Why isn't this considered spam and blackholed? March 15, 2006 8:24 AM Subscribe
I don't get it. Why isn't this considered spam and blackholed?
It was a MeFi Projects post that another member decided to post to the Blue. I suppose this provenance carries with it some sort of special dispensation.
posted by killdevil at 8:28 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by killdevil at 8:28 AM on March 15, 2006
It was one of the highest rated projects by one of our own members and they're fairly good designs on a site I've never seen before (and I look at dozens of tshirt sites every week), but it would have been nice if the person posting that mentioned it or linked to other good t-shirt sites we haven't seen before.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:35 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:35 AM on March 15, 2006
While I can see how these sort of posts could easily "go way overboard" and it's questionable whether any site whose primary purpose is to sell things makes a good post to the blue, I don't think 'spam' is the right word.
For it to be spam there would have to be some relationship between the poster and the seller (philcliff and Jezztek). In the strictest sense, it would have to be a financial relationship. Are you implying such a relationship exists, Kickstart?
posted by If I Had An Anus at 8:53 AM on March 15, 2006
For it to be spam there would have to be some relationship between the poster and the seller (philcliff and Jezztek). In the strictest sense, it would have to be a financial relationship. Are you implying such a relationship exists, Kickstart?
posted by If I Had An Anus at 8:53 AM on March 15, 2006
I thing it redeemed itself as it progressed. I threw in some DIY stencilling links, while Jezztek offered some insight on the business aspects of the store. At the worst, append it to the corresponding projects page.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:53 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:53 AM on March 15, 2006
I have a code in by dose. Thab's why I thing.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:54 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:54 AM on March 15, 2006
because it's one person's project, posted by another user.
mischief: Have you checked behind the fridge?
posted by boo_radley at 9:00 AM on March 15, 2006
mischief: Have you checked behind the fridge?
posted by boo_radley at 9:00 AM on March 15, 2006
How do you define spam, cribcage?
posted by If I Had An Anus at 9:12 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by If I Had An Anus at 9:12 AM on March 15, 2006
I look at dozens of T-shirt sites every week
I thought this was something that staff writers for T-Shirt Quarterly and Beefy: The Journal of Industrial Shirt Design did because they had to. No idea anyone did it voluntarily.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:13 AM on March 15, 2006
I thought this was something that staff writers for T-Shirt Quarterly and Beefy: The Journal of Industrial Shirt Design did because they had to. No idea anyone did it voluntarily.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:13 AM on March 15, 2006
Why are some of you so allergic to commerce?
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:19 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:19 AM on March 15, 2006
If I Had An Anus: "How do you define spam, cribcage?"
"Spam: Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail."
Hm, by that definition, all FPPs I don't make myself are spam!Cornhole Blackhole them!
posted by Plutor at 9:21 AM on March 15, 2006
"Spam: Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail."
Hm, by that definition, all FPPs I don't make myself are spam!
posted by Plutor at 9:21 AM on March 15, 2006
It's not particularly "best of the web" but it's a cool enough selection of designs. Post it to projects, lots of people vote for it, one of them posts to the blue.... this is the intended flow.
That fact that it's a commercial venture does give it a little less shine, but I don't see a fundamental problem here. Perhaps a low-quality post, but not spam.
posted by scarabic at 9:21 AM on March 15, 2006
That fact that it's a commercial venture does give it a little less shine, but I don't see a fundamental problem here. Perhaps a low-quality post, but not spam.
posted by scarabic at 9:21 AM on March 15, 2006
append it to the corresponding projects page.
...if there were such a thing! Right now the "detail" view of a project only lists who voted for it. No comments. I believe that the rationale is: if it is calling out for comments, then post it to the Blue.
posted by scarabic at 9:24 AM on March 15, 2006
...if there were such a thing! Right now the "detail" view of a project only lists who voted for it. No comments. I believe that the rationale is: if it is calling out for comments, then post it to the Blue.
posted by scarabic at 9:24 AM on March 15, 2006
It's not particularly "best of the web" ...
"Best of the web" is deprecated. It was a phrase Matt used on the original version of the posting page, but the phrase no longer appears. The page now says: "Found something cool on the web and want to share it with everyone else? Great!"
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:24 AM on March 15, 2006
"Best of the web" is deprecated. It was a phrase Matt used on the original version of the posting page, but the phrase no longer appears. The page now says: "Found something cool on the web and want to share it with everyone else? Great!"
