MetaTalk posts tagged with fpp

Backdoor FPP?

the man of twists and turns — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:31:05 -0800

Is there a consensus on "backdoor FPPs?" I have noticed a few - do people think they unnecessarily steer a thread? Takeover discussion? Provide a new viewpoint and welcome context? By "backdoor FPP" I am referring to a comment like this [mine], in which a comment is pretty clearly an FPP in its own right. "Backdoor" like backdoor pilot, in which an episode in an established TV show is a testbed for a new show.

Next up, the Achewood strip generator!

The Whelk — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:16:53 -0800

Tweeted by User Number One himself, a creation of Matt Round: Meta Mitchell & Webfilter, pairing a Mitchell & Webb sketch to almost any (every?) Metafilter post topic.

Not A Forum

capricorn — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:23:10 -0800

Should "Metafilter is a community blog, not a forum" be in the guidelines? A lot of users seem to agree that Metafilter is not a place whose primary purpose is discussion. That is: FPPs are for links to interesting content on the web; if they spawn interesting discussion, all the better, but the thought behind an FPP should be "hey, this is cool and I think people will want to see it" rather than "I want to hear people's thoughts about this". I've seen this argument in a number of deletion MeTas in defense of deleted posts - "I posted XYZ because I really wanted to see the subject discussed on MeFi". This MeTa where I posted a comment saying essentially what I'm saying now is a clear example; today's MeTa on the Gosnell trial is not, but the subject is being brought up in the comments. So my question is, would the community be a better place if this were explicitly asked for in the post guidelines? Does this come up often enough that we need it? Is it even true? I'm not here to ask for this as a pony. I'm more interested in just hearing everyone's thoughts - both mods and community members. I'm a relative newbie and so there may be reasons why this is a Very Bad Idea that are flying over my head. Any thoughts?

A simple complaint about

phunniemee — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:19:40 -0800

what it says on the tin. This is not a complaint about the "people who have turned off titles have no idea what you're talking about" thing because, while valid, I feel it distracts from my point. Which is: I am having a lame day at work and y'all are being boring. We have two posts today using this framing. One of them is about a dog who is the best dog and he is eating peanut butter because he is the best dog yes you are yes you are and the other is about lighting shit on fire, and "does what it says on the tin" is literally the best you can come up with? Let's please come together as a community, join hands, and take a moment to appreciate those who do a fantastic job of framing posts. What are your favorite titles and setups? Here, I'll start: Iridic, and What Fresh El is This? Hilarious title, no mystery meat. What else you got, metafilter?

An emergent pattern on Metafilter FPPs

quadog — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:06:39 -0800

Noticing a disproportionate number of posts gravitating toward a particular set of subjects in the Blue over recent weeks and months. I'm not inclined to name specifics because I don't think it would really add any benefit to a discussion. But as a longtime reader (and admittedly modest participant) I don't think the axe-grindy persistence of these types of posts really helps the site very much at all. I've kept coming back to Metafilter over the years because the conversations tend to rise many levels above the standard noise of the interwebs. This is in no small part due to exceptional moderating. But I think it's also been because there has typically been some thoughtfulness about what gets posted to the Blue. In my opinion, it appears this thoughtfulness is getting misdirected into what is essentially a series of ongoing posts on the same set of topics. At the worst these posts are cumulatively setting back dialogue. At the best the posts are simply boring. Could be wrong. Had to say something.

Searching for doubles

desjardins — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:52:17 -0800

I've noticed that the search function doesn't catch YouTube doubles if the URL isn't exact. Here's a tip: grab the alphanumeric ID of the video from its URL and search mefi using only that. For example, searching for 9Iq5yCoHp4o pulls up this post, but a search for http://youtu.be/9Iq5yCoHp4o and http://www.youtube.com/embed/9Iq5yCoHp4o fail, even though they all point to the same video.

