Comments on 2071 | MetaTalk

One word posts on the MeFi front page are in my opinion more annoying than those that are over 100 words long. I'd rather have too much information about what I'm about to click on rather than not enough. Discuss? Which do you prefer? Are there ever times when one word posts are acceptable?
posted by ZachsMind to etiquette/policy at 1:24 PM (81 comments total)

Sometimes a single word post is effective. But, as I said in the referenced post's thread, the least one should do if posting a single-word post is to add commentary or an explanation of what the link is in the title code, so we're not clicking blindly.
posted by me3dia at 1:28 PM on April 8, 2002

War!
posted by yerfatma at 1:35 PM on April 8, 2002

who cares.
more important things there are to worry about
posted by ajbattrick at 1:39 PM on April 8, 2002

Using the title tag means you have to waste time hovering over the link (in MSIE) or can’t see the URL (in Opera). People should just make their posts informative. There are no bonus points for artistic merit.
posted by Gary at 1:42 PM on April 8, 2002

bitch. bitch. bitch.
there's a three word post for ya.
posted by quonsar at 1:57 PM on April 8, 2002

Well it's just that when I'm in MetaFilter I use the front page posts to decide whether or not I'm interested enough in the topic to bother clicking the link to which the front page post is referring, or participate in the MeFi thread. So if the person who created the link didn't think the post was worth more than one word, why should I bother? I often just skip it unless I'm particularly bored.

It is not in the best interest of a front page poster to put so little thought into composing their FPP, which should describe the link and give credence as to why the MeFi populous should find it of interest. I'm not asking for any revision of the guidelines, but just asking other people's opinions and whether or not others can find merit in such FPPs. When is a one word FPP effective? So far the examples given have not been convincing.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:07 PM on April 8, 2002

It seems like sometimes the Posts are constructed as quickly as possible because the poster is afraid they'll be aced out by someone posting their hot 'n' spicy* news link before they do.

*note impressive use of apostrophes
posted by Kafkaesque at 2:33 PM on April 8, 2002

Kafka, in my experience if there's such a rush, it's usually better to let the other person win. This isn't a contest. Rushing a FPP almost guarantees finding oneself MeTa'd.

Jaden: [from the aforementioned thread] ZachsMind: Thanks for the irony of using a one word link to a discussion about not using one word links.

Apples & Oranges. Posting a FPP should be informative. Linking a FPP inside the thread to a MeTa thread should be as inoffensive as possible, because the intent is to reroute posts in the MeFi thread about etiquette to MeTa, not to derail the thread's subject matter. ...which ironically I did over here just awhile ago - but I was attacking the subject matter instigated by the poster and not the etiquette. Although in hindsight I see a line of damned if ya do damned if ya don't confusion here.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:55 PM on April 8, 2002

here's a thought: probably the best outcome of a front page poster can hope for, is a lively discussion about his/her issue in the comments. so, when someone is careless or in a hurry and takes the shortcut of the one-word post, try to ignore it. at most, a couple of terse replies referencing the inconvenience of one word posting.
posted by kd at 2:56 PM on April 8, 2002

no offense, but get over it whiner. there's worse things going on.

like my lack of traffic.

posted by jcterminal at 3:29 PM on April 8, 2002

/sings "Can't Find My Way Home" for jcterminal.
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:34 PM on April 8, 2002

your server's down, jc. Kinda hard to get traffic when the road's closed, honey.
posted by bunnyfire at 3:37 PM on April 8, 2002

Stop calling people honey unless you plan to bury them up to their necks in anthills.
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:42 PM on April 8, 2002

Successful newspaper headline editor or failed career as a junior high school drama coach, you be the judge, but I'll pass on such posts as well.
posted by yonderboy at 3:44 PM on April 8, 2002

Geez, zach its so rare why dont you just email Matt to delete/change it.
posted by skallas at 3:50 PM on April 8, 2002

I propose that if bunnyfire can refer to people as honey, that I can, from this point forward, refer to everyone else as bee-yatch. Cool?
posted by eyeballkid at 4:01 PM on April 8, 2002

Eh, I had a one word post the other day. I wanted people to see the picture, so I made the post as ambiguous as possible. It was a powerful message and I didn't want to dumb it down by adding blather to the post. And, as skallas has pointed out, it's rarely done.

