Why was my post deleted?

September 2, 2002 6:24 AM

I've just posted a story to the front page, and for whatever reason, it appears to have been deleted. Now, that in itself is fine - I can handle the rejection! But I would however like to know *why* it was deleted. Is it not possible to have some form of message left to offending user, informing them of why their post has been deleted?
posted by metaxa to Feature Requests at 6:24 AM (19 comments total)

it was a post about a single comment in an amazon review that wasn't very interesting and didn't seem to live up to the description in the post. I was expecting something amusing after reading the post, went to the amazon reviews and thought "meh." If the link isn't all that interesting, the post is cut.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:05 AM on September 2, 2002

FROM THE HOME OFFICE in Sioux City, Iowa, we present to you
the Top Ten Reasons a MeFi post gets deleted:

10. It was an unequivocably stupid post & you should've known better.
9. It didn't abide in some major way with the guidelines that you should have read but probably didn't and probably won't now in utter defiance for having been publically embarrassed by The Powers That Be because they've exposed you for the lazy boob that you are since you never read the darn guidelines. Shameful!
8. The topic has been discussed before at length and to the point of redudancy. This causes Matt to lose hair, and the rest of the MeFi community to risk internal hemmoraging. I mean, there's only so many New York Times links one can take before they reach for the noose. It surprises me more people don't just scream and run away from the blue screen, having been driven mad by injokes, infighting, and revelations like "Gee! Hey! Yahoo just changed their front page design! What do ya think?".
7. Matt didn't like your post. It just rubbed him the wrong way. Deal.
6. Matt doesn't like you. Get paranoid and spout hateful things about his ancestral lineage. If you get real lucky he'll permanently ban you from the site and this will alleviate any concerns you may have about future post deletions.
5. The stars have aligned in just such a way as to karmically imbalance your celestial aura, bringing you to a point in space and time where the yin of your yang has taken a left turn at Alberquerque, leaving you zenless in Seattle.
4. Matt's finger slipped.
3. You are believed to be an enemy of the state. Expect men dressed in black suits and wearing sunglasses to knock down your door momentarily and carry you off to Barbados for "testing."
2. It was a post about a single comment in an amazon review that wasn't very interesting and didn't seem to live up to the description in the post.
1. Dude. You posted to the wrong website. Sheesh!
posted by ZachsMind at 8:24 AM on September 2, 2002

I don't often agree with Zach, but number 3 is bang-on.

Actually, number 6 made me laugh as well.
posted by Frasermoo at 8:39 AM on September 2, 2002

reason eleven: you misspelled 'redundancy' while being a smart aleck, which makes you a major putz.
posted by ZachsMind at 8:45 AM on September 2, 2002

reason twelve: your post was about Vanilla Coke, which wasn't newsworthy when it happened.
posted by ZachsMind at 8:47 AM on September 2, 2002

6. Matt doesn't like you.

I'm pretty sure this is true.
posted by crunchland at 10:46 AM on September 2, 2002

13. You are needlessly longwinded.
posted by Kafkaesque at 11:29 AM on September 2, 2002

Kafkaesque: "You are needlessly longwinded."
that tears it!


FROM THE HOME OFFICE IN SIOUX CITY, IOWA!
we present to you the revised
Top Ten Reasons a MeFi Post Gets Deleted
short attention span version
which contains less words, so as not to confuse the censors:

DRUMROLL!

10. Your post was stupid. Duh!
9. Two words: Guide Lines
8. Please refer question to The Department of Redundancy Department with your question.
7. Mathowie feels strongly against your words.
6. Mathowie is strongly against you.
5. THE UNIVERSE is against you!
4. Oops! He did it again! Matt's a clutz what can we say?
3. TREMBLE before the mighty power of Our Fearless Leader!
2. Uhm.. Whut Matt said.
1. It's all your fault. Shut up.
posted by ZachsMind at 12:58 PM on September 2, 2002

10. Your post was stupid. Duh!

No, it should read: Your post was stupid. motherfucking DUH.
posted by adampsyche at 1:38 PM on September 2, 2002

14. WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.
IDIOT?
posted by gleuschk at 2:09 PM on September 2, 2002

lol. good job with the second top 10 list.
posted by jcterminal at 4:29 PM on September 2, 2002

Crap, that header looked really official, Zach. Gave me minor palpitations for some reason.
posted by Hildago at 4:56 PM on September 2, 2002

These questions come up all the time and there are lessons to be learned here about what's acceptable front page fodder and what isn't. Hmm, how about a quick and dirty notification system? Perhaps the 'nothing to see here page' can be display a generic reason why the post is missing. Something like:

1. Repost
2. Poor Quality
3. Unnecessarily inflammatory.

etc
posted by skallas at 5:15 PM on September 2, 2002

now that deleted threads are archived (lofi), maybe a description could be posted to the thread explainging why (just a few words)? then someone could check.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:23 PM on September 2, 2002

"Hmm, how about a quick and dirty notification system? Perhaps the 'nothing to see here page' can be display a generic reason why the post is missing..."

De ja vu.
posted by ZachsMind at 8:18 PM on September 2, 2002

Me, I'm waiting for the day, some sorry-ass day, when one of us, in our drubkeness, posts something just too lame for words; finds it somehow survived; wakes up; is embarrassed to the gouty tips of his pinkies and goes straight to wah-wah Meta asking "Why oh why wasn't this deleted?"
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:29 PM on September 2, 2002

Actually... there was more than one relevant comment (I counted 3, maybe 4) and definite subversion going on in that review page. And the product illustration just begs for abuse. I found it funny. This appears to be a case of #7, and possibly #5, but definitely not #9, so there's really no reason to go number two all over Metaxa's #8.
posted by taz at 11:12 PM on September 2, 2002

Oh well. Nevermind. *I* found it amusing, perhaps Mat would have done too, if he'd bothered to read all of the comments on the Amazon review. Ho-hum. Life goes on.
posted by metaxa at 1:42 AM on September 3, 2002

Okay, does the search feature also search deleted threads and/or MeTa threads? I just posted this again (I think it's funny), and searched in what I thought was a thorough fashion. Didn't come up with anything...and I would have been better advised against posting the thing had I seen this thread first.

*hangs head in shame, sorry to make Matt work harder*
posted by WolfDaddy at 1:01 PM on September 3, 2002