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:24 AM on March 15, 2006
Why are some of you so allergic to commerce?
because they don't want to admit that their lives are ruled by it, that their work and their buying habits support it, and they want some "pure" zone, unsullied by filthy lucre, that they can use to pretend that they're above all that
i find it unrealistic, pretentious and tiresome
posted by pyramid termite at 9:26 AM on March 15, 2006
because they don't want to admit that their lives are ruled by it, that their work and their buying habits support it, and they want some "pure" zone, unsullied by filthy lucre, that they can use to pretend that they're above all that
i find it unrealistic, pretentious and tiresome
posted by pyramid termite at 9:26 AM on March 15, 2006
monju_bosatsu writes "Why are some of you so allergic to commerce?"
Because it tends to screw up the good parts of the internet.
posted by Mitheral at 9:27 AM on March 15, 2006
Because it tends to screw up the good parts of the internet.
posted by Mitheral at 9:27 AM on March 15, 2006
Because it tends to screw up the good parts of the internet.
Whatever. Some of the best parts of the internet are driven by and sustained by commerce. Look at MetaFilter, for an easy example. Matt's effort is sustained by advertisments and people who purchase memberships.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:35 AM on March 15, 2006
Whatever. Some of the best parts of the internet are driven by and sustained by commerce. Look at MetaFilter, for an easy example. Matt's effort is sustained by advertisments and people who purchase memberships.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:35 AM on March 15, 2006
Because it tends to screw up the good parts of the internet.
Like porn?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:35 AM on March 15, 2006
Like porn?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:35 AM on March 15, 2006
mathowie, if you're looking at dozens of t-shirt sites per week, maybe you should post some. I'm desperate for t-shirts. Especially work-safe ones :-)
posted by popechunk at 9:41 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by popechunk at 9:41 AM on March 15, 2006
No idea anyone did it voluntarily.
I've had to trim back bloglines to keep it to 1-2 t-shirt blogs. Clearly it's a burgeoning problem among males 25-40 who don't have to deal with dress codes. Your local news will do a crisis piece on it in about 4 years.
posted by yerfatma at 9:43 AM on March 15, 2006
I've had to trim back bloglines to keep it to 1-2 t-shirt blogs. Clearly it's a burgeoning problem among males 25-40 who don't have to deal with dress codes. Your local news will do a crisis piece on it in about 4 years.
posted by yerfatma at 9:43 AM on March 15, 2006
It's a terrible post that should have stayed in projects. Sorry.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:47 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:47 AM on March 15, 2006
Dang, they stole my completely obvious and therefore sure to be best-selling heart n' crossbones design.
...so what are hipsters going to be wearing about a year from now? something with a similarly huge margin, I hope?
posted by sonofsamiam at 9:50 AM on March 15, 2006
...so what are hipsters going to be wearing about a year from now? something with a similarly huge margin, I hope?
posted by sonofsamiam at 9:50 AM on March 15, 2006
monju_bosatsu writes "Look at MetaFilter, for an easy example."
An example that explictly prohibits pepsi blue. There is a difference between ads on metafilter and metafilter as ad.
posted by Mitheral at 9:52 AM on March 15, 2006
An example that explictly prohibits pepsi blue. There is a difference between ads on metafilter and metafilter as ad.
posted by Mitheral at 9:52 AM on March 15, 2006
...so what are hipsters going to be wearing about a year from now?
Garishly colored vinyl belts, where the buckle is a small picture frame that you can put different images in. The big trend will be putting old TV show trading cards in the frame.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:55 AM on March 15, 2006
Garishly colored vinyl belts, where the buckle is a small picture frame that you can put different images in. The big trend will be putting old TV show trading cards in the frame.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:55 AM on March 15, 2006
...so what are hipsters going to be wearing about a year from now?
mock suicide bomber belts
posted by pyramid termite at 9:57 AM on March 15, 2006
mock suicide bomber belts
posted by pyramid termite at 9:57 AM on March 15, 2006
FUCKING PTERODACTYLS makes it all worthwhile.
posted by By The Grace of God at 9:57 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by By The Grace of God at 9:57 AM on March 15, 2006
It seems that something could be a great project as well as a poor front page post.
posted by justgary at 10:00 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by justgary at 10:00 AM on March 15, 2006
I wish ther were more sites posted to the blue with cool swag that I could spend my hard earned dollers on. mmmm.. Thinkgeek.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:15 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by blue_beetle at 10:15 AM on March 15, 2006
I fail to see the point of Projects if it's simply employed as a springboard to the blue (via another member, no less) once you garner enough attention. Am I mistaken in assuming that is the precedent by which this post shall remain? What's the context of the [via] in conjunction with the votes - it may have had the most, but was it over an implicit threshold that automatically qualifies it for FPP status - or is its existence in Projects considered implicit justification to be posted to the blue by any member of the site at any point in time? I've felt this way about most of the [via projects] posts, this has nothing to do with my judgement of the sites or their content.
