What happens when a link appears on the FPP and the content owner doesn't like it?
On a mailing list elsewhere, there is currently a discussion about a prolific blogger who is into the same subject as the mailing list (music-related) who seems to live by the mantra, "it is better to seek forgiveness than permission." He posts content without asking, and gets butthurt when someone asks him to remove it. This has caused many complaints about this person and blog. Someone in the discussion about said blogger posed this question:
I wonder how many people get pissed off at Boing Boing or Metafilter when someone links to their page and writes a blurb about it without their permission?
So, what's the answer, Mefites & Mods?
posted by luckynerd to Etiquette/Policy at 9:54 PM (31 comments total)
2 users marked this as a favorite
1. Someone's content gets ganked and posted to MeFi via something else [someone's Tumblr, other grey-market site] and they're steamed about it. Depending on what the situation is, it's possible we'd close the post down. This doesn't happen very often, actually. We sometimes have people third-party pissed off about stuff that's linked from MeFi that's quasi-legit and that's always a tricky thing. We're very happy to talk to people and try to work things out with them
2. Someone gets their stuff linked to and discussion ensues that they may or may not be psyched about. We'll almost always offer to give them a free account if they want to come tell their side of the story. Sometimes this goes well, sometimes not so well. It can be sort of a set-up I'm afraid sometimes because people who show up pre-pissed off and don't know the culture here too well [as people wouldn't if they haven't spent any time here] can wind up not having the best discussion here. It's always great when the subject of a post shows up and is stoked about whatever, it's less great when the subject shows up and is angry, or worse, really freaked out and unhappy or litigous.
Then there's the AskMe situation where someone has a bad experience with a dentist/doctor/business person/whatever and bitches about it [in an appropriate thread] and the person finds that complaint and wants to do something about it. This can be tough because often the thread is closed, the complainer is pseudonymous and there's only so much we can do. We take this stuff on a case by case basis.
This sort of thing is one of the reason I have a bit of a "quit with all the grar" approach sometimes. Not only do I think that it just spreads general ill will, but it can also turn into these more far-reaching repercussions years later that we-as-mods need to finesse and manage. I don't think we've many long term enemies, but having those conversations with upset people is always not super simple.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:04 PM on August 9, 2011 [6 favorites]