Curious April 6, 2007 11:28 AM   Subscribe

If I hadn't said that I had any connection in this posting would it still have been deleted?
posted by lannanh to Etiquette/Policy at 11:28 AM (58 comments total)

Yeah, but you probably would have been banned as well.
posted by null terminated at 11:33 AM on April 6, 2007


If we'd have figured out that you were connected to it, yes. And with more prejudice than a quiet deletion and a polite email, possibly.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:33 AM on April 6, 2007


Is it still a sin if Ceiling Cat naps through a performance?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:37 AM on April 6, 2007 [2 favorites]


It reads like an advertisement. There would have been great suspicion, and then someone somewhere would have dug up your connection, and then the shit would have really hit the fan.
posted by PercussivePaul at 11:38 AM on April 6, 2007


Please don't delete me!

IMHO, this is almost worse because it shows that you knew about the rule but thought that it shouldn't apply for some reason.
posted by dhammond at 11:38 AM on April 6, 2007


Is it just because of my connection to it? Hypothetically, if it were for the event because I thought it was interesting would it still be deleted?

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be obtuse, I'd just like to know for future reference if I should not post any "events" regardless of my involvement.

Thanks.
posted by lannanh at 11:38 AM on April 6, 2007


I think the question is more "If someone else had posted this, would it have been deleted?" In which case probably not.

But, self links are verboten and people who get caught are normally banned.
posted by delmoi at 11:38 AM on April 6, 2007


Curious. Was this note not there?

Note: You read the guidelines, right? Because linking to your own site or a project you worked on in this space will result in a deletion and your account will be banned. Post it to MetaFilter Projects to announce your work instead, which was designed especially for this purpose.

like, seriously.
posted by fishfucker at 11:39 AM on April 6, 2007


Er, maybe it would have been deleted, I don't know.
posted by delmoi at 11:40 AM on April 6, 2007


meh. ignore me. i'm grouchy.

i am kinda curious if that's a new thing, though, seeing as how i never hit that post page.
posted by fishfucker at 11:40 AM on April 6, 2007


*sigh* ok, i get it now. sorry, I guess I didn't really consider this a "project" per se. I wasn't trying to be shady, i thought it would actually be of interest to MeFites especially considering the large number or members in the Bay Area.

Lesson learned.
posted by lannanh at 11:42 AM on April 6, 2007


Event posts in general aren't great post material. Sometimes they're okay, but the most important thing is that there's significant web content being linked to: not just an ad, but a site that's interesting in and of itself.

We're pretty ad-wary, as a community; reactions vary from instance to instance, but in general if you have to pause and consider, you probably shouldn't post it at all.

Projects is in part a release valve for this sort of thing: if you're involved in or responsible for something interesting and web-based, submit it there and it'll almost certainly hit the page; and if someone else finds it interesting and post-worthy, they may even toss it up on the blue.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:44 AM on April 6, 2007


Self-linking is an almost unbreakable more, and you clearly knew that it was there. That you thought your event was more deserving of self-linkage than - say - my link farm is pretty narcissistic. Like cortex implied, be glad all you got was "a quiet deletion and a polite email".
posted by Plutor at 11:44 AM on April 6, 2007


Is it just because of my connection to it?

Yes. I think the idea is that we (those who post on Mefi) shouldn't post our own stuff to the Blue, because it's probably not as great of a post as we think it is.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:46 AM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


Posting about one's own work breaks the "filter" aspect of MeFi. We (as in people) are just not objective about how interesting our own work is. The test that someone else found it interesting, while imperfect, is a better bar.
posted by rudyfink at 12:00 PM on April 6, 2007


This reminds me of people, in deals-related forums, who post random questions in, for instance, 'Hot Deals' instead of 'Questions,' not because they don't know the rule but because they know more people will look at their question in 'Hot Deals' than if it were in the appropriate forum.
posted by who squared at 12:15 PM on April 6, 2007


i thought it would actually be of interest to MeFites

There are lots of things that are of interest to MeFites... But nothing is so extraordinarily interesting, or special, to justify breaking the rules.
posted by amyms at 12:20 PM on April 6, 2007


i thought it would actually be of interest to MeFites

What's really of interest is when the self-posting defendant gets a slap on the wrist and refuses to indicate sufficient shame and repentance, and flames out spectacularly in MetaTalk while we all dance around shaking gourds and spewing invective.