posted by prostyle at 10:36 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by prostyle at 10:36 AM on March 15, 2006
I fail to see the point of Projects if it's simply employed as a springboard to the blue
The entire point of it is that you can announce your own stuff, self-link, and the best stuff will likely get picked up by another member of the site and posted to the front page. They were cool t-shirt designs but I agree it's not that great of a post the way it was posted, but I do believe with some re-writing, it could have been a good post to mefi.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:49 AM on March 15, 2006
The entire point of it is that you can announce your own stuff, self-link, and the best stuff will likely get picked up by another member of the site and posted to the front page. They were cool t-shirt designs but I agree it's not that great of a post the way it was posted, but I do believe with some re-writing, it could have been a good post to mefi.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:49 AM on March 15, 2006
There is a difference between ads on metafilter and metafilter as ad.
Granted, but it's a hazy difference. T-shirt store is an ad -- it's there to sell shirts. Web comic is content -- the merit of the comic is the merit of the site. But what about a webcomic with ads on it? A webcomic that sells books and t-shirts? Howsabout a webcomic that exists (perhaps secretly) solely to drive ad and shirt revenue?
(And, on the flip side, if the T-shirt store is an ad first, it is still content second -- the art on the shirts -- rather than contentless.)
The situation is made inherently complex by the fact that people who have websites (1) pay for those websites and the production of the sites' contents with money and (2) need to earn money to pay for such things.
So to really keep clear of that we would have to avoid any site that featured advertising, or ancillary merch, or a paypal link, or any other clear sign that the author expects to gain any money whatsoever from the site.
posted by cortex at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2006
Granted, but it's a hazy difference. T-shirt store is an ad -- it's there to sell shirts. Web comic is content -- the merit of the comic is the merit of the site. But what about a webcomic with ads on it? A webcomic that sells books and t-shirts? Howsabout a webcomic that exists (perhaps secretly) solely to drive ad and shirt revenue?
(And, on the flip side, if the T-shirt store is an ad first, it is still content second -- the art on the shirts -- rather than contentless.)
The situation is made inherently complex by the fact that people who have websites (1) pay for those websites and the production of the sites' contents with money and (2) need to earn money to pay for such things.
So to really keep clear of that we would have to avoid any site that featured advertising, or ancillary merch, or a paypal link, or any other clear sign that the author expects to gain any money whatsoever from the site.
posted by cortex at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2006
I do believe with some re-writing, it could have been a good post to mefi.
I don't disagree. Might I suggest though, some guidelines on what makes a 'good post' for people who want to bring something from Projects to blue?
Though, those guidelines are pretty much the same for a regular post, correct? I just don't think we should be allowing less quality for a [via Projects] post than for a regular post. If the person bringing it from Projects doesn't do a decent job of making the post, give someone else a chance to do better.
posted by Kickstart70 at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2006
I don't disagree. Might I suggest though, some guidelines on what makes a 'good post' for people who want to bring something from Projects to blue?
Though, those guidelines are pretty much the same for a regular post, correct? I just don't think we should be allowing less quality for a [via Projects] post than for a regular post. If the person bringing it from Projects doesn't do a decent job of making the post, give someone else a chance to do better.
posted by Kickstart70 at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2006
Yeah, it seems to be a strange method of dissemination. The user submits their own project to the list, yet ultimately has no control over the content of the FPP that may or may not ensue. I like Projects, I've just been confused about the way it relates to the user base and the blue. Maybe after X number of votes they should be given a "Free FPP" card that they can fill out to their liking? Assuming it would have an automated reference to the projects post to pre-empt self-link callouts I think this could be a nice system. More likely than not it would create more problems than it would solve... but I don't think it could possibly trivialize the relationship between the pages any further.
posted by prostyle at 11:00 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by prostyle at 11:00 AM on March 15, 2006
Seriously. It's (yet another) t-shirt site, using one of the mass t-shirt makers, doing the now-pretty-standard solid-colour-low-detail design style (ie. Threadless).
Well, you pretty much have to do that kind of style if you want good results. What T-Shirt sites have you ever seen who don't use that sytle?
It was posted to projects in the standard way, recived a ton of votes, and was posted.
