MeFi that an average (by some parameterizable notion of 'average') visitor sees?
So if I understand correctly, we are witnessing a parallel between a form of self-organization in the machine world (the feed reader) and a form of self-organization in the meat world (MeFi). Scary shit. I expect them to fight!
posted by stonepharisee at 11:45 AM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
So if I understand correctly, we are witnessing a parallel between a form of self-organization in the machine world (the feed reader) and a form of self-organization in the meat world (MeFi). Scary shit. I expect them to fight!
posted by stonepharisee at 11:45 AM on June 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Just because you saw something somewhere doesn't mean I've seen it too.
According to Google, the most recent McSweeney's Open Letters post has been linked to by 7,100 other blogs in the last week.
At what point is MetaFilter simply re-posting the same content at the same time as other 'Best of' blogs? And, when does it get annoying enough to ask people to stop?
posted by empatterson at 1:36 PM on June 4, 2011
According to Google, the most recent McSweeney's Open Letters post has been linked to by 7,100 other blogs in the last week.
At what point is MetaFilter simply re-posting the same content at the same time as other 'Best of' blogs? And, when does it get annoying enough to ask people to stop?
posted by empatterson at 1:36 PM on June 4, 2011
It's already annoying enough to ask people to stop; thus this thread asking people to stop. That's different than some sort of blanket ban, though.
posted by Justinian at 1:46 PM on June 4, 2011
posted by Justinian at 1:46 PM on June 4, 2011
Time Out Pony stands in the corner and thinks about what she's done.
posted by Favorites Pony at 3:05 PM on June 4, 2011
posted by Favorites Pony at 3:05 PM on June 4, 2011
As long as we're throwing lists together: Daring Fireball.
posted by stratastar at 3:51 PM on June 4, 2011
posted by stratastar at 3:51 PM on June 4, 2011
According to Google, the most recent McSweeney's Open Letters post has been linked to by 7,100 other blogs in the last week.
It was actually a useful post to me because I had forgotten how unfunny McSweeney's is and how conservative they actually are. "Oh noes!" they say, "I saw a part of a human body I have been taught to be ashamed of! In order to perpetuate shame about human bodies I will write an unfunny screed that high-schoolers might quietly chuckle at! Oh ho! Quirk is an adequate substitution for insight!"
Seriously, is McSweeney's subscription only payable in untoasted white bread?
Also: That James Bond Letters of Note was good and I had never heard of Letters of Note. Thanks for that.
posted by fuq at 6:56 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
It was actually a useful post to me because I had forgotten how unfunny McSweeney's is and how conservative they actually are. "Oh noes!" they say, "I saw a part of a human body I have been taught to be ashamed of! In order to perpetuate shame about human bodies I will write an unfunny screed that high-schoolers might quietly chuckle at! Oh ho! Quirk is an adequate substitution for insight!"
Seriously, is McSweeney's subscription only payable in untoasted white bread?
Also: That James Bond Letters of Note was good and I had never heard of Letters of Note. Thanks for that.
posted by fuq at 6:56 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
Seeing as Youtube, NYT, Wikipedia, etc. have been mentioned as being too frequently linked (with varying degrees of seriousness), I thought I'd throw out a list I've garnered from doing some research on MeFi. (I'm starting a Master's in Rhetoric at Carnegie Mellon this fall. Right now am working on a project on language on MeFi. Before I get into studying the nitty gritty details, I've been getting a look at the broad scope of MeFi.)
Top 100 domain names linked to on the blue (since the beginning, 1999), with number of links:
[('youtube.com', 29624),
('en.wikipedia.org', 12950),
('metafilter.com', 12127),
('nytimes.com', 4573),
('news.bbc.co.uk', 3507),
('flickr.com', 3016),
('guardian.co.uk', 2559),
('washingtonpost.com', 2081),
('amazon.com', 1868),
('cnn.com', 1688),
('imdb.com', 1530),
('bbc.co.uk', 1293),
('wired.com', 1116),
('npr.org', 985),
('google.com', 968),
('salon.com', 918),
('video.google.com', 909),
('dailynews.yahoo.com', 867),
('pbs.org', 867),
('vimeo.com', 818),
('sfgate.com', 808),
('boston.com', 762),
('msnbc.msn.com', 748),
('geocities.com', 737),
('latimes.com', 729),
('telegraph.co.uk', 702),
('cbc.ca', 670),
('newyorker.com', 669),
('time.com', 642),
('uk.youtube.com', 625),
('twitter.com', 574),
('abcnews.go.com', 573),
('story.news.yahoo.com', 573),
('myspace.com', 543),
('slate.com', 539),
('newscientist.com', 472),
('msnbc.com', 465),
('timesonline.co.uk', 452),
('online.wsj.com', 442),
('news.yahoo.com', 438),
('boingboing.net', 430),
('abc.net.au', 428),
('theatlantic.com', 417),
('huffingtonpost.com', 415),
('usatoday.com', 414),
('archive.org', 413),
('books.google.com', 404),
('reuters.com', 394),
('economist.com', 347),
('cbsnews.com', 342),
('us.imdb.com', 326),
