Projects Etiquette March 9, 2006 8:57 PM Subscribe
Is Projects for alterting people to your own projects, or for telling people about a friend's blog that you find funny but realized it was too lame for the front page. I always figured Metachat was more for that sort of thing.
I think I've finally found that elusive "best of the web."
posted by Krrrlson at 9:00 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by Krrrlson at 9:00 PM on March 9, 2006
Delete, spank, repeat.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:05 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:05 PM on March 9, 2006
Metachat is for arranging the transhippment of narcotics and suitcase nukes across international borders, every time you see a post that says, hey milksops, checkout my friend's lame blog, it actually means Achmed, fill a shipping container with smack and C4 and send it on through jersey. Now that I've revealed that I guess I might as well also admit that metafilter is for aggregating vegans, pro-lifers and self diagnosed aspies and keeping them off Halo servers. Sorry.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:09 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:09 PM on March 9, 2006
Damn, I always knew there was something funny going on over there. I guess "bunny" is just a codeword for fine Peruvian nose candy, right?
posted by Jimbob at 9:12 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by Jimbob at 9:12 PM on March 9, 2006
I thought we had flags for projects?
posted by puke & cry at 9:20 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by puke & cry at 9:20 PM on March 9, 2006
It means "torso murder".
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:20 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:20 PM on March 9, 2006
I thought we had flags for projects?
I guess we don't. Nonetheless, we haven't really set standards for what's acceptable on projects yet, have we? Lately, there seems to be a fair bit of questionable stuff. Here I am, working my fingers to the bone trying to put together something important enough to unleash onto projects, yet others see fit to use it to announce they've entered some blogging competition.
posted by Jimbob at 9:31 PM on March 9, 2006
I guess we don't. Nonetheless, we haven't really set standards for what's acceptable on projects yet, have we? Lately, there seems to be a fair bit of questionable stuff. Here I am, working my fingers to the bone trying to put together something important enough to unleash onto projects, yet others see fit to use it to announce they've entered some blogging competition.
posted by Jimbob at 9:31 PM on March 9, 2006
Matt said he was going to start hand approving each project before it gets posted. I guess that didn't happen.
posted by cillit bang at 10:06 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by cillit bang at 10:06 PM on March 9, 2006
MetaChat suckes, basically because everyone there is nasty and dictatorial.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 10:10 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 10:10 PM on March 9, 2006
Jimbob—
I'm sorry you didn't think my post to Projects was very interesting, but I was chosen for that event based on my writing skills, and it is something that is very important to me.
The great thing about MeFi is that everybody pays their five bucks and thus everybody is a member. That is what allows for such a menagerie of content here. As you can see, what some people call out as crap, other people are genuinely interested in.
posted by Brittanie at 10:11 PM on March 9, 2006
I'm sorry you didn't think my post to Projects was very interesting, but I was chosen for that event based on my writing skills, and it is something that is very important to me.
The great thing about MeFi is that everybody pays their five bucks and thus everybody is a member. That is what allows for such a menagerie of content here. As you can see, what some people call out as crap, other people are genuinely interested in.
posted by Brittanie at 10:11 PM on March 9, 2006
heh you paid $5 sucka... lulz n00b
posted by Dreamghost at 10:13 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by Dreamghost at 10:13 PM on March 9, 2006
Brittanie, I think the point is that becoming a contestant in a competition is not the same as creating a project. I'm with Jimbob; it's an abuse to use MeFi Projects that way, and I think your post should be deleted before the bad precedent it sets spreads.
posted by mediareport at 10:53 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by mediareport at 10:53 PM on March 9, 2006
I agree, and I think all of these "come read my blog" postings are lame and should be deleted. But at the same time, I don't have a clear understanding of the purpose of the Projects section — and I suppose that until it finds an identity, it's not entirely unreasonable to say, "Anything goes."
