Submitting Post Ideas Or News To Techdirt

from the just-a-reminder dept

Mon, Dec 14th 2009 2:12pm — Mike Masnick

Over the years we've certainly grown a lot, and so, we have lots of new readers and we get a ton of stories submitted -- which is great -- but I wanted to run a quick post reminding people that the best way to submit a story is to use the story submission page. This makes it easy to track, manage and format story submissions. It is, by far, the best way to submit a story. Also, when submitting a story, please make sure to include a title (preferably a descriptive one). It also helps to give a brief description of the story and why you think it's interesting -- or, if you're ambitious, feel free to write a thorough analysis yourself. Submissions with no title, or just links often get ignored in the pile. If something is particularly urgent, alerting us via a message directed at our Twitter account can work as well, but there's a lot of noise there, and sometimes stories get lost, so use the submission page as well. We're thrilled that so many people want to help out and participate in the community here, so thanks to our fans for all those great story submissions. These days, we get probably three times as many good story submissions as we can write up, so we apologize if we don't cover everything sent in, but the quality of story submissions has grown quite a bit in the last few years, and it helps keep this site dynamic and interesting -- so thanks to everyone for pitching in.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: submissions

37 Comments

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aguywhoneedstenbucks (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 2:31pm

Can I just leave a message on your answering machine at home? All this analysis typing is going to give me carpal tunnel.
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- Dark Helmet (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 2:45pm
  
  Re:
  "Can I just leave a message on your answering machine at home? All this analysis typing is going to give me carpal tunnel."
  
  Two words: Carrier pigeon....
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  - aguywhoneedstenbucks (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 2:55pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Ooohhh...I wonder how long it would take to train them to go to Mike's office.
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  - BullJustin (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:01pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Carrier pigeon only works in South Africa.
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  - :Lobo Santo (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:01pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Even better: Carrier Parrot.
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    - BullJustin (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:21pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      The Carrier Pirate charges too much.
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      - ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 6:02pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Carrier Pirate charges nothing!
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        BullJustin (profile), 17 Dec 2009 @ 4:08pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        You've obviously never tried to book him for a transatlantic voyage.
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    - Silkweed, 14 Dec 2009 @ 10:51pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      How about a Perrier Carrot?
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Derek Bredensteiner (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 2:49pm

A thought
There may be some that find a lot of value in seeing your uncensored story submissions. Of course there's some value in keeping that information to yourself, and there's probably several serious problems with just throwing up a feed of it. It may encourage a heck of a lot of spam/abuse, and discourage those who enjoy the current anonymity of the submission process (perhaps the biggest reason not to do this).

But, I just thought I'd point out that at least one person is interested anyways, and I'm a bit curious if any others are.
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- Michael Ho (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:36pm
  
  Re: A thought
  yes, I think the possibility of a spam flood is enough to prevent us from trying this out in the near future... It's a nice idea, but spammers are the reason why "we can't have nice things".
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  - BullJustin (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:44pm
    
    Re: Re: A thought
    You could open this up to us insiders. You know we aren't going to spam and it's an additional RtB
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    - Michael Ho (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 4:09pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: A thought
      hmm. so insiders get their own unmoderated (or insider-moderated) submissions feed? that might work....
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      - BearGriz72 (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 9:29pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: A thought
        I like that idea it would also allow us to not duplicate submissions, we could just comment on the existing one with additional information if we have it. Or even just a note that we are interested. That might help stem the inbox flood a little.
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        Michael Ho (profile), 15 Dec 2009 @ 12:26am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A thought
        I think the "dupe prevention" algorithm has yet to be perfected, but there might be some way to make it less annoying....
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        Hephaestus (profile), 15 Dec 2009 @ 6:14am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A thought
        If you have the the following displayed for each submitted story ...
        
        Your Title
        Original Tile
        Source URL's (split into Tech dirt and external)
        first 200-500 characters of the story submitted
        
        Then insiders/submitters would be your dupe prevention. As they could see what was there already. It wouldnt be perfect but it would cut down on the dupes.
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        BullJustin (profile), 17 Dec 2009 @ 4:06pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: A thought
        Nice, we could crowd-source a post or two!
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johnjac (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 2:57pm

It is always exciting for me
It is always exciting for me when one of my submissions makes it on TechDirt. It is the 21st century of "Hey Mom, I'm on TV!"
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- Matthew Cruse (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:02pm
  
  Re: It is always exciting for me
  I just wanted to say, Me Too Me Too!!!
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  - ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:03pm
    
    Re: Re: It is always exciting for me
    Me Three!
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- Michael Ho (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 5:39pm
  
  Re: It is always exciting for me
  heh. glad to make your day.
  
