Search isn't working for me.... May 10, 2002 2:16 PM Subscribe
Double-posting is haunting me. I always search for something I'm about to post. If there are no results on MeFi, then I go ahead and post it.
But, if someone posted the same subject, but with different wording, it doesn't show up. For example: I searched for same sex classrooms. I found out that there was alread a post on single sex classrooms. Is there any way for the search to connect to a database of synonomous phrases, and have the option to use that database?
But, if someone posted the same subject, but with different wording, it doesn't show up. For example: I searched for same sex classrooms. I found out that there was alread a post on single sex classrooms. Is there any way for the search to connect to a database of synonomous phrases, and have the option to use that database?
rcb is right, i think. if you don't follow metafilter too closely, definitely scan back 3 days or so of the front page before posting.
posted by moz at 2:35 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by moz at 2:35 PM on May 10, 2002
I'm not a search engine programmer, there's only so much I can do.
I should write up a guide to working around the limitations, and preventing double-posts. I wrote a short one here in metatalk before.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:53 PM on May 10, 2002
I should write up a guide to working around the limitations, and preventing double-posts. I wrote a short one here in metatalk before.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:53 PM on May 10, 2002
I often do scan MeFi, but my latest post was worded kind of weird (Bush wants to turn back the schoolclock to an eduational epoch sometime before 1972 [I wouldn't have thought that 'turning back the schoolclock' had anything to do with same-sex classes]). But I am at fault.
posted by Kevin Sanders at 3:21 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by Kevin Sanders at 3:21 PM on May 10, 2002
I think one of the issues is the 'spin' various people put on posts. If your post is to the same basic site as a previous post, but described in a different manner, it is difficult to see if you are double posting.
For example, I posted a link about the launch of G4TV, a new television network focused on videogames. I posted link to G4TV that described it being a new video game channel.
The poster before me showed a link to a Yahoo story about the network and focused on the idea that they were showing Pong 24 hrs/day.
We used different links, terms for the network (G4TV vs. G4 network), and even a different spin on the item.
Yes, a thorough reading of MeFi would have revealed this to me, but I was looking for a double post of content not a double post of the link.
It really has to do with everyone's individual DPAF (double post agitation factor). I have a low DPAF, while others have a high DPAF.
posted by Argyle at 3:22 PM on May 10, 2002
For example, I posted a link about the launch of G4TV, a new television network focused on videogames. I posted link to G4TV that described it being a new video game channel.
The poster before me showed a link to a Yahoo story about the network and focused on the idea that they were showing Pong 24 hrs/day.
We used different links, terms for the network (G4TV vs. G4 network), and even a different spin on the item.
Yes, a thorough reading of MeFi would have revealed this to me, but I was looking for a double post of content not a double post of the link.
It really has to do with everyone's individual DPAF (double post agitation factor). I have a low DPAF, while others have a high DPAF.
posted by Argyle at 3:22 PM on May 10, 2002
I think that double posts will happen despite the best intentions, and what is irritating to me are the self-righteous "gotcha's" that always ensue. . .
posted by Danf at 4:01 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by Danf at 4:01 PM on May 10, 2002
What about having a "keywords" field on the posting page, and then adding a keywords search function to the search page? So if i want to give my post an ambiguously worded intro (such as "I thought I'd heard every crazy idea in the world. And now I have.") I could then enter the relevant key terms into the keywords field (in this example, which I suddenly wish I hadn't chosen, "sweetrelease" "sweet release" "flavor" "oral sex"). Keywords are not displayed along with the post, but are stored in the DB and linked to the post and serve as a quick way to search prior postings.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 4:07 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by Shadowkeeper at 4:07 PM on May 10, 2002
And a pony.
posted by Shadowkeeper at 4:12 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by Shadowkeeper at 4:12 PM on May 10, 2002
I use the 'search URL' feature at Blogdex. It not only allows you to see if that specific link has been posted recently here at Metafilter but has the added advantage of telling you whether what you are about to post is 'stale' Internet-wise.
posted by vacapinta at 4:20 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by vacapinta at 4:20 PM on May 10, 2002
Ah, thats a good tip vacapinta.
posted by bittennails at 4:51 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by bittennails at 4:51 PM on May 10, 2002
Hey, Kevin, my advice to you is: If you have something you feel is interesting, and you've done a cursory review, go ahead and post it. What's the worst that could happen? Someone points out it's a DP and Matt eventually deletes it. In the meantime, you're likely to have piqued the curiosity of several people who never saw the first post. In other words, there's no reason to be paralyzed by the fear of a DP.
posted by pardonyou? at 8:41 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by pardonyou? at 8:41 PM on May 10, 2002
wow, that's incredibly self-serving advice there pardonyou?. I should add: always troll unless someone tells you otherwise, chatter unnecessarily until you have MeTa threads about it, and piss until the pool turns yellow.
posted by BlueTrain at 9:13 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by BlueTrain at 9:13 PM on May 10, 2002
"piss until the pool turns yellow"...that's going to take a small pool or a lot of beer.
posted by Mack Twain at 11:16 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by Mack Twain at 11:16 PM on May 10, 2002
I am not certain that "don't be paralyzed with fear" translates into "piss 'till the pool turns yellow." That might just be me though.
posted by Nothing at 11:44 PM on May 10, 2002
posted by Nothing at 11:44 PM on May 10, 2002
The more beer you drink the more transparent or water-like the piss becomes. Sometimes one needn't even flush the toilet it's so clear.