Putting the "Meta" in "MetaFilter"

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:10:11 -0800

Based on the front page, I can tell that other posters use some of the same resources to find potential FPPs that I do. I'll lay my cards on the table, and hope you do the same... The Browser Arts & Letters Daily Longform Big Think 3 Quarks Daily Longreads Damn Interesting Farnam Street Brain Pickings What other aggregators, filters, sifting sites do you like? How do you find things to post? Happy hunting.

Insert Title Here

Wordshore — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:30:18 -0800

This maybe just me with a particular writing hangup, but does anyone else find it difficult, sometimes have a "mental block", to come up with a title for the FPP they have constructed? End up sometimes spending more time on the title than constructing the rest of the FPP? Have abandoned FPPs as cannot come up with a decent title? Or have a fear that, no matter how good the FPP, a rubbish title will mean everyone will pass over it? Highly related; any tips for coming up with "good" (subjective, yes) titles. Related insecurity; that horrible, empty time, between when the post goes live, and the first comment appears. "No-one is reading it; I knew the title was pathetic. Time to quietly leave MetaFilter." For specific types of post e.g. a cat video, a political event, the story of some epic adventure or trip, are there any paths of thinking for a good, or appropriate title? With each day bringing many posts, is there a need to come up with a catchy title to grab the attention of MetaFilter readers (tho' disliking any competitive implications as it's not that kind of environment)? How best to make someone interested enough to read above the fold, and click on the [more inside] link?

Many versions of the same thing

LSK — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:44:25 -0800

I like the FPPs that have many versions of the same thing, such as this cups and balls post. I'm sure I've seen others in the past, but I can't remember them, and the search engine is letting me down. Are there any other FPPs that have many versions of the same thing - song, short film, etc?

A short-lived long guide to History Is A Weapon

Snerd — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 12:56:58 -0800

A deleted post you may want to bookmark - a guide to History Is A Weapon I feel fortunate to have seen Blasdelb's awesome post, an index with abstracts of History Is A Weapon, "a left counter-hegemonic education project." This is really not to complain about the deletion or to invite others to do so. I understand the reason. But the post made me aware of a wealth of collected material that I'm interested in exploring, and the abstracts provide an overview that is more appealing to me than clicking my way through the website's interface. Others may want to check it out. I appreciate the time Blasdelb puts into lengthy - and wonderful - posts, including six of the top ten longest posts of 2012, according to zarq's 2012 Datawankery. Makes me wonder what other great Blasdelb posts may have been deleted??

Kattullus surpasses 500 posts

flex — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:01:31 -0800

Cheers to Kattullus on his 500th post last Friday!

I'm happy for your achievement.

256 — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:31:08 -0800

I'm a big fan of borderline-believable alternate history myself, but I thought there was a general Metafilter policy against this sort of FPP?

The Joy of FPPing

Wordshore — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:06:41 -0800

To people who have done this; why did you create Front Page Post(s) on MetaFilter? The motivations are interesting in themselves, and may also provide positive reasons for people to cross the rubicon from lurker to poster. It's an activity which takes a variable amount of time, from a single link cat video post, to a multi-screen, multi-linked complex. There is no monetary or career-enhancement reward for posting. There's (arguably thankfully) no shiny gamification 'badges' for posting many times on MetaFilter. As the poster you are, in a sense, putting your head "above the parapet". And it is very unlikely (tho' guess not impossible?) that posting to MetaFilter will ultimately result in you "getting laid". So, what have been the motivation(s) for you to post. Were they different depending on the nature, subject matter, of the post? Were they different from posting on e.g. online newspaper comment sections, community blogs, other sites where people link to and discuss online content? Was it to illuminate something you think should have a wider audience? To provoke debate, be the catalyst for comment? To highlight something negative you think people need to be aware of? To make people happy(er) with something cute? To digitally shout out "OMG!" at some news, event, happening in the world? Or did you take an intrinsic pleasure in creating the post (the "inner librarian" concept); editing it, doing the research, refining it for the particular audience which is MetaFilter? Or post to become more immersed, "meshed" into the MetaFilter network/community? Or to altruistically add to a "sum of MetaFilter community knowledge". Or, for regular posters, is the motivation to post more of a reflex reaction to encountering something interesting online? Or some other motivation(s) for why you dedicated the time and effort to creating a specific post? Related: Jessamyn's comment about mini-bibliographies.

