Myopic Filter

December 22, 2011 4:52 PM

MetaFilter hall monitors deleted my post after ignoring it twice because they have the souls of Tracy Flick or because they are intimidated by the CIA.

But seriously, great links to that weekold Bill Keller column and Felix Salmon's four or five year old daily linkdump today you guys. Mad respect.

posted by evabraunstein to Etiquette/Policy at 4:52 PM (73 comments total)

Or maybe it's because you posted something you wrote in the first comment as a backdoor self link?
posted by furiousxgeorge at 4:55 PM on December 22, 2011 [8 favorites]

I would have popcorn but I just had cheese on toast.
posted by By The Grace of God at 4:56 PM on December 22, 2011 [8 favorites]

Also, by the way, I know a dozen editors and writers who self-link on here all the time without telling you guys, and no one deletes their posts because they obviously don't own up to it. But hey that "list of end of year lists" someone totally unconflicted just posted, GREAT FIND.
posted by evabraunstein at 4:56 PM on December 22, 2011

You seem to be on MeFi to pimp your own stuff, which isn't exactly what it's here for. But props for the CIA jab, because I'm sure that's pretty accurate.
posted by donnagirl at 4:58 PM on December 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

Or maybe A CONSIDERABLE FUCKING PERCENTAGE OF POSTS ON THIS SITE ARE SELF-LINKS AND MY MISTAKE WAS OWNING UP TO IT, TOOLS.
posted by evabraunstein at 4:58 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

if you know of a self linker you can make the site a better place by contacting the mods. but, then, you'd probably consider that being a "hall monitor."
posted by nadawi at 4:58 PM on December 22, 2011 [6 favorites]

Or because of the obviously editorializing style of the post?

Also, by the way, I know a dozen editors and writers who self-link on here all the time without telling you guys

It's perfectly possible, no reason not to try and prevent it though.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 4:58 PM on December 22, 2011

So, not only do you post weirdly ax-grindy posts, but you also don't bother to flag or alert mods to the biggest single breach of community standards -- the lone inviolable rule that this site has. And then you come to MetaTalk to complain?

Look after your own house before telling somebody else that there's is dirty.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 4:58 PM on December 22, 2011 [28 favorites]

theirs
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 4:58 PM on December 22, 2011 [4 favorites]

i think we can all agree, mistakes were made.
posted by nadawi at 4:59 PM on December 22, 2011 [13 favorites]

I was writing you an email in response to the email you sent me after the email you sent that only said "fuck you" in the subject line and then your address. Here is what I was writing.

Third time's the charm?

Look, it looks like you know how to find the contact form and it's my job to talk to you and be decent to you, so here goes....

We changed servers over the weekend. As a result the usual emails that go to Matt, the guy who runs the site weren't getting delivered. He usually manages the Projects queue. We had a bunch of stuff piled up that no one knew wasn't getting looked at and he and I did a big pass through the list. If you had a problem or a question about why things didn't get approved, it would have been a good idea to drop us an email. We're here and available to talk to you and can answer questions.

You seem to be someone who reads but doesn't post here, totally okay. But, we have a lot of general guidelines about how posts to the front page need to work and what flies and what doesn't fly. Your post was an axe-grind. This is true even if it espouses a point that I agree with, which it basically does. That's not okay here. It's also really not okay to post a link to the thing you wrote in the first comment and then talk to us about how you tried submitting it to Projects. If you send us email you get a response within the hour, usually within 15 minutes almost all the time. I get that that not may be the case where you're used to working [many places where contact forms are useless] but not contacting us before a stunt like that isn't okay.

What I'd suggest at this point is posting a non-ranting post to Projects that is a lot more "I wrote this, did a lot of research and it's an important story" and a lot less looking like a front page post that also has your content. If people pick up on it, and I suspect they might, but maybe not during a holiday week, then someone else is likely to post it to the front page [please don't have a friend do it though, that's a big Not Okay thing] and they'll also comment on it which might be useful to you.

