Heaven, Hell ... and something in between ... Purgatory? April 23, 2011 11:34 PM   Subscribe

On the front page of the blue, we have a little bit of 'wasted' blue space - just to the right of the word 'Random', above 'Favorites', and to the left of the search box. I propose that next to 'Random' we have the word 'Doubles'. Clicking it would go to a page that looks just like a 'normal' page of the Blue, but which consists of posts that were deleted because they were ... doubles. Time and again, we have good stuff posted more than once - because it's good! - and almost without exception, in the short interval before they are nuked, such posts gather comments such as "I hadn't seen that before, thanks!" Keeping such posts in a separate place like this would keep the main Blue clean, yet give such content another chance to be seen.
posted by woodblock100 to Feature Requests at 11:34 PM (83 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

The point of them being deleted is that they're no longer around.

Mefi deleted posts userscript
posted by IndigoRain at 11:43 PM on April 23, 2011 [5 favorites]


I too, agree, and thus double, er - two-ify, er, repeat, er SECOND this proposal.
posted by birdsquared at 11:47 PM on April 23, 2011


Yabbut lots of posts get deleted because they're actually bad posts and the poster should feel bad etc. I kind of like the idea of just seeing the posts that would be good if they weren't doubles.

OTOH you'd also want to filter out the doubles of very recent posts, like obit or newsfilter doubles. So that'd be more work for the mods and lots of judgment calls.

I think on balance this isn't a good idea but I do like it.
posted by hattifattener at 11:48 PM on April 23, 2011


This would just give people carte blanche to post doubles.
posted by joannemullen at 11:55 PM on April 23, 2011 [6 favorites]


lots of posts get deleted because they're actually bad posts

Of course I didn't intend that these would be included. The behind-the-scenes deletion process could presumably involve simply adding a 'double' tag (or something) that would filter as required.
posted by woodblock100 at 11:58 PM on April 23, 2011


This would just give people carte blanche to post doubles.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:59 PM on April 23, 2011 [27 favorites]


I think we should have a category of "Cool posts" for all the ones I missed that are cool. Even if they are not doubles.

Hit the random button enough times and you see some really great stuff you otherwise wouldn't have seen.

But most importantly, this would just give people carte blanche to post doubles.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:04 AM on April 24, 2011


This isn't a problem with the professional white background.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:08 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


JAMES BROWN!
posted by klangklangston at 12:18 AM on April 24, 2011


JAMES BROWN!
posted by klangklangston at 12:19 AM on April 24, 2011


JAMES BROWN!
posted by klangklangston at 12:20 AM on April 24, 2011


Who loves the Tom Tom Club?
posted by klangklangston at 12:21 AM on April 24, 2011 [3 favorites]


JAMES BROWN!
posted by klangklangston at 12:22 AM on April 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


carte blanche

Ummm ... again, I wasn't suggesting that this be 'automatic', and that everything that was doubled would appear there. The immediate doubles we see on breaking news, or obits, etc., would not qualify for whatever tag the mods were applying as they did the nuking.

They would make an instant judgement call, and if it passed the sniff test: "Yeah, I remember that one; it was kinda neat ...", it would qualify for inclusion. If they felt the system was being abused, it wouldn't. No extra work, no fuss (once the thing was in place).
posted by woodblock100 at 12:24 AM on April 24, 2011


you found a small piece of prime unused real estate on the front page and the best use you can think of is to link it to double posts?
posted by mannequito at 12:24 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


prime unused real estate

Comments are for closers.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:47 AM on April 24, 2011


That sport should contain a link to bizarro metafilter.
posted by joost de vries at 12:52 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


sport->spot
posted by joost de vries at 12:52 AM on April 24, 2011


Attributes of bizarro metafilter:
  • Posts which are not doubles are deleted
  • SELF LINKS ONLY!
  • The IMG tag is available. In fact, embedded flash content is encouraged.
  • Bizarro-Mathowie is an uptight MBA dropout who is constantly fiddling with Metafilter's look in order to entice buyers.
  • Bizarro-Cortex resents users because we keep making work for him, and doesn't read the site except to flame people who like a game or musician he doesn't.
  • Professional white background.
posted by hattifattener at 1:02 AM on April 24, 2011 [14 favorites]


deletedthread has a professional white background.
posted by sleepy pete at 2:22 AM on April 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


