For the "This has been posted before" watchdogs

Submitted by UMdad on

The "This has been posted before" response really needs to be tempered.  I understand that there are many people here who read every post and refresh every minute or two.  For the sake of the rest of us, stop pointing out every time anyone starts a thread that is simlar to one posted hours or days before in some other thread that has some generic title tht the OP would have no way to tell was about the same topic.  I get it if there is a thread on hte same page that is clearly titled, but that is rarely the case.  The search option leaves a lot to be desired and I think that the last couple of days the people posting about the redundancies have been more annoying than the redundancies themselves. 

pasadenablue

February 1st, 2011 at 4:12 AM ^

...as those watchdogs keep this place clean.  Without them, you'd have a maze (no pun intended) of useless crap.  Those watchdogs keep posters honest.  Posters who would otherwise be ready to post anything they want are instead a little gunshy.

 

They're like the spiders of Mgoblog - they might be a bit creepy, and you might want to squash them whenever you see them, but they keep the nastier bugs away.  A necessary evil, if you will.

 

And complaining about people complaining is just sooooooooo cliché.

Tacopants

February 1st, 2011 at 4:32 PM ^

 

adapted from here.

 

Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, UMDad? I have a greater responsibility than you canpossibly fathom. You weep for new posters, and you curse the Watchdogs. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that new poster's exile to Bolivia, while tragic, probably saved lives; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.

You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about on Mgoblog, you want me on that wall -- you need me on that wall.

We use words like "posbang," "search box," "proper and accurate thread titles." We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very blog readability that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.

I would rather that you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a keyboard and stand the post. Either way, I don't give a DAMN what you think you're entitled to!

pasadenablue

February 1st, 2011 at 4:16 AM ^

Actually, I believe the proper label would META, as it relates to the function of the board/blog.

 

 

edit...

aaaaaand you edited your post before i submitted mine.......

for those unaware, ATrain had recommended labeling the post OT.

BornInAA

February 1st, 2011 at 4:59 AM ^

1) Helps mods find redundant posts and delete them

2) Points the people that have just logged on to the 1st post on the subject where the serious discussion has already been started

3) Allows for the posting of irreverent and funny material which would be out of place in the serious post (see point 2)

skwasha

February 1st, 2011 at 6:52 AM ^

I tend to agree with the OP. Note they didn't say the responses needed to be stopped, merely tempered. To my mind this means lowering the level of some of the invective and general snarkiness about it. It's as if some people care more about ridiculing a poster for a redundant post than the actual content of the board. If someone has already replied with a simple "This was already posted/covered in <link to original post with title>, thanks." Then isn't that enough? Just move on and leave the topic alone.

Salinger

February 1st, 2011 at 8:59 AM ^

Enjoy the site for it's snarkiness. If you don't have thick enough skin to take some negs don't be an OP. I'm generally not one to jump on the pile either, so maybe that influences my opinion.
<br>
<br>I understand people don't want to have hurt feelings but them honestly this may not be the place for you.

bronxblue

February 1st, 2011 at 7:09 AM ^

A general rule of thumb is that if the article is more than a couple of hours old and it is from the Recruiting services or a popular site, it's probably already been posted.  I don't mind peple pointing our redundencies.

chunkums

February 1st, 2011 at 7:47 AM ^

If anything this board needs more self-policing.  If you started posting here before the RR hire, you would see just how pathetically bad the personal filters have gotten since back in the day when there were a lot more aggressive posters.  This board is too damn nice and we need to stretch our negging pimp slaps.

octal9

February 1st, 2011 at 11:00 AM ^

it's not just the negging pimp slaps. A lot of the people that were just straight dicks to idiots that would post mindlessly without searching first don't do that anymore, which leads to more idiots posting mindlessly.

I agree; the self-policing is good and honestly, we probably need more of it.

 

joeyb

February 1st, 2011 at 7:55 AM ^

Usually, I just post the link to the original post so that the conversation can be kept in one place. If it's really bad, I'll ridicule the person as well. If you aren't willing to take the proper steps to prevent ridicule, then you should either accept the ridicule or never post a story, because it's almost guaranteed to be old.

