automation November 13, 2008 12:24 PM Subscribe
Could we get an email when one of our posts is deleted?
We talked about this as one of several options for dealing with deletions; as it is, I think we pretty much decided that with (a) the ghost of the post now showing up for the poster on the front page and (b) the mefimail you get when the make the post in the first place providing an unmissable path to your post if you can't find it somehow, it'd be overkill to also send a notice on delete.
Not knowing that your post got deleted kind of translates to not having a big curatorial investment in it in the first place, in my mind; I don't have a problem with hearing from attentive users when they want clarification on a deletion, but if someone isn't paying attention to it otherwise it feels to me a bit like poking a low-information hornets nest.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:31 PM on November 13, 2008
Not knowing that your post got deleted kind of translates to not having a big curatorial investment in it in the first place, in my mind; I don't have a problem with hearing from attentive users when they want clarification on a deletion, but if someone isn't paying attention to it otherwise it feels to me a bit like poking a low-information hornets nest.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:31 PM on November 13, 2008
I guess I didn't see my Ask Me post after it was nixed. Thanks!
posted by plexi at 12:31 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by plexi at 12:31 PM on November 13, 2008
Maybe if you wouldn't post so much damn garbage?
posted by Burhanistan at 2:30 PM on November 13
Hey, is that a jackass in your profile pic?
posted by plexi at 12:32 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by Burhanistan at 2:30 PM on November 13
Hey, is that a jackass in your profile pic?
posted by plexi at 12:32 PM on November 13, 2008
If it's cycled off the front page, then you probably wouldn't. Did you not go back to the post you made for an entire day? Even if that's the case, you shoudl have a MeFiMail from mathowie with the URL of the post unless you opted out of them.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:32 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:32 PM on November 13, 2008
Wouldn't you prefer a hug?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:47 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:47 PM on November 13, 2008
Brandon: YES.
posted by boo_radley at 12:54 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by boo_radley at 12:54 PM on November 13, 2008
That would be a more useful feature than the current "You just made an FPP a second ago" feature.
posted by Artw at 1:06 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by Artw at 1:06 PM on November 13, 2008
Can we get an email when our posts are deleted, and include in it a link directly back to AskMe, so we can streamline the process of creating a thread to complain about it?
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:32 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:32 PM on November 13, 2008
*hugs Artw*
*sniffs*
"You've been at the bar again!"
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:35 PM on November 13, 2008
*sniffs*
"You've been at the bar again!"
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:35 PM on November 13, 2008
I can't believe no-one has linked to this yet...
posted by badmoonrising at 1:39 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by badmoonrising at 1:39 PM on November 13, 2008
I don't think my spam filter could handle all the email I would get.
posted by blue_beetle at 1:44 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by blue_beetle at 1:44 PM on November 13, 2008
Now that cortex has nothing to do but babysit us, I think he should write to each of us individually every day. Those who whinge about not getting any MeFiMail would have an illusion of popularity, and those who have too many emails already would start angry threads on Meta Talk for the entertainment of all.
posted by Cranberry at 2:02 PM on November 13, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by Cranberry at 2:02 PM on November 13, 2008 [2 favorites]
I'd guess, given that a lot of what they delete is spam, that automated emails would mostly be alerting the spammers 'Hey! Spammer! You got deleted. Time to try again!'
posted by jacquilynne at 2:14 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by jacquilynne at 2:14 PM on November 13, 2008
Say it with me: It's toast! The mod on the coast said that ghost of the post is the most this host will show!
posted by adipocere at 2:16 PM on November 13, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by adipocere at 2:16 PM on November 13, 2008 [2 favorites]
Now that cortex has nothing to do but babysit us, I think he should write to each of us individually every day.