You have to sort of realize that even though we've had some good Occupy threads, they're not the main purpose of the site so posts still have to meet general site guidelines. It may just be that there's not a good fit between what you want to say here and how you're allowed to say it in which case, well, sorry it didn't work out.

Was just going to send it, saw this post. I don't know why you're so angry. That's my advice.

xo

your hall monitor.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:59 PM on December 22, 2011 [70 favorites]

Come on, guys. evabraunstein is using caps here. It must be serious.
posted by brundlefly at 4:59 PM on December 22, 2011 [14 favorites]

If you were upset about your Projects post not getting approved, it would have been fine to write to the contact form and ask about it. Matt's good about providing feedback on that stuff when folks ask.

As a post to the front page of Metafilter, what you put up this afternoon was heavy on the editorializing, something that is pretty consistently discouraged. It'd be an interesting post for your own blog, but the front page isn't that.

Speculating about the content of our souls, sending us email to say "fuck you", and crapping on other posts you dislike are all things that don't really improve the situation.

You seem to be not really getting a great handle on Mefi so far. Which is fine, but that's more of a "lurk more, learn how this place works" thing than a "start railing at everybody" thing if this is intended to be anything other than a grandstanding flameout.

Also, by the way, I know a dozen editors and writers who self-link on here all the time without telling you guys, and no one deletes their posts because they obviously don't own up to it.

Then they are duplicitous assholes. You could let them know that that's a shitty thing to do next time you run into them, I guess.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:59 PM on December 22, 2011 [20 favorites]

I love finding a spammer. I go all up to the contact form and submit that shit and it delights me and makes my day! Hall monitor pride.
posted by By The Grace of God at 5:00 PM on December 22, 2011 [15 favorites]

Never ascribe to malice what can just as easily be explained by "whoops, didn't see your Project."

And really, just ask.
posted by That's Numberwang! at 5:03 PM on December 22, 2011

I POSTED THIS TWICE TO PROJECTS, VERY PAINSTAKINGLY, WITH NO RESPONSE. I CHANGED IT CONSIDERABLY EACH TIME I POSTED IT TO TRY AND MAKE IT MORE APPROPRIATE. FOR SOME REASON, NO ONE SAW IT. I GOT NO RESPONSE. I TRIED TRIED TRIED TO DO THIS THE RIGHT WAY. ALSO THIS IS WHY I DID NOT ACTUALLY LINK UNTIL THE COMMENTS. AND ALSO ALSO, GUYS, IT IS REALLY NOT AN ODDBALL TOPIC. IT IS PRETTY SQUARELY IN THE REALM OF WHAT READERS ARE INTERESTED, AS EVIDENCED BY THE FIRST POST I WROTE.

sorry also by the way "fuck you" is just like how I express affection.

Also, in the past when I have posted things to Projects, this has gone smoothly. I thought maybe the CIA or holidays were interfering this time.

And finally, no I'm not going to report self-linkers. This job is debasing enough as it is, don't you agree?

XO
posted by evabraunstein at 5:04 PM on December 22, 2011

I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you all that I'm really Scott Adams.
posted by gerryblog at 5:05 PM on December 22, 2011 [35 favorites]

No, I'm Scott Adams!
posted by brundlefly at 5:06 PM on December 22, 2011

I'm Adams Scott!
posted by nadawi at 5:07 PM on December 22, 2011

I'm Spartacus! Wait, I did that wrong.
posted by supercrayon at 5:07 PM on December 22, 2011 [5 favorites]

The best way to find out why a project didn't get approved (or a post got deleted, or anything really) is to ask us either:

- via the Contact form (best)
- via memail to whichever one of us you like best (usually workable, but a bit iffy as to response time)
- via MetaTalk (if it seems to require community discussion)

It's not at all effective to try to find a way around the site rules to make it fit in somewhere any old way. You don't get points for creativity with self-linking.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 5:08 PM on December 22, 2011 [4 favorites]

It's nothing to boast about, but I do always feel a sense of relief when someone starts kneeing the mods in the groin, because I figure that - for all the unintended grief I've caused them - I must surely seem at least somewhat less of an annoyance by comparison.
posted by Trurl at 5:08 PM on December 22, 2011 [21 favorites]

Trurl,

That's hardly what the mods tell me.
posted by lukemeister at 5:09 PM on December 22, 2011

sorry also by the way "fuck you" is just like how I express affection.

