Anybody with a Metafilter account?

[Conor]

I posted a link about the Riff-Off on Metafilter today.  In the hour it was up before it got taken down and I got banned since they figured out that I worked at Legend, it got us a lot of visits.  I think it's a great way to get word out about the contest, so if anyone has an account on Metafilter, if you could post something on the front page, that'd be great.

Anyone making "Why would I want to tell more people about the contest and decrease my odds?" comments is automatically disqualified.   

[Pak-Man]

Tell every unfunny person you know! It'll make your entry look funnier by comparison! (Again, I kid!)

[Tarantulas]

Since the comments end up being the property of Legend & Rifftrax, I sure hope a "Top 10" ends up being posted after the winners are announced...  more entrants = better product and more exciting contest.

[JohnH]

I have a Metafilter account, and I posted about RiffTrax there already when it was starting up.

And they have very knowledgeable community members there to figure out the ultimate origins of posts.  They really look down upon self-links, so the contest might be poisonous to bring up now.  I'd also feel like I was becoming too much of a one-note guy if I posted about it -- I've linked to archives of TimmyBigHands previously.

Sorry about that.

[JohnH]

Wait, my error, it wasn't me but Otis who posted about it before.  Hmmm.  Hey, Otis, you getting this?

The other thing I posted was Weekly Blurb.

[Otis]

10-4, Over?

To be honest, I fear the pitchforks would come out if I were to re-post this. I've done two Legend posts already (one Rifftrax post and another about Mike's Reefer Madness commentary) and I think a third would be perceived as overkill. And as much as I love the place, those Metafilter folks can turn on you like a pack of rabid wurwulfs.

I'm also an occasional poster over at MetaChat (metachat.org), and I think this would probably be better received over there where they're not so uptight. I'll post something this afternoon unless someone wants to beat me to it.

[Conor]

People are too devoted!  Well thanks for the consideration anyways guys.  I may have been unbanned, but I'll never be able to post anything ever again that is even remotely related to work.

[JohnH]

Ah, great that you've been unbanned!

Well no one can post anything related to work, really, regardless of their history.  However, it's generally less of a problem to post about work in a comment in a related thread, although I imagine if people tried to game the system they would be pounced upon rapidly.

And I can actually understand their reasoning.  On Metafilter there is a certain ambient fear of "astroturf" efforts, big companies using paid-for shills to produce the illusion of there being a grassroots movement supporting and promoting them.  Some time back, you see, there was a suspiciously enthusiastic post lauding McGriddles breakfast sandwiches, and not long before that a post announcing the refreshing beverage Pepsi Blue.  (Pepsi Blue has since passed into Metafilter slang as referring to a blatantly commercial front-page post.)

On other sites too, there are growing suspicions, fueled by a few anonymous admissions, that there are entire companies devoted to hiring people to become members of forums, having them work towards becoming a trusted member of the community, all so that eventually they can hawk a client's goods without being suspected of being a plant.  They take great lengths to avoid detection, and the nature of the internet is that a sufficiently motivated and knowledgeable astroturfer can probably go undetected indefinitely.  This realization has made many people there understandably skittish when it comes to posts that look even slightly like an ad.

My suggestion is, if another thread comes up, in time, posted by someone else, it's probably okay to mention the contest in the comments, but only if you put in a disclaimer saying you work for Legend Entertainment.  Even then, though, considering the prior event, it might not be acceptable.  The only one could could tell for sure is matthowie, owner of the site.

Note, by the way, that Metafilter does provide some "official" banner advertising that is shown to guest visitors, which are likely the great majority of MeFi readers.  They are not free, of course, but I believe they are not expensive.  One would probably contact matthowie to see about placing one.  (They used to have TextAds, which were very inexpensive, but those seem to have vanished, alas.)