What's with this "lesson learned" crap? NOT OF INTEREST TO MEFITES
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:30 PM on April 6, 2007


...i thought it would actually be of interest to MeFites...

Every spammer and link whore thinks the same thing. (Unless they're trying to game the googlebot.)
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 12:56 PM on April 6, 2007


It's a pretty strict rule actually, lannanh. And it applies to everyone. See, watch this...

"Hey! Anybody wanna be seranaded at of my singing gigs?"

::silence::

::matteo throws something at me::

I rest my case.

Yes, I know some of you actually said you would like to -- I'm kidding for self-depricating effect here, people! :)
posted by miss lynnster at 12:59 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


lannah, it is a cool event, but at this point there's no very good way to post cool events to MeFi. Though I am one of the people who is interested in Neat Things Mefites Are Doing, I understand Matt's reluctance to have an "events'" section on the site.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:09 PM on April 6, 2007


No, no, miss lynnster— If matteo shows up in a Meta about a deleted thread, it's to complain that things are being axed in order to make more room for youtube posts.
posted by klangklangston at 1:11 PM on April 6, 2007


I don't think the post would have been very good even without the self-link angle. There's just not much there. A Yuri anniversary post might be cool.

I'm kidding for self-depricating effect here, people!

If you were really being self-deprecating, you likely wouldn't have brought your little spat with matteo up out of context.

posted by and hosted from Uranus at 1:12 PM on April 6, 2007


I'm sorry, I don't mean to be obtuse, I'd just like to know for future reference if I should not post any "events" regardless of my involvement.

The breaking point on "event" posts in the past has been the actual web prescence.

-"Here is the full schedule for an upcoming event" will probably get deleted.

-"Here is a list of speakers for an upcoming event and the times their presentations will be streamed on the site" may not get deleted, though I have seen it happen with a reason like "there is nothing to see on this site at this time."

-"Here is the online archive of interesting event X with streaming and downloadable video, transcripts, and pictures" will probably not get deleted. Unless the event is very boring or a self-link.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:16 PM on April 6, 2007


presence
Free spellcheck!
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:18 PM on April 6, 2007


I don't care a whit about the self-link, but I have to say this to lannanh:

5lwrshp soundsystem cru needs invites! Will work and sling cable for invites! Duct-tape proficient, decades of party throwing experience! Contacts in profile!

We already have a friend or contact on your crew, so we may have some invites or guest list slots already, but I'd love to confirm a couple for the the folks that want to go just be sure. Hopefully see you there!
posted by loquacious at 1:37 PM on April 6, 2007


loquacious, that should that be "gaff-tape proficient". ;)

I was wondering if 5lowershop was your warehouse...
posted by oneirodynia at 1:44 PM on April 6, 2007


If you have a connection to something and you think it would make a good post, IIRC, it's acceptable to email another user and see if they'll post it for you. With a different write up, and without the personal connection, I think your post could have been interesting.
posted by drezdn at 1:53 PM on April 6, 2007


I am not a theater tech. I do not carry little loops of black string around. While I appreciate the beauty of true black gaffer's tape, techno sound crews can't afford such luxurious shit. Hence, duct tape.

oneirodynia: Argh. I let the cat out. :( Yeah. I'm with those weirdos. Yay, weirdos!
posted by loquacious at 1:58 PM on April 6, 2007


>>it's acceptable to email another user and see if they'll post it for you

Is that really true? That almost seems shadier than just positng yourself and stating that you are connected, imo.
posted by lannanh at 2:04 PM on April 6, 2007


Hold your horses, everyone. I'm reposting it for It Is Good. Haters? Suck it.
posted by loquacious at 2:07 PM on April 6, 2007


If you have a connection to something and you think it would make a good post, IIRC, it's acceptable to email another user and see if they'll post it for you.