Quit whining.
posted by delmoi at 11:02 AM on March 15, 2006
Well, you pretty much have to do that kind of style if you want good results. What T-Shirt sites have you ever seen who don't use that sytle?
It was posted to projects in the standard way, recived a ton of votes, and was posted.
Quit whining.
posted by delmoi at 11:02 AM on March 15, 2006
Well, 90% of the people who are interested in buying shirts won't because of the crappy interface on spreadshirt. And the shirts do have content, which is actually pretty funny.
posted by delmoi at 11:08 AM on March 15, 2006
posted by delmoi at 11:08 AM on March 15, 2006
I fail to see the point of Projects if it's simply employed as a springboard to the blue (via another member, no less) once you garner enough attention.
Well, that was the original intent, and always has been...
posted by delmoi at 11:08 AM on March 15, 2006
Well, that was the original intent, and always has been...
posted by delmoi at 11:08 AM on March 15, 2006
Maybe after X number of votes they should be given a "Free FPP" card that they can fill out to their liking?
Hmm, thats an intresting idea, but given the amount of time it takes to implement something around here, My guess it would take about a year before it showed up :P
posted by delmoi at 11:10 AM on March 15, 2006
Hmm, thats an intresting idea, but given the amount of time it takes to implement something around here, My guess it would take about a year before it showed up :P
posted by delmoi at 11:10 AM on March 15, 2006
delmoi: Bite me. It's a crappy blue post of a non-crappy Project. Ok?
The issue really is improving the quality of the blue post, so just take a pill or something.
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:10 AM on March 15, 2006
The issue really is improving the quality of the blue post, so just take a pill or something.
posted by Kickstart70 at 11:10 AM on March 15, 2006
Some of the best stuff on the internet has been created by mefi members... Projects definitely serves a worthy purpose. It may be that it takes a while for it settle in, but I always found that the fact that the one thing any member couldn't post here was something they were really invested in (emotionally, mentally, I mean) to be a small problem.
I've done lots of things since Projects started that I like, but don't really feel like posting there... But when/if I do work on something that I think might have a larger appeal, I'll be very glad that I can include it. (But I would like to see comments on Projects... though I understand how this would really increase admin. work, so I'm patient.)
posted by taz at 11:12 AM on March 15, 2006
I've done lots of things since Projects started that I like, but don't really feel like posting there... But when/if I do work on something that I think might have a larger appeal, I'll be very glad that I can include it. (But I would like to see comments on Projects... though I understand how this would really increase admin. work, so I'm patient.)
posted by taz at 11:12 AM on March 15, 2006
taz really nails my general feeling about this. Projects is a way for MeFites to link to their own work they are proud of, and creates an avenue for those links to be shown to other MeFites. Sometimes those links are posted to the main site, and this is how its supposed to work. MeFi is a huge site with a huge userbase and there's a gap that people have often mentioned: what if you've created something that would otherwise be good on the front page of MeFi? Are you excluded from that option because you have an account here? In the past we've said "Put it on your user page and hope someone sees it" or "get someone else to post it for you" which is a problematic approach. The Projects list that Jerry Kindall hosted was great but did not endure.
Projects means that you can post your own site that you probably think is great, and you can see if other people think it's great too, maybe so great they'll post it to MeFi. There are still the same quality issues that you see with front page posts in general, and I agree with mathowie that this could have been a better post. Projects is the newest part of the site so is still going through some growing pains, maybe there needs to be more information or helper text after the "post to mefi" link, but other stuff we've seen coming over from MeFi Projects has generally been of pretty high quality and I don't think the system itself is broken.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:22 AM on March 15, 2006
Projects means that you can post your own site that you probably think is great, and you can see if other people think it's great too, maybe so great they'll post it to MeFi. There are still the same quality issues that you see with front page posts in general, and I agree with mathowie that this could have been a better post. Projects is the newest part of the site so is still going through some growing pains, maybe there needs to be more information or helper text after the "post to mefi" link, but other stuff we've seen coming over from MeFi Projects has generally been of pretty high quality and I don't think the system itself is broken.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:22 AM on March 15, 2006
Honestly, I think the most interesting part of my shop would be that (for me at least) it's just a good example of some of "the promise" of the internet, that actually has been delivered.
I remember when I was just out of high school, talking with my buddies and deciding we should try to open a mail order shirt store. But we were pretty broke, and any new business is a risky venture so we never got past filing some papers with this or that government small business office, before we just hit some wall we couldn't work around with our resources.