And for the record, I think this is the worst offender. Check out the posting date, and compare when he signed up for an account. Lametarded.
posted by cribcage at 11:02 PM on March 9, 2006
And for the record, I think this is the worst offender. Check out the posting date, and compare when he signed up for an account. Lametarded.
posted by cribcage at 11:02 PM on March 9, 2006
Projects really needs comments.
posted by Dreamghost at 11:09 PM on March 9, 2006
posted by Dreamghost at 11:09 PM on March 9, 2006
Check out the posting date, and compare when he signed up for an account.
Yep. I know Matt's got a lot on his plate, but there really needs to be at least a month, probably three months, and possibly six months between the day you activate a MeFi account and the day you can post to Projects. The longer Matt waits before implementing that, the lamer Projects is going to become. If the point is to allow contributing members of the community to self-link their own cool sites, allowing someone to sign up and post to Projects on the same day is kind of insane. You should become a contributing member of the community first, and three months seems like a good minimum time to allow that to happen.
posted by mediareport at 11:10 PM on March 9, 2006
Yep. I know Matt's got a lot on his plate, but there really needs to be at least a month, probably three months, and possibly six months between the day you activate a MeFi account and the day you can post to Projects. The longer Matt waits before implementing that, the lamer Projects is going to become. If the point is to allow contributing members of the community to self-link their own cool sites, allowing someone to sign up and post to Projects on the same day is kind of insane. You should become a contributing member of the community first, and three months seems like a good minimum time to allow that to happen.
posted by mediareport at 11:10 PM on March 9, 2006
I thought that the unstated protocol was simply to list your blog as your homepage URL and then post and comment as entertainingly/articulately/offensively/intelligently as possible so people would check your bio and then maybe click through to your blog.
*sits back and waits for this to happen*
And I like Jezztek's T-shirts, BTW. A worthy Projects post.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:53 PM on March 9, 2006
*sits back and waits for this to happen*
And I like Jezztek's T-shirts, BTW. A worthy Projects post.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:53 PM on March 9, 2006
i went to projects 2x ever: the day it was opened, and now today to see the link.
is projects really popular? how many read it on a daily basis? /just curious
posted by naxosaxur at 1:47 AM on March 10, 2006
is projects really popular? how many read it on a daily basis? /just curious
posted by naxosaxur at 1:47 AM on March 10, 2006
Someone recently posted stats suggesting 1% of *.metafilter traffic went to Projects.
I suspect that figure had been rounded up.
posted by NinjaPirate at 3:57 AM on March 10, 2006
I suspect that figure had been rounded up.
posted by NinjaPirate at 3:57 AM on March 10, 2006
Where was that? Did it include a breakdown of where the rest of the traffic goes? I remember asking that as a question in a MeTa, but I can't remember where.
posted by OmieWise at 6:07 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by OmieWise at 6:07 AM on March 10, 2006
Nonetheless, we haven't really set standards for what's acceptable on projects yet, have we?
I disagree here. There is plenty of information describing what Projects is for on the About page. Including this little tidbit:
Is this limited to sites? Can I link to a particularly witty blog post I made?
I'm limiting the ability to post a project of yours to once every 30 days, and the thinking behind that is that the projects you choose to announce should be significant works—the types of things that typically take a few months to design, create, and build. Essays or blog posts aren't really what it's about here. We're talking larger stuff, like whole sites.
The guidelines are there, but they aren't hard and fast rules. You just have to put a little thought into following the spirit of the idea. Much like everything else on Mefi, it's a judgement call, and people will sometimes get it wrong.
posted by Roger Dodger at 6:37 AM on March 10, 2006
I disagree here. There is plenty of information describing what Projects is for on the About page. Including this little tidbit:
Is this limited to sites? Can I link to a particularly witty blog post I made?
I'm limiting the ability to post a project of yours to once every 30 days, and the thinking behind that is that the projects you choose to announce should be significant works—the types of things that typically take a few months to design, create, and build. Essays or blog posts aren't really what it's about here. We're talking larger stuff, like whole sites.