  Thanks!
  
  mikeho
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- Rose M. Welch, 15 Dec 2009 @ 1:24am
  
  Re: It is always exciting for me
  Rofl, my teenage nephew thinks I'm 'famous' because of Techdirt and a few industry pubs that print my name alot. It's pretty damned funny. :)
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Brad Hubbard (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:14pm

New topics?
Should we post everything there to the "Techdirt" topic, or try to sandwich it into one of the other topics in the drop-down?
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- Michael Ho (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 3:48pm
  
  Re: New topics?
  Brad,
  
  If you see a topic that's appropriate -- choose it from the drop-down selection... if not... well.. we'll choose one of them for you. :P
  
  Any suggestions for new topics?
  
  Thanks!
  
  mikeho
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  - ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 4:26pm
    
    Re: Re: New topics?
    I've given up with the topics, since there doesn't seem to be the obvious ones (e.g. "DRM") I just use "Culture" since I figure that covers everything.
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  - Dark Helmet (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 4:36pm
    
    Re: Re: New topics?
    "Any suggestions for new topics?"
    
    1. Helmet's Heroes
    2. What Dark Does
    3. How to welcome your new Helmeted Overlord
    4. Monikers that rhyme with Nark Schmelmet
    5. Requests for Dark Helmet paid appearences
    
    That oughta get you started...
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    - Lobo Santo's Ugly Sofa, 14 Dec 2009 @ 4:43pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: New topics?
      Let's see:
      
      1) Stuff Mike will never publish
      2) Stuff Mike will make fun of
      3) Stuff that goes against Techdirt Mantra
      4) Stuff Mike is trying to ignore
      
      So far so good?
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      - ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 6:03pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: New topics?
        5) Industry Shillin'
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  - Rose M. Welch, 15 Dec 2009 @ 1:25am
    
    Re: Re: New topics?
    There are too many topics, none of which are obvious, so I skip them. :) Sorry.
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  - Hephaestus (profile), 15 Dec 2009 @ 7:55am
    
    Re: Re: New topics?
    Record Label Stock Tips
    DRM and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
    Unintended Consequences
    Press Release - Delete Me
    Live From Under a Bridge
    We Be Shillin
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    - Hephaestus (profile), 15 Dec 2009 @ 7:56am
      
      Re: Re: Re: New topics?
      Forget the "Record Label Stock Tips" one it will never be used ;)
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Dec 2009 @ 5:35pm

Kids, don't do what Mike says.
Yes, submissions should have very descriptive titles.

A few good examples of titles are:
"Chinese food again? So when will Techdirt be investigated for animal abuse?" and "Don't Jump! Why is Dennis Yang on the Bay Bridge eating a hoagie?" or "Shocking! When did Tiger Woods takes golf lessons from a real Scottsman named Mike Masnick?" and "Exclusive! PR Person finds way to navigate treacherous website. Successfully submits a story"

Okay, maybe not the last one. But, I could go on. The point is that this way, your stories have a much higher probability of being read.
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- Dark Helmet (profile), 14 Dec 2009 @ 5:46pm
  
  Re: Kids, don't do what Mike says.
  "Chinese food again? So when will Techdirt be investigated for animal abuse?" and "Don't Jump! Why is Dennis Yang on the Bay Bridge eating a hoagie?" or "Shocking! When did Tiger Woods takes golf lessons from a real Scottsman named Mike Masnick?" and "Exclusive! PR Person finds way to navigate treacherous website. Successfully submits a story"
  
  I actually really enjoyed those!
  
  I'd like to add: "Heh, and other ways to express wry humor..."
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- Rose M. Welch, 15 Dec 2009 @ 1:27am
  
  Re: Kids, don't do what Mike says.
  I'd say that the submissions have a good chance of being read in the first place. After that, the content has to matter and not be overdone and probably a few other hoops that I don't know about before they write it up. :)
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Rose M. Welch (profile), 15 Dec 2009 @ 1:28am

And now I'm sad because I just realized I wasn't signed in...
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- Killer_Tofu (profile), 15 Dec 2009 @ 6:33am
  
  Re:
  Use the claim other posts feature under My Account.
  Although I think that is based on if you typed in your email, not really based on just your name.
  I suppose it depends on what you had entered when you submitted the others.
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  - Rose M. Welch (profile), 15 Dec 2009 @ 6:54am
    
    Re: Re:
    You have to have typed in your e-mail address, which I have always been too lazy to do... :)
    
    Luckily for me, there are very few Rose M. Welch's on the Internet.
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