But here, almost a decade later, it's almost incredible how much easier it is for anyone who has even a handful of ideas to get out there and make a go of it.
I think to really understand how impressive the support system for this sort of venture is, you really need to understand just what a rube I am when it comes to this sort of thing. I started about 7 weeks ago, and at that time I really had no clue how to do any of this. I took about a week just sitting down and teaching myself a little about Illustrator, and banging around learning some Golive. With spreadshirt my total start up costs were like $10, and $25 for my domain and basic hosting. I have zero marketing savvy, and the entirety of my advertising has been the poorly conceived decision to buy a classified ad.
But the bottom line is that someone who is totally clueless but with a few fun ideas can invest a week of time, less then $50 and then suddenly have a store. And a store that actually tricks some people into thinking you are a legitimate business, and more then just a single random slacker making it up as you go along.
I know it's shallow, and since I'm just pitching tee shirts perhaps a bit crass, but this ease of opportunity really feels like what those bright eyed "Wired" types were preaching about the promise of the internet in the 90s, it's really to the point that if I can do it (well if you call my still buggy current setup doing it), anyone can make a go at it. Personally, I really think that's a wonderful thing.
Now if only the FFP had explored that angle, I'd have a bit more to talk about in the thread.
posted by Jezztek at 11:55 AM on March 15, 2006
I remember when I was just out of high school, talking with my buddies and deciding we should try to open a mail order shirt store. But we were pretty broke, and any new business is a risky venture so we never got past filing some papers with this or that government small business office, before we just hit some wall we couldn't work around with our resources.
But here, almost a decade later, it's almost incredible how much easier it is for anyone who has even a handful of ideas to get out there and make a go of it.
I think to really understand how impressive the support system for this sort of venture is, you really need to understand just what a rube I am when it comes to this sort of thing. I started about 7 weeks ago, and at that time I really had no clue how to do any of this. I took about a week just sitting down and teaching myself a little about Illustrator, and banging around learning some Golive. With spreadshirt my total start up costs were like $10, and $25 for my domain and basic hosting. I have zero marketing savvy, and the entirety of my advertising has been the poorly conceived decision to buy a classified ad.
But the bottom line is that someone who is totally clueless but with a few fun ideas can invest a week of time, less then $50 and then suddenly have a store. And a store that actually tricks some people into thinking you are a legitimate business, and more then just a single random slacker making it up as you go along.
I know it's shallow, and since I'm just pitching tee shirts perhaps a bit crass, but this ease of opportunity really feels like what those bright eyed "Wired" types were preaching about the promise of the internet in the 90s, it's really to the point that if I can do it (well if you call my still buggy current setup doing it), anyone can make a go at it. Personally, I really think that's a wonderful thing.
Now if only the FFP had explored that angle, I'd have a bit more to talk about in the thread.
posted by Jezztek at 11:55 AM on March 15, 2006
The entire point of it is that you can announce your own stuff, self-link, and the best stuff will likely get picked up by another member of the site and posted to the front page.
I still don't understand this decision. It makes little to no sense to me, and implicity devalues Projects as a kind of kiddie table at the dinner. Why not just add comments to Projects and skip the clumsiness of this arbitrary workflow entirely? Is it the spectre of extra moderation workload?
Then again, I never visit Projects anyway. I might, if there were comments, though. Being able to ask the projician questions about their work and stuff would make the resource actually valuable.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:17 PM on March 15, 2006
I still don't understand this decision. It makes little to no sense to me, and implicity devalues Projects as a kind of kiddie table at the dinner. Why not just add comments to Projects and skip the clumsiness of this arbitrary workflow entirely? Is it the spectre of extra moderation workload?
Then again, I never visit Projects anyway. I might, if there were comments, though. Being able to ask the projician questions about their work and stuff would make the resource actually valuable.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:17 PM on March 15, 2006
Indeed.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:43 PM on March 15, 2006
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:43 PM on March 15, 2006
starvos is dead on how i feel about projects.
posted by Dreamghost at 6:05 PM on March 15, 2006
posted by Dreamghost at 6:05 PM on March 15, 2006
I too would love for projects to have comments. It seems like being able to use that resource to seek feedback on a project would make it much more valuable.
posted by Jezztek at 7:40 PM on March 15, 2006
posted by Jezztek at 7:40 PM on March 15, 2006
Well since I posted the FPP in question I guess I should respond. The reason I posted it was that it got a tons of votes on projects and I thought with that number of votes it should get posted to the front page. I also thought that the shirts were well done. Great Post? No, and I'll try to add more content next time.
