Self link thrown in to spice up a thread.

January 22, 2003 1:15 PM

Self link thrown in to spice up a thread.
posted by riffola to Etiquette/Policy at 1:15 PM (41 comments total)

My problem is that apart from the fact that it's a self link. No one in that thread (except crunchland) even blinked in response to it. As per the guidelines:

Self-linking also appropriates the use of MetaFilter as your guestbook. If you just wrote a thought provoking piece and want to get feedback on it, try using ArsDigita's Loquacious system or BlogVoices to add community interaction to your own site.

posted by riffola at 1:27 PM on January 22, 2003

I believe I said "screw your poll" didn't I? ;-)
posted by WolfDaddy at 1:37 PM on January 22, 2003

gone, as is this.

This post was deleted for the following reason: blah blah blah iraq blah blah

hee hee
posted by machaus at 1:37 PM on January 22, 2003

Everyone knows that self-linking is a no-no, even billman, or he wouldn't have mentioned it in the post. Did you want everyone to launch into a fit of finger pointing/wagging? The post was going to be deleted, so who cares about who said what?
posted by mikrophon at 1:41 PM on January 22, 2003

Actually, no I didn't know. I mentioned it so that it wouldn't seem like I was attempting to slip something by people. I said, here, it's a self-link. I'm not trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes but the thread itself was fitting and I also happen to have some content that enhances the thread. If you don't like it, hey that's cool but don't accuse me of trying to intentionally break the rules.
posted by billman at 1:46 PM on January 22, 2003

riffola
I noticed it almost immediately but, in an unusual display of moderation I'd love to replicate in the future, I didn't even comment in the thread, because it was clear that the entire thread was going to be deleted as soon as Matt noticed it, pronto
posted by matteo at 1:53 PM on January 22, 2003

MetaFilter has been self-policing since day one, so yes I did expect people to care.

[On preview] matteo, yeah I know I do that often but we don't need another Billy Maulana, so I thought it would be right to bring it to the attention of the community.
posted by riffola at 1:57 PM on January 22, 2003

Not to belabor the point, billman, but there's a paragraph just above the SUBMIT button you pressed that says:

(if you are posting a link to something you have created or were involved with the creation of, please use the TextAd service or the mefi-projects list to announce your work instead of posting a self-linking MetaFilter thread.)
posted by crunchland at 1:59 PM on January 22, 2003

And I guess R Kelly was not a news story?

So, just so I'm straight on this, if I work at CNN, I shouldn't link to a CNN story?

I can understand if the post had been: "Hey check out my new Javascript game" or something but I added it on to a current event topic that . . . is being carried on other blogs and news sources.

If I had not created it and linked to it in the same way would you have an issue?
posted by billman at 2:04 PM on January 22, 2003

if you worked a CNN, then you couldn't link to a CNN story of your own creation, I'd say.

Just my POV
posted by RobbieFal at 2:05 PM on January 22, 2003

not only does billman know, but as lostbyanecho he's been banned for it. (brief explanation at Y.A.N's userpage.)

so do you read anything but your own web pages?
posted by eyeballkid at 2:06 PM on January 22, 2003

billy maulana,

The CNN/Smoking Gun links look to me like an excuse to post your own poll -- a convenient segue, if you will.
posted by mcwetboy at 2:09 PM on January 22, 2003

I'm not Billy Maulana. Look at my profile.
posted by billman at 2:11 PM on January 22, 2003

No offense intended, Bill. I was actually responding to the comment asking why there weren't more fingers wagged and stones thrown. Still, I'm amazed that you've logged over a year of MeFi membership and not noticed that self-posting is against the rules. I'm a relative newbie, so to speak, and I picked that one up right off the proverbial bat.
posted by mikrophon at 2:11 PM on January 22, 2003

*quietly retracts comment*

("shh.... no one said you were any other Billy. That never happened." )

Sorry.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:13 PM on January 22, 2003

Bill's got a point, and I think people were a little over the top here. He was posting about a news story, plus his own site, which isn't as obvious as others have in the past (the billy maulana thing is a guy that posted links to his work many times to the site).

Still, it's a silly little news story and isn't all that interesting on its own, so I axed it (I would have kept it, and dropped the link to Bill's site if it was something good).

So in summation, chill out everyone.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:13 PM on January 22, 2003

And I guess R Kelly was not a news story?

