Meh. June 3, 2008 11:07 PM Subscribe
Perhaps this does not belong on the front page.
Grainy, sensationalist video footage of someone having a violent nervous breakdown does not make for a decent Metafilter post, in terms of quality or subject matter, though this might do just fine on another site. Perhaps the post could be removed, to make room for better posts?
Grainy, sensationalist video footage of someone having a violent nervous breakdown does not make for a decent Metafilter post, in terms of quality or subject matter, though this might do just fine on another site. Perhaps the post could be removed, to make room for better posts?
This callout works best for me if I imagine Blazecock going totally berserk in his office over it.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:29 PM on June 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:29 PM on June 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
Perhaps the post could be removed, to make room for better posts?
I hesitate to suggest this, but do you think that there might be a possibility that you do not understand how the internet works?
posted by dersins at 11:33 PM on June 3, 2008 [5 favorites]
I hesitate to suggest this, but do you think that there might be a possibility that you do not understand how the internet works?
posted by dersins at 11:33 PM on June 3, 2008 [5 favorites]
I hesitate to suggest this, but do you think that there might be a possibility that you do not understand how the internet metafilter works?
posted by iamabot at 11:35 PM on June 3, 2008
posted by iamabot at 11:35 PM on June 3, 2008
Eh, I've seen worse. Plus for some reason I find the idea of someone just snapping and flipping out for no reason terribly funny. Particularly Mr_Zero's story.
posted by puke & cry at 11:35 PM on June 3, 2008
posted by puke & cry at 11:35 PM on June 3, 2008
It's not that bad of a post, it has spawned an interesting conversation on what people do in tense situations like this.
Also, you titled this "Meh." but if you really felt that way, you wouldn't have gone to the effort of making this post. Barely anyone has flagged it, I don't think it's as awful as you think.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:36 PM on June 3, 2008
Also, you titled this "Meh." but if you really felt that way, you wouldn't have gone to the effort of making this post. Barely anyone has flagged it, I don't think it's as awful as you think.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:36 PM on June 3, 2008
I hesitate to suggest this, but do you think that there might be a possibility that you do not understand how the internet works?
It's quite possible, sure. But that mechanism — how the Internet works — has nothing to do with how much faster the good posts disappear off Metafilter's front page as bad posts accumulate.
Still, if you have a model that relates DNS and routing tables etc. to how the front page operates, I think we all would love to see it. That sounds like a pretty awesome front page post.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:38 PM on June 3, 2008
It's quite possible, sure. But that mechanism — how the Internet works — has nothing to do with how much faster the good posts disappear off Metafilter's front page as bad posts accumulate.
Still, if you have a model that relates DNS and routing tables etc. to how the front page operates, I think we all would love to see it. That sounds like a pretty awesome front page post.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:38 PM on June 3, 2008
Also, you titled this "Meh." but if you really felt that way, you wouldn't have gone to the effort of making this post.
That's not true, but, hey, whatever.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:40 PM on June 3, 2008
That's not true, but, hey, whatever.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:40 PM on June 3, 2008
I meant to flag it but then the MeFi Tough Guys started flexin' their muscles an' so I got all distracted an' just made an overlong silly comment instead.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:43 PM on June 3, 2008
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:43 PM on June 3, 2008
Blazecock, I adore you as a mefite, and see where you are coming from, but you are totally overreacting here my man.
posted by dawson at 11:49 PM on June 3, 2008
posted by dawson at 11:49 PM on June 3, 2008
a model that relates DNS and routing tables etc. to how the front page operates,
You're cute with your big fancy technical words.
You also miss my point.
But I don't really think that's inadvertent.
posted by dersins at 11:55 PM on June 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
You're cute with your big fancy technical words.
You also miss my point.
But I don't really think that's inadvertent.
posted by dersins at 11:55 PM on June 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
Yeah this is definitely one of those MeTa threads where the choice snark is along the lines of "what, you couldn't flag it?" or "is flagging broken or something" etc etc.
I mean that's why we have that function right?
Just saying, this is a very unnecessary MeTa post. But everyone needs a hug. In lieu of a hug, I present to you this video, which was recently reintroduced to me today and makes me laugh way more than it should.
That is how I dance, and that is also how I do push ups.
Anyway I'm gonna go fall asleep now.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:56 PM on June 3, 2008
I mean that's why we have that function right?
Just saying, this is a very unnecessary MeTa post. But everyone needs a hug. In lieu of a hug, I present to you this video, which was recently reintroduced to me today and makes me laugh way more than it should.