My suggestion: Stick to common usage, instead of making up your own usage and then later explaining that that's how you meant it, instead of how everybody else in the world will understand it. Doing otherwise makes people suspect you may be a dissembling liar trying to cover for egregious misbehavior.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 5:09 PM on December 22, 2011 [29 favorites]

Sweet black baby Jesus, what kind of food kitchen is this?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:09 PM on December 22, 2011 [9 favorites]

sorry also by the way "fuck you" is just like how I express affection.

That and being obsessed WITH THE ALL CAPS YOU ARE MAKING PEOPLE THINK YOU ARE CRAZY AND DISCOUNT EVERYTHING YOU WRITE. And not just here.
posted by shothotbot at 5:10 PM on December 22, 2011 [16 favorites]

Metafilter: fuck you is just like how I may express affection.
posted by By The Grace of God at 5:10 PM on December 22, 2011 [23 favorites]

If there really are "a dozen editors self-linking" here, and you can expose then, DO IT or GTFO.
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:13 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

*frantically scans grassy knoll*
posted by lukemeister at 5:14 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I POSTED THIS TWICE TO PROJECTS, VERY PAINSTAKINGLY, WITH NO RESPONSE.

Again, this is where you could have dropped us a line instead of resorting to bullshit sneers about the CIA or Election.

AND ALSO ALSO, GUYS, IT IS REALLY NOT AN ODDBALL TOPIC.

The claim is not that it's an oddball topic—as you noted yourself, PERF has been posted about before—but that the format of the post did not make sense for the specific style of Metafilter. You are accustomed to writing elsewhere, and that's fine, but if you're posting here you need to get familiar with the site culture here or risk running into friction when you post stuff that doesn't meet general community expectations. There is no Get Out Of Knowing Where You Are Free card.

ALSO THIS IS WHY I DID NOT ACTUALLY LINK UNTIL THE COMMENTS.

You'll note that you got your post deleted instead of your account banned entirely, because we're willing to draw a distinction here between "bad idea maybe motivated by misunderstanding" and "straight up self-linking in the post". I don't know what you're hoping for here, given that your whole approach has had zero engagement with the site and community on its own terms and a ton of abrasive behavior. A lot of take there and no give; I'm not sure what we're supposed to be getting out of this besides a headache based on your own culture shock on the site.

If you actually have some kind of interest in being here as a mefite and not just using this as a promotional platform for your own work, that's fine and we'll try to work with you, but man oh man do you need to turn this shit around a bit in that case and meet us halfway.

And finally, no I'm not going to report self-linkers.

You might nudge them to think about cutting that shit out of their own accord, if you give the least shit about this place. But I'm not sure there's any point in discussing this angle if your only reason for bringing it up is to try and justify questionable posts by pointing fingers vaguely at people doing it worse.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:15 PM on December 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

Black Jesus porridge is mmmm good!
posted by Burhanistan at 5:15 PM on December 22, 2011

Hey guys, it's precisely because I "get" what MeFi is that I don't post on here much. Everyone I know IRL is a writer. I couldn't post on here without feeling conflicted about it. I also, apparently, cannot link to anything without "editorializing."

So I mostly just read the site and play by the rules. I have long admired it for precisely the reason that led me to take such pains to do this honestly. Which is not its pedantic adherence to its code of ethics so much as its consistency of good interesting content which happens to be promoted by the ethics/rules thing. Usually. But not, I submit, in this case.

My attributing the oversight to malice/a CIA conspiracy was a joke.