Linking as approval?

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:44:21 -0800

Is linking to a site endorsement of a site? If somone links to a site, does that constitute approval or endorsement of a site? Obviously, a post is approval, in a "look at this" sort of way. But are supporting/followup links construed as advocating a certain worldview?

The Buddy System Works

griphus — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 08:53:37 -0800

How about an FPP mentoring/buddy system? I've noticed that when talk about posting FPPs comes up, there's a not-insignificant number of people who say "I have ideas sometimes but I am uncomfortable posting them as an FPP because I don't know enough on the topic/I'm not sure how to frame an FPP/people will threadshit/etc." I've also noticed that there are regular deletions of FPPs that, were they run by a knowledgeable third party first, would never have been deleted because someone would be able to say, for instance, "no that's way too axe-grindy." And I can totally understand the self-consciousness that would keep MeFites from running their ideas by the mods (as they often suggest.) So what about some sort of directory, whether on the Wiki, on the site itself, on profiles or wherever, of MeFites and their chosen mentoring topics. So, for example, if someone has an idea for a video gaming FPP and either doesn't know if it is worth fleshing out or maybe it is finished and the framing seems hinky, they can pull up the directory and see "oh, hey, griphus volunteered to look over videogame FPPs, I'll send this to him" and then I can look it over and give some feedback. We have experts of lots and lots of things here (including on how to make an FPP) and something like this would improve the overall quality of what is posted to the front page. There wouldn't be some sort of official seal-of-approval process, but just an easier way for users who want to make FPPs but don't necessarily pay attention to who posts about what and don't know where to turn (and, again, are reticent to ask the mods.)

...the primary buffer panel just fell off my gorram post for no apparent reason...

zarq — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 09:23:49 -0800

So, I made a post last week and now the main link (the only one above the "more inside") is broken. It's a youtube video that was apparently removed by the copyright holder. What is normally done in these situations? Do y'all summarily delete? Ignore? Is it at all possible (or even worth it) to re-work the post? Looked this morning, but couldn't find an alternate link.

MetaFilter covering election day, vote counting, subsequent wrangling

Wordshore — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:44:07 -0800

Assuming any MetaFilter users are interested in writing posts or comments during voting and counting, how will this bloggie handle what will be its 4th US presidential election? Seriously, there will obviously be thousands of comments during polling day (or days), and the vote counting night. Or nights and days. There's a few election related threads ongoing, and the mods on mod island are currently setting a "very high bar" for new FPPs in this area. As a MEV*, how will MetaFilter work/what's the procedures during the voting and counting phases in relation to (a) starting new FPPs and (b) a prolonged vote and count resulting in several days of the USA figuring out who is the next President? Bit concerned about a ten thousand comment thread (quite possible) if it's all funneled into one thread. Or trying to follow a myriad of rapidly created new threads if it's at the other extreme and all manner of things kick off at the same time (voting problems, riots, delays, lots and lots of lawyers etc). *MEV = MetaFilter Election Virgin

Mormon temple ceremonies

XMLicious — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:37:09 -0800

I think other versions of this post linking to a video of Mormon temple ceremonies ought to stand if they're offered. The text embedded in the video is a bit silly - gasp, some elements of this are from Freemasonry! Shocking! - but for anyone who has been to a variety of religious ceremonies in different faiths this is kind of interesting. Maybe a similar post with some editorial caveats? I suppose that some people are going to be dicks about it and act as though what's going on in these ceremonies is radically unusual or barbaric and unlike most of the other religions on Earth, which it isn't. But since the next U.S. President may be a Mormon and many of the members of the country's national legislature already are, I think it's worthwhile for readers to gain some direct insight into the religion rather than just what non-Mormons say goes on in the Mormon faith. I for one would be quite interested in hearing the commentary of Mormon and ex-Mormon MeFites on what's depicted. On the other hand, if this isn't really never-before-seen footage and anyone has links to similar video without the embedded text commentary, maybe someone could do a post on that? And a'course I'd request that commenters not turn such a thread into the usual Mormonism-bashing session if one appears.

zarq's 500th post

filthy light thief — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:24:34 -0800

A tip of the ol' fedora to zarq, for 500 posts of quality.