I second this emotion.
posted by philip-random at 2:26 AM on April 24, 2011


Bizarro metafilter is actually just the default homepage of Internet Explorer 6
posted by NoraReed at 2:26 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


That spot should contain a link to burrito metafilter.
posted by nevercalm at 2:35 AM on April 24, 2011


I propose that people who regularly find they miss good stuff on MeFi read more often or at least use the RSS feed.
posted by DU at 4:15 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


No
posted by fourcheesemac at 4:34 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Double Pony
posted by Favorites Pony at 4:48 AM on April 24, 2011


At bizarro Metafilter, there would only be single link posts with incredibly vague and misleading descriptions, doubles would not just be tolerated but embraced, "I'd hit it" and generalized pervitude would be celebrated and praised, and there would be virtually no moderation to speak of. No, wait, that's just reddit.
posted by Rhomboid at 4:50 AM on April 24, 2011 [7 favorites]


there is a place for doubles
it's in my double mind
my other self, my mirrored room
not easy, though, to find
for i don't know which me is me
which you, my friend, is you
these double posts, they call to me
in voices false and true

i know that they've been here before
they'll sure be back again
they come and go, they disappear
they're out and then they're in
there's doubles of the doubles
they come in endless streams
there's doubles each and every day
then doubles in my dreams
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:53 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think that the possibility of users not having seen the OP is a small price to pay for enforcing a culture of mindful participation here. Also this sounds like a ton of extra work for the mods (not only making the judgement call on every deleted double post, but also answering the inevitable whining "Why didn't MY post make it to the doubles page?" MeTa threads...) without a lot of payoff for the userbase.
posted by kitarra at 5:37 AM on April 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


I like this idea, but I wonder if the same purpose might be achieved by asking the mods to be a bit more lenient when it comes to letting doubles that have not been posted in some time (a year? Six months?) stay. I know every once in a while I see a post where it is determined that a given double post might be allowed to stay, due to some combination of the coolness of the link and the time that had elapsed since the previous post. Also, prisencolinensinainciusol.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:37 AM on April 24, 2011


I quite like this idea, particularly if it's a mod-only decision. No extra effort (they're having to press the delete button anyway) - if they also had a button that said "Post to Double Land" it would simply be a list of cool stuff that happened not to be particularly current. Alternatively, how about a list consisting of the original posts, in a kind of "these classic posts came to our attention recently" kind of way?
posted by ZsigE at 6:03 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


I will just say that I consider unused space a feature, not a bug. (Then again, I had to be convinced to put a title on my website, so...)
posted by danb at 6:36 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


This is totally extra work.

Yeah, but, hey, we paid 'em five dollars for that already.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:37 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


If doubles are outlawed, only outlaws will double.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:42 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


They can have my double when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:44 AM on April 24, 2011


The behind-the-scenes deletion process could presumably involve simply adding a 'double' tag (or something) that would filter as required.

Agreed, sorry but this is totally extra work. Doubles vanish because they're double posts. I like to think of that little white space at the top of the page as a place you can go and take a deep breath. We're pretty lenient on the double post deletions [and you can always find them on the Deleted Thread blog] but we're pretty sure that highlighting the stuff that's been deleted is on of those "never going to happen" things.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:51 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


I like to think of that little white space at the top of the page as a place you can go and take a deep breath.

that's where I store the good paper plates, get out of there!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:11 AM on April 24, 2011


This pony holds no interest for me. I also don't like it's twin, no more sugar lumps for you!
posted by arcticseal at 7:27 AM on April 24, 2011


Good... paper plates?
posted by shakespeherian at 7:34 AM on April 24, 2011


Yeah. what, you don't know the good ones from the ordinary? Plebe.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:36 AM on April 24, 2011


Good... paper plates?