That is how I dance, and that is also how I do push ups.
Anyway I'm gonna go fall asleep now.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 11:56 PM on June 3, 2008
Agreed--it is a Fark post. We have had a run of those lately.
posted by LarryC at 12:05 AM on June 4, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by LarryC at 12:05 AM on June 4, 2008 [3 favorites]
Blazecock: There's no need to feel embarrassed, you're probably not the only one that the thread made want to be a girlie, just so vito90 could rescue you.
posted by biffa at 3:10 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by biffa at 3:10 AM on June 4, 2008
I came here to make this exact same post -- frankly I was astonished when I woke up this morning and found the FPP still up. I mean yeah it's interesting, but it's poorly documented with no real story, and is basically Fark material.... not the kind of standards that I expect from MeFi. Does this mean if I find a funny video I can post it on the front page?
posted by chips ahoy at 5:32 AM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by chips ahoy at 5:32 AM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite]
...if I find a funny video I can post it on the front page?
Sure, chips. Only, yours will be deleted.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:42 AM on June 4, 2008
Sure, chips. Only, yours will be deleted.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:42 AM on June 4, 2008
Does this mean if I find a funny video I can post it on the front page?
You can try. And it might get deleted, or it might not, depending on the video and the critical reaction and the timing and a little bit of luck, because "look at this funny video" posts have flown in the past sometimes, and then sometimes gotten deleted instead.
Strange/funny-video-as-post-material is not some binary yes/no thing on mefi—neither "we can do it so OPEN THE FLOOD GATES WOO" nor "do not do this IT HAS NO PLACE HERE"—but rather one of the many kinds of things that ends up in the mix, in some proportion. It seems kind of not helpful to argue some sort of implicit slippery slope ultimatum just because a post you don't like so much didn't get deleted.
It's a weird post, and not something I think we want to see a whole lot of, but at the same time it was kind of interesting in its weird ugliness and spawned a pretty good conversation and, heck, it got to live this time. Lucky post.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:46 AM on June 4, 2008
You can try. And it might get deleted, or it might not, depending on the video and the critical reaction and the timing and a little bit of luck, because "look at this funny video" posts have flown in the past sometimes, and then sometimes gotten deleted instead.
Strange/funny-video-as-post-material is not some binary yes/no thing on mefi—neither "we can do it so OPEN THE FLOOD GATES WOO" nor "do not do this IT HAS NO PLACE HERE"—but rather one of the many kinds of things that ends up in the mix, in some proportion. It seems kind of not helpful to argue some sort of implicit slippery slope ultimatum just because a post you don't like so much didn't get deleted.
It's a weird post, and not something I think we want to see a whole lot of, but at the same time it was kind of interesting in its weird ugliness and spawned a pretty good conversation and, heck, it got to live this time. Lucky post.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:46 AM on June 4, 2008
Go back to your cubicle, Blazecock. Keep working. Be productive. Meanwhile, I feel a fit coming on...
posted by Termite at 5:46 AM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Termite at 5:46 AM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite]
I hesitate to suggest this, but do you think that there might be a possibility that you do not understand how the internet metafilter works?
posted by theiconoclast31 at 5:48 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by theiconoclast31 at 5:48 AM on June 4, 2008
...if I find a funny video I can post it on the front page?
Sure, but you risk another user, a month after you post it, taking it upon himself to spend hours crafting a scholarly FPP treatment of the subject of your link, the last step of which might be to search the site for doubles, which would surface your single-link toss-off, which might then in turn prompt him to write you a very angry memail, castigating you for your lack of effort in your original post, which has deprived the rest of the community of the deliciousness of his later, better, but, forsooth, double, post.
Trust me: this could actually happen.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 6:18 AM on June 4, 2008
Sure, but you risk another user, a month after you post it, taking it upon himself to spend hours crafting a scholarly FPP treatment of the subject of your link, the last step of which might be to search the site for doubles, which would surface your single-link toss-off, which might then in turn prompt him to write you a very angry memail, castigating you for your lack of effort in your original post, which has deprived the rest of the community of the deliciousness of his later, better, but, forsooth, double, post.
Trust me: this could actually happen.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 6:18 AM on June 4, 2008
Sure, chips. Only, yours will be deleted.
BECAUSE YOU'RE A WHITE MALE AND METAFILTER HATES THEM!!!
Note: you may or may not be a white male. I have no idea.
posted by inigo2 at 6:32 AM on June 4, 2008
BECAUSE YOU'RE A WHITE MALE AND METAFILTER HATES THEM!!!