No, it's not acceptable, just like stealing gum from the grocery store is not acceptable, but it's very possible you'll get away with it.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:08 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


am i stoned or did loqua... wait, i'm stoned.
posted by phaedon at 2:10 PM on April 6, 2007


You've got some derring-do, loquacious!
posted by Mister_A at 2:12 PM on April 6, 2007


"but the most important thing is that there's significant web content being linked to"

That's what I don't get about probably 80% of the posts here. To me, "Best of the web" means you should be able to follow a link 6 months later and still find something interesting there.
posted by 2sheets at 2:18 PM on April 6, 2007


In 2006 a crack-addled poster signed up for Metafilter for reasons that aren't clear. This man promptly made a jackass of himself. Today still a jackass, he survives as a poster of other people's self-links. If you have a self-link, if no one else will post it, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire... Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 2:19 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


techno sound crews can't afford such luxurious shit. Hence, duct tape.

Ugh. Try coiling up a 70 pound eight pin cable that's coated with duct tape crud, and you will curse the dy anyone every showed up at a warehouse with the stuff. Gaff tape is costly, but it pays off in time spent cleaning cables. I was part of a soundsystem crew for years, and we made a point of taking duct tape rolls away from people and pointing them toward the gaff tape. (and yes, we were poor, but not so poor that we enjoyed the sensation of being coated in adhesive+warehouse basement floor crud when we tore down. I won't even mention the time water dripped from leaky ceiling pipes and the toilets overflowed, leaving live amps sitting in two inches of water with cables everywhere. Good times.)
posted by oneirodynia at 2:19 PM on April 6, 2007


oneirodynia is a typing moron.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:21 PM on April 6, 2007


No, it's not acceptable...

I'm feeling too lazy to look back through old Metafilter threads, but if whole point of emailing another user (which would most likely be someone who has been here a while and has probably gained a good sense of what would fly on the set) is that they could objectively decide whether or not it would be a good post.

Granted, in the post projects world, this may be unnecessary.
posted by drezdn at 2:21 PM on April 6, 2007


I suppose you're right- it's up to the user being e-mailed, but I don't think it's something we should openly encourage. Metafilter is not for self-links. Period. Don't try to sneak around and be clever. The post we're talking about (the NASA event) isn't a good FPP, it's barely even a Project (which are supposed to be web-based). I wouldn't want users to think they can try to take advantage of someone else's good will to get their ad for their latest whatever up on the blue.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:30 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


i thought it would actually be of interest to MeFites especially considering the large number or members in the Bay Area.

The whole reason we have the rule is that the general feeling is that you can't objectively say that something you are onvolved in is good or bad. It's like deciding your kid is attractive or ugly, or even your friends' kids. If we let people post self-links it would cause a bunch of back and forth about the merits of the post and whether it was influenced by someone's close connection.

Additionally we'd have to consider whether there was some possibility of the user profiting by the traffic the link would send to a website and how that influenced their decision to link to it (this happens sometimes in AskMe and is why we're uppity about self-links there as well). I'm NOT saying this is what you were doing, I'm explaining the rationale. We don't want to have to weigh each post and say "well it's a self link or a link to a close friend's site but it *is pretty good..." we just tell you not to do it. Easier to enforce, less fighting.

Projects is set up special for this one-off promotion stuff. Event posts are not good FPP material generally (I'm sure someone can find some exceptions but as a general rule) because the site has many international members, and a ton of US members all over the place that are not the Bay Area or NYC. You can usually find someone else to post a link for you, but there is still the possibility that it will be removed for being a bad post otherwise. If you become someone who does this often -- lobs links you're associated to to other members to post for you -- we'll ask you to cut it out and/or ban your account.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:42 PM on April 6, 2007


miss l, will you sing "Happy Birthday" when I turn 65?
21 years away but I know you're heavily booked.
Where do I send my deposit check?
posted by Dizzy at 2:55 PM on April 6, 2007


Ugh. Try coiling up a 70 pound eight pin cable that's coated with duct tape crud, and you will curse the dy anyone every showed up at a warehouse with the stuff.