Yeah, for Easter or when the social worker visits, DUH.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:46 AM on April 24, 2011


This might bring doublepostguy out of retirement.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:47 AM on April 24, 2011


loved him.
posted by clavdivs at 7:50 AM on April 24, 2011


I like to think of that little white space at the top of the page as a place you can go and take a deep breath.

Me too. My least favorite part of this proposal is the idea that every bit of white space should be filled.
posted by grouse at 7:58 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


My least favorite part of this proposal is the idea that every bit of white space should be filled.

It was also completely irrelevant ... just a way to begin the discussion. Anyway, it was just a suggestion; no ponies were harmed in the production of this thread, right?
posted by woodblock100 at 8:07 AM on April 24, 2011


Relax, no ponies are harmed in critiquing your idea either.
posted by grouse at 8:08 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


What Jess said. I like the idea of the idea, if you will, but it's a non-starter.

A deleted post is a deleted post because it's supposed to be deleted; it's not a moral judgement or anything, certainly, but for basic pragmatic reasons it's much more workable for us to just have "that is a deleted post" mean one workflow and one set of site expectations and leaving it that.

If someone wants to start a little rerun blog to highlight these noblest and purest of deleted posts, that'd be totally fine. It's not something we want to enshrine on Metafilter itself.

And, yeah, not something we want the extra work for. Extra work is always going to mean more than just "new button to click"; there's implementation, maintenance, user education, policy arguments (what's double vs. related? Do twice-deleted things go there if the original didn't stand? Why was this deletion reason snarkier than that one?), and who knows what else.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:09 AM on April 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


Worse than missing the doubles is missing the great links that never got posted at all. Why not use this 'wasted' blue space to link to a page of those?
posted by Obscure Reference at 8:40 AM on April 24, 2011


Nthing whoever said to use the RSS feed. I catch a fair number of doubles these days because they looked interesting and I missed the original.
posted by immlass at 8:42 AM on April 24, 2011


Here's a pony I'd prefer: a party button.
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:42 AM on April 24, 2011


I am the party button.
posted by The Whelk at 8:45 AM on April 24, 2011


JAMES BROWN!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:53 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Also, we need a news ticker at the top of the page delivering important MeFi updates and the daily GRAR advisory.
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:57 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'd perfer designations like in Cstross' Laiundry books.

We are at Grar level ROMEO NIGHTMARE or WHITE OVERTON.
posted by The Whelk at 9:09 AM on April 24, 2011 [4 favorites]


For the record, the Deleted Thread Blog hasn't been updated in a month (I'm going to go ahead and assume there's been deleted posts in April).

The userscript works find now, though!
posted by auto-correct at 9:20 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


The GRAR level is measured in number of A's. The scale runs from GRR to GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAR.
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:50 AM on April 24, 2011 [3 favorites]


Perhaps it is time to look within for the "wasted space" in oneself. If you know what I am saying right now. It's called a metaphor and it seems to lend itself to italics.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:54 AM on April 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


The GRAR level is measured in number of A's. The scale runs from GRR to GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAR.

For negative GRAR, the scale runs from schmpy to schmooooooooooopy.
posted by grouse at 10:02 AM on April 24, 2011 [6 favorites]


Maybe you could just bookmark deleted threads?
posted by Artw at 10:18 AM on April 24, 2011


it's a non-starter. --- WELL WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THAT EXTRA SPACE JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THE WORD RANDOM, ABOVE FAVORITES, AND TO THE LEFT OF THE SEARCH BOX??? We just can't leave it EMPTY!
posted by crunchland at 10:29 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


I like to fill the void in my soul that should probably be filled with family or religion with stuff.

