Someone else should do this

September 30, 2019 8:38 PM

How about a way to offer up a suggestion for a FPP that they themselves don't feel capable of doing, like, "Hey y'know what would be a great FPP? Something about how there's all these different 'colors' of noise; white noise, pink noise, brown noise, now there's green noise, and they're all different and special but I am not a noise scientist and in fact am pretty stupid when it comes to numbers and science so maybe someone else can make a post about it so I can enjoy it." Thank you.
posted by Pastor of Muppets to Feature Requests at 8:38 PM (29 comments total)

Maybe on the Wiki there could be a list of potential fpp's from which one could pull. When you take one, just cross it off the list. If you have a suggestion add it to the list with your username so whomever wants to use the idea can contact the person who posted it.
posted by AugustWest at 10:07 PM on September 30, 2019 [2 favorites]

I support this idea. I was reading about Soviet bone records the other day and thought it might make a good fpp but didn’t want to do it myself as it might ruin my reputation as a low-effort shitposter.
posted by um at 10:35 PM on September 30, 2019 [22 favorites]

I was just thinking that this article would make a good post by a member of color, who could add perspective I lack: To David Chang, the ‘ethnic’ food aisle is racist. Others say it’s convenient. (Tim Carman, WaPo)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:39 PM on September 30, 2019 [2 favorites]

Good idea
posted by sallybrown at 4:42 AM on October 1, 2019

Oooh... Like a suggestion box. I like this pony, can we keep it??
posted by chasles at 4:59 AM on October 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

Can....this thread be a suggestion box? A monthly suggestion box MetaTalk for FPPs?
posted by agregoli at 5:34 AM on October 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

someone do one on quantum entanglement and quantum memory so i can understand it
posted by brook horse at 5:45 AM on October 1, 2019 [9 favorites]

From the way-back: my little wiki draft/collaboration pony (2011; current MeFi Wiki link). It's pretty dusty and could use a re-fresh.

Also, I'll promote making an imperfect post and letting others add more links and context. If you're wary of making the post and want someone to review, a number of MeFites have said they'd be willing to give feedback, myself included. I'll be bold and say reach out to someone whose FPPs you like and ask if they wouldn't mind reviewing your post draft.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:05 AM on October 1, 2019 [11 favorites]

One is happy to assist any MeFite who is constructing an FPP concerning tea, cake, cheese, cricket, poo and/or fucking.
posted by Wordshore at 7:43 AM on October 1, 2019 [15 favorites]

But Wordshore, what if it's all of the above?
posted by fairlynearlyready at 8:06 AM on October 1, 2019 [10 favorites]

But Wordshore, what if it's all of the above?

Entirely feasible, my fellow MeFite. What goes in...
posted by Wordshore at 8:07 AM on October 1, 2019 [6 favorites]

In the past some people have mentioned the issue that there are topics that might deserve a post, but need to be framed or contextualized appropriately before there could be any expectation of a good discussion.

My normal posting style is pretty minimal- enough description to not be mystery meat, but not much more. I'm also probably pretty ignorant when it comes to racial issues. So while I've been tempted to post some of Farai Chideya's recent work (which I'm amazed hasn't been posted yet), I'm probably not the right person to do it. Someone could do those posts justice, though.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 8:14 AM on October 1, 2019

I, for one, welcome Soviet bone record posts.
posted by clavdivs at 3:59 PM on October 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

I mentioned a cool longread link in a previous chatty Meta with the suggestion that perhaps someone else might FPP it and filthy light thief turned it into a proper post which garnered a really good response. I did that because I didn't quite know what to do with it beyond a bare link (bare links are cool) and also because I'd seen others drop very occasional "maybe someone FPP for me plz?" mentions too.

A slightly more official/visible/accessible place to punt potential links for others to gussie up for the community could be good. Explicit is better than implicit and all that. On the other hand (looking for problems) it'd be weird if we accidentally developed a hierarchy: Mods > FPPeers > link finders > lurkers. The front page is where those maybe-links should go really, but I understand from experience one reason why sometimes they don't.

Bearing in mind the recent conversations about diversity in posters, subjects, perspectives, etc I do think that it's important not to inadvertently funnel wary front page posters away from doing it themselves.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 4:01 PM on October 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

Oh please, let's give it a break before another ethnic foods because that inspires people to shit over "gross" foods that are totally normal in other parts of the world.
posted by TwoStride at 4:12 PM on October 1, 2019 [8 favorites]

filthy light thief, I had no idea about the Drafts and Collaborations page!