Blue Train: Please nix your stupid self righteousness. If you're so worried about metafilter, quit making it annoying.
I don't know what tact you were taking here. But I see BlueTrain, I read, and I say Happy Mother's Day!
BlueTrain: The Mother of Metafilter
---"Don't forget your jackets boys!"
posted by crasspastor at 3:39 AM on May 11, 2002
Blue Train: Please nix your stupid self righteousness. If you're so worried about metafilter, quit making it annoying.
I don't know what tact you were taking here. But I see BlueTrain, I read, and I say Happy Mother's Day!
BlueTrain: The Mother of Metafilter
---"Don't forget your jackets boys!"
posted by crasspastor at 3:39 AM on May 11, 2002
Vacapinta's advice is excellent -- in general before I post to the front page I use also several quick Google searches of MeFi with at least five likely keywords; sometimes more, if it's a meme that I've got any reason to think has spread widely.
This takes very little time, and it works well. I find at least 50% of the time that someone else has posted on exactly the same topic less than a month previously. Sometimes it's even more recent, just worded in a way that my eye passed over it on a crowded and noisy front page. You should suspect that if you noticed something, in a community this large, you were not the first. I think it's always worth it to help manage the signal-to-noise ratio.
posted by BT at 7:47 AM on May 11, 2002
This takes very little time, and it works well. I find at least 50% of the time that someone else has posted on exactly the same topic less than a month previously. Sometimes it's even more recent, just worded in a way that my eye passed over it on a crowded and noisy front page. You should suspect that if you noticed something, in a community this large, you were not the first. I think it's always worth it to help manage the signal-to-noise ratio.
posted by BT at 7:47 AM on May 11, 2002
Blue Train: Please nix your stupid self righteousness. If you're so worried about metafilter, quit making it annoying.
Hear, hear. Doubleposting is an unfortunate but inevitable outcome of the system here. Demonizing those who inadvertently doublepost despite being aware of and sensitive to the issue is counterproductive (and mean, in both senses of the word); there have been numerous testimonies of those unwilling to post at all because of the overzealous (and compulsive?) need to correct and condemn on the part of some here.
Your tone here, as elsewhere, is too belligerent by half.
posted by rushmc at 8:52 AM on May 11, 2002
Hear, hear. Doubleposting is an unfortunate but inevitable outcome of the system here. Demonizing those who inadvertently doublepost despite being aware of and sensitive to the issue is counterproductive (and mean, in both senses of the word); there have been numerous testimonies of those unwilling to post at all because of the overzealous (and compulsive?) need to correct and condemn on the part of some here.
Your tone here, as elsewhere, is too belligerent by half.
posted by rushmc at 8:52 AM on May 11, 2002
The solution isn't in the amount of doubleposts, which are about as inevitable as brushfires. It's in the motive.
If you make an active effort to seek a prior post to what you wanna talk about, and find nothing, then posting your own thoughts should be acceptable. This will minimize the amount of doubleposts that occur. However it's impossible to fully remove them. We're humans after all. We're fallible.
When inevitably someone will find that post you overlooked, that individual is wrong to do so in a way that is childish and mean-spirited. Instead, the link to the previous post should be done in a favorable way, to assist those participating in the newer thread by giving them easy access to prior discussion on the topic. Further, linking threads of similar but not identical subject matter can also be beneficial.
It's when a person has an attitude about it, whether they purposefully doublepost to be cocky, or try to outdo others by finding that doublepost link, that's when I personally have an issue with it.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:58 PM on May 11, 2002
If you make an active effort to seek a prior post to what you wanna talk about, and find nothing, then posting your own thoughts should be acceptable. This will minimize the amount of doubleposts that occur. However it's impossible to fully remove them. We're humans after all. We're fallible.
When inevitably someone will find that post you overlooked, that individual is wrong to do so in a way that is childish and mean-spirited. Instead, the link to the previous post should be done in a favorable way, to assist those participating in the newer thread by giving them easy access to prior discussion on the topic. Further, linking threads of similar but not identical subject matter can also be beneficial.
It's when a person has an attitude about it, whether they purposefully doublepost to be cocky, or try to outdo others by finding that doublepost link, that's when I personally have an issue with it.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:58 PM on May 11, 2002
BlueTrain: The Mother of Metafilter
Very cool...who's up for a breast feeding?
there have been numerous testimonies of those unwilling to post at all because of the overzealous (and compulsive?) need to correct and condemn on the part of some here.
Your tone here, as elsewhere, is too belligerent by half.
Uh huh...every one of my double post notifications have been 4 words or less, all completely impersonal and quite harmless. The fact that our personalities clash is not my problem.
Blue Train: Please nix your stupid self righteousness. If you're so worried about metafilter, quit making it annoying.
Please, crasspastor. Spare me your condescension.
posted by BlueTrain at 7:43 PM on May 11, 2002
Very cool...who's up for a breast feeding?
there have been numerous testimonies of those unwilling to post at all because of the overzealous (and compulsive?) need to correct and condemn on the part of some here.
Your tone here, as elsewhere, is too belligerent by half.
Uh huh...every one of my double post notifications have been 4 words or less, all completely impersonal and quite harmless. The fact that our personalities clash is not my problem.
Blue Train: Please nix your stupid self righteousness. If you're so worried about metafilter, quit making it annoying.
Please, crasspastor. Spare me your condescension.
posted by BlueTrain at 7:43 PM on May 11, 2002
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posted by rebeccablood at 2:24 PM on May 10, 2002