By stuff, I mean foaming epoxy. It works surprisingly well. Of course, it's metaphysical foaming epoxy, because souls don't exist in three dimensional space, so I have to meditate about the hardware store and astrally project myself to get a can of Great Stuff. Not the actual can, mind you, but its essence.
posted by mccarty.tim at 10:32 AM on April 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


NO

Next!
posted by disclaimer at 10:50 AM on April 24, 2011


Attributes of bizarro metafilter:
  • After 30 NewYorkTimesFilter posts, your account is frozen and you have to pay $50 to join again.
posted by y2karl at 10:53 AM on April 24, 2011


@ Bizzaro Metafilter it is GRAR LEVEL MERINGUE.
posted by The Whelk at 10:55 AM on April 24, 2011


Bizarro Ask MetaFilter's anonymous acts more like 4chan's anonymous.

(This joke is a double. I have a long history of joking that MetaFilter's anonymous and 4chan's anonymous should hang out, among other comparisons of the two. I assume you came here to get doubles, so you're welcome.)
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:20 AM on April 24, 2011


Bizzaro Metafilter hates infodumps cause math is boring.
posted by The Whelk at 11:22 AM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Today's GRAR level is puce.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 1:24 PM on April 24, 2011


auto-correct: "For the record, the Deleted Thread Blog hasn't been updated in a month (I'm going to go ahead and assume there's been deleted posts in April)."

The owner of said blog mentioned recently in MeTa that he hasn't had much time lately and hopes to get caught up soon.
posted by IndigoRain at 2:33 PM on April 24, 2011


I have a feeling that if MeFi's anon started hanging out with 4chan's anon, we'd start seeing more posts about how someone is concerned about the choices being made by their friend.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:42 PM on April 24, 2011 [4 favorites]


I like the idea of using that space for amusingly terrible improvement ideas.
posted by Kwine at 9:25 PM on April 24, 2011


GRAR LEVEL: BOURBON
posted by The Whelk at 9:44 PM on April 24, 2011


"....One little chair for one of you, and a bigger chair for two to curl up in, and for someone who likes to rock, a rocking chair in the middle."

" Look up, wa-a-ay up!"
posted by clavdivs at 9:51 PM on April 24, 2011


Which one gets to be Galadriel cause after watching the 12-hour super cut of that movie I am convinced it's all about the Elves just trying to maintain their whole iron-clad colony system/imperial might on all those humans and others.
posted by The Whelk at 10:01 PM on April 24, 2011


Er, what search box?
posted by handee at 5:38 AM on April 25, 2011


Which one gets to be Galadriel

Hey!
posted by galadriel at 8:17 AM on April 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


"....One little chair for one of you, and a bigger chair for two to curl up in, and for someone who likes to rock, a rocking chair in the middle."

" Look up, wa-a-ay up!"


Gerome: A giraffe poking his long neck through a window. Hm.

Rusty: A cock with a sack. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:37 AM on April 25, 2011


I would prefer a little box reading "It has been XX days since the last doublepost. Our record is XX. Safe posting begins with YOU!"

I know there's a sign like this in my deli but I don't think anyone there even gets what a doublepost is?!!? So it's stupid there, but would be good here.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:21 AM on April 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


It has been 0 days since the last doublepost. Our record is 0. Safe posting begins with YOU!
posted by Sys Rq at 9:22 AM on April 25, 2011


It has been XX days since the last doublepost. Our record is XX. Safe posting begins with YOU!

[NOT Y-CHROMOSOMIST]
posted by grouse at 10:25 AM on April 25, 2011


Search before you post: always remember that, no matter the topic, you are standing on the shoulders of midgets standing on the upraised palms of giants. For the most part.
posted by y2karl at 10:40 AM on April 25, 2011


Nah, not a great idea. Post it again in a few weeks, and it will be mildly ironic.
posted by theora55 at 4:45 PM on April 25, 2011


I like to think of that little white space at the top of the page as a place you can go and take a deep breath
      
      

posted by flabdablet at 6:33 AM on April 26, 2011


This is a bit of a tangent... but the "randoms" button is kind of useless. It takes me to all kinds of exciting posts, and inevitably nine out of ten links are dead. GRARRRRR
posted by Stagger Lee at 7:38 AM on April 26, 2011


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