Happy holidays, hall monitors. (I hope this minor meltdown has at least been somewhat entertaining.)
posted by evabraunstein at 5:16 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

I AM JUST NOT THAT UPSET BY THIS SOAP OPERA.
posted by y2karl at 5:17 PM on December 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

I'm on tenterhooks here.
posted by subbes at 5:20 PM on December 22, 2011

(I hope this minor meltdown has at least been somewhat entertaining.)

More disappointing, really. I've liked some of the stuff you've written elsewhere; it kinda sucks to see you blow it like this.
posted by asterix at 5:20 PM on December 22, 2011 [10 favorites]

So I mostly just read the site and play by the rules.

So....what, you were saving the temper tantrum up until you had enough guts to be a COMPLETE attention whore or something?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:20 PM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

And to all, a good night.
posted by lukemeister at 5:20 PM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

NEXT TIME USE UNDERLINED ALL-CAPS BOLD ITALIC.
posted by birdherder at 5:20 PM on December 22, 2011 [37 favorites]

My attributing the oversight to malice/a CIA conspiracy was a joke.

Really? Because the CIA definitely intimidate me.
posted by philip-random at 5:21 PM on December 22, 2011

Cortex and Jess, you two have the patience of a Saint.

This dude(ette) tell you to "fuck off" and you respond with polite, thoughtful posts trying to actually help him/her be a better Metafilter citizen. I would have hauled out the BanHammer in about 10 seconds.

You guys rock.
posted by FfejL at 5:21 PM on December 22, 2011 [54 favorites]

I'm not satisfied by this. Could you maybe flip out a bit more before just acquiescing like that? Thx
posted by Burhanistan at 5:22 PM on December 22, 2011 [4 favorites]

This job is debasing enough as it is, don't you agree?


What? You don't win friends with salad or with insults.
posted by liketitanic at 5:22 PM on December 22, 2011 [5 favorites]

Merrrrrrry Christmas!
posted by FunkyHelix at 5:25 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Asterix: shut up. Ffejl: suckup. Jess: again, sorry. I would ban me. But then I wouldn't get to watch me make an ass of myself while the fucking sycophantic regular MeFiers campaign for your canonization. So you win.
posted by evabraunstein at 5:25 PM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

You are delicious.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 5:27 PM on December 22, 2011 [5 favorites]

So, what WAS the frequency, Kenneth?
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:27 PM on December 22, 2011 [75 favorites]

Actually, I'm irregular, the doc is looking into it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:27 PM on December 22, 2011

I see that Christmas is early this year.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:29 PM on December 22, 2011

Are you off your meds or something? The only thing your supposedly witty but really off-kilter banter is doing is marking you as a mefite to avoid.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 5:29 PM on December 22, 2011 [4 favorites]

The holidays are always a bit rough.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 5:29 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

RICK

fuck you is how i feel inside
posted by villanelles at dawn at 5:29 PM on December 22, 2011 [88 favorites]

Dear Santa: Thanks, I DO feel better about myself and a little less self- conscious and awkward now!

Big thanks again for coming through on what I figured would be a bit of a tall order,

Alvy &
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:32 PM on December 22, 2011 [6 favorites]

Asterix: shut up.

Sorry. I, uh, hate everything you've ever written and think a pre-holiday meltdown is the greatest thing ever?
posted by asterix at 5:32 PM on December 22, 2011 [44 favorites]

When St. Alia is scoring points off you, you've gone about as far off the community consensus as possible.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 5:33 PM on December 22, 2011 [106 favorites]

I asked Santa for a great MeTa flame out this year, and I got it! HE IS REAL!
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:34 PM on December 22, 2011 [5 favorites]

So, uh, wait, not only are you having a MefiMeltdown (MeMe), you're doing so under a name that's easily linked to your professional writing?


You've got giant, uh, containers full of moxie.
posted by subbes at 5:35 PM on December 22, 2011 [14 favorites]

NEXT WEEK: MAKING DEVIL'S TOWER OUT OF MASHED POTATOS.
posted by y2karl at 5:36 PM on December 22, 2011 [10 favorites]

So you win.