Note: you may or may not be a white male. I have no idea.
posted by inigo2 at 6:32 AM on June 4, 2008
Yeah cortex and I went back and forth on this one and decided to leave it. The flags piled up pretty slowly and by the time we saw "oh hey there's a few flags there" there was a discussion that seemed okay.
The thing I like less about these threads is the sort of built-in retort that if you DON'T like them you're some sort of fussy/prissy somethingorother. I don't watch videos of people going crazy (or animals being harassed/abused, or people getting attacked by cops, or gory war videos) because I find them upsetting and I can't unsee them, they bring back bad memories, etc.
I don't let that drive deletion decisions, but the "suck it haters" subtext to some of these threads I often find more annoying than the threads themselves which I have more of a "flag it and move on" approach to.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:50 AM on June 4, 2008
The thing I like less about these threads is the sort of built-in retort that if you DON'T like them you're some sort of fussy/prissy somethingorother. I don't watch videos of people going crazy (or animals being harassed/abused, or people getting attacked by cops, or gory war videos) because I find them upsetting and I can't unsee them, they bring back bad memories, etc.
I don't let that drive deletion decisions, but the "suck it haters" subtext to some of these threads I often find more annoying than the threads themselves which I have more of a "flag it and move on" approach to.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:50 AM on June 4, 2008
What's this "discussion" bidness people refer to? I CAN HAZ LINKZ AND LINKS ALOWN!!11!
posted by Mister_A at 6:58 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by Mister_A at 6:58 AM on June 4, 2008
chips ahoy writes "Does this mean if I find a funny video I can post it on the front page?"
Sure. It's even better if you give essentially no description so that those who look at it have no idea what's going to happen.
posted by Mitheral at 7:01 AM on June 4, 2008
Sure. It's even better if you give essentially no description so that those who look at it have no idea what's going to happen.
posted by Mitheral at 7:01 AM on June 4, 2008
sensationalist video footage of someone having a violent nervous breakdown does not make for a decent Metafilter post
But it does make for a decent 1993 thriller starring Michael Douglas and Barbara Hershey - get yours on video today!
posted by dgaicun at 7:13 AM on June 4, 2008 [2 favorites]
But it does make for a decent 1993 thriller starring Michael Douglas and Barbara Hershey - get yours on video today!
posted by dgaicun at 7:13 AM on June 4, 2008 [2 favorites]
Seeing as how ogrish.com resolves to liveleak.com and knowing how MetaFilter feels about Ogrish, I assumed the post would be gone. Oh well. Shows what I know.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:15 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:15 AM on June 4, 2008
I don't really care about the post in question either way, because I didn't even look at the video yet, but I get the feeling that when a post is deleted and people say "but the discussion was going so well!" the general response is "MetaFilter is not about discussions, it's about links." But when people say "this post is crap, why isnt it deleted?" the general response is "well the discussion seems to be going well."
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 7:59 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 7:59 AM on June 4, 2008
It's part of a secret government initiative to drive you insane, CF.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:03 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:03 AM on June 4, 2008
Without speaking specifically to the content of those videos, I do enjoy it when there is doubt about the veracity of what is being depicted in clips linked to the blue. The resulting discussion is almost always entertaining as people go back and forth picking apart minor details in an effort to prove it being real or fake.
It usually makes for a good read.
posted by quin at 8:32 AM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite]
It usually makes for a good read.
posted by quin at 8:32 AM on June 4, 2008 [1 favorite]
I get the feeling that when a post is deleted and people say "but the discussion was going so well!" the general response is "MetaFilter is not about discussions, it's about links." But when people say "this post is crap, why isnt it deleted?" the general response is "well the discussion seems to be going well."
Holy crap. You're absolutely right.
brb- trashing office
posted by Dr-Baa at 8:37 AM on June 4, 2008
Holy crap. You're absolutely right.
brb- trashing office
posted by Dr-Baa at 8:37 AM on June 4, 2008
It's part of a secret government initiative to drive you insane, CF.
You think they would have disbanded years ago...
Oh well, as long as no one's saying it isn't the case.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 9:15 AM on June 4, 2008
You think they would have disbanded years ago...
Oh well, as long as no one's saying it isn't the case.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 9:15 AM on June 4, 2008
I could write up a lengthy comment on the conflicting drives of different (and ever-shifting) subset of the userbase and how it is often a challenge to find a compromise that will displease the few fewest people while staying true to the spirit of the guidelines and historical community precedents, with an acknowledgement of the inconsistency that is inherent in moderation by a small team of different-minded people, but that would take a lot of work so I'm going to go with the bumper sticker version:
Shit Happens.