('ask.metafilter.com', 320),
('dailymail.co.uk', 306),
('independent.co.uk', 305),
('theregister.co.uk', 304),
('theglobeandmail.com', 296),
('forbes.com', 290),
('smh.com.au', 289),
('foxnews.com', 288),
('iht.com', 275),
('projects.metafilter.com', 268),
('whitehouse.gov', 267),
('csmonitor.com', 264),
('slate.msn.com', 255),
('apple.com', 253),
('villagevoice.com', 253),
('nymag.com', 244),
('cgi.ebay.com', 243),
('web.archive.org', 240),
('rollingstone.com', 237),
('thenation.com', 237),
('news.cnet.com', 236),
('maps.google.com', 229),
('scienceblogs.com', 228),
('nature.com', 223),
('facebook.com', 221),
('sports.espn.go.com', 221),
('livejournal.com', 218),
('chicagotribune.com', 217),
('members.aol.com', 215),
('arstechnica.com', 212),
('theage.com.au', 210),
('nasa.gov', 208),
('findarticles.com', 205),
('seattletimes.nwsource.com', 205),
('news.nationalgeographic.com', 203),
('canada.com', 202),
('memory.loc.gov', 202),
('nybooks.com', 202),
('blog.wired.com', 199),
('thestar.com', 197),
('angelfire.com', 196),
('businessweek.com', 193),
('news.independent.co.uk', 192),
('avclub.com', 186),
('thesmokinggun.com', 184),
('books.guardian.co.uk', 183),
('kottke.org', 183),
('query.nytimes.com', 182),
('dailymotion.com', 181)]
posted by wpenman at 3:30 AM on June 6, 2011 [9 favorites]
Top 100 domain names linked to on the blue (since the beginning, 1999), with number of links:
[('youtube.com', 29624),
('en.wikipedia.org', 12950),
('metafilter.com', 12127),
('nytimes.com', 4573),
('news.bbc.co.uk', 3507),
('flickr.com', 3016),
('guardian.co.uk', 2559),
('washingtonpost.com', 2081),
('amazon.com', 1868),
('cnn.com', 1688),
('imdb.com', 1530),
('bbc.co.uk', 1293),
('wired.com', 1116),
('npr.org', 985),
('google.com', 968),
('salon.com', 918),
('video.google.com', 909),
('dailynews.yahoo.com', 867),
('pbs.org', 867),
('vimeo.com', 818),
('sfgate.com', 808),
('boston.com', 762),
('msnbc.msn.com', 748),
('geocities.com', 737),
('latimes.com', 729),
('telegraph.co.uk', 702),
('cbc.ca', 670),
('newyorker.com', 669),
('time.com', 642),
('uk.youtube.com', 625),
('twitter.com', 574),
('abcnews.go.com', 573),
('story.news.yahoo.com', 573),
('myspace.com', 543),
('slate.com', 539),
('newscientist.com', 472),
('msnbc.com', 465),
('timesonline.co.uk', 452),
('online.wsj.com', 442),
('news.yahoo.com', 438),
('boingboing.net', 430),
('abc.net.au', 428),
('theatlantic.com', 417),
('huffingtonpost.com', 415),
('usatoday.com', 414),
('archive.org', 413),
('books.google.com', 404),
('reuters.com', 394),
('economist.com', 347),
('cbsnews.com', 342),
('us.imdb.com', 326),
('ask.metafilter.com', 320),
('dailymail.co.uk', 306),
('independent.co.uk', 305),
('theregister.co.uk', 304),
('theglobeandmail.com', 296),
('forbes.com', 290),
('smh.com.au', 289),
('foxnews.com', 288),
('iht.com', 275),
('projects.metafilter.com', 268),
('whitehouse.gov', 267),
('csmonitor.com', 264),
('slate.msn.com', 255),
('apple.com', 253),
('villagevoice.com', 253),
('nymag.com', 244),
('cgi.ebay.com', 243),
('web.archive.org', 240),
('rollingstone.com', 237),
('thenation.com', 237),
('news.cnet.com', 236),
('maps.google.com', 229),
('scienceblogs.com', 228),
('nature.com', 223),
('facebook.com', 221),
('sports.espn.go.com', 221),
('livejournal.com', 218),
('chicagotribune.com', 217),
('members.aol.com', 215),
('arstechnica.com', 212),
('theage.com.au', 210),
('nasa.gov', 208),
('findarticles.com', 205),
('seattletimes.nwsource.com', 205),
('news.nationalgeographic.com', 203),
('canada.com', 202),
('memory.loc.gov', 202),
('nybooks.com', 202),
('blog.wired.com', 199),
('thestar.com', 197),
('angelfire.com', 196),
('businessweek.com', 193),
('news.independent.co.uk', 192),
('avclub.com', 186),
('thesmokinggun.com', 184),
('books.guardian.co.uk', 183),
('kottke.org', 183),
('query.nytimes.com', 182),
('dailymotion.com', 181)]
posted by wpenman at 3:30 AM on June 6, 2011 [9 favorites]
As an aside, Letters of Note just gave up on their own comment system.
posted by smackfu at 11:15 AM on June 13, 2011
posted by smackfu at 11:15 AM on June 13, 2011
Yay! Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of Web 2.0.
(Yes, I am serious, and yes, I appreciate the irony of stating such an opinion in an internet comment.)
posted by Sys Rq at 11:28 AM on June 13, 2011
(Yes, I am serious, and yes, I appreciate the irony of stating such an opinion in an internet comment.)
posted by Sys Rq at 11:28 AM on June 13, 2011
Looking over wpenman's list, it seems the "unwritten ban" applies more to sites that have regular, same-y updates that are all pretty good but none of which are exceptionally worthy of discussion. You might find a particular Onion article lulzy, but there are a dozen like it every day. It would take something above and beyond, like their post-9/11 issue or their occasional joke redesigns, to reach the postworthy threshold.
(slowly assembling a post like this now; fingers crossed)
posted by Rhaomi at 5:10 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
(slowly assembling a post like this now; fingers crossed)
posted by Rhaomi at 5:10 AM on June 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by empath at 11:17 AM on June 2, 2011 [13 favorites]