The other issue that's been brought up is how Projects functions. It is true that some discussion would work great in projects and all one would have to do is just look at the front page discussion of this post to see why. People commented on how the page functioned on what they thought needed work, then Jezztek responded in thread on why that was the case and then made changes. This kind of discussion would be nice but two problems arise. If comments were enabled then it would just be like the front page except full of self-links. First of all the feedback about the site itself probably wouldn't be that great since in the blue discussions seem to be more about the idea websites represent instead of how the site functions. Another problem is what seems to be the nature of Projects which is it is a place for members to post new finalized works so discussion about bugs and ways to improve a site would be nice but not necessary. This time it doesn't seem to be the case but this is probably an exception since Projects doesn't seem to be a place to put work in progress.
Regarding on how things move from Projects to the front page seems to be the other issue that was raised. With voting one would have to set a pretty arbitrary number of votes. What separates a Project with 14 votes from one with 15? With the current set up it works the same way that any FPP comes to the front page. A member sees something that they think is neat and they post it. The only difference is that Projects is a part of the greater Metafilter site and is focused on work that members have done.
posted by philcliff at 8:06 PM on March 15, 2006
The other issue that's been brought up is how Projects functions. It is true that some discussion would work great in projects and all one would have to do is just look at the front page discussion of this post to see why. People commented on how the page functioned on what they thought needed work, then Jezztek responded in thread on why that was the case and then made changes. This kind of discussion would be nice but two problems arise. If comments were enabled then it would just be like the front page except full of self-links. First of all the feedback about the site itself probably wouldn't be that great since in the blue discussions seem to be more about the idea websites represent instead of how the site functions. Another problem is what seems to be the nature of Projects which is it is a place for members to post new finalized works so discussion about bugs and ways to improve a site would be nice but not necessary. This time it doesn't seem to be the case but this is probably an exception since Projects doesn't seem to be a place to put work in progress.
Regarding on how things move from Projects to the front page seems to be the other issue that was raised. With voting one would have to set a pretty arbitrary number of votes. What separates a Project with 14 votes from one with 15? With the current set up it works the same way that any FPP comes to the front page. A member sees something that they think is neat and they post it. The only difference is that Projects is a part of the greater Metafilter site and is focused on work that members have done.
posted by philcliff at 8:06 PM on March 15, 2006
This isn't the greatest post in the world, but I support it. I think it's okay if projects turns into a springboard into metafilter, provided the project is very highly rated, it doesn't happen too often, and the user posting it doesn't post it to the blue him or herself. I think it's a good way to engender more community spirit on this site.
posted by lemur at 8:27 PM on March 15, 2006
posted by lemur at 8:27 PM on March 15, 2006
Oh yeah, thanks much philcliff, It was quite a pleasant surprise to see someone liked my stuff enough to bump me up to the blue.
posted by Jezztek at 9:35 PM on March 15, 2006
posted by Jezztek at 9:35 PM on March 15, 2006
If comments were enabled then it would just be like the front page except full of self-links.
I don't think that's necessarily so. Encouraging that discussion on Projects be focused specifically on the linked project -- what it does right, what could be improved, etc -- seems like a reasonable and achievable task. And as the Projector would likely be actively involved in the discussion, it'd be more likely to stay on topic even without any sort of editorial proscriptions.
Honestly, I like that Projects exists, and I plan to post something to it in the next month or so just because I'd like to have Projects-reading mefites see it. But the prospect of getting active, detailed feedback from them via comments? Even more attractive of an idea.
AskMe has not turned out to be "like the front page" except full of questions -- there is a markedly different tone in the Green. I don't see any reason to believe that couldn't happen in the, uh, Red.
posted by cortex at 8:06 AM on March 16, 2006
I don't think that's necessarily so. Encouraging that discussion on Projects be focused specifically on the linked project -- what it does right, what could be improved, etc -- seems like a reasonable and achievable task. And as the Projector would likely be actively involved in the discussion, it'd be more likely to stay on topic even without any sort of editorial proscriptions.
Honestly, I like that Projects exists, and I plan to post something to it in the next month or so just because I'd like to have Projects-reading mefites see it. But the prospect of getting active, detailed feedback from them via comments? Even more attractive of an idea.
AskMe has not turned out to be "like the front page" except full of questions -- there is a markedly different tone in the Green. I don't see any reason to believe that couldn't happen in the, uh, Red.
posted by cortex at 8:06 AM on March 16, 2006
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posted by Kickstart70 at 8:27 AM on March 15, 2006