The guidelines are there, but they aren't hard and fast rules. You just have to put a little thought into following the spirit of the idea. Much like everything else on Mefi, it's a judgement call, and people will sometimes get it wrong.
posted by Roger Dodger at 6:37 AM on March 10, 2006
Would something like an 'announcements' section or mailing list deal with many of the edge cases? For example friend-of-a-friend projects, interesting/important real life things, projects too small or undeveloped to be appropriate for projects proper, and so on. It could be a simple list of links that is refreshed weekly.
Thus all the self-linking would be wrapped up nicely in one place, and discourage misuse of existing resources. It would only intrude on the consciousnesses of those who wanted to see it.
posted by MetaMonkey at 6:53 AM on March 10, 2006
Thus all the self-linking would be wrapped up nicely in one place, and discourage misuse of existing resources. It would only intrude on the consciousnesses of those who wanted to see it.
posted by MetaMonkey at 6:53 AM on March 10, 2006
To answer the Pirate, I have Projects in my feeds, and see what's posted every day. With a few exceptions, it's been a good read so far.
I have a couple things in the works, and they'll be posted over the next several months, so I would like everyone else to please read Projects too.
posted by frykitty at 6:59 AM on March 10, 2006
I have a couple things in the works, and they'll be posted over the next several months, so I would like everyone else to please read Projects too.
posted by frykitty at 6:59 AM on March 10, 2006
is projects really popular? how many read it on a daily basis?
I don't read it on a daily basis, but that's fine because it's such low traffic. Checking it out once or twice a month is sufficient to see any cool projects.
I do wish the design would be updated to match the rest of the site though. I go to click back to another section and the link is never where I think it should be. Plus it's WHITE!
posted by smackfu at 8:16 AM on March 10, 2006
I don't read it on a daily basis, but that's fine because it's such low traffic. Checking it out once or twice a month is sufficient to see any cool projects.
I do wish the design would be updated to match the rest of the site though. I go to click back to another section and the link is never where I think it should be. Plus it's WHITE!
posted by smackfu at 8:16 AM on March 10, 2006
I dunno, I've only found three or four projects that I've ever clicked on. There are probably around seven or eight each of MeFi and AskMe posts that I check out every day.
posted by danb at 10:51 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by danb at 10:51 AM on March 10, 2006
MetaChat suckes, basically because everyone there is nasty and dictatorial.
Awww, someone lost his binkie.
posted by deborah at 11:20 AM on March 10, 2006
Awww, someone lost his binkie.
posted by deborah at 11:20 AM on March 10, 2006
"MetaChat suckes, basically because everyone there is nasty and dictatorial."
What MetaChat have you been visiting in an alternate universe? Most of the people who don't like mecha don't like it because it's (for them) too friendly and cordial.
Of course, if you were being a jerk and harming the friendly atmosphere of mecha or #mecha, you might leave with the impression that it was "nasty" and "dictorial". Life is funny that way.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:47 AM on March 10, 2006
What MetaChat have you been visiting in an alternate universe? Most of the people who don't like mecha don't like it because it's (for them) too friendly and cordial.
Of course, if you were being a jerk and harming the friendly atmosphere of mecha or #mecha, you might leave with the impression that it was "nasty" and "dictorial". Life is funny that way.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:47 AM on March 10, 2006
I think it was an ironic joke about metachat.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:57 AM on March 10, 2006
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:57 AM on March 10, 2006
Oh.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 12:18 PM on March 10, 2006
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 12:18 PM on March 10, 2006
See, my interpretation of projects is that it should be for stuff that would be cool enough to be a front page post...except if you did post it to the front page it would be a self-link, so you post it to projects instead. Maybe I'm wrong in thinking this, but that's why I objected to your projects post, Brittanie. Can you imagine a front page post about how Brittanie has been entered in the Blogathon?
posted by Jimbob at 12:25 PM on March 10, 2006
posted by Jimbob at 12:25 PM on March 10, 2006
#Tapes is for Shields and Yarnell fans.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:06 PM on March 10, 2006
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:06 PM on March 10, 2006
I think you misunderstand what Projects is for. They paid five dollars, and have earned the right to post their site to Projects. Where all the people who diligently read Projects will see it. Where's the harm in that?
