[previous-filter] mefi checks if fpp links have previously been posted. how about doing the same for a few of the other large sites out there? August 30, 2008 9:22 AM   Subscribe

[previous-filter] mefi checks if fpp links have previously been posted. how about doing the same for a few of the other large sites out there?

an example: this post resembles a recent one on boingboing.

I'm not suggesting a hard denial being applied to posts that have previously been posted somewhere else but having the site mention it to a poster who might not be aware his link isn't as fresh as thought. boingboing seems an obvious candidate for inclusion...

yaynay?
posted by krautland to Feature Requests at 9:22 AM (42 comments total)

So what you're asking is not just whether a link has been posted here before but whether it's been posted to BoingBoing or Digg or something? I fail to see the utility, as someone who doesn't read BoingBoing. We've seen posts here that improve on BB and we've seen posts there that do the same for our content. I don't see any reason to even imply in some small unobtrusive way that people shouldn't post stuff to MeFi that was also posted to BoingBoing.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:26 AM on August 30, 2008 [5 favorites]


yaynay?

We don't have a nice simple-to-query database of other blogs' posting history.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:26 AM on August 30, 2008


Eh. We're not MajorLinkBlogsFilter, we're just us. If it's good enough that it's making the rounds, it's gonna make the rounds and there's nothing wrong with that.

To anybody who doesn't read BB religiously, the link isn't not-fresh at all.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:27 AM on August 30, 2008


I swear it's the very last time. Honest. I'm fully aware the gag has been run into the ground, but this post is just so perfect.

Your post advocates a:
[ ] community moderated
[X] technical
[ ] social
[ ] legislative
[ ] economic
[ ] authoritarian
[ ] free-for-all
solution to crappy MetaFilter posts.

I'm afraid it won't work due to:
[ ] the King of the Shitpile problem
[ ] the "It's only a web site" problem
[ ] it's been tried and it doesn't work
[ ] people who practice willful ignorance
[ ] MetaFilter should be less like Slashdot, not more
[ ] Digg actually sucks a lot
[ ] The Kuro5hin model didn't work at Kuro5hin either
[ ] Matt doesn't have time
[ ] there aren't enough hours in the day to police that
[ ] the code doesn't work that way
[X] technology doesn't work that way
[ ] MetaFilter runs on very limited hardware
[ ] wishing doesn't make things better
[ ] asshats don't respond well to finger-wagging
[ ] scoreboards don't fix anything, they just get gamed
[ ] overestimating the intelligence of people
[ ] five bucks isn't real money to some people
[X] it doesn't prevent shitty posts from appearing
[ ] it will let too much crap get through anyway
[X] nobody ever agrees what a shitty post is
[ ] requiring cooperation from asshats
[ ] most people don't take tags seriously
[ ] when you outlaw shit posts, only outlaws will post shit
[ ] the word "deletion" doesn't mean what you think it means
[X] it makes life harder, not easier
[X] it addresses a complete non-problem

Furthermore it seems you might not realize:
[ ] Removal of stupid posts is a good thing
[ ] User numbers don't consume bandwidth or CPU time
[ ] Matt, jessamyn, and cortex actually know what they're doing
[ ] If an algorithm existed to do that, everyone would already be using it
[ ] There is a small but loud contingent that thinks such crap is "good"
[ ] Some people think "important" means "postworthy"
[X] The Internet doesn't run on magic pixie dust and unicorn pee

In summary:
[ ] Yours isn't the worst idea I've ever heard, but it's not good.
[X] That's a pretty dumb thing to do.
[ ] Do you even understand the words you're using?
[ ] Die.

posted by majick at 9:33 AM on August 30, 2008 [33 favorites]


I laugh every time, majick.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:41 AM on August 30, 2008


Apparently we're all at the computer.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:41 AM on August 30, 2008


but having the site mention it to a poster who might not be aware his link isn't as fresh as thought.

Every link should be handcrafted by celibate monks in the Himalayas who only work when fresh snow is falling. These links must be then carried out by young pupils dressed in the still warm skins of the newly scarified Yeti and they must reach the bottom of the mountain by nightfall, else the post is discarded. Once at the bottom, a freshly built wooden ship (blessed by 7 priests of the who are then ritually killed) awaits to carry them to the nearest town that is about to reach the status of city. There, a young virgin child will enter the links into a newly made Macintosh that has been caressed by Steve Jobs himself (and contains a single drop of blood from Woz himself) and posted.

So think hard before making that post.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:44 AM on August 30, 2008 [4 favorites]


The repetition of "himself" in that last sentence tripped up what was otherwise a very nice flow. I give it a 9.3.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:50 AM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]


Hey, at least I had the decency to add unicorn pee rather than paste-and-forget. Credit where credit's due!
posted by majick at 9:52 AM on August 30, 2008


Read 'himself' as an honorific and it works pretty well.
posted by Science! at 9:54 AM on August 30, 2008


but having the site mention it to a poster who might not be aware his link isn't as fresh as thought.

Also some of the posters here are women, but maybe we don't make such mistakes.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:54 AM on August 30, 2008


> I'm fully aware the gag has been run into the ground, but this post is just so perfect.

Hey, Matt, how about something that will block copypaste comments that are reused too often?
posted by ardgedee at 10:00 AM on August 30, 2008


The number of link blogs I keep up with ranges from six to zero in a given week. Given that Metafilter is usually the first one I check when I have time, I have no problem with it being something that's been linked on BoingBoing (number two), Digg (number six), or Fark (number two hundred and fourty-seven), as long as it's good.
posted by lore at 10:02 AM on August 30, 2008


Sheesh, "fourty"? Forty.
posted by lore at 10:03 AM on August 30, 2008


a poster who might not be aware his link isn't as fresh as thought

It's a website, not a dairy case.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:03 AM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]


*makes a request to delete a repeated word from a comment via the contact form*
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:05 AM on August 30, 2008


You can either stop reading BoingBoing, or stop reading MeFi.