BTW, Zach, I suggest yelling at the wind some more. At some point we're not going to take your MeTa posts seriously, if that point hasn't come already.
posted by BlueTrain at 4:23 PM on April 8, 2002

Don't get your "we" on me, Mr. Train.
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:42 PM on April 8, 2002

i don't go to links that i'm not interested in, and that goes for one word links as well. i'm not overly interested in disgusting things, so i wouldn't click that. and i saw that wow thing, but wow doesn't mean much, so i didn't look at that until now either.
posted by rhyax at 4:42 PM on April 8, 2002

Anyone calls me honey, and I sue for sexual harassment. I ain't your honey, baby.
posted by mikhail at 4:42 PM on April 8, 2002

It was a powerful message and I didn't want to dumb it down by adding blather to the post

BlueTrain, you should stick to powerful messages always.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:48 PM on April 8, 2002

Zach: you missed the one year anniversary of my MeTa thread on this topic by three days. I'm hurt. I thought you cared.
posted by hijinx at 4:55 PM on April 8, 2002

You're right, Miguel...next time I'll consult the MiguelTalk guidebook and phrase my responses appropriately. Perhaps laced with bland humor and insincere compliments?
posted by BlueTrain at 5:25 PM on April 8, 2002

Are you in a bad mood, BlueTrain?
posted by ashbury at 5:36 PM on April 8, 2002

Is there anything people WON'T complain about?

I don't understand why it's so hard to just pass over some badly worded, badly spelled, or grammatically iffy post (like mine, for instance).

It's just not that big a deal. I rarely post due to the total willingness by others to bitch a lot about things that seem pretty inconsequential. If I wanted to hear it, I'd hang out in Vegas with bitter old biddies who have piles and varicose veins, haven't hit a winner on the nickel slots, and want you to know about it.

But instead I come here, where all is peace and love....
posted by readymade at 6:08 PM on April 8, 2002

Is "sweet tits" acceptable?

posted by G_Ask at 7:21 PM on April 8, 2002

I am Southern, of a certain age, therefore I get a free pass on the words "honey", "sugar" and "sweetpea".

But that also means I can authentically tell you to "kiss my grits".

All spoken with a heavy Carolina accent.

All hail regional differences!
posted by bunnyfire at 7:33 PM on April 8, 2002

And I am from SoCal and I have a free pass on dude, dog and bee-yatch. I checked the charter.
posted by eyeballkid at 7:41 PM on April 8, 2002

Call me provincial, but isn't it actually bee-yotch?
posted by jaek at 7:56 PM on April 8, 2002

Or biätch.
posted by youhas at 8:10 PM on April 8, 2002

foolishness aside, I agree with ZachsMind. this one a particularly good (bad?) example because "disgusting" could have been a link to any number of things. for all I knew, it could have been a page full of amputee porn or something. would it kill you to write a description, or at least copy and paste the first paragraph?
posted by mcsweetie at 9:06 PM on April 8, 2002

foolishness aside...it could have been a page full of amputee porn

I'm glad to see you take your stump porn so seriously.
posted by euphorb at 9:18 PM on April 8, 2002

why don't you come a little closer and say that? much closer, I can't reach very far!
posted by mcsweetie at 9:19 PM on April 8, 2002

I'm with Zach and mcsweetie on this one. I was frankly, a little bit apprehensive about clicking on that link at work this afternoon at work, fearing it might lead to scat porn or something.
Fortunately, the premise of the post was a good one and the discussion was OK, too. I understand johnnydark's anger and...well, disgust, but he could've added a couple more words and still maintained the immediacy and brevity he seemed to want.
Well, no biggie senor dark, chalk it up as a learning experience.
posted by jonmc at 9:21 PM on April 8, 2002

speaking of discussion...

You know, statistically speaking, a certain number of those people did deserve to die. - Settle

did anyone else choke on their fruity pebbles upon reading that one? I mean, I like off-color jokes as much as the next guy, but that was pushing it.
posted by mcsweetie at 9:24 PM on April 8, 2002

But he's so cutting edge, man! Like that Mr. Pop person all the kids are always going on about.
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:39 PM on April 8, 2002

I thought it was a little extreme too.
(OT: Gandalf to Frodo: "...Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement...")
posted by StOne at 10:40 PM on April 8, 2002

Tongue, sweettits mcsweetie. I just about choked on my tongue.

posted by G_Ask at 10:40 PM on April 8, 2002

So how's the mefi faq coming? This is going to keep happening over and over. I haven't seen a one word post in a while so I didn't think much of it. In fact I assumed Matt would delete it.