No, no, evabraunstein, you win! You're winning!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:37 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just a reminder, folks: please don't actually post identifying information about other people here.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 5:37 PM on December 22, 2011

Tags:
grievance


Festivus doesn't start until tomorrow. HTH
posted by cnelson at 5:38 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

My attributing the oversight to malice/a CIA conspiracy was a joke.

It's only funny until the black helicopters show up.
posted by Trurl at 5:38 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Lord is my Shotgun
posted by Burhanistan at 5:39 PM on December 22, 2011

If that was pointed at me, R_N, I was merely referring to the fact that the meltee has posts in projects which link to their bylines, as well as listing their name in their profile. I think in such cases it's not so much "posting identifying information" as it is "pointing out that meltee has identified themselves."
posted by subbes at 5:42 PM on December 22, 2011

I sadly admit, I read MetaTalk for this kind of odd thread.

I desperately need a better hobby.
posted by Packed Lunch at 5:42 PM on December 22, 2011 [22 favorites]

In all seriousness, I can understand how our mutual responses might seem like sycophantic behavior. But almost everybody here has, at some point, had an interaction with the mods that they regret, because they weren't as cool headed as they might have been. And the mods have responded, with utter consistency, with firm but more than fair explanations, when most of us would simply have come back swinging. And they do this because their primary concern is the community, and they take enormous care not to alienate members of the community, but instead to clarify community norms. Because everybody has a bad day, or isn't clear on what is expected, and the most hotheaded person is a potential asset to MetaFilter, given the chance.

Most of us have been through it. Some of us multiple times. And perhaps we could have a bit more patience when you're going through it, but, then, as i said, some of us are hotheads. But it especially rankles to see somebody go after a mod who has treated us fairly and decently, and you're not likely to get a good response for that sort of behavior. Except from the mods, who will treat you respectfully and patiently, which is why they deserve better.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 5:43 PM on December 22, 2011 [17 favorites]

DEAR METAFILTER, I AM FEELING SO OVERWHELMED, FROM ALL THE END-OF-YEAR LISTICLES LINKWHORING THEMSELVES OUT ON THE INTERNET RIGHT NOW, MAYBE IT'S THE ADDERALL SHORTAGE BUT I JUST CAN'T SEEM TO FIGURE OUT WHICH WORTHLESS LISTICLE TO READ NUMBER 1ST, PERHAPS YOU COULD MAKE THE LIVES OF CONSENSUS MEFITES LIKE MYSELF EASIER SOMEHOW BY…
oh nm
posted by evabraunstein at 5:43 PM on December 22, 2011 [6 favorites]

Well, I for one would like to know more about the dozen editors and writers who self-link here all the time.
posted by box at 5:44 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

On the other hand, it sort of seems like you want to self destruct. Go to it. I have a feeling you may exceed our wildest hopes.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 5:45 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

If that was pointed at me

It was pointed at someone who used her name, not you.

evabraunstein, do you need anything else from us at this point?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:45 PM on December 22, 2011

Are you for real? Is this a christmas present?
posted by villanelles at dawn at 5:45 PM on December 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

Okie doke, probably enough of this. evabraunstein, if you have any future questions about how to get along on the site and can manage to avoid prefacing them with Ha Ha Geddit-flavored "fuck you" salutations, feel free to hit us up at the contact form.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:45 PM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

One of these days I'm going to start a Metatalk thread to invite the mods to let out all the stored up "go fucking take a flying fucking fuck, you fucking fuckwits" they must surely have after all these threads where they act amazingly professional and diplomatic towards people that in no way deserve it.

Then I'm going to send them all cookies with other cookies baked inside.
posted by bondcliff at 5:45 PM on December 22, 2011 [22 favorites]

You guys, you guys, did you know the porn version of Election is called Boner?
posted by mintcake! at 5:45 PM on December 22, 2011 [8 favorites]