I don't see what was wrong with my post, and I'd like to know why it got deleted. July 17, 2012 12:21 PM   Subscribe

Why was my post regarding the interview with the lifeguard working at the pool in Brooklyn deleted? I don't see anything wrong with it.
posted by bookman117 to MetaFilter-Related at 12:21 PM (80 comments total)

My guess is the "More inside" editorializing is what ultimately killed it.
posted by crunchland at 12:23 PM on July 17, 2012


This post was deleted for the following reason: Wee NYPost piece plus personal commentary is more of a "post this on your blog" thing than a good metafilter post. -- cortex

That seems pretty straight forward.
posted by zamboni at 12:23 PM on July 17, 2012 [2 favorites]


Ok. I guess I see that. On the other hand, I also editorialized two of my other posts and they didn't get deleted, but whatever it's no big deal.
posted by bookman117 at 12:24 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


Two issues:

1. It was a little like 700 word news-of-the-weird/ugly thing of the sort that's not really a great foundation for a metafilter post to begin with.

2. Your personal note in the more inside is totally at odds with the expectation that posters won't editorialize or otherwise use Metafilter posts as a sort of chatty "here's my opinion" spot.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:25 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


On the other hand, I also editorialized two of my other posts and they didn't get deleted

Which, not a huge deal but something to avoid going forward, yeah, though neither of them were anything like "lol, clusterfuck".

It's totally fine for you to have an opinion about the stuff you're posting about, but just save it for a comment later in the thread itself once the post has been up for a while.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:27 PM on July 17, 2012


Poop.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:28 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh wow, the idea of lol this mayhem is entertaining at a pool where people are swimming is just not something I would expect on MetaFilter. I mean, you know that drowning is fatal, right?
posted by kate blank at 12:32 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


On the other hand, I also editorialized two of my other posts and they didn't get deleted, but whatever it's no big deal.

Yeah don't do that.
posted by carsonb at 12:32 PM on July 17, 2012 [4 favorites]


I know MeTa threads aren't supposed to serve as proxies for deleted posts, but FIVE MINUTES FOR POOP? Twenty-four hours of bleachy scrubbing hardly seems enough.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:36 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


I was fine with the post above the fold, but then you said "Lol," and that was the clincher for me.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:36 PM on July 17, 2012 [20 favorites]


K, I understand where you're coming from now and I won't editorialize anymore when I post, and I'm no longer contesting the deletion, but it also seems y'all had issues with the article itself aside from that, which is something I still don't really get, but it's fine it's not like I really cared all that much about that post anyway.
posted by bookman117 at 12:37 PM on July 17, 2012


I know MeTa threads aren't supposed to serve as proxies for deleted posts, but

I am always confused when people type stuff like this and then continue typing afterward.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:41 PM on July 17, 2012 [33 favorites]


I am growing increasingly irritated with people who complain about their very, very important deleted posts and obligatory links to same in MetaTalk.
posted by Wordwoman at 12:41 PM on July 17, 2012 [5 favorites]


I think there is probably a good post here about the current summer heat wave, the rise of crime/bad behavior in hot weather, and the racialized history of public swimming pools and beaches, that would include the NYPost interview. It just needs to be a lot deeper.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 12:42 PM on July 17, 2012 [5 favorites]


I am growing increasingly irritated

There's a cream for that.
posted by carsonb at 12:43 PM on July 17, 2012 [5 favorites]


I'm glad of this MetaTalk post because I'd been wondering why I couldn't get into the site for five minutes.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:44 PM on July 17, 2012 [7 favorites]


...but it also seems y'all had issues with the article itself aside from that, which is something I still don't really get...