Getting good at writing FPPs

Wordshore — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:28:13 -0800

Am still a relative newbie here, and finding MetaFilter a fascinating source of high quality / low noise information and interesting stuff. But am struggling a bit with writing FPPs. So far, have had 7 go up, but 4 pulled. Stressing that am not complaining; every time there's been a reason politely given why, and I've retrospectively thought "Yeah, that's a fair point." But it would be nice to consistently put up interesting and always legitimate FPPs. I feel a bit that am learning the ropes of doing proper FPPs by trial and (often) error - perhaps have gotten practice on other forums, that are slightly or very different to Metafilter, hardwired into me and it's difficult to spot other than retrospectively when it's pointed out. Is there a sandbox area, or some other mechanism for getting other people to look at one's FPP before it goes 'live', to see that it's legitimate (beyond the clear warnings not to self-promote) in terms of content and style and any other criteria? I have no problem with constructive criticism, peer review et al.

Artw's 750th post

Egg Shen — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 12:06:35 -0800

On the occasion of his 750th post, a shout out to Artw for the abundance and quality of his contributions to MetaFilter.

include Projects in duplicated link/tag search for FPPs

Westringia F. — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:44:54 -0800

Could the duplicated link/tag search for FPPs also include Projects? Today when I posted about ENCODE, I was very surprised to find that nobody had gotten there first -- the link wasn't flagged as duplicate, and searching on the ENCODE tag didn't pull anything up, either. But there was a post in MeFi projects, for which I would have hit the post-to-mefi button in a heartbeat. I did spot it later, but it saddens me to think that I could have totally missed a MeFite's involvement in something awesome enough to be an FPP.... Since the Projects posts are really FPPs-in-waiting, could the automagic link checkers & tag searches on the FPP form query Projects as well?

Kickstarter Etiquette

griphus — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:13:21 -0800

A request for clarification on Kickstarter-linking etiquette in FPPs. So, quite a lot of postworthy stuff on the internet is, somehow, involved with Kickstarter. In my case, it's mostly been that someone is making a video game, or artpiece, or whatever, and they've plastered links to the Kickstarter all over the website. News articles and blogposts regarding the project do the same thing. I've also noticed that it's pretty common they include a lot of project-relevant information solely on the Kickstarter page (for instance, the GaymerCon Kickstarter page had pretty extensive answers to many questions raised in the FPP comments and not covered by the links.) So the options someone who wants to post an FPP based around a project with a particularly Kickstarter-savvy creator is:

Link to the Kickstarter in the FPP or comments.
Wait until the Kickstarter ends to post the project.
Try to find as many links about the project as possible to get all the relevant info in.
Hope someone else links the Kickstarter.

#1 is a guaranteed deletion, #2 seems to impose an artificial limit on FPP content based on a project's attempt to get funded (especially if the end-date is months from now,) #3 leads to unnecessary FPP padding and if an FPP depends on #4, then why even bother? So, some clarification of the guidelines would be nice here. Right now it feels like I have to find a way to circumvent the rules to post an FPP where there's a Kickstarter involved, which is making me a lot more reluctant to post whatever.

the great day of deletions

rebent — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:31:16 -0800

I notice that a few posts have been deleted already today (and yesterday there were seven!), so I was wondering if the mods have any stories about days where they had to delete an extreme number of posts from the blue? I would guess that the most-deleted day would be some historic event where there were doubles out the wazoo.

I really wanted to say Reddit.

theichibun — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 08:18:50 -0800

Grantland again? Don't get me wrong, I love reading Grantland. But this post probably wouldn't exist without Grantland. I might as well link to MetaFilter. They always have cool stuff over there.