Self-Link?

October 18, 2003 10:19 PM

Eloquence posts a thread about Mother Teresa, in which he writes, "the Wikipedia article about her gives a much more balanced picture than most media reports." Trouble is, a Wikipedia member named -- wait for it -- Eloquence is a substantial contributor to that very Wikipedia article, and has, as far as I can tell (see article history), written much of the material about the controversy. (See also his contributions to the related Talk page.) This could be considered a self link as a result. Is it?
posted by mcwetboy to Etiquette/Policy at 10:19 PM (38 comments total)

Yes it is. Eloquence is Eric Moller in both cases; he should have disclosed that and avoided linking to what is, essentially, his own work.

Case closed.
posted by yhbc at 10:27 PM on October 18, 2003

Except for that c/k thing, and that pesky umlaut.
posted by yhbc at 10:28 PM on October 18, 2003

But wiki's collaborative, and lots of other people contributed to it too--I don't know. Maybe some other links would have been better?
posted by amberglow at 10:29 PM on October 18, 2003

i told you it was brutal and inhumane.
posted by quonsar at 10:31 PM on October 18, 2003

No, amber, he's a witch. We must burn him, don't you see?
posted by yhbc at 10:32 PM on October 18, 2003

I put in an obligatory Hitchens link, so there's a lot of clickable content in there. Would be a shame if it was deleted just for this. As someone already pointed out, there are a lot authors on that wiki article.

Hmm, interesting policy decision to be made here.

Also, what if a mefite changes the wiki page after the FPP was posted? Can that be post-FPP self-posting? Did I just blow your mind?
posted by skallas at 10:36 PM on October 18, 2003

We must burn him, don't you see?

Ok, I'll bring the stuff for s'mores : >
posted by amberglow at 10:38 PM on October 18, 2003

don't eat the yellow snow.
posted by quonsar at 10:43 PM on October 18, 2003

CoulterFilter: "We should invade Eloquence's home, kill his family, and convert Eloquence to Christianity."

Another MetaTalk thread, another call for the lynch mob. Can't we all just get along?
posted by ed at 11:08 PM on October 18, 2003

That wouldn't be much fun now, would it?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:17 AM on October 19, 2003

It was still an informative article with other writers contributing. I enjoyed it, and got a lot from it. Keep it.
posted by Be'lal at 12:20 AM on October 19, 2003

Let's punish him by deleting all his wiki work and replacing it with 'You Sux0r!!!1'
posted by dgaicun at 12:33 AM on October 19, 2003

Worse that that is people who use "--wait for it--" and "you guessed it" .
posted by HTuttle at 4:40 AM on October 19, 2003

The collaborative nature of the Wikipedia article does make it a problematic interpretation of da rulez -- skallas is absolutely right -- which is why I tried to phrase this post in tentative terms rather than screaming Billy Maulana.
posted by mcwetboy at 5:10 AM on October 19, 2003

why is selflinking bad in the first place?
a) you drag loads of hits over to your site, where you might have banners etc... Scoring big hits anyway.
b) your words are not interesting read unless they are in the blue.

I always thought it was "a"....
posted by dabitch at 6:20 AM on October 19, 2003

I really wouldn't have had a scintilla of doubt about this one... if Eloquence had made a mention of his involvement with the Wiki entry. The fact that he didn't bothers me a lot, and kinda makes me feel like a big suckerhead.
posted by taz at 7:16 AM on October 19, 2003

Yeah, it's too bad, because it's a good post, but Eloquence shouldn't have been the one to post it. The rule about self-linking is one of the firmest we have, and I hope Matt bites the bullet and deletes this. Eloquence was clearly trying to evade the rules; if he'd done it out of innocence/ignorance he'd have said "Here's some material I provided to Wikipedia on the subject."

