January 8, 2001

11:41 AM

eBlotspresents you with a picture. You type what you think/feel/see, and are presented with what everyone else thought/felt/saw. You're identified by a random color, so it's anonymous, and you can even have your eblots mailed to you daily.
posted by fnirt (15 comments total)

this is self-promotion. please refrain from doing that.
posted by gluechunk at 12:01 PM on January 8, 2001

Hmm, the guidelines weren't specific enough to say that it should not be done ever, period. I understood that if I had posted "hey come to my webpage" that would be pretty lame. But this was a site that was getting mentions in multiple weblogs, and generating a lot of traffic for itself, and I thought I would share it.

Not having asked for feedback, nor really having a 'product' I didn't think it was inappropriate. Since I really have nothing to gain from the site, I didn't really think of it as a 'company site' or anything.

I just thought it was a fun little app that had a growing audience, and that people were sharing elsewhere. Sorry, won't do it again!
posted by fnirt at 12:08 PM on January 8, 2001

hey, i enjoyed the 6 doodles that i gave titles to!
posted by gluechunk at 12:12 PM on January 8, 2001

I thought it was kinda neat too. Wondering what else could be done with it. Maybe some psychologist somewhere needs a hobby, and would like to post (delayed) interpretations of any prevalent common responses...
posted by Tubes at 12:28 PM on January 8, 2001

i've got to say that i don't have a problem with blogging your own site, as long as it is something genuinely *interesting*. i would suggest, though, that if one is going to mention one's own site, one should mention the self-interest in the description.

also, I have an alternate title:

www.amiablotornot.com

:-)
posted by jpoulos at 12:59 PM on January 8, 2001

I didn't really see anything interesting over at that site. Interesting self-posts such as those of Steven Den Beste are fine though.
posted by tiaka at 1:08 PM on January 8, 2001

I'd rather everyone post their own web projects rather than Salon links all the time. Not that Salon links are bad, they have their place, but...
posted by Doug at 1:21 PM on January 8, 2001

I agree with previous posters that a) the link was nifty, and b) we need a sike-i-a-trist to interpret some of those reactions.

I'm curious about where the squiggles are from.
posted by acridrabbit at 1:31 PM on January 8, 2001

I don't get it.
posted by bondcliff at 2:14 PM on January 8, 2001

Shrink: "You have a filthy mind!"
Patient: "Well, you're the one showing all the dirty pictures!"
posted by sonofsamiam at 2:26 PM on January 8, 2001

I think the problem with self-linking, even if it's something really really cool, is that who gets to judge what's cool and what isn't?

The problem with where to draw the line is a really sticky one, and I think the decision was to forgo all self-linking in thread-starting links. If you've done something that's relevant to the topic at hand, self-linking isn't really frowned upon (especially if you prefix it with "well, this is a self-link, but it's relevant!" :-), so long as it isn't in the original post.
posted by cCranium at 2:26 PM on January 8, 2001

Heh, that really was fun.
posted by sonofsamiam at 3:13 PM on January 8, 2001

I've got it! I'll start up the MeFi Link Trader Queue! You submit the URL of your own creation to be posted on the Metafilter homepage, in exchange for which you receive someone else's URL which you are "honor bound" to post! Everyone will get promoted! No one will be accused of self-linking! I'll be rich, I tell you, rich!

(Well, spiritually rich. Maybe.)
posted by youhas at 3:18 PM on January 8, 2001

I think the problem with self-linking, even if it's something really really cool, is that who gets to judge what's cool and what isn't?

er...exactly how is this different from choosing non-self sites to share?

posted by rushmc at 8:22 PM on January 8, 2001

Are the blots generated or hand made?

I like how its telling me I am bright tomato.
posted by aki at 5:28 AM on January 9, 2001