Can I post links that I found on Fark first?

August 30, 2002 11:10 AM

I visit several sites and it is interesting to note where a story appears first. More than once I've seen an article on Fark a day or two before it shows up here. I'm not complaining, I know not everyone reads Fark, but is there any sort of policy on this? I mean, I've considered posting articles found on Fark but never have simply because there are 50k Fark members, so anything there will show up on many Blogs, and is thus not likely to be new to a majority of MeFians. Am I wrong? I will only post a on the front page if I can find something that I think will be interesting and new. However that may be an impossible task. Yet it can be done.
posted by Grod to MetaFilter-Related at 11:10 AM (19 comments total)

When you signed up for MeFi, did it say it was mandatory that you post? You don't have to post. I thing posting something discussion worthy is #1 while interesting and new is #1.5. Sit back, read, comment, and if you find something unique then post it.
posted by mkelley at 11:18 AM on August 30, 2002

Thread preview:

Hey, I already saw that on fark! You suck, Grod!
posted by X

Yeah, but I don't read fark, and this was new to me! You suck, X!
posted by Y

X and Y, quit derailing the thread! You guys suck!
posted by Z

...etc...

In other words, use your best judgement. A good link is a good link, wherever you found it; a bad link will suck even if nobody's seen it before, and you're bound to offend at least one person no matter what you do.
posted by ook at 11:19 AM on August 30, 2002

"More than once I've seen an article on [X] a day or two before it shows up here..."

Hey! I just said that.
posted by piskycritter at 11:24 AM on August 30, 2002

mkelly, so in your opinion Mefi is a discussion site first? I don't disagree, but some of the best links I've seen here have had very few comments other than a "thanks, great link".
I suppose it comes down to personal preference, and there's no point in trying to please everybody. Anyway, there are to many front page posts each day right now for me to be willing to post something unless it is unique.
posted by Grod at 11:34 AM on August 30, 2002

The problem with Fark links isn't that they're Fark links; it's that they're usually single-link news story links. No need to turn them into encyclopedic linkfests or anything, just take whatever it was that caught your eye over there and find an interesting link or two to give it a little depth before bringing it over here. This works for just about anything that's made the rounds of blogland already. Make the MeFi version deeper, dammit!
posted by mediareport at 11:39 AM on August 30, 2002

I disagree with mkelly, the interesting link is always #1, everything else comes after.

Fark and Slashdot links are fine, if they're new and interesting (and not just plain old news). People usually complain when they're substandard.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:45 AM on August 30, 2002

Sometimes things appear here first, sometimes on Fark, sometimes on Slashdot, sometimes on X, Y or Z. I think encouraging a competition between sites is silly and pointless.
posted by rushmc at 11:49 AM on August 30, 2002

I have also posted Fark articles (although I gave credit when necessary). But I really just want to say 'thanks' for the compliment. Sometimes you just find things, and when it's good for a post, you just know it. Variety, spice, all that.
posted by yhbc at 11:51 AM on August 30, 2002

Not sure if you're addressing me, rushmc, but I'm not encouraging competition between sites. I tend to stick to MeFi, Plastic, Today's Papers and a handful of friends' blogs, so I'm never really bothered if links show up here first, last or in-between.

But I do think MeFi should handle news stories differently than most other blogs, because the way most other blogs handle them is, frankly, boring. I'm not sure why that deserves an accusation of encouraging "competition" between sites, but sorry if my kind of silly final comment blurred the point.
posted by mediareport at 12:15 PM on August 30, 2002

Totally O/T, sorry:

Sometimes things appear here first, sometimes on Fark, sometimes on Slashdot, sometimes on X, Y or Z

On a whim, I had a look, and I don't think either x.com or z.com will be providing us with threads. y.com is still available, though.

Thank you for pretending to listen.
posted by Grangousier at 12:45 PM on August 30, 2002

" the interesting link is always #1"

It's one of those things that depends on the post, I guess. While I enjoy the discussions here, sometimes it's that great little link that makes my day or informs me...or pisses me off.
posted by mkelley at 1:00 PM on August 30, 2002

I remember a time when the best was here first or it was still considered a great FPP anyway. Grod, maybe with the return of school and our minds returning back from summer laziness it will continue. I can agree it has been a while since I saw a news post that broke here before any of my buddies heard of it on main stream news sources. Yes, history can be repeated here on Meta.

Best example was the Happy Face Bomber thread and quonsar comment back in May picturing the location of the bombed mail box sites and his educated guess at future sites, by making a drawing that looked like; :) . Wow, that was a great Meta moment if I recall. Think, we knew the future location, well thought and even had his nickname, The Smiley Face Bomber, thus before the media said it. Go figure, no that was Meta and its community. I would show you, yet now, a nothing to see move along is posted there on quonsar's profile page for it. I guess the thread was deleted because Matt felt the authorities would probably ask who, what, how?.....

Ps, lets make this place history, Meta-Talk as I'm told by fellow bloggers, I go to Meta for the Talk, not the posts now. I guess it is time we take our seat back, ahead of the class, or in the back playing around with all the new internet toys.

posted by thomcatspike at 1:33 PM on August 30, 2002

It wasn't quonsar, tcs. It was KevinSkomvold.
posted by yhbc at 2:01 PM on August 30, 2002

Your right, sorry Kevin, I really blew it this week with you. ;)I had the :) pictured for reference in my head. Then it would have been deleted as pictures are not to be posted only linked, ties up the memory. If I remember correctly, and thanks for the clarification yhbc :)
posted by thomcatspike at 2:55 PM on August 30, 2002

I thought the smiley face connection was made first on Fark, I remember seeing the story there before I saw it here, at any rate. Although I could be wrong.
posted by Grod at 3:22 PM on August 30, 2002

Not sure if you're addressing me, rushmc

No, that's just my response to the whole "which came first" debate, which has come up more than once now.
posted by rushmc at 3:39 PM on August 30, 2002

my visual aid wasn't posted until almost 12 hours after kev made his prescient comment. but it's the visuals people remember. i know this because i have a television reporter chasing me around the last few days, and i'll be damned if i'm going let that bastard capture my soul in that evil magic box.
posted by quonsar at 7:46 AM on August 31, 2002

For anyone who cares:

Fark: 05-07-02 12:59:47 PM Baldactor
you see the map? - it looks like he's making a smiley face...

MeFi: Christ. Anyone else but me notice the pattern of the bombings? What is he going for here? Looks like some sort of smiley face.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 10:04 AM PST on May 7

Fark's in Kentucky, right? The Eastern/Central time zone split runs through the state, so either Baldactor beat Kevin by ~4 minutes or Kevin beat Baldactor by ~56 minutes, depending on which time zone Fark's admins use. Pretty close. Uh, not that I'm encouraging competition between Web sites or anything. :)
posted by mediareport at 10:14 AM on August 31, 2002

Fark's in Kentucky, right?
that explains a lot.
posted by quonsar at 8:47 PM on August 31, 2002