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When I was idly browsing this site, I found something odd: someone, posting a link to TV Tropes, considered it necessary to explicitly warn people that this is a link to TV Tropes:

You need an Applied Phlebotinum (warning: TV tropes link) to explain why this superpower is real.

What can give a species superpowers without being magic, evolution or interference from ancient aliens?

This begs the question, are TV Tropes links unwelcome here so that one must warn others if their posting such a link, and if it is so, then why?

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    $\begingroup$ It's blocked in my office, I can't read them anyway :( $\endgroup$
    – Separatrix
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 7:18
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    $\begingroup$ @Separatrix I had no idea that TVTropes was such an ubiquitous time waster (assuming that's why it's blocked). Of course I've wasted countless hours on it but I always felt like it was a very culty/nichey site. Your coworkers seem like my kind of people! $\endgroup$
    – Cradle2theGabe
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 0:37
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    $\begingroup$ @Cradle2theGabe worldbuilding is a nichey site. And these web filters companies install have shared blacklists with everything not work-related. $\endgroup$
    – Mindwin Remember Monica
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 20:25
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    $\begingroup$ All The Tropes is an alternate site. $\endgroup$
    – celtschk
    Commented Oct 8, 2016 at 15:56
  • $\begingroup$ @celtschk What makes it preferable? $\endgroup$
    – Kyle Strand
    Commented Oct 9, 2016 at 23:52
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    $\begingroup$ See here. Also, note the second paragraph of this section. Also see the comparison on their main site. $\endgroup$
    – celtschk
    Commented Oct 10, 2016 at 7:37
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    $\begingroup$ TV tropes? pffft. Stack Exchange should come with a warning. $\endgroup$
    – Mazura
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 16:29

1 Answer 1

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$\begingroup$

TV Tropes is known Internet-wide as a place where it's quite easy to waste time. Like Wikipedia, each article contains quite a few links to other articles. The thing is, unlike Wikipedia, the other articles tend to have catchy, clickbait-y titles, and when you see them, you want to click on them. And so the cycle goes on, and on, and on, and on.

Thus, you get the following:


See also the bottom of this page (Warning! TV Tropes link).

A decent amount of people feel obligated to put warnings next to a TV Tropes link, for this reason.

But no, TV Tropes links aren't frowned upon on Stack Exchange, so long as they're relevant to the question or answer and contain information that's useful.

Just click at your own peril. . .

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    $\begingroup$ I want to know if there's a TV Tropes page for the TV Tropes warning. But I'm afraid to check. $\endgroup$
    – DaaaahWhoosh
    Commented Sep 29, 2016 at 19:20
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    $\begingroup$ @DaaaahWhoosh There's the link under the xkcd strip, but I wouldn't recommend clicking on it. $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Commented Sep 29, 2016 at 19:21
  • $\begingroup$ But note that no links can serve as the substitute for an answer $\endgroup$
    – user3106
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 11:14
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    $\begingroup$ tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/main/tvtropeswillruinyourlife Cheers $\endgroup$
    – Skye
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 11:53
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    $\begingroup$ Link to allthetropes.org instead. Problem solved ! $\endgroup$
    – JDługosz
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 16:42
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    $\begingroup$ @Skye Oh, for fuck's sake. gpa -= 0.1 $\endgroup$
    – JesseTG
    Commented Oct 7, 2016 at 3:36

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