You Tube Meta Data

October 15, 2007 7:29 PM

YouTube tags --- of any sort: titles, categories, etc. --- possible on the fpp?

Would it be difficult to integrate any You Tube metadata into the fpp, either as fly-over info, or something that showed up in the status bar? It would just be nice to know something about the vid in question before going there, and especially convenient for those of us with blocked youTubes at work.

(Please to forgive if this is a pony request, I'm not a code person, just a regular ole user.)

posted by DenOfSizer to Feature Requests at 7:29 PM (23 comments total)

Tags can do this if the OP cares enough to add either them or any sort of information about the link in question. Otherwise I feel that it's a pretty edge case situation (your youtube is blocked so why do you need to know anything about it before you can actually watch it?) unless there's some way that this could be done quickly and easily. Anything greasemonkeyish that can do this, anyone know?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:34 PM on October 15, 2007

YouTube has an API, so we could technically fetch the title, author, comments (meh), and maybe the categories a video is in. I'm not sure it's worth grabbing/storing that info locally, though.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:04 PM on October 15, 2007

All of that info is just a click away.
posted by carsonb at 8:05 PM on October 15, 2007

Also, what purpose would it serve those who surf from blocked access? Extra tantalizing?
posted by carsonb at 8:07 PM on October 15, 2007

I usually add "YouTube" to the fly-overs I make for FPPs, although I didn't do that for the FPP I just put up on the blue a few minutes ago, cause there were just so darn many links I figured people would get sick of seeing the word "YouTube" over and over again!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:15 PM on October 15, 2007

I think the 'title=' information you put in is what DenOfSizer is looking for flapjax at midnite. A very well done post.
posted by tellurian at 8:51 PM on October 15, 2007

I usually add "YouTube" to the fly-overs I make for FPPs, although I didn't do that for the FPP I just put up on the blue a few minutes ago, cause there were just so darn many links I figured people would get sick of seeing the word "YouTube" over and over again!

I don't think it's necessary to put "YouTube" in the hover-over description since you can see a link goes to YouTube when you hover over it looking at your browser's status bar.
posted by Poolio at 9:04 PM on October 15, 2007

It sounds like DenOfSizer is really talking about those interntionally cryptic, "mystery" Youtube posts The real solution is, don't make interntionally cryptic, "mystery" Youtube posts.
posted by roll truck roll at 9:14 PM on October 15, 2007

>what purpose would it serve those who surf from blocked access?

It may inform whether they feel the urge to drop the link into something like vconvert.net, for viewing on their ipod on the train home.

Just a guess, of course.
posted by pompomtom at 9:29 PM on October 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

All of that info is just a click away.

Did you read the post?

and especially convenient for those of us with blocked youTubes at work.
posted by delmoi at 11:31 PM on October 15, 2007

YouTube has an API, so we could technically fetch the title, author, comments (meh), and maybe the categories a video is in. I'm not sure it's worth grabbing/storing that info locally, though.

Putting the video title in the link would solve the opaque URL problem.
posted by cillit bang at 2:33 AM on October 16, 2007

Clear writing would solve the opaque URL problem. Metadata can be wonderful, but doesn't beat good writing.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:37 AM on October 16, 2007

Because everyone knows that if there's anything YouTube users do with diligence and accuracy, it's tag their videos.
posted by Plutor at 3:59 AM on October 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

(your youtube is blocked so why do you need to know anything about it before you can actually watch it?)
I can think of several reasons, but the main one involves wanting to know what the hell a conversation is about without the benefit of having seen the video.
posted by DenOfSizer at 5:06 AM on October 16, 2007

And even if my youTube wasn't blocked at work, I still just think it's good practice to give users a sense of where they're going in your navigation design. Am I the only one who looks at a link's destination before I click it? The problem with youTube link is that they strip any sense of wayfaring out. I thought Mefi of all places would be into correcting that.
posted by DenOfSizer at 5:09 AM on October 16, 2007

delmoi: Did you read the post?

Yes. Did you read my next comment? What purpose would more data, whether it be metadata or clearer writing, serve for those who can't visit YouTube from work anyway? Especially convenient how?
posted by carsonb at 5:22 AM on October 16, 2007

I still just think it's good practice to give users a sense of where they're going in your navigation design.

I agree with you there.
posted by carsonb at 5:23 AM on October 16, 2007

DenOfSizer writes "Am I the only one who looks at a link's destination before I click it? The problem with youTube link is that they strip any sense of wayfaring out. I thought Mefi of all places would be into correcting that."

It's one of the vi vs emacs debates of metafilter. Those who like mystery meat vs. those who think mystery meat posts are the bastard step child devil spawn of satan. And it's not just posts, you see it all the time in comments with links to IMDB and Amazon that use this book or this movie as the anchor text.
posted by Mitheral at 8:46 AM on October 16, 2007

And it's not just posts, you see it all the time in comments with links to IMDB and Amazon that use this book or this movie as the anchor text.

Yeah, I hate that. Stop doing that, ya maroons!

*shakes fist futilely*
posted by languagehat at 9:41 AM on October 16, 2007

I also agree with that comment.
posted by Plutor at 10:29 AM on October 16, 2007

And it's not just posts, you see it all the time in comments with links to IMDB and Amazon that use this book or this movie as the anchor text.

Yeah, but you don't see FPP posts with links to those pages, oh, like, 20 times an hour. And but plus, Amazon often does have useful things in their links. Here's one at random:

http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Guide-Me-Denzel-Washington/dp/0696230496/ref=pd_sim_b_1/103-8635707-7532664

See? I know it's a book about Denzel Washington and may even be called Hand to Guide Me. Now I would have some context about a Mefi discussion to come, or some context in the FPP.


And maybe I'm thick, but I don't understand the first part of Mitheral's comment - is me wanting to glean just a paltry little bit of info available from a youTube link devil spawn? And what's a vi? Is it like a Wii?

CARSNOB: Dude, think about it. Or just read this page again.

All this usability sturm und drung appears to be for naught anyway - no ponies for Xmas this year. Sigh.
posted by DenOfSizer at 11:35 AM on October 16, 2007

DenOfSizer writes "And what's a vi? Is it like a Wii?"

It can be, depends on your mastery of command mode I suppose.
posted by Mitheral at 11:45 AM on October 16, 2007

Putting the mefi tags on the front page would be nice, too :)
posted by empath at 4:09 PM on October 16, 2007