*cough* honeypot *cough*
posted by team lowkey at 2:15 PM on March 10, 2006
*cough* honeypot *cough*
posted by team lowkey at 2:15 PM on March 10, 2006
Would something like an 'announcements' section or mailing list deal with many of the edge cases?
Hah. A mailing list was what we had, until Matt decided (or knuckled under to several years of prodding) to put up projects. As I recall, it arrived in much the same way that AskMe did -- when someone did something offsite first, and he was goaded into actually putting something up here. My memory may be faulty w/r/t Projects though.
Problem is, now that it's enshrined as part of the site, it's got rules and guidelines too, and stuff that may have made it into kindall's newsletter may be seen as inappropriate.
So it goes.
See, my interpretation of projects is that it should be for stuff that would be cool enough to be a front page post...except if you did post it to the front page it would be a self-link, so you post it to projects instead.
Aye, exactly what I had in mind when it was first talked about. It seems that Matt had more specificity in mind, though. Fair enough. I don't visit it anyway.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:15 PM on March 10, 2006
Hah. A mailing list was what we had, until Matt decided (or knuckled under to several years of prodding) to put up projects. As I recall, it arrived in much the same way that AskMe did -- when someone did something offsite first, and he was goaded into actually putting something up here. My memory may be faulty w/r/t Projects though.
Problem is, now that it's enshrined as part of the site, it's got rules and guidelines too, and stuff that may have made it into kindall's newsletter may be seen as inappropriate.
So it goes.
See, my interpretation of projects is that it should be for stuff that would be cool enough to be a front page post...except if you did post it to the front page it would be a self-link, so you post it to projects instead.
Aye, exactly what I had in mind when it was first talked about. It seems that Matt had more specificity in mind, though. Fair enough. I don't visit it anyway.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:15 PM on March 10, 2006
Hmm, matt shows up in this thread only to post a throwaway comment about a throwaway comment about MeCha.
Heh.
posted by delmoi at 9:35 PM on March 10, 2006
Heh.
posted by delmoi at 9:35 PM on March 10, 2006
I would also much prefer to have a comments section. In my case, without the interactive element and the chance for real feedback I felt a little uncomfortable when deciding to post. I mean it is certainly a creative endeavor for me, but it felt a little too much like just straight up "Hey metafilter, I'm trying to get you to buy my shit!"
But even in less commercial projects I would think the chance to have the minds at metafilter help clarify or improve your ideas would make the service far, far more valuable then it is now.
posted by Jezztek at 12:13 AM on March 11, 2006
But even in less commercial projects I would think the chance to have the minds at metafilter help clarify or improve your ideas would make the service far, far more valuable then it is now.
posted by Jezztek at 12:13 AM on March 11, 2006
What stavros said. I don't visit it either.
posted by languagehat at 9:05 AM on March 11, 2006
posted by languagehat at 9:05 AM on March 11, 2006
stavrosthewonderchicken said 'See, my interpretation of projects is that it should be for stuff that would be cool enough to be a front page post...except if you did post it to the front page it would be a self-link, so you post it to projects instead.'
That was the idea originally, wasn't it? Stuff like a silly page about Belgians, someone entering a weblogging competition, or indeed any link to some weblog don't seem to be projects as such, in terms of the effort put into them, especially when there's folk posting albums they've recorded, films they've animated or frightfully clever coding things they've done. Maybe projects with 0 votes after a week should be disappeared?
posted by jack_mo at 10:04 AM on March 11, 2006
That was the idea originally, wasn't it? Stuff like a silly page about Belgians, someone entering a weblogging competition, or indeed any link to some weblog don't seem to be projects as such, in terms of the effort put into them, especially when there's folk posting albums they've recorded, films they've animated or frightfully clever coding things they've done. Maybe projects with 0 votes after a week should be disappeared?
posted by jack_mo at 10:04 AM on March 11, 2006
Why the hell hasn't the friend's blog project post been deleted?
posted by cillit bang at 10:43 AM on March 11, 2006
posted by cillit bang at 10:43 AM on March 11, 2006
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posted by esch at 8:59 PM on March 9, 2006