Beneath that is another bumper sticker, which reads:
Hugs!
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:25 AM on June 4, 2008 [2 favorites]
Shit Happens.
Beneath that is another bumper sticker, which reads:
Hugs!
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:25 AM on June 4, 2008 [2 favorites]
"O wad some po'er gift tae gie us, tae see oursel's as aithers see us,"
posted by sgt.serenity at 9:28 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by sgt.serenity at 9:28 AM on June 4, 2008
I'm just popping in to let everyone know that I'm trying to think of a relevant snark for this thread that isn't diminished by the fact that the mods have already stepped in and adequately explained in polite terms why the post is still up. When I do, I'll be back, snarkful and ready.
posted by shmegegge at 9:40 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by shmegegge at 9:40 AM on June 4, 2008
also, cortex I think you should have a site that is simply a collection of all the different times you've written your treatises On Understanding Moderation, and then you can just link it every time from then on.
posted by shmegegge at 9:41 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by shmegegge at 9:41 AM on June 4, 2008
Shit Happens.
That's a good description for the Farking post.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:45 AM on June 4, 2008
That's a good description for the Farking post.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:45 AM on June 4, 2008
"link it every time from then on" was a remarkably tactful way to end the sentence at that point.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:19 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by Wolfdog at 10:19 AM on June 4, 2008
I agree: if every crap viral OMG instant 15-seconds-of-fame pop-up-window text-message video or LOL whatnot on the web gets its own FPP, metafilter will degenerate into something truly godawful. The Russian office freakout video FPP is easily the worst undeleted FPP I've seen here.
posted by ornate insect at 10:28 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by ornate insect at 10:28 AM on June 4, 2008
I don't know, I kind of liked it. And maybe wouldn't have heard about it elsewhere. So there's that.
posted by Busithoth at 10:29 AM on June 4, 2008
posted by Busithoth at 10:29 AM on June 4, 2008
I don't know, but I showed her mine, so I think it was only fair.
posted by dirigibleman at 12:31 PM on June 4, 2008
posted by dirigibleman at 12:31 PM on June 4, 2008
That idiotic video is posted on nearly every mouth breather video community blog page on the web. It's a bottom dweller and certainly not all that interesting. And, fake or not, where it is interesting it is interesting in all the wrong most prurient ways. It should have been deleted.
posted by tkchrist at 1:15 PM on June 4, 2008
posted by tkchrist at 1:15 PM on June 4, 2008
Oh well, as long as no one's saying it isn't the case.
I too have heard all kinds of nonsense.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:18 PM on June 4, 2008
I too have heard all kinds of nonsense.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:18 PM on June 4, 2008
Hey, a new callout! Damn, I almost missed it, too.
*collects it, puts it on the shelf with the others*
I don't think this one isn't as pretty, though. Not enough swearing and gnashing of teeth. It'll go behind the shiny little snarks from the "kitty falls asleep and goes bonk" thread.
Anyway, don't worry your little heads off over it, Buckaroos. I have a monster of a post coming right up about some really fast, shiny things that go boom and stuff. More than two little links, I promise.
*flips long hippy hair and strides off without looking back, leaving the Caucaus Race to do their thing*
posted by loquacious at 4:32 PM on June 4, 2008
*collects it, puts it on the shelf with the others*
I don't think this one isn't as pretty, though. Not enough swearing and gnashing of teeth. It'll go behind the shiny little snarks from the "kitty falls asleep and goes bonk" thread.
Anyway, don't worry your little heads off over it, Buckaroos. I have a monster of a post coming right up about some really fast, shiny things that go boom and stuff. More than two little links, I promise.
*flips long hippy hair and strides off without looking back, leaving the Caucaus Race to do their thing*
posted by loquacious at 4:32 PM on June 4, 2008
Jessamyn: I too have heard all kinds of nonsense.
Are you saying my observation is inaccurate or that there really are secret government initatives etc etc?
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:11 PM on June 5, 2008
Are you saying my observation is inaccurate or that there really are secret government initatives etc etc?
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:11 PM on June 5, 2008
No, I'm generally agreeing. flabdablet said that phrase once and I just really liked it. Now it's been said twice.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:27 PM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:27 PM on June 5, 2008 [1 favorite]
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posted by nthdegx at 11:12 PM on June 3, 2008 [1 favorite]