Other than possibly leading you to porn or a ton of pop-ups or both, its a lame attention getting device. What's behind the mystery curtain? Click to find out.
posted by skallas at 12:25 AM on April 9, 2002

I sort of agree except that it was quicker to click the link and investigate, then to read some of the novels that people are writing on the front page.

It doesn't happen that often so it isn't really a problem in my eyes.

*In Arnie voice* - "Stop whining"
posted by Frasermoo at 1:08 AM on April 9, 2002

I am Southern, of a certain age, therefore I get a free pass on the words "honey", "sugar" and "sweetpea".

Sugar, boo-de-boo-de-boo,
Ahh, honey, honey, boo-de-boo-de-boo,
You are our bunnyfire,
And you got us wanting you
To stop calling us... [repeat]
posted by rory at 2:12 AM on April 9, 2002

BlueTrain: Eh, I had a one word post the other day. I wanted people to see the picture, so I made the post as ambiguous as possible. It was a powerful message and I didn't want to dumb it down by adding blather to the post.

Blather? How about a warning first. That was a photo of a sexual assault in progress. Was the discussion meant to be about victims of sexual assault? Definately a warning for the sake of victims of assault should have been included in your FPP. The message of that photo went well beyond powerful, it was shocking and posting it like that was debatable certainly since the notation was so ambiguous. The Media News discussion was entirely about the ethics of the photo-journalist and the photo contest organization. I recall the discussion resulting from your post was never quite raised to that level. In fact, Poynter decided not to link the photo as a part of his article and discussion. Excellent idea, as a result the Media News discussion was much more worthy of attention.
posted by yonderboy at 2:51 AM on April 9, 2002

no
posted by johnnyboy at 4:30 AM on April 9, 2002

my server's fine. you were just looking in the wrong place...

or the url was wrong. bah.
posted by jcterminal at 4:32 AM on April 9, 2002

the Archies????
posted by bunnyfire at 5:30 AM on April 9, 2002

Hey, if your Southern lingo makes me think of cheesy 1960s bugglegum pop every time you use it, the least I can do is return the favour, honey (boo-de-boo-de-booo, ahhh sugar sug...)
posted by rory at 5:53 AM on April 9, 2002

johnnyboy, that's all you have to say?

Bunnyfire: take the drift elsewhere, PLEASE.
posted by rodii at 5:53 AM on April 9, 2002

I am Southern, of a certain age, therefore I get a free pass on the words "honey", "sugar" and "sweetpea".

When people ask you not to call them something, you would be well advised to respect their wishes. Your age and location do not give you a free pass on offending people.
posted by anapestic at 6:00 AM on April 9, 2002

With pleasure, rodii. Note that was three words...
posted by bunnyfire at 6:01 AM on April 9, 2002

With apologies to rodii, one more comment: Jc terminal never made a comment about my light hearted remark letting him know i couldn't access his page. If he is offended I apologise. The rest of you can't be offended because the remark was not directed at you. I think that is simple enough. You may now return to your thread, which I believe is about one word posts. By the way, I am not in favor of them either.
posted by bunnyfire at 6:05 AM on April 9, 2002

Can we all please lay off bunnyfire? It's tiresome, disproportionate, and makes you look petty. Go find a more worthy topic to get worked up over.
posted by luser at 6:38 AM on April 9, 2002

Great; you bite your tongue time after time, then make one humorous comment and one-sentence follow-up to suggest that someone reconsider her 'free pass' attitude...

Bah. It's 'free pass' attitudes that cause half the etiquette squabbles in MeTa.
posted by rory at 7:11 AM on April 9, 2002

Batman's a scientist?
posted by Frasermoo at 7:43 AM on April 9, 2002

Very true, Rory.
posted by iconomy at 7:50 AM on April 9, 2002

*supports rory*
posted by rodii at 7:55 AM on April 9, 2002

your Southern lingo makes me think of cheesy 1960s bugglegum pop every time you use it

Hey man, Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth....
posted by jonmc at 8:01 AM on April 9, 2002

*supports rodii supporting rory *
posted by goneill at 8:15 AM on April 9, 2002

If anyone is still reading this thread, I'd like to say that I vote against one-word/non-descriptive posts just because they make it easier for double posts to happen. When someone else stumbles upon this story, how would they know that it's already been posted unless they followed the original link or read the thread? It wouldn't even show up in a search.
posted by turaho at 8:32 AM on April 9, 2002

I accuse somebody of doing some damn thing that pissed me off sometime.