Oooooh, I like. Where's my mail, cortex?
posted by rodgerd at 2:20 PM on November 13, 2008
Oooooh, I like. Where's my mail, cortex?
posted by rodgerd at 2:20 PM on November 13, 2008
I could have pb whip up a Random Mefimail function for me that would like choose a random mefite who has been active in the last month and pop open a new mail to them. Just crack that thing off once or twice a week and say hello to someone who will then be all like OH SHIT WHY IS A MOD WRITING TO ME WHAT DID I DO NOW.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:37 PM on November 13, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:37 PM on November 13, 2008 [3 favorites]
I looked out the window and saw a tan minivan with two uniformed MeFi mods making its way up my long dusty driveway. I knew immediately what news they had to deliver.
posted by found missing at 2:49 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by found missing at 2:49 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
*shrugs*
Seems like a completely reasonable use for an automated MeMail to tell you something that isn't immediately apparent otherwise, and the mail could include some boiler plate stuff on not getting the next one deleted, the relative appropriateness of taking it to meta etc... etc...
The counterarguments seem to be "You should be babysitting your post", which seems to be an encouragement of thread modding, and "your post probably sucked anyway", which isn't nescecarily true -what if it was a double? What if it just didn't work as a post for whatever reason?
The argument that it could lead to an increase in memail replies that mods just don't want seems more convincing. Chucking "THIS IS AN AUTOMATED EMAIL DO NOT REPLY" at the bottom might help, but it kind of assumes people actually read the thing. Andf I guess sometimes emailing a mod IS the appropriate thing to do.
Maybe you could have some kind of robot account for all this that doesn't have a mod name attached? Peopel could do knee jerk responses to that without reading the thing all they liked without anyone ever having to open them.
posted by Artw at 3:28 PM on November 13, 2008
Seems like a completely reasonable use for an automated MeMail to tell you something that isn't immediately apparent otherwise, and the mail could include some boiler plate stuff on not getting the next one deleted, the relative appropriateness of taking it to meta etc... etc...
The counterarguments seem to be "You should be babysitting your post", which seems to be an encouragement of thread modding, and "your post probably sucked anyway", which isn't nescecarily true -what if it was a double? What if it just didn't work as a post for whatever reason?
The argument that it could lead to an increase in memail replies that mods just don't want seems more convincing. Chucking "THIS IS AN AUTOMATED EMAIL DO NOT REPLY" at the bottom might help, but it kind of assumes people actually read the thing. Andf I guess sometimes emailing a mod IS the appropriate thing to do.
Maybe you could have some kind of robot account for all this that doesn't have a mod name attached? Peopel could do knee jerk responses to that without reading the thing all they liked without anyone ever having to open them.
posted by Artw at 3:28 PM on November 13, 2008
Maybe you could have some kind of robot account for all this that doesn't have a mod name attached? Peopel could do knee jerk responses to that without reading the thing all they liked without anyone ever having to open them.
We've thought about it, but I always hate the DONOTRTEPLY@thisaddress.com nonsense because people reply anyhow and it just seems dickish to contact someone and then say "no contact-backs" Most mefites never have a post deleted. Of the ones that do get deleted they fall into a few general categories: spammers & aggro spammers (best to let sleeping dogs lie), confused n00bs (we often email them anyhow), quirky serial offenders (who wind up in MeTa anyhow or know how to contact us) and the rare outlier. Creating a whole system for the rare outlier seems like it doesn't have a great return on investment. Judging from the amount of "why was my post deleted?" email we get (almost none, fewer than MeTa posts about it) it doesn't seem like a feature in big demand.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:26 PM on November 13, 2008
We've thought about it, but I always hate the DONOTRTEPLY@thisaddress.com nonsense because people reply anyhow and it just seems dickish to contact someone and then say "no contact-backs" Most mefites never have a post deleted. Of the ones that do get deleted they fall into a few general categories: spammers & aggro spammers (best to let sleeping dogs lie), confused n00bs (we often email them anyhow), quirky serial offenders (who wind up in MeTa anyhow or know how to contact us) and the rare outlier. Creating a whole system for the rare outlier seems like it doesn't have a great return on investment. Judging from the amount of "why was my post deleted?" email we get (almost none, fewer than MeTa posts about it) it doesn't seem like a feature in big demand.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:26 PM on November 13, 2008
I always hate the DONOTRTEPLY@thisaddress.com nonsense because people reply anyhow and it just seems dickish to contact someone and then say "no contact-backs"
How about instead a reply address of auto-post-to-metatalk@metafilter.com instead? That would be awesome.
