Self-link detected.

January 17, 2005 6:26 PM

They're clamoring for it, and here it is. This post contains a nakedly aggressive self-link. For shame, doc.
posted by goatdog to Etiquette/Policy at 6:26 PM (38 comments total)

Darn it! I was going to type "Hunting degans with an elephant gun," but I hit "post" too quickly. Anyway, they have their elephant guns out in the MeFi thread in question.
posted by goatdog at 6:29 PM on January 17, 2005

I just want to say your phrasing is fantastic: "nakedly aggressive" is superb.

Let the blood flow through the streets like a river!
posted by The God Complex at 6:30 PM on January 17, 2005

A newbie’s comment: There have been many complaints from old-timers about people “piling on” in the blue – yet Degan was used as a piñata in the blue and it took two plus hours to get it here.
posted by mlis at 6:32 PM on January 17, 2005

This day is the day we rise up against the oppressive bourgeois, comrades! Degans will hang from the lamp posts, as our great and victorious revolution returns the means of posting to the people!

Degan appears to have made herself scarce, however...
posted by Jimbob at 6:34 PM on January 17, 2005

I think the difference here is that we see numerous instances of innocent blunders, and sometimes people do a poor job of gently instructing people on proper policy and etiquette, thus there tends to be controversy about the appropriate forcefulness of responses. This seems like a premeditated act. She needed hits. She had a MeFi membership, essentially dormant and unused, and her greed took over in the form of a half-assed attempt to get a bunch of people to link to her crappy article on Grenada.

I hardly ever pay attention to the etiquette callouts, except to learn from them, as I have made a few of my own blunders. But I have tremendous respect for what Matt has tried to create here, and this just smells like a big f.u. to some basic notions of site integrity.
posted by docpops at 6:40 PM on January 17, 2005

Degan appears to have made herself scarce, however...

She's somewhere obsessively refreshing her statistics counter, wondering why the 20,000 hits haven't happened yet.
posted by interrobang at 6:42 PM on January 17, 2005

yet Degan was used as a piñata in the blue and it took two plus hours to get it here

I've seen much worse, and 4 hours isn't very long on a Sunday. Shitting in threads is bad. But in the case of a self-link, who the fuck cares?
posted by scarabic at 6:44 PM on January 17, 2005

Ban her for not being able to find the shift key.
posted by LarryC at 6:49 PM on January 17, 2005

To be serious for a second, this comment, assumedly made before anyone was aware this was a self-link, is absolutely inappropriate. It's akin to a "first post" and I think people who engage in that sort of derailing should get a temp ban. But that's just me.
posted by The God Complex at 7:05 PM on January 17, 2005

I feel sorry for butt_floss, who actually had something to say about the topic before the pitchforks came out. To butt_floss, the Neville Chamberlain of Metafilter. *raises goblet*
posted by Arch Stanton at 7:13 PM on January 17, 2005

From Degan's blog:
January 05, 2005
reminder: click me
i hate to act like a shameless self-promoter, but my previous link has wandered off this main page now.

so here we go! click on this, peoples!! it's my nicaragua story at e-marginalia.com. it's winning whatever crass popularity contest it's in, and i want to make sure that it doesn't slip down.

LIAR.
posted by exlotuseater at 7:20 PM on January 17, 2005

BanHammer, Please.
posted by exlotuseater at 7:21 PM on January 17, 2005

Again, I am new around here, so I would like to have an understanding of the rules.

The TGC comments in the thread were brilliant. That is what I have admired about MeFi as a lurker. He was clever, it was original and when I read about Hawaii and the pitchforks it brought a smile to my face.

I thought Scarabic was spot on when he called the member on his Kuwait comments.

But "go to hell" or whatever? Sophomoric.

Nitpick: This is Monday not Sunday.
posted by mlis at 7:56 PM on January 17, 2005

Even though he was calling for this mob and not starting it himself TGC scores again.

Nitpick: It is Tuesday at noon where I am at. Pick your battles.
posted by geekyguy at 8:04 PM on January 17, 2005

MLIS, I'm not sure scarabic was spot-on. Are you certain butt_floss was not being serious?
posted by Galvatron at 8:07 PM on January 17, 2005

MLIS:
Rule #1: Do Not Ever Self-Link on the Front Page. ESPECIALLY to self-promote. It's okay to self-link in a comment, usually with a disclaimer.

An accident is one thing, but this asshat FPP'd stories just to push up a hit-counter, or win a contest or whatever. No Good.

People get really upset when they see stuff like that. "Go to hell" is a little over the top on the Blue, but not at all bad here. I'm surprised that it didn't get worse.

Honestly, it's like a cardinal rule around here.
posted by exlotuseater at 8:08 PM on January 17, 2005

Geekguy, right, Tuesday in China, still Monday in Berekley, CA.
posted by mlis at 8:09 PM on January 17, 2005

Berkeley, CA, that is.
posted by mlis at 8:13 PM on January 17, 2005

MLIS - are you purposely being obtuse about the time thing? I hope you are, for your sake.