And I will consequently name that transgressor as my eternal nemesis and go 'nyuk nyuk nyuk' (a la Fred Flinstone's nemesis in that episode that I can't quite remember) at him and/or her from now until the eventual heat death of the Mefi-universe.

J'accuse!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:40 AM on April 9, 2002

His Name Was Fred Flintstone.

His Name Was Fred Flintstone.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:42 AM on April 9, 2002

Fear a link? Click thee not, Mr. Curious!

I accuse Stavros of gratuitous Flinstonian flibberty-gibettry. Could this be an indication the Death of Metafilter As We Know It [DoMAWKI]? Discuss.

posted by UncleFes at 8:49 AM on April 9, 2002

MeFi is a phoenix, it dies everyday, and is reborn every night or vice a versa.
posted by riffola at 8:55 AM on April 9, 2002

*rubs Fes's belly*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:55 AM on April 9, 2002

That was funny, honey.
posted by jennyb at 9:00 AM on April 9, 2002

*kicks leg uncontrollably*
posted by UncleFes at 9:31 AM on April 9, 2002

OK, stav, if you're gonna rub his belly, it's gonna be you who has to paper-train him.
posted by jonmc at 9:39 AM on April 9, 2002

*arranges Stavros and Fes into a disturbing version of the Pieta*
posted by Kafkaesque at 9:39 AM on April 9, 2002

People define themselves as posters by how they select and craft their posts (and replies). A one-word post is a stylistic choice. If it represents a style that doesn't find an audience, because it annoys or offends readers, then the post--and poster-- will languish. It's a technique, and I think we are all capable of assessing how successful it is/isn't. A discussion like this can certainly get us all thinking about it, but somehow, at the same time, seems superfluous.

You want me to read your link, hook me. Rarely indeed will you do that with a single word.
posted by rushmc at 9:48 AM on April 9, 2002

Even the clumsiest poster can cut and paste from the website if it comes to that...many times I have chosen to do just that if I am not feeling particularly clever at the moment. Frankly I have to agree with rushmc-it would be a rare case indeed where a single word would be enough for a post description.
And not to beat a dead horse, the shock I underwent when I clicked the link to the photograph of the sexual assault was....well, it was shocking. Frankly, there are victims out there of posttraumatic stress disorder(thankfully I am not one) that could have been thrown for a serious loop with that. I think it would have been much kinder to have given some sort of warning. I correspond with a few of these people and something like that would have affected them for days. But, lesson learned, we will go on, I think.
As for the rest, when i am pressed for time, I am not so curious to check out links that don't give me enough information. So if you wish to be read by the masses, advertise!
posted by bunnyfire at 10:07 AM on April 9, 2002

put a penny in my belly!

oops, wrong thread.
posted by mcsweetie at 10:42 AM on April 9, 2002

the only thing bunnyfire did to offend me was capitalize part of my name.

anyone whom thinks otherwise can pull their heads out of their asses.

and then visit my site.

;)
posted by jcterminal at 3:01 PM on April 9, 2002

"Your age and location do not give you a free pass on offending people."

nope! but my wit and wisdom do!

ha.
posted by jcterminal at 3:03 PM on April 9, 2002

"the shock I underwent when I clicked the link to the photograph of the sexual assault was...."

It was wrong to post that picture up without a link descriptor, having done so with the expressed belief that people needed to be tricked into seeing it. Nobody likes being "tricked" or when they are tricked, to be told that it was "good for them" People here are adults, and quite capable of making their own mind up about visiting certain links or certain sites. Naturally, somebody who didn't want to view the photo also didn't have a place discussing it in-thread. But nobody is saying that and it isn't the issue here.
posted by lucien at 3:13 PM on April 9, 2002

I'm not for one-word posts either, but a bit of advice for the skeptical: scan the comments (if there are any) real quick before clicking. It will hopefully give you a bit of idea what's going on.
posted by Ufez Jones at 3:45 PM on April 9, 2002

If you thought you had to see the photo then you missed the point of the Media News article. Based on the MeFi thread, which mulled over specific aspects of the photo's content, it seems most did not pick up on the Media News' ethics debate. I wonder if the reaction BlueTrain was looking for from the photo actually influenced people to comment immediately without reading the article first. Of course anyone is welcome to comment in-thread, but reading the article would have provided those commenting with a richer understanding of the issues behind the photo's controversy. A brief warning for the photo and description of the article would have served the interests of everyone, including those that would have prefered to read the article without viewing the photo and those that skipped the post entirely.
posted by yonderboy at 6:09 PM on April 9, 2002

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