You also have to keep in mind that those people are probably a little more tech savvy than yourself and have an RSS reader so that they don't have to refresh ever 2 minutes.

readyourguard

February 1st, 2011 at 7:57 AM ^

With the increase in registered members, it takes a concentrated effort from everyone to keep MGoBlog the best fan site on the web.  We have to do whatever it takes to keep it from becoming MLive or, God forbid, that abortion known as tRCBM.

dennisblundon

February 1st, 2011 at 8:05 AM ^

If getting your balls busted a little for posting a redundant post or just a flat out stupid post is wrong, I don't want to be right. More often than not some funny pics or gifs get posted and maybe a few comments. In short we all walk away from it better than when we went into it.

Firstbase

February 1st, 2011 at 8:21 AM ^

That's why I rather like the listing to feature the most recent post to a thread somewhere near the top of the list. Those threads that deserve a lot of discussion get priority. Those threads that have run their course organically fade away over time. 

gobluednicks

February 1st, 2011 at 8:45 AM ^

too many people just like the satisfaction of ridiculing other people and need to get a life.  the funny thing is they end up posting 100 "this has been posted before" statements, which is redundant, which is what they're complaining about...bunch of morons.

aawolve

February 1st, 2011 at 8:46 AM ^

Some people overreact, but it is essential to keeping this place from going to hell in a handbasket. The double posters are the ones being the most inconsiderate.

NateVolk

February 1st, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^

The snarkiness on here has gone way down from what I have seen looking back on it from July of last year. This is a welcomed change.

I just don't think there is any excuse for Michigan fans belittling other Michigan fans, especially via the ninny anonymous "name" route.  On the flipside, there are a lot of people who find it funny and list that as a benefit of policing the repeating posts.   

If you a pro snark, you are probably pro police. If you think it detracts from the civility and experience on here, you probably think the police thing is retarded.

Beyond a love of making fun of others, there isn't any real benefit to policing repeat posts. It doesn't happen all that often. When it does it is usually on a fast news day so it keeps it on page 1 for people who are here infrequently. Plus it is usually a big story.  

By the way, from what I have seen of the MSU forum everyone is trying to keep this from becoming, laying off the name calling is the best way to prevent that.  Slamming others for trying to bring to the community does nothing and takes way more time than ignoring it or using the back button.

 

octal9

February 1st, 2011 at 11:06 AM ^

 

It doesn't happen all that often. When it does it is usually on a fast news day so it keeps it on page 1 for people who are here infrequently. Plus it is usually a big story.

This is just flat out wrong. Just because you don't see every repost doesn't mean they're not there - often times, the mods manage to clean them up. I'm making this stat up but there has to be a minimum of four reposts per day, some of them even reposts of reposts (and honestly, I'd put "four" on the low end for setting an over/under for this).

Not only that, but it's often (especially now, in the offseason) a repost of something that's offtopic. I would not be one bit surprised to see the "Facebook poll" thread posted again.

 

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

February 1st, 2011 at 12:00 PM ^

By the way, from what I have seen of the MSU forum everyone is trying to keep this from becoming, laying off the name calling is the best way to prevent that.
Not that I think name-calling is the greatest thing ever, but honestly I can think of a lot bigger crimes against humanity that the RCMB perpetrates than snarking its own members.
Slamming others for trying to bring to the community does nothing and takes way more time than ignoring it or using the back button.
Let's put it this way: If one of your kids or your coworkers or someone was doing unproductive things that detracted instead of helped your efforts, you'd try and put a stop to their assistance.  "Just ignore it" is the wrong advice.  You certainly wouldn't "just ignore it" if your kid decided to vacuum the living room and destroyed things in the process.  There's only so much space on the board - especially now in the post-malware burn with the front page of the board all small.  Duplicate threads push legitimate ones off the page.  It takes thirty extra seconds to do a quick search on the topic you want.  It's not too much to ask.

Taps

February 1st, 2011 at 10:43 AM ^

Only posts with redundant useful information are bad. Replies with the exact same "cool story bro" pic or Futurama "I see what you did there" are funny and worthwhile every time. EVERY TIME! +1 OP