I can't believe I'm doing one of these "guide" type posts, because generally it makes me feel like an incorrigible douchebag, but this has been getting under my skin for a while and I would really like to try, if at ALL possible, to lessen the extremity to which I get irritated.
I think a fair few of you understand this, but to those that don't -- the Community Blogs and the Destructoid front page are two seperate heads of the one animal. While they are linked to the same body, they think, feel and act differently. A post on the Cblogs is not a post on the main page. Likewise, a post on the main page is not a post on the Cblogs.
What I'm saying is this -- when something is posted is on the Cblogs and then it is posted on the main page, that is NOT cause for people to shout at the editor for posting "old news" or something that has been "done already." It has not been done already on Destructoid, as a rule. The Cblogs and the main page are different things.
Remember, the front page of Dtoid gets thousands of readers a day, which is going to be more than the Cblogs. We can't just not post news because it might have been "broken" by a reader first. We reach more people, that's the bottom line. I've had to reign in saying that in a nastier way to people who have been particularly galling in the way they attack "old" news.
I know I don't just speak for myself -- it's very insulting for an editor, who usually spends a long time adding editorial commentary, spell checking ruthlessly, and generally making a story worthy of Destructoid's main page, to be waved off and have his/her work demeaned by somebody arrogantly throwing a link to the Cblogs and acting like they "broke" the story first. It also makes us look bad to other people. Hell, it's not even that insulting to link to your work if you're proud of it ... but throwing the link up and nothing else, or throwing it up with a backhanded comment to the Dtoid editor is pretty shitty.
If we get the news from the Cblog, you bet we'll link to that appropriate story. However, if there is no link to a Cblog in one of our stories, it's simple -- we got the news from somewhere else, probably the same source you did.
I doubt of course that anybody means any harm when they do it, but it can be very weary for the editor. I love the Cblogs here, and the editors on Dtoid are more interwoven with the community than any you'll ever see, which is awesome -- but there is that barely visible line between main page and Cblog.
Hope that sounds fair to everyone.
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(# 0) on 11/18/2007 08:16
(# 1) on 11/18/2007 08:18
(# 2) on 11/18/2007 08:19
(# 3) on 11/18/2007 08:24
Also, what always comforts me is that I know there are bigger douchebags out there than me.
(# 4) on 11/18/2007 08:28
Just joking.
(# 5) on 11/18/2007 08:30
-Rev
(# 6) on 11/18/2007 08:42
however, if you have written somthing in the c'blogs and a editor has written somthing kinda the same, i don't personally see anything wrong with putting the link in and saying somthing like 'i wrote somthing sorta like this a little while ago'. i guess its the mentality you have behind posting your link in the comments, you know, why did you do it?
some people do spend a long time working on thier articals to have absolutly no love shown to them what so ever (i remeber spending ages on my first 3 blog posts)and that can be quite demoralising.
but ill say it again, trying to make yourself seem better than someone else but posting your link in their comments is bad.
posting your link it thier comments is okay if all you want to do is share your opinion on the matter and open the debate further.
(# 7) on 11/18/2007 08:46
(# 8) on 11/18/2007 08:53
(# 9) on 11/18/2007 09:24
(# 10) on 11/18/2007 09:36
(# 11) on 11/18/2007 09:44
(# 12) on 11/18/2007 10:09
/irony
<3
(# 13) on 11/18/2007 10:11
(# 14) on 11/18/2007 10:29
I think that would prevent people from would prevent people from feeling worthless in breaking a story in the c-blogs with little notice and soon thereafter having the story break on the front-page to wide popularity. This is all conjectural mind you, but I think I'm correct.
(# 15) on 11/18/2007 10:33
I hear what you're saying but in all honesty, if a c-blogger "breaks" a story before an editor posts something to the main page, it wouldn't hurt to run a search checking to see whether it had been previously reported, and a side note of credit would be appreciated. I know you guys are the "professional" writers, so it makes sense that you would structure the article more soundly then whoever may just want to gush about something they just heard/read.
Whatever though.. people shouldn't post useless comments like "old" and shit anyways..
(# 16) on 11/18/2007 10:36
Then you go and click on their "breaking news", and it's just copypasta with horrendous grammar and little to no punctuation. I'll take the Monacle Man's nicely presented article over BS anyday.
(# 17) on 11/18/2007 11:01
(# 18) on 11/18/2007 11:19
(# 19) on 11/18/2007 11:21
Likewise, I've had things a few times happen in reverse, where I've written out something concerning breaking news, but Jim or Nex or someone else gets a story up on the front page as I'm working on the story, and then when I post it, I get yelled at for copypasta and being old.
News itself is very fluid, you've got to remember that, and that stories get broken simultaneously quite frequently thanks to the Internet.
(# 20) on 11/18/2007 11:24
(# 21) on 11/18/2007 11:31
(# 22) on 11/18/2007 12:02
(# 23) on 11/18/2007 12:03
Plus, CTZ totally linked to my story once and it was rad.
(# 24) on 11/18/2007 12:04
(# 25) on 11/18/2007 12:12
If you're like me and you come to Dtoid and merely peruse the titles of the most recent cblogs on the main page, you're not likely to see some of the "breaking news" that you'll surely post on the main page. So I see no other way for Dtoid to go but to post it even if to some gamers it's "common knowledge".
What's really disturbing about the whole issue is that on the internet, it seems that a healthy amount of people just want to be dicks. All the time. People who would say hi to you on the street or cower in fear of nearly everyone they meet, keeping their snarky comments to themselves, suddenly feel the need to attack everything and everyone. Same thing on Halo 3, etc. "I was given 8 wedgies this week in real life, but on Halo I'm a GOD, damn you, and you're a noob! Sweet revenge!" Cyber-pricks need to be called out and publicly humiliated by all.
(# 26) on 11/18/2007 12:29
(# 27) on 11/18/2007 12:58
(# 28) on 11/18/2007 13:07
Epic fail, Jim. Epic fail.
(# 29) on 11/18/2007 13:12
(# 30) on 11/18/2007 13:23
/douche
(# 31) on 11/18/2007 13:31
(# 32) on 11/18/2007 13:40
(# 33) on 11/18/2007 13:47
(# 34) on 11/18/2007 13:49
(# 35) on 11/18/2007 13:52
(# 36) on 11/18/2007 13:56
also, i think your banner is amazing.
(# 37) on 11/18/2007 14:35
On the flipside... I'd just be happy if my damn blog actually worked..
(# 38) on 11/18/2007 15:21
(# 39) on 11/18/2007 16:09
Instead of giving up guides give us rules lulz.
STICK IT IN JIM! STICK IT IN!
(# 40) on 11/18/2007 17:55
(# 41) on 11/18/2007 23:33
I don't think there is anything wrong with linking your firsties cblog in a front page comment, but it's better to do so in a way to link the two conversations together or show a different viewpoint, not to just call first. I think that's the difference here.
(# 42) on 11/19/2007 08:51
WOOOO! HE'S BRITISH!
(# 43) on 11/19/2007 14:33
(# 44) on 11/21/2007 21:06
(# 45) on 11/21/2007 23:20
(# 46) on 01/08/2008 14:51
(# 47) on 02/10/2008 16:39
(# 48) on 02/15/2008 22:22
(# 49) on 10/19/2008 01:42