If you're asking, my issue with it -- bear in mind I didn't flag it or anything because I really didn't care -- is that "teenagers are assholes at the municipal pool" isn't that interesting or novel of a subject.
posted by griphus at 12:44 PM on July 17, 2012


This may not have been a very good post for Metafilter, but as far as actual editorializing goes, "lol, what a clusterfuck" is a better statement on the election than anybody at the New York Times seems to have managed lately.
posted by koeselitz at 12:44 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


but it also seems y'all had issues with the article itself aside from that, which is something I still don't really get,

It is a blurb article about a pool that, aside from being a dormant dinosaur in hipsterville that suddenly got a new shot at life, is fairly irrelevant in the pantheon of pool history.

To put it another way, it just is not that interesting, controversial or relevant to anything other than that neighborhood.
posted by lampshade at 12:45 PM on July 17, 2012


Ah McCarren Park Pool, the only place where I have had the joy of being sexually harassed by a group of 11-13 year old boys when I was 21.
posted by cairdeas at 12:51 PM on July 17, 2012


"I know MeTa threads aren't supposed to serve as proxies for deleted posts, but"

I am always confused when people type stuff like this and then continue typing afterward.

The trick is, if you do continue to type in this sort of situation, to make the very last thing you type "CTRL+A, BACKSPACE". Best of both worlds.
posted by carsonb at 12:51 PM on July 17, 2012


This post was deleted for the following reason: the rule is five minutes for poop and 25 minutes for throw-up.
posted by mullacc at 12:52 PM on July 17, 2012 [15 favorites]


it also seems y'all had issues with the article itself aside from that, which is something I still don't really get, but it's fine it's not like I really cared all that much about that post anyway.

I think the issue is that the post is slight, without substance, and ultimately, without a lot of merit. You seem to understand this yourself given your own attitude toward the post. If you want to make a good post, it might be better to choose something that you are at least nominally excited about (although being too excited can lead to bad posts too.)
posted by OmieWise at 12:52 PM on July 17, 2012 [4 favorites]


I only saw the post after it was deleted and even then I tried to flag it as breaking the guidelines. To me, "I feel" has no place in a post on the blue.
posted by troika at 12:52 PM on July 17, 2012


Now, if it was about a celebrity apologizing for pooping in the pool...
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:53 PM on July 17, 2012


We did have Scott Adams apologize for peeing in our cesspool, does that count?
posted by never used baby shoes at 1:04 PM on July 17, 2012


Did he ever apologize? I don't seem to recall him ever doing so.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:05 PM on July 17, 2012


"lol, what a clusterfuck" is a better statement on the election than anybody at the New York Times seems to have managed lately.

Woo-hoo! And I was afraid there might be a thread this month that didn't drag in the U.S. election in some way...
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:15 PM on July 17, 2012


it's not like I really cared all that much about that post anyway.

Bad idea to pull the trigger posting it to the blue, then.
posted by emelenjr at 1:19 PM on July 17, 2012


cortex: "I am always confused when people type stuff like this and then continue typing afterward."

It's like when you say something offensive but preface it with "No offense, but..." It means you have immunity from consequences! Because magic words!

Sorry, cortex. I'll try harder to resist next time.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:19 PM on July 17, 2012


Did he ever apologize? I don't seem to recall him ever doing so.

It's kinda a backhanded apology, but there it is.
posted by never used baby shoes at 1:20 PM on July 17, 2012


but it's fine it's not like I really cared all that much about that post anyway.

Here's me complaining:

But you should care about your post. Your post should be something interesting or thought-provoking, or in some way the best of the web. Why are you making posts you don't care about? Grar.

And next time you get a post deleted, email the mods with your question as to why, if you don't find the explanation clear enough. Fer chrissake.
posted by Specklet at 1:21 PM on July 17, 2012 [9 favorites]


No praise, but you're clever and handsome. Yeah. Doesn't work in reverse either.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:21 PM on July 17, 2012 [6 favorites]


It was a single link to a blog-like article about a situation that, while interesting and relevant to residents of the neighbourhood, is not really discussion-worthy or particularly special in any way to others.