So, just so I'm straight on this, if I work at CNN, I shouldn't link to a CNN story?

well, the "newsfilter" debate was exactly about that -- timeliness vs. novelty, is this site good at chasing news stories, etc
(don't forget Kelly was busted for things we all knew about already)

about linking to employers' sites:

sigh
posted by matteo at 2:13 PM on January 22, 2003

If anyone can show any connection between myself and Billy Maulana or lostbyanecho, please post it. I have visited this site on and off for a couple of years and have chatted with Matt offline because we're on another mailing list (Web405/Goodtimes). So go ahead and post how any of the self-posts by those other people were in any way related to me.
posted by billman at 2:14 PM on January 22, 2003

sorry, Matt, didn't see you had stepped in until I hit submit.
posted by billman at 2:17 PM on January 22, 2003

matteo: R Kelly was busted *again* today. The R Kelly story was running on the homepage of CNN and it's currently running as one of the top entertainment stories on Yahoo's Entertainment News from Reuters.
posted by billman at 2:30 PM on January 22, 2003

...so if we need to read it, it's easy to find.
posted by timeistight at 2:38 PM on January 22, 2003

Interesting historical note about Billy Maulana. In the original MeTa thread, rcade said, "The Googlebomb effect is temporary. Check that again in a week."

Apparently, it's not so temporary after all. That was seven months ago!

Behold the power of MetaTalk.
posted by vraxoin at 2:38 PM on January 22, 2003

On an unrelated point - Y.A.N.'s user page is INVALUABLE! I wish someone had pointed that out in the good user pages thread that ran the other day.
posted by jonson at 2:39 PM on January 22, 2003

matteo: R Kelly was busted *again* today

I know. in fact I wrote, "Kelly was busted for things we all knew about already". the charges are not new. after he's released on bail, maybe they'll bust him again in another jurisdiction. will it be worthy of another fpp?
also, Yahoo entertainment has a top story every day. they're not all worthy of a fpp here, as Matt deletion proves
posted by matteo at 2:45 PM on January 22, 2003

"The R Kelly story was running on the homepage of CNN and it's currently running as one of the top entertainment stories on Yahoo's Entertainment News from Reuters."

To quote the post a link page: "Found something cool on the web and want to share it with everyone else? Great!" So if it's a top story, it's not exactly cool and unique. If you see it everywhere else, it's not exactly the best of posts (with very few exceptions). This is why people scream "newsfilter".
posted by mkelley at 2:53 PM on January 22, 2003

will it be worthy of another fpp?

Obviouly not, it wasn't worthy of this one per Matt. :-)

Of course, MeFi never has over-posted topics or topics that are not relevant to everyone so I guess I can see your point.

Of course, your thrilling posts in the entertainment/sports sector will now be my guide to what is a good post or not:

Strawberry May Face Prison Time Just another celebrity drug addict, like Downey jr.? Or does he really deserve special treatment because of his cancer patient status?

Don't bust my chops because you didn't find my post to be your cup of tea. If Matt wants to pull it, fine, but the rest of you seem to be a tad paranoid and over-critical.
posted by billman at 2:53 PM on January 22, 2003

Over-critical sure; paranoid how?
posted by timeistight at 3:11 PM on January 22, 2003

Metafilter: Paranoid & Over-Critical.

(I've got your back Billman. It was an honest mistake that for some reason has inspired everyone to wet their pants)
posted by dhoyt at 3:18 PM on January 22, 2003

billman, I agree with you here. Matt did his "job". Further whacking off over billman's faux pas, is just that. Jumping billman's shit over his seeming error isn't gonna help. What he did wasn't that stupid or egregious that we need to keep discussing it. We're not here to rehablitate each other into better MeFites. I'm sorry, but he posted it, thought it was worthy, Matt axed it, billman acknowledged that, and I really think that ought be the end of it here.

There's a ton of places available to figure out what makes a good post (the FAQ, the archives, Matt ...). Hammering the point like a tentpeg buries it such that none of us can see that point anymore.
posted by Wulfgar! at 3:20 PM on January 22, 2003

If you see it everywhere else, it's not exactly the best of posts (with very few exceptions).

So why aren't any of these posts being pulled? Please clarify.

Obesity Suit Against McDonald's Dismissed... -- Running on every major news site.

Michelin plans to embed trackable microchips in tires. -- ditto


America removes offending cancer stick from Sir Paul's hand. -- this is one of the most read stories on Yahoo yesterday and today.

Front-line troops disproportionately white, not black. -- Another Yahoo top story.

Do I need to go on or can we agree that I am not the only one who seems confused by these quasi enforced rules?

timeistight:

Over-critical sure; paranoid how?

What if someone actually had a link to their own website? That would be the end of MeFi. Oh GOD, NO!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, look at the first few people who equated billman with Billy Maulana. Not even an attempt to check if I was the same person but right into the paranoid rants about my aleged past behavior.