MetaFilter: Feeling like a big suckerhead.
posted by languagehat at 7:53 AM on October 19, 2003

I think as punishment the catholics should beatify Eloquence into a saint. They could probably use a St. Eloquence.
posted by mischief at 8:23 AM on October 19, 2003

couldn't everybody?
posted by taz at 8:29 AM on October 19, 2003

Some of you people must shit diamonds daily.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:12 AM on October 19, 2003

Some of you people must shit diamonds daily.
Diamonds would hurt. I shit roses.
posted by amberglow at 9:26 AM on October 19, 2003

Eloquence should be forced, on pain of excommunication and anathema, to write a 1,000 word essay on Metatalk - on the evils of front page self linking and why the practice corrupts the moral fabric of Metafilter.
posted by troutfishing at 9:51 AM on October 19, 2003

Huh? Please leave me out of this, I'm trying to pray the rosary.
posted by anathema at 10:04 AM on October 19, 2003

Diamonds would hurt. I shit roses.

What about the thorns, man? I, personally, shit ice cream.
posted by jonmc at 10:24 AM on October 19, 2003

"No, amber, he's a witch. We must burn him, don't you see?"

But first we must find out if he's made of wood. Must do these things logically, you know.

And some of you are spending way too much time checking on the contents of your own shit and are seriously freaking me out.
posted by batgrlHG at 10:34 AM on October 19, 2003

DIAMONDS!!!!
(amber is due a letter soon, sorrE for the delay>

Look if the writer was honest and not snuck it in under radar....o.k. So lesson learned though that lesson should have been learned as it is SEEMS a "new" form of...well improper citation, no, that is wrong but it may be like passing around someones unsolicited MSS.

So, to really clear this problem, create a MeFiPRO page, with past and current work of MeFites', my god it may even be come a subscription or invite only type of deal. (lord knows those horrid paper poetry and fiction and trade journals of the past/present have dominated the people to long with there need for money....:)
posted by clavdivs at 10:42 AM on October 19, 2003

ice cream is way too cold--isn't the seat cold enough? make mine rose petals then : >

create a MeFiPRO page, with past and current work of MeFites
excellent idea! we could take content from mefi projects too.
posted by amberglow at 11:01 AM on October 19, 2003

ice cream is way too cold--

I find it invigorating.
posted by jonmc at 11:05 AM on October 19, 2003

Rocky road down the slippery slope.
posted by anathema at 11:06 AM on October 19, 2003

What about the thorns, man? I, personally, shit ice cream.

You're an animated taco?
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:13 AM on October 19, 2003

please don't cancel our show, jonmc!
posted by crunchland at 11:18 AM on October 19, 2003

I would agree the authorship of both the post and much of the link in the post shows a conflict of interest, but the post is passable so I don't feel like deleting it.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:04 PM on October 19, 2003

What post? I thought we were discussing fecal forensics.
posted by anathema at 12:12 PM on October 19, 2003

she comes across like diamonds diamonds
easy in love when the lights are low
she comes into focus focus / the closer she gets the more i know
she takes more whiskey than i wine / i whine...
(never want to be lost without you)

-Max Webster, featuring Kim Mitchell
(sample of the song, QT audio)

My 2 cents.
posted by ashbury at 12:27 PM on October 19, 2003

Next time obscure your tracks by bouncing the signal through seven countries and a dozen hacked servers before connecting to irc.metafilter.com and begging for someone to post it for you.
posted by holloway at 1:42 PM on October 19, 2003

Were that all MeFites were as sensible as Matt. MetaTalk wouldn't then be nearly completely filled with unending whinges about what's appeared on the MeFi front page.

Want to make a difference to the quality of MeFi? Spend ten minutes coming up with an excellent FPP yourself, or spend five minutes contributing to an almost-good FPP by adding a few good links in the comments thread.

In other words, lead by doing, not by whining.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:26 PM on October 19, 2003

Were that all MeFites were as sensible as Matt. MetaTalk wouldn't then be nearly completely filled with unending whinges about what's appeared on the MeFi front page.

Good advice, now if you'd only post the same thing in slight variation in nearly every MetaTalk thread, it'd be clear sailing! ;)
posted by The God Complex at 7:25 PM on October 19, 2003

I shit peanut butter, but only if the cllient asks for it 24 hours in advance.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 2:22 PM on October 20, 2003