Not best of the web by any measure.
posted by sid at 1:24 PM on July 17, 2012


I am always confused when people type stuff like this and then continue typing afterward.

It may be automatic writing. Are we sure ghosts aren't behind it?
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:37 PM on July 17, 2012


I had not heard of floating turds in a public pool before. Truly America has descended into a barbaric wasteland.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:39 PM on July 17, 2012


Sorry, cortex. I'll try harder to resist next time.

Aw, hugs.

posted by cortex (staff) at 1:44 PM on July 17, 2012 [5 favorites]


KokuRyu: "I had not heard of floating turds in a public pool before. Truly America has descended into a barbaric wasteland."

Really?
posted by Chrysostom at 1:57 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


It was in the baby pool, KokuRyu. As a former lifeguard I can vouch for babies shitting in pools a lot.

In the big pool with a deep end there was only one Turd Incident that I remember, and I believe that the malefactor was a noted jerkweed who did it on purpose.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:57 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


Setting aside the slightness and alleged un-interestingness of the post itself. If we were to focus strictly on the More Inside editorializing and, thought experiment, let's say that was the sole reason this got deleted ... well, that's just kinda strange, because if he had said that exact same thing in the first comment, it would have been fine. So we're literally talking about moving one line of text a handful of pixels down, and that changes whether it's an acceptable post?

Just seems like a strange, arbitrary standard.
posted by jbickers at 2:01 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


Well, a couple things:

- The more inside text is part of the content of the post itself and gets syndicated just like the above-the-fold bit. So for the great big pile of people and blogs that get Mefi content via RSS, "lol, clusterfuck" is part of the package. Not really okay.

- Dropping some editorial comment immediately into a thread as the first comment, while less strictly problematic because the above doesn't apply, is still not anything we see as being good form, and if we see someone doing that regularly we will tell them to cut it out as well and depending on the comment may well nix it.

You make a post and then it belongs to the whole userbase. It shouldn't be something that comes with a "and here's what I have to say about it!" sort of set-and-spike routine, whether in the post proper or in comment numero uno.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:10 PM on July 17, 2012 [4 favorites]


- The more inside text is part of the content of the post itself and gets syndicated just like the above-the-fold bit. So for the great big pile of people and blogs that get Mefi content via RSS, "lol, clusterfuck" is part of the package. Not really okay.

Hadn't realized that. That makes perfect sense.
posted by jbickers at 2:17 PM on July 17, 2012


The editorializing policy is weird, since it seems to depend on the controversy level of the content of the post to determine if it is allowed or not. Best to just leave it out entirely.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 2:40 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


I know this is going to make me come off like an asshole, but
posted by cjorgensen at 2:42 PM on July 17, 2012 [3 favorites]


WELCOME TO OUR SWIMMING ---L.
NOTICE THERE IS NO POO IN POOL.
KEEP IT THAT WAY.
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:50 PM on July 17, 2012 [5 favorites]


furiousxgeorge: “The editorializing policy is weird, since it seems to depend on the controversy level of the content of the post to determine if it is allowed or not. Best to just leave it out entirely.”

The difference between fact and opinion isn't a level of controversy.
posted by koeselitz at 2:51 PM on July 17, 2012


It's like when you say something offensive but preface it with "No offense, but..." It means you have immunity from consequences! Because magic words!

"No offense, and I really don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you're ugly crippled and fat."
posted by Sebmojo at 2:52 PM on July 17, 2012


you're ugly crippled and fat.