Meanwhile nearly every single person giving me crap about the post I can go and look at their previous fpp and find specific cases where they are in violation of their own advice.
posted by billman at 3:22 PM on January 22, 2003

billman, is it at all possible that you're overreacting just a little bit?
posted by timeistight at 3:38 PM on January 22, 2003

So why aren't any of these posts being pulled? Please clarify.
billman, you are getting annoying. you have access to the entire archive of metatalk. 3 years worth. clarify it your own fucking self.
posted by quonsar at 3:40 PM on January 22, 2003

billman. you might want to calm down. Your case is made, and it wouldn't do to run this right back into the nature of the site. Somethings don't bounce quite the way you expect them to.
posted by Wulfgar! at 3:42 PM on January 22, 2003

1. There are a lot of news posts
2. News posts are bad
3. I should post another news story, QED

"So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do." -- Benjamin Franklin
posted by Hildago at 3:45 PM on January 22, 2003

Don't bust my chops because you didn't find my post to be your cup of tea. If Matt wants to pull it, fine, but the rest of you seem to be a tad paranoid and over-critical.

getting a little snippy, bill, aren't we? there's no need to.
let me explain this very simply:

my "thrilling" Strawberry post didn't contain a self-link, and it didn't get deleted. you don't find interesting? cool, don't comment in that thread (you can't anyway, it's 2 yrs old and closed)
Fact is, I've never posted a self-link, and none of my fpps or comments got deleted, ever, in these 2 yrs on MeFi (I'm lucky, I know). but I'm glad to be lectured about you anyway, and I'm sure your "what kind of celebrity paedophile are you?" is a very cool game indeed, although the topic of child rape is not very funny to my taste. but again, it's a matter of taste

MetaTalk is, by its very nature, a place to be overcritical about posts and threads. No need to get snippy about it

Meanwhile nearly every single person giving me crap about the post I can go and look at their previous fpp and find specific cases where they are in violation of their own advice
O.K. Thanks.
posted by matteo at 3:47 PM on January 22, 2003

Wulfgar!: Point taken. Just trying to make the point that people should just admit why they didn't like the post because of the self-link instead of trying to justify themsleves with rules that either they don't or the site doesn't seem to follow with a great deal of consistency.

Like I said, I respect Matt's judgement on this but I'm not going to take crap from people who can't even be honest.
posted by billman at 3:48 PM on January 22, 2003

Bill, here's my take on the stories you posted:

Obesity Suit Against McDonald's Dismissed... -- Running on every major news site.

True, and I'd put this firmly at the very lowest end of the "worth posting" pile. I'd call it borderline because it's not that interesting being the obvious reaction from the court everyone expected. Perhaps a discussion about personal responsibility could take place instead of a shouting match over fatness (don't know how it's turned out, haven't looked).

Michelin plans to embed trackable microchips in tires. -- ditto

This has obvious civil liberties implications that are interesting to the majority of tech-savvy mefi users. I think this is an interesting bit of news that goes beyond the headline.

America removes offending cancer stick from Sir Paul's hand. -- this is one of the most read stories on Yahoo yesterday and today.

Again, borderline, though could be a discussion about our puritanical roots. (don't know, haven't read the thread either, not really interested in doing it)

Front-line troops disproportionately white, not black. -- Another Yahoo top story.

Race is an interesting issue around here, and does point out something people probably suspected but didn't know about. I say worth talking about.

But keep in mind that just by the nature of it being a news story, if it doesn't have an interesting angle it's going to get a lot more scorn.

A post about yet another celebrity having a drug problem or DUI arrest, or silly conviction isn't all that earth shattering. I think it was worthy to discuss Pete Townsend's run-in with the law for it, since it was "new" but if another celeb pops up, it's already been discussed and doesn't offer anything new (though might serve best as a comment in a Pete Townsend thread).
posted by mathowie (staff) at 3:51 PM on January 22, 2003

I was just trying to be cute with the billman/billy maulana thing: it struck me that you could get "billman" from "billy maulana" by removing a few letters. I wasn't trying to imply any direct connection.
posted by mcwetboy at 5:22 PM on January 22, 2003

Ahh. I love the smell of news in the morning.
posted by hama7 at 7:09 PM on January 22, 2003

Forgive me for being "a tad paranoid", and all that, but this isn't the first time that billman has crept across the self-linking line.
posted by Catch at 4:01 PM on January 24, 2003

BURN HIM!!
posted by crunchland at 5:49 PM on January 24, 2003