Clean up on the correspondent party aisle May 9, 2013 10:20 AM   Subscribe

The post is a "this is a shitty thing that happened" and the discussion has been at about the same level of discourse.

The correspondent's dinner thread is pretty ugly. The link itself is problematic in that it's a "hey, here's something shitty that happened" and not much else.

I thought it was a common deletion reason to yank such posts, and the commentary sure seems to reinforce why such posts should be yanked.

(Yes, FIAMO. I flagged, it's a trainwreck and I'm rubbernecking)
posted by k5.user to MetaFilter-Related at 10:20 AM (31 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

Perhaps this is the sort of thing for which the contact link should be used.
posted by terrapin at 10:27 AM on May 9, 2013


Not loving it. I actually really hate those posts so much so that I rely more than usual on the flag queue to indicate to me if the post that I think is terrible is actually something that other people want to talk about and I should chill.

There were barely any flags and discussion was at least bumbling along mostly okay until it turned into a Jahaza vs everyone situation (and I left a note). Am hesitant to delete a post that's been going for a few hours, but agree wiht you the conversation is the worst sort of nerd nitpicking over a situation we don't know much about.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:31 AM on May 9, 2013


The only person that thread is benefitting is Arianna Huffington. I say shut it down.
posted by R. Schlock at 10:33 AM on May 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


It would be okay if Jahaza would accept that their point has been made and that very few people agree with it.

But that doesn't seem like it's going to happen.
posted by batmonkey at 10:33 AM on May 9, 2013


It would be okay if Jahaza would accept that their point has been made and that very few people agree with it.

Yeah, I feel like after I basically get called a racist a bunch of times for no reason at all, it's not entirely fair to single me out as the problem in the thread.
posted by Jahaza at 10:35 AM on May 9, 2013 [7 favorites]


Yeah, that post is shit. I'd say delete it, regardless of how long it's been up. It is a "shitty thing happened" post that is predictably generating noise and not a whole lot else. Yuck.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:35 AM on May 9, 2013


I flagged this even before I read the discussion and am puzzled as to why it's still up. As k5 says, I thought it was SOP to yank "something fucked up happened" posts with little or no additional substance.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 10:36 AM on May 9, 2013


Yeah, I think you're right. Axed it. If it becomes a news story with some actual reporting on it or some "And this is what happened" point to it someone is more than welcome to repost it when it's not just "terrible thing!"
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:38 AM on May 9, 2013 [5 favorites]


Awesome deletion.
posted by batmonkey at 10:39 AM on May 9, 2013 [4 favorites]


Objection, your modships. Plaintiff (self-represented in this matter) has pleaded that he and/or she FIAMO, and has further filed a tag to that effect.

We respectfully submit that while FI may have occured, there has been no MO; and hence MO should be struck out of the plea. Furthermore A (which implies the conjunction) should also be struck out.

We therefore seek rectification of Plaintiff's pleadings to remove A, M and O and we seek damages in the amount of $10,000,000 for wasted costs and loss of sexual function causing emotional distress.

Plaintiff also has admitted to having a rubber neck. That's gotta be worth some punitive damages. But we submit we will get back to you on one, and we petition the MetaCourt for a recess because we want to go to the pub.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 10:39 AM on May 9, 2013 [13 favorites]


Recess! I call the swings!
posted by maryr at 10:41 AM on May 9, 2013 [3 favorites]


for no reason at all

You kept asking where the evidence was that she was denied entry at least in part because of her race and people kept pointing out where the guard said "you all" and Boston and you kept not addressing that at all. Dunno if that's racist but it's wicked annoying.
posted by rtha at 10:41 AM on May 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


Do not have that argument in here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:41 AM on May 9, 2013 [5 favorites]


Good deletion. It'll be interesting to see if there's ever any proper reporting on the story in the coming days.
posted by yoink at 10:42 AM on May 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


As someone who has had a few FPP posts deleted recently, I'm bummed, since there were so many good and interesting comments, spoiled by one person. Sigh.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:42 AM on May 9, 2013 [4 favorites]


Guuuuuh that thread was the worst.
posted by furiousthought at 10:42 AM on May 9, 2013


Also, maybe we could have better discourse than calling a post shit. Thanks.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:43 AM on May 9, 2013


The comments being allegedly spoiled by a take all comers fight doesn't really matter all that much, though. It was still just a shitty thing happened to a person link. Not a great post for MetaFilter.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:43 AM on May 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Sorry I called your post shit. That was unkind. Apologies.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:44 AM on May 9, 2013 [3 favorites]


This is as good a place as any to say that flagging is really important. If more people had flagged that to begin with, I would have felt a bunch more confident axing it instead of adopting a "wait and see" approach to it. More people have called the post bad in this thread than flagged it while it was up.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:45 AM on May 9, 2013 [3 favorites]


Like eating past-date chicken salad, I didn't realize it was going to be bad until later on.
posted by elizardbits at 10:46 AM on May 9, 2013 [19 favorites]


As someone who has had a few FPP posts deleted recently, I'm bummed, since there were so many good and interesting comments, spoiled by one person.

I disagree. I think the comments were simply piling on in the "Here's a shitty thing that happened" vein. There was no good discussion taking place, and it was not a neat thing like a compilation of Riker straddling chairs.

It was a perfectly acceptable comment in an existing thread, but as a post, the engendering event was thin and mean and not the best of the Web.
posted by Etrigan at 10:48 AM on May 9, 2013


roomthreeseventeen: "As someone who has had a few FPP posts deleted recently, I'm bummed, since there were so many good and interesting comments, spoiled by one person. Sigh."

The punch was nice, and there weren 't too many turds in the bowl!
posted by barnacles at 10:49 AM on May 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


I didn't flag it because the thread seemed to be going okay until the end. Bumpy, but okay.

Jahaza, for what it's worth, it wasn't that I wasn't giving you the benefit of the doubt. My point was simply that given that the racism aspect overshadowed everything else about the incident.

Per Jessamyn, I'll drop it now. But I don't want you to think I was calling you a racist. I was not.
posted by zarq at 10:50 AM on May 9, 2013


This is as good a place as any to say that flagging is really important

As someone who has an admin view of metafilter, I second this strongly. I've seen way too many threads with commenters asking that the thread be deleted. But those same commenters did not even bother to flag it.

It is odd because it is flagging that gets mod attention. An analogy would be folks who are active politically and even campaign -- but then don't actually go vote.
posted by vacapinta at 10:51 AM on May 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


I also wonder if this thread shouldn't be closed pretty quick lest it become a deleted-thread-afterparty of some kind.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:54 AM on May 9, 2013


*turns the lights down low*
posted by R. Schlock at 10:56 AM on May 9, 2013


Yeah dunno why I was even commenting. For the record, I think Jahaza is too nice and forgiving, and was honestly trying to see everyone involved in the story in the best light possible, which is something we can all try to do sometimes.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:56 AM on May 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


yes, please go ahead and close this meta so the debate doesn't move to here.
posted by k5.user at 11:00 AM on May 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Yes, please close this.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:01 AM on May 9, 2013


Sure thing.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:03 AM on May 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


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