So, if someone is "ugly crippled" does that mean that they are ugly, or not ugly...
posted by HuronBob at 3:03 PM on July 17, 2012


Metafilter: Turd Incident
posted by The Whelk at 3:20 PM on July 17, 2012


I know MeTa threads aren't supposed to serve as proxies for deleted posts, but

Is it just me, or does "deleted post butt" sound like an unpleasant syndrome that comes from excessive cycling?
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:25 PM on July 17, 2012 [3 favorites]


It's a post butt world.
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:35 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


Yeah, it's actually kind of offensive. "I wouldn't mind watching some young lifeguards literally putting up with shit and maybe watching someone attack them while they try to keep their jobs and the 13 something they are being paid per hour". That's not very "LOL" in my book.
posted by bquarters at 3:41 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


furiousxgeorge: “The editorializing policy is weird, since it seems to depend on the controversy level of the content of the post to determine if it is allowed or not. Best to just leave it out entirely.”

The difference between fact and opinion isn't a level of controversy.


I know, that's what makes the policy on editorializing so confusing. Controversy should not be the standard, opinion should either be allowed or not allowed.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 3:41 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


The world is complicated and strict binaries are hard to make work well, which is why we have so few of them around here. Our general expectation is for people to try and keep the editorializing out of their posts, and we'd prefer that people were just consistent about that period, but it is in fact a more pressing issue for pushy or hot-button or soapboxing stuff than it is for e.g. "this is neat!" in response to something posted because someone thinks it's neat, and the degree to which we're going to worry about that in borderline cases will vary accordingly.

I don't know if you're thinking of some more specific situation than that. Feel free to clarify if you are.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:46 PM on July 17, 2012


I'd feel lucky, if I were you, that you weren't permanently banned for using 'lol' in a front page post on Metafilter. Seriously, come on.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:49 PM on July 17, 2012 [14 favorites]


I think this post bombed for two reasons - even if you could filter out your editorializing, the linked piece itself was a bit shallow.
It might be a drain, but maybe you could use a Mefi Mentor to run your posts past - just give them a skim - before you dive in and post them.

I got no sleep last night.
posted by Catch at 3:52 PM on July 17, 2012 [2 favorites]


Is it just me, or does "deleted post butt" sound like an unpleasant syndrome that comes from excessive cycling?

Sounds to me like an occupational hazard in the Pony Express.
posted by Catch at 3:54 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


Our general expectation is for people to try and keep the editorializing out of their posts, and we'd prefer that people were just consistent about that period

Okay got it. I was previously told that there was not a moderation stand against things that weren't controversial news/politics. This is more clear.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 3:55 PM on July 17, 2012


Is it just me, or does "deleted post butt" sound like an unpleasant syndrome that comes from excessive cycling?

Sounds like Romney's retroactive butt.
posted by Dumsnill at 4:02 PM on July 17, 2012


Eww. Glad I live in Queens. Heh.
posted by jonmc at 4:54 PM on July 17, 2012 [2 favorites]


I had not heard of floating turds in a public pool before. Truly America has descended into a barbaric wasteland.

Nah, for evidence of that you might want to go further north. A woman drowned in a public pool in Boston last summer; the body wasn't noticed until it floated to the surface three days later. Pool was open the whole time. Yet people are still going to the public pool near my house. Creeps me out every time I see 'em, can't help thinking about it.

On the other hand, it is a hundred degrees today for like the ninth time in three weeks and if I had a bunch of kids and no air conditioning I might manage to get over it.
posted by Diablevert at 6:10 PM on July 17, 2012


A woman drowned in a public pool in Boston last summer; the body wasn't noticed until it floated to the surface three days later. Pool was open the whole time.

Thank you my friend I was running low on nightmare fuel.
posted by winna at 6:27 PM on July 17, 2012 [10 favorites]


All these why did you delete my post posts are tiresome. Somebody complains here, instead of via the contact form, which is actually the better venue anyway. And one of the first 5 comments will be somebody else cutting and pasting the very clear explanation that the mod provided when the post was deleted.

