Can we have a 'via' field on the posting page?

March 11, 2005 7:23 AM

Minor feature request: a via field on the blue's posting page. As part of the redesign, I'd love to see an optional field for including a "via" link. Two reasons: (1) it would encourage posters to acknowledge the source of the link, if applicable; and (2) it would allow some interesting statistics to be generated from the aggregation of via data.
posted by monju_bosatsu to feature requests at 7:23 AM (18 comments total)

Is (1) something we want to encourage?
posted by jacquilynne at 8:09 AM on March 11, 2005

I would say yes. The only reason I could see "no" is that it might also encourage lame callouts.
posted by Plutor at 8:22 AM on March 11, 2005

Yes. Yes, it is.
posted by soyjoy at 8:22 AM on March 11, 2005

I see significant downside to via precisely because of what Plutor points out - more lame callouts of too much rehash of boingboing, etc. Can someone point out the upside? Because I don't see it, and it's being treated as if it is obvious.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:27 AM on March 11, 2005

I don't know if it's something that should be encouraged in the interface. I'm perfectly fine encouraging folks to write the link themselves by hand, but when it becomes part of the posting form it takes on a special prominence.

My fear is that it would encourage those using MetaFilter to think of the site as simply a rebloggging system. I don't want to discourage anyone looking for and finding unique things on their own. It would also seem putting a via system in place could lead to more arguments when someone doesn't use it, but a user insists they must have found it somewhere else.

When stuff becomes part of the posting interface, that's a major change, and I don't believe adding via is enough of a benefit to outweigh the confusion and costs it may incur.
posted by mathowie at 8:45 AM on March 11, 2005

Plus, many posts with multiple links would be unwieldy with a one-size-fits-all "via" field. But I must say, I like the idea in general.
posted by ChrisTN at 8:53 AM on March 11, 2005

Example future post:

"I saw this on boingboing days ago. Why did you leave the via box blank?"
posted by smackfu at 8:57 AM on March 11, 2005

Q: "I saw this on boingboing days ago. Why did you leave the via box blank?"
A: "Because I didn't see it on boingboiiiiiing. I saw it on Waxy!"
posted by Quartermass at 9:01 AM on March 11, 2005

Encouraging vias = all good , especially unknown blogs, always a fun way to find new reads, please share via cred when applicable. I know, I'm a broken record lately. ;)

Making vias a near must = uh-oh, not so good, especially for the reason Matt mentions, where metafilter starts looking like a reblogging system. Plus all the carefully composed seen on MetaFilter First posts would start to look funny.
posted by dabitch at 9:15 AM on March 11, 2005

I was thinking that it might actually preempt the lame callouts, in that the poster is acknowledging upfront the source of the link, whether it might be boingboing, Waxy, or a more obscure source. I also don't think there would be many callouts about failure to use via, if it's a post with links found originally by the poster. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, though.

In any case, I do encourage people to include a via attribution in their posts where appropriate, even in the absence of such an option on the posting page. I often find that the via link is more interesting than the main link of the post.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:20 AM on March 11, 2005

we should not encourage sky, for it may fall.
posted by quonsar at 9:57 AM on March 11, 2005

*glows, hums, hovers*
posted by quonsar at 9:57 AM on March 11, 2005

(1) is dead. Give it up. If professionals don't do it, why should anyone.
posted by justgary at 10:10 AM on March 11, 2005

(2) it would allow some interesting statistics to be generated

MetaFilter: best of the web statistics

monju - I thought this was a good idea until I read what everyone else thought. Way too many drawbacks, virtually no upside.
posted by WestCoaster at 10:19 AM on March 11, 2005

I like the [via] attribution, and adding an optional field to the posting interface would provide a standard look for the tag, like the [more inside] in AskMetaFilter.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:25 AM on March 11, 2005

... via Google
posted by mischief at 2:10 PM on March 11, 2005

I really dislike this idea. Nobody deserves credit for merely linking to a site [can you tell i am not a kottke micropatron]. The site is what deserves the credit.
posted by srboisvert at 4:09 PM on March 11, 2005

lame callouts

As the lame originator of callouts, who later conceded the point, I like the idea of a via form, but Matt would need to put up a notice or something discouraging "You should have credited BB/Kottke/Delicious" threads that just waste time.

The upside is it encourages vias, and that helps readers find other interesting catalogs/fora/blogs. I found MeFi through via links, and now I'm here...

Oh. I see. I guess you shouldn't add via tags.
posted by NickDouglas at 7:18 PM on March 11, 2005