Self Link

From Mefi Wiki

A self-link is a link to a Web page you own or have some involvement in. It is also considered self-linking to link to something that is hosted at your site (scans of magazine articles, flash movies) even if you did not create the content.

Posting a self-link on MetaFilter's front page is definitely frowned upon, as it is difficult if not impossible to be objective about the merit of your own work -- a self-link is objectively more likely to be a poor link. Self-linking also appropriates MetaFilter as your personal guestbook. Additionally, if the practice were to become acceptable, we'd soon see a rash of self-links from people who joined MetaFilter for no other reason than to promote their sites, many for profit. At that point MetaFilter ceases to be a community and becomes a market, and nobody wants that.

For all these reasons, most self-links posted on the front page are summarily deleted. Members who repeatedly self-link may lose their accounts. The injunction against self-linking is arguably the single most inviolable rule on MetaFilter. The posting page says "linking to your own site ... will result in a deletion and your account will be banned."

That's not to say that nobody ever gets away with a front-page self-link. In the history of MetaFilter, a few people have. If you want to try this, you should first firmly establish yourself as a trustworthy member so that nobody can impugn your motives. This will probably take several months of intelligent, respectful posting and commenting. And your link had better be well above average by the usual guidelines. You might also run it by a few other members to see what they think; if you're lucky, one of them will think it good enough to post it for you, thus alleviating the conundrum -- but don't be pushy. (If you don't know any other MeFi members well enough to ask them, you're probably not ready to attempt a self-post yet.) Naturally, you should also disclose that it's a self-post. And finally, even if you do succeed in getting away with a self-post, it's definitely not the sort of thing you could get away with every week or even every month.

• Here's an example of a self-link the poster got away with: Another Blackhawk Down. Note that this is a link to a unique first-person account of a military incident written by the poster's brother. It's interesting and most people would not have seen it before.

• Here's an example of one that resulted in deletion and banning: Tech Predictions 2005. This is a link to one of Robert X. Cringely's weaker columns which has been widely linked elsewhere, so it's not that interesting and most people would have seen it before. The poster's unrepentant attiude probably didn't help him keep his account either.

Most people who wish to self-link in a post should instead consider posting to the MetaFilter Projects part of the site. The MetaFilter Projects mailing list used to be an outlet for this see the archives, although it has been discontinued because of the aforementioned official outlet.

In contrast to a self-link in a front-page post, a self-link in a comment is usually OK, as long as it adds to the discussion and/or saves space because you've written a reply elsewhere. It's considered good practice to note the relationship yourself, because if you don't, someone else will probably call you out on it and then someone else will have to post "hey, that's allowed." Just put "(self-link)" after the link. Self-linking in AskMetaFilter and MetaTalk posts should also be okay, subject to the same guidelines, although it's hard to imagine a need for it.

Related to Pepsi Blue, which is an excellent illustration of the (feared) eventual result of allowing self-links on MetaFilter.