Self-link == bitchslap. Even if it's not for self-gain, it's not accepted. If it's to push your story on some lame counter or rewards program, that's even worse, and should carry bannage. As for the pile-on, the self-linker deserves every bit of it, IMO.

What happened in the Blue was ultra-mild. I think it took a while to delete the thread only because Matt was putting together an elite strike-team to fly to Vancouver and start bustin' caps.
posted by cosmonik at 8:22 PM on January 17, 2005

No argument about her conduct - just think that it is immature when members are saying "go to hell" or whatever in the blue (one of the comments to her was something to the effect of "good luck on the elevator to hell" it has since been deleted I see).
posted by mlis at 8:27 PM on January 17, 2005

TGC, are you calling out the "Unleash the Power of SHIFT" comment? Because that was awesome, a light-hearted response to illiteracy.
posted by LarryC at 8:29 PM on January 17, 2005

Ah, MLIS, this is why I don't like comments being deleted from a thread - it kills the context. I have no idea about the comment you're referring to.
posted by cosmonik at 8:56 PM on January 17, 2005

The inability to use capitalization correctly is an affront to community standards and well worth heckling. Furthermore, SkelPaff's link has demonstrably more merit than degan's abortion of a post.
posted by stet at 9:14 PM on January 17, 2005

The Major Degan is a terrible road in New York, since this is a similarly horrible post
posted by ParisParamus at 9:48 PM on January 17, 2005

Upon review: "bitchslap" = poor choice of words.
posted by mlis at 10:03 PM on January 17, 2005

MLIS, I think people tend to pile on more in threads that they expect to be deleted. Especially the really egregious ones.
posted by coelecanth at 10:09 PM on January 17, 2005

this is a similarly horrible post

We have never agreed so much.
posted by scarabic at 10:10 PM on January 17, 2005

CRAPTASTIC POST A+++++ WOULD DELETE AGAIN!!!1111
posted by exlotuseater at 10:16 PM on January 17, 2005

this is a similarly horrible post

We have never agreed so much.

Third, that.
posted by codeofconduct at 11:02 PM on January 17, 2005

TGC, are you calling out the "Unleash the Power of SHIFT" comment? Because that was awesome, a light-hearted response to illiteracy.

If it had been posted in the context of a thread that wasn't a self-link--and I think when it was posted people were not aware that it was--it was an unnecessary derailment, akin to a "first comment!" farkism with a slight twist. While some people may feel capitalization is a point worth pursuing in the name of community standards, this could easily become the "newsfilter!" fiasco of a few years ago, where a number of users took it upon themselves to link to a metatalk thread about newsfilter in every newsy post.

I just don't see the relevance, especially as a first comment when you fail to add even a cursory comment about the material presented.

*shrugs*
posted by The God Complex at 11:36 PM on January 17, 2005

Bang! Bang! Mathew's silver hammer came down upon her head.

It's a shame really, I enjoyed reading about Nicaragua, it certainly sounds like somewhere I may like to visit one day. Well, after a bit of research from a more reliable source.
posted by Tarrama at 11:37 PM on January 17, 2005

Degan is degonne!

I've been wanting to do that all night.

I need a life.
posted by dirigibleman at 1:09 AM on January 18, 2005

In her profile, does the asterisk following her user name signify Banning?
posted by DBAPaul at 6:53 AM on January 18, 2005

From Degan's blog:
January 18, 2005

...this whole e-marginalia thing has spun me even further down the spiral. I was winning for such a long time and now that I'm second, i panicked, started shamelessly self-promoting myself, even though I knew it was sad, even though I knew it was going to come back around and bite me in the ass. And now it has, so if you need me, I'll be hiding at home with L, eating ice cream and feeling sorry for myself....

I'm sorry Internet, I'll make it up to you.
posted by Ljubljana at 2:41 PM on January 18, 2005

Upon review: "bitchslap" = poor choice of words.

Upon review of your review, "bitchslap" = perfectly appropriate.
posted by cosmonik at 2:55 PM on January 18, 2005

...this whole e-marginalia thing has spun me even further down the spiral. I was winning for such a long time and now that I'm second, i panicked.

Anyone out there with self-esteem problems should print that out and stick it to their wall. It will make you feel so much better about yourself knowing you've got fewer issues than Degan...
posted by Jimbob at 3:31 PM on January 18, 2005

What I don't understand is why Matt left the self-link in the post, where it will continue driving clicks and garnering pagerank... But then again I picture Matt as Superman's younger brother and Yes, I have met him.
posted by billsaysthis at 4:35 PM on January 18, 2005

You met Superman?
posted by webmutant at 12:47 AM on January 19, 2005