If you have a question for the mods, email the mods. If you are looking for validation that you were wronged by the mods, my off-the-top-of -my-head calculation is that you have about an 80% change of not getting it. People here overwhelming side with the mods in these discussions.

tl;dr - Contact form. use it.
posted by COD at 6:31 PM on July 17, 2012 [3 favorites]


Yeah, next post I have deleted I swear to gog I am started a metatalk post to thank the mods for preventing me from looking like a total fuckwit.

tl;dr - poop.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:37 PM on July 17, 2012



Eww. Glad I live in Queens. Heh.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:25 PM on July 17, 2012


A woman drowned in a public pool in Boston last summer; the body wasn't noticed until it floated to the surface three days later.

That is just BIZARRE. Who goes swimming in a pool where you can't see the bottom? If she went down the slide with a 9 year old, presumably she knows the kid... he didn't notice anything?

Sorry winna.
posted by axiom at 8:35 PM on July 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


Babies pooping in pools is why I refuse to swim in any artificial body of water that isn't 99% hydrogen peroxide.
posted by Ritchie at 8:52 PM on July 17, 2012


Shit post.
posted by pompomtom at 8:59 PM on July 17, 2012 [2 favorites]



McCarren Park pool is a cool thing, an heirloom(?) of the LaGuardia administration and the WPA.

The least you could have done was link to the wikipedia article. Which I'll do right here.

It's a real shame that the same stupidity that closed it down in the 80's might well close it down again. A real case of 'this is why you can't have nice things.'
posted by From Bklyn at 5:53 AM on July 18, 2012


And here's another link about the pool, kind of tying in a bunch of other links to the pool's history and etc.
posted by From Bklyn at 5:54 AM on July 18, 2012


This needs not to become the proxy McCarren Park pool thread, sorry. If you'd like, you can go ahead and put together a post of your own, though.
posted by taz (staff) at 6:18 AM on July 18, 2012


Taz, it's this sort of blantant dictatorial style that is getting out of control around here. I'm tired of it and won't stand for it, you hear?!

*lies down, takes nap*
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:36 AM on July 18, 2012


OK. if you want to scrub those two links that's cool.
posted by From Bklyn at 7:32 AM on July 18, 2012


McCarren Park is rioting in the dark,
All those sweet young lifeguards are throwing down,
Someone left that turd in the pool,
And I don't think I can bear it,
'cause it took so long to clear it,
And I'll never swim the backstroke there again,
Oh no...
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:12 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


A woman drowned in a public pool in Boston last summer; the body wasn't noticed until it floated to the surface three days later.

This is crazy. I grew up in a poor area of Toronto, where the public pool was utterly crammed with kids every day in the summer between 2pm and 4:30pm ("public swim"), and it was always so clean and clear that we could go diving for pennies on the bottom of the deep end on fundays (special days where they held events, like penny diving). It wasn't that deep a pool - maybe only 11 feet in the deep end, but it was completely clear.
posted by jb at 8:16 AM on July 18, 2012


Why are you making posts you don't care about?

I remember someone once posted a video which, after people saying WTF? he admitted he hadn't watched more than 20 seconds of. Baffling behaviour.
posted by dobbs at 8:46 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Joseph’s body was finally found Tuesday night when some kids broke into the pool area.

Holy shit. Sounds like one of George Bluth's object lessons. And that's why you don't go swimming after hours!
posted by torticat at 9:02 AM on July 18, 2012 [4 favorites]


Exactly, and the wonderchicken forgot to link this. Everything MUST be in AD reference form.
posted by bquarters at 3:39 PM on July 18, 2012


Axiom, the kid went to two different lifeguards to report that she hadn't come up. One was on a break, the other said they were going to do a pool check in a few minutes.

The boy thinks that if he'd been bigger, he could have saved her.
posted by merelyglib at 8:15 PM on July 18, 2012


Axiom, the kid went to two different lifeguards to report that she hadn't come up. One was on a break, the other said they were going to do a pool check in a few minutes.

The boy thinks that if he'd been bigger, he could have saved her.
posted by merelyglib 7 hours ago [+]


That is breathtakingly sad.
posted by From Bklyn at 4:01 AM on July 19, 2012


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