I know which one I'm hoping for.
posted by Eideteker at 10:19 AM on August 30, 2008


Is this finally the thread where we put to bed forever the ridiculous idea that something shouldn't be posted to MetaFilter because it was posted to BoingBoing?

No? Well, it doesn't stop me from hoping.
posted by grouse at 10:28 AM on August 30, 2008


*sweeps up pixie dust, releases unicorns into forest, reluctantly plugs computer into wall socket*
posted by Cranberry at 10:31 AM on August 30, 2008


If you prevented things that had been posted on Kottke or BoingBoing, it would just be posts of obituaries and people responding to it with dots. It would be the most depressing, confusing site on the internet.
posted by milkrate at 10:41 AM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]


There, a young virgin child will enter the links into a newly made Macintosh that has been caressed by Steve Jobs himself (and contains a single drop of blood from Woz himself) and posted.

The repetition of "himself" in that last sentence tripped up what was otherwise a very nice flow. I give it a 9.3.


But the parenthetical sets it off with, I think, a nice stylistic result. 9.7.
posted by Pax at 11:00 AM on August 30, 2008


Maybe we could ask BB to do a little unpublishing.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:01 AM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]


jessamyn: I fail to see the utility, as someone who doesn't read BoingBoing.
nothing more than an attempt at keeping the three, four big dogs on the block from looking overly similar.
We've seen posts here that improve on BB and we've seen posts there that do the same for our content.
which is why I am only advocating a suggestion, not an outright rejection. improving is great, but how about merely regurgitating?

Eideteker: I know which one I'm hoping for.
I take it that was your cat in my driveway?
posted by krautland at 11:17 AM on August 30, 2008


we've seen posts [at BB] that do the same for our content.

Example?
posted by lukemeister at 11:56 AM on August 30, 2008


Example?

There have been a few.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:57 AM on August 30, 2008


how about Trackbacks?

also please note there are several users that have the initials BB. that is all.
posted by blue_beetle at 12:05 PM on August 30, 2008


We do our thing; they do theirs. The thing about links and the internet is, well, they tend to get spread around. It's sort of the point.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:10 PM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]


Seeing as I don't read BoingBoing, Fark, SomethingAwful, or reddit at all, and I only look at Digg when the boredom and ennui are so thick I'm forgetting to breath, I really would rather interesting things be allowed to be posted on MeFi, even if they've (gasp) shown up somewhere first.
posted by Caduceus at 12:41 PM on August 30, 2008


Yeah, and that is sort of the whole point of this place, after all. It even has 'filter' in the name.

All this proposed feature would do is bake in and condone the massively irritating tendency to post patronising 'via' comments, linking to a similar post on a weblog some users think simply everyone worth their weblogging salt must read.
posted by jack_mo at 1:27 PM on August 30, 2008


There's also a very good history of people using [via] if they really feel a site needs attribution for the link. I've used it myself, especially if there's some good discussion going on about the link elsewhere.
posted by Sparx at 1:28 PM on August 30, 2008


The Internet doesn't run on magic pixie dust and unicorn pee

The internet does run on unicorn pee!

If you look inside your computer there should be some little blue or black cans the size of gumdrops. If you crack those open and chew on the fluffy wet stuff inside you will observe that they're filled with unicorn pee.
posted by loquacious at 1:29 PM on August 30, 2008


You're losing out in gumdrop efficacy with your macbook Air as unicorns have yet to be forced to pee into smaller containers.

Steve Jobs doesn't want you to know this, but he hates unicorns.
posted by Sparx at 1:36 PM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]


How is crediting where you found a link patronizing? Besides, if you leave it out, people often bitch because they saw it someplace else.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:52 PM on August 30, 2008


How is crediting where you found a link patronizing?

No, making a comment that says "Via Digg," when the poster may not have found the link on Digg, is patronizing and annoying.
posted by grouse at 1:56 PM on August 30, 2008


Besides, if you leave it out, people often bitch because they saw it someplace else.

I used to be one of those people. They deserve to be irritated in any way possible. It's the only way they'll ever learn to stop making diamonds in their rectums.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:16 PM on August 30, 2008


Example?
There have been a few.


Thanks, Jessamyn!
*vows to eschew BB-ism*
posted by lukemeister at 3:28 PM on August 30, 2008


I used to be one of those people. They deserve to be irritated in any way possible. It's the only way they'll ever learn to stop making diamonds in their rectums.

I used to be one of those people, until I retired on my diamond fortune. Now I just snark from the comfort of my 80ft yacht. Suck on that, hippies!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:35 PM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]


If you irritate them do they make pearls instead?
posted by nowonmai at 3:47 PM on August 30, 2008


No. I don't read BoingBoing or Digg or whatever and I don't care if every post on mefi appeared there earlier, so long as not every post from the other aggregators makes it across to here.
posted by jacalata at 6:37 PM on August 30, 2008


The internet does run on unicorn pee!

I thought Metafilter ran on elephant pee? Were all those pictures just a lie?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:53 AM on August 31, 2008


I thought Metafilter ran on elephant pee

Metafilter runs on the cries of the banhammered.
posted by lukemeister at 9:04 AM on August 31, 2008


Metafilter runs on the cries of the banhammered.

This may be true, but we're not supposed to enjoy their suffering, just wallow in the glory of the Moderator's justice. There's a difference.

Moreover, every time an question on AskMe is marked 'best answer,' a librarian gets her wings.

And every time a link from Projects gets posted to the frontpage, a MeFi Musician gets a recording contract.
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:51 PM on August 31, 2008 [1 favorite]


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