That's why you layout the soundsystem so it doesn't need taping or cable-guards. Or, instead of tape - use cable guards and runners. Much safer, anyway. Granted, 99% of the systems I work on don't have a true soundboard or engineer station setup, much less a snake, and everything is usually behind the speakers, making cable management easier.

I generally try to avoid taping cables to the floor if at all possible. But there's always cable-cleaner. Mmmm. Cable cleaner. Cleaning cables is fun!*

*That wasn't even sarcasm. That was just utter bullshit. Cleaning cables is hell.
posted by loquacious at 3:07 PM on April 6, 2007


FYI, I did NOT ask loquacious to repost that for me. That was all on his own accord. I do appreicate it though and hope that some of you find some value in it.
posted by lannanh at 3:07 PM on April 6, 2007


What're you talking about? Man, I thought we had an agreement! Does that mean I don't get my tickets!? :(

I'm so totally kidding. Oh, put down that torch, damnit, mines bigger anyway. If I get any tickets it'll be because I'm working my ass off there as an appreciative lackey.
posted by loquacious at 3:20 PM on April 6, 2007


OK. Which one of you 2.5 admins added the tag "magic" to the post in question? I have no objections and I frankly appreciate it, and I should know better than to question magic, but wtf?
posted by loquacious at 3:25 PM on April 6, 2007


I take PayPal Diz. But I'm kind of expensive. :)
posted by miss lynnster at 3:26 PM on April 6, 2007


Oh, and if I'm not available (or dead), I'll have this guy this guy sub in my place, okay?
posted by miss lynnster at 3:29 PM on April 6, 2007


Will there even be PayPal in 2028?
We'll all be bartering seashells and "1000 Free Hours Of AOL!" cds by then.
posted by Dizzy at 3:29 PM on April 6, 2007


Are you kidding? I've got all of his albums, including "Music to Kill Yourself By" and "WTF, volume 2."
posted by Dizzy at 3:31 PM on April 6, 2007


2.5 admins

You are so banned.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:14 PM on April 6, 2007


Cerebral, cortex.

(I kid. Please don't give me an inner-ear infection.)
posted by Dizzy at 4:27 PM on April 6, 2007


You are so banned.

FREE AT LAST!! FREEE AT LAAAAST!!!! THAAAAAANK GOD AAAALLLMIGHTY I'M FREE AT LAST!!

Oh. I can still post. You cruel fucking bitch tease.

That vast pretty good humor, jah halber mensch? Ha-ha! Fractional man! German humor like our engineering and our women - overwrought and sturdy!! Sorry, it wasn't intentional good sir. I just couldn't remember if you're fulltime now or not.
posted by loquacious at 4:40 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]


I love when you talk real tiny.
posted by Dizzy at 4:42 PM on April 6, 2007


What was the budget for hair product on that one?
posted by Dizzy at 6:37 PM on April 6, 2007


Please don't use "posting" as a noun. It makes you sound like a space alien or something. Scary.
posted by breezeway at 10:29 PM on April 6, 2007


No, it's not acceptable, just like stealing gum from the grocery store is not acceptable, but it's very possible you'll get away with it.

Absolutely untrue, TPS. Number One himself posted my (admittedly excellent) self-link when I politely emailed and asked him.

But then, that link was extroardinarily wonderful and uniquely fantastic, so it was no surprise that he jumped at the chance to be the one to post it to the blue.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:51 AM on April 7, 2007


Lentrohamsanin writes "The breaking point on 'event' posts in the past has been the actual web prescence.

"-'Here is the full schedule for an upcoming event' will probably get deleted.

"-'Here is a list of speakers for an upcoming event and the times their presentations will be streamed on the site' may not get deleted, though I have seen it happen with a reason like 'there is nothing to see on this site at this time.'

"-'Here is the online archive of interesting event X with streaming and downloadable video, transcripts, and pictures' will probably not get deleted. Unless the event is very boring or a self-link."


Or a coffee shop closing in NYC, that'll stay for sure.
posted by Mitheral at 1:48 PM on April 12, 2007


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