Changing Article Titles Causes Multiple Posts. [Saturday Morning Vanity]

10-26-02 | Eggs

[EggsAckley]

I've been noticing that a number of posts have been re-titled by the freepers posting them. It's very irritating to find a decent article, search the title, and after finding no match, to post it, then later realize that it's already been posted. The search didn't yield a match because the poster changed the title. It's happened to me more than a few times, and it seems to be escalating. I glanced at the "posting guidelines" and found the following bulleted rule.

Do include the original title - When you post an article, be sure to include the original title where appropriate. This helps users find the article and lessens the chance of a double post.

I wish that more freepers would abide by this rule. The "retitled" posts wreak havoc and cause clutter on the "latest posts" page. Thank you..........

[EggsAckley]

Not trying to be a "nanny" here; it's just a problem I see escalating these days.

[EggsAckley]

*ping*

[Kerberos]

I have also been noticing, recently for some reason, that many stoires are being posted mulitiple times.

[EggsAckley]

Now you know the reason why. Annoying, isn't it?

[Kerberos]

Now you know the reason why. Annoying, isn't it?

Actually it is, I'm glad you said something about it.

[ZinGirl]

I'll do the requisite "hasn't this been posted before?" comment...

LOL....and good point.

[EggsAckley]

Hehehe.

[backhoe]

I'm communicating from my "backup browser"-- a 66 mhtz. 486 with a sticking keyboard & gritty trackball- so excuse the weird typos, they are hard to go back to & correct.

---

That aside, I agree... it's sometimes helpful and amusing to add a subtitle in brackets or parenthesis. Some have suggested a separate field for homebrew title, which might helpful.

I really don't object to an article being posted twice, for I find I sometimes miss the first one, but when you get over 3 postings, it becomes hard to follow all the separate replies.

[socal_parrot]

Yes...It's been posted here, here and here.

[error99]

ALREADY POSTED HERE

[EggsAckley]

it's sometimes helpful and amusing to add a subtitle in brackets or parenthesis

ADDING to a title is not so bad, because a search will yield the original part. It's when people scrap the original entirely and replace it with their own that causes problems.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

EXACTLY! And they need to STOP putting their own title on things!

[EggsAckley]

Ususally the "homegrown" titles are of a provocative nature, either slightly lurid, or sensationalist. Designed to attract attention to the post. It's a form of "spin" very similar to the methods of the major media. No room for it here on FR.

[fight_truth_decay]

The titles arent always changed by the FREEP poster ..the same stories come up in different media locations with different Headlines( may all stem from the AP, Reuters and then get editorialized..happens all the time..is always best to just read further past the Title to the Body. One will see when typing the Title into the search box a number of articles will come up on that date and earlier..mistakes happen just take the time to read further..I've tried to learn from that mistake myself. Stuff ;) happens!

[EggsAckley]

You're absolutely right. I'd forgotten to mention that. But there ARE some articles with "homegrown" titles.

[Clara Lou]

You are exctly right on this. As a reader, not a poster of articles, I find this annoying. Comments on the same article are spread among numerous threads instead of being concentrated on just one.

[fight_truth_decay]

Eggs thats your opinion..I happen to look first at latest articles and if the Headline is catchy..draws me in! As I said the Headlines arent changed here necessarily! READ FURTHER INTO THE BODY!Will Let the administrators decide what there is room for on FR and what there is not..they have done an excellent job so far!!!

[EggsAckley]

Yes, the moderators DO catch the double posts, but I get tired of booting up an article only to find that I'd already read it ten minutes ago. If YOU like "catchy" (i.e. sensationalist) titles, that's your right. I'm only stating MY opinion here, and so far, it seems that a lot of Freepers agree with me.

Sorry to be ruining your day. This was NOT posted to be any BIG DEAL, just a reminder to those who are not following the rules, (and I'm beginning to suspect that YOU must be one of them.) Have a nice day.

[Randjuke]

Ususally the "homegrown" titles are of a provocative nature, either slightly lurid, or sensationalist.

I agree with you 100% - if people want to comment then they have plenty of opportunity in the space directly beneath the article. There's no need to alter a headline, besides making searches more difficult the original headline is generally more accurate. On a related note I've never seen the point of using "cute" keywords like CLINTON IS AN IDIOT - though possibly accurate, I doubt they help searches much.