posted by ericost at 5:18 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
How about instead a reply address of auto-post-to-metatalk@metafilter.com instead? That would be awesome.
posted by ericost at 5:18 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
I am beginning to suspect that our goals are not wholly in alignment.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:23 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:23 PM on November 13, 2008
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:34 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:34 PM on November 13, 2008
PERCEPTIVE MULE IZ PERCEPTIVE
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:26 PM on November 13, 2008
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:26 PM on November 13, 2008
How about instead a reply address of auto-post-to-metatalk@metafilter.com instead? That would be awesome.
Why do you hate metafilter.
Seriously though, that would be awesomely terrible.
posted by philomathoholic at 12:27 AM on November 14, 2008
Why do you hate metafilter.
Seriously though, that would be awesomely terrible.
posted by philomathoholic at 12:27 AM on November 14, 2008
I am beginning to suspect that our goals are not wholly in alignment.
posted by cortex at 7:23 PM on November 13 [+] [!]
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by jessamyn at 7:34 PM on November 13 [+] [!]
Is this some sort of passive aggressiveness linked to Cortex's recent rise in power?
posted by plexi at 8:50 AM on November 14, 2008
posted by cortex at 7:23 PM on November 13 [+] [!]
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by jessamyn at 7:34 PM on November 13 [+] [!]
Is this some sort of passive aggressiveness linked to Cortex's recent rise in power?
posted by plexi at 8:50 AM on November 14, 2008
She's trying to erode my soul from within, yes.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:04 AM on November 14, 2008
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:04 AM on November 14, 2008
There are some nice ColdFusion hooks that make it pretty slick to implement, actually. Steely, diabolical hooks.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:54 AM on November 14, 2008
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:54 AM on November 14, 2008
Someone can babysit their thread by participating in it on the site. Most people do this. Maybe we can gt cortex to do some infodump massage
- users who participate [i.e. maybe post more than once a year] who have ever made a post
- users who have ever had a post deleted
- users who have had 2-5 posts deleted
- users who have had 5-10 posts deleted
- users who have had more than ten posts deleted
and then normalize it all for length of time on the site or something.
If you figure we delete maybe ten posts a week sitewide, maybe max twenty. Half of those will be SEO spammer types [i.e. instaban] the other half are probably a combination of first-timers and people who have had a ton of stuff deleted. I feel like we'd be building a tool for the edification of 1) people who make bad posts and 2) people who like to gawk at bad posts.
I may be just feeling churlish because someone over at deleted thread commented telling me to "suck a dick" after I deleted his post, but honestly, I can't see this being a good thing.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:33 PM on November 14, 2008
- users who participate [i.e. maybe post more than once a year] who have ever made a post
- users who have ever had a post deleted
- users who have had 2-5 posts deleted
- users who have had 5-10 posts deleted
- users who have had more than ten posts deleted
and then normalize it all for length of time on the site or something.
If you figure we delete maybe ten posts a week sitewide, maybe max twenty. Half of those will be SEO spammer types [i.e. instaban] the other half are probably a combination of first-timers and people who have had a ton of stuff deleted. I feel like we'd be building a tool for the edification of 1) people who make bad posts and 2) people who like to gawk at bad posts.
I may be just feeling churlish because someone over at deleted thread commented telling me to "suck a dick" after I deleted his post, but honestly, I can't see this being a good thing.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:33 PM on November 14, 2008
Fun fact: I was pretty drunk when I responded to that.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:51 PM on November 14, 2008
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:51 PM on November 14, 2008
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:29 PM on November 13, 2008