We have something like this on the U.S. Politics FPP Draft wiki page, and there also is the Collaborative FPP Drafting wiki page that could have a suggestion box added to it, or at minimum a link and encouragement to add to the Drafts and Collaborations page.
posted by katra at 6:39 PM on October 1, 2019

A couple of months ago, D&D Beyond posted an article giving suggestions on how to gently unfuck playing mixed-race characters in D&D. There's another one that's about reimagining racial ability scores in a way that removes the connection between race and ability scores and instead attaches it to character class or background. It's definitely something I'd want to make sure has a little more context before I'd post on the main page - maybe including how other TTRPGs manage to incorporate race and being mixed race in a way that's not chock fuck of racist ideology (step one: finding those TTRPGs). I've also gone back and forth on whether or not I have to explain how the general 5E setup for mixed race characters is fucked up, whether or not to go into the history, ect.

It's something I've put off for months, so if other people have the time and interest, go for it.
posted by dinty_moore at 8:52 PM on October 1, 2019 [6 favorites]

dinty_moore I would also really like to read that post. My last character was a half-orc, which apparently can ONLY OCCUR directly from an Orc and a Human, usually non-consensually. I insisted my character was the miracle child of two half-orcs who had retired to be farmers and who loved her very much, and she had left her highly accepting village to go adventuring and start a Dwarven Rock Band. It's pretty fucked up to insist certain characters have to have traumatic back stories.

Also, it's weird but playing a 6 foot tall, hugely strong and head-strong woman for months actually changed me. If a wizard showed up now and let me wish to be very beautiful or very strong, I'd pick strong.
posted by stillnocturnal at 1:43 AM on October 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

Joe Frank is an obvious post here but for whatever reason I've never put it together, and best I can tell no one else has either. It would have to be large, comprehensive -- Frank had a huge career, spanning decades. Seems to me that Frank was ten years too early to be huge on the internet -- so many of his shows streamed free on KCRW in the mid to late 1990s, plus Joe didn't care and in fact seemed on-board with anyone sharing copies of his shows.
I came across a guy who shared literally hundreds of his shows on a Hotline server, and I grabbed a copy of everything he had. Lucky me.

Then when whatever happened at KCRW happened, that blowup with the manager at KCRW, and KCRW took down his streaming shows. It seems (to me) that Joe was talked into putting all of his shows behind a pay-wall at that time. His business of course, but I've thought since the day he slid behind that pay-wall that he was going against the grain of how people get huge on these here interwebs, by freely sharing their stuff.

A post containing links to many diverse shows of his would give a sense of who he was, what he created. And there are maybe enough links (links that are not bootlegs, links hosted by valid sites) so there are maybe enough links "out there" to put together a good post, and and and ...

Is this a post that should be put together?
posted by dancestoblue at 4:36 AM on October 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

I wonder if any of you remember "The Mountain Man" who lived in the wilds of Arizona, out deep in the desert. He was maybe fifteen years too early for the internet, I'm pretty sure he'd have been a sensation, against his will, in these days of social media etc. He would take a small pack, a couple of rifles and ammunition, some salt, and he'd head out into the wilds.

He got sideways with the locals by killing and eating some of their cattle, when he couldn't find wild game; he was arrested, spent some time in jail, maybe even in prison, I'm not sure the particulars on that. What I *am* sure of is that he said he was never going to be captured again. Back out into the wilds, still living as he wanted, the local sheriff sought out when Marty was living, a few of them shot him -- it was called a gun-fight but Marty took all of his bullets in the back. (Obituary: Martin J. Price)

Marty was sortof big interest news, there in Arizona and therabouts, he appealed to many, he was hated by many others. I am pretty well positive that today he'd be famous, whether he wanted or welcomed it at all -- what he wanted was to be a desert rat, and that is what he was. That family was under a dark star, a few years later Marty's sister, one of the best human beings on this planet, her and her husband had taken in some troubled young men, and one or both of those shit-birds shot her with a .357.

I wonder if any of the rest of you here recall "The Mountain Man" and the tales of his life. At one time a google search found him in an excerpt of a book, and it was written fairly, both the good and the bad about Marty, and there was plenty of both. All I can find today is his obituary, linked above.

Anyways, I've thought that might make a good post, if anyone else remembers the story, or even if they don't maybe, but it is an FPP that I cannot put up, because Marty was my cousin.

Anyone interested, maybe we could find more background, make it a worthwhile post.
posted by dancestoblue at 6:05 AM on October 2, 2019 [8 favorites]

let's give it a break before another ethnic foods because that inspires people to shit over "gross" foods that are totally normal in other parts of the world.

Fair enough. I mean, the Washington Post just published this thing.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:18 AM on October 2, 2019 [3 favorites]

Skepticism comment: I note somewhat bimicarial posting style, essentially paste a link or passion post. Don't need help for the former, a suggestion box will not trigger passion in most folks that peruse the list.

(good that the web is slow sometimes, was able to close the prev link before I saw anything ;-)
posted by sammyo at 8:18 AM on October 2, 2019

Joe Frank is an obvious post here but for whatever reason I've never put it together, and best I can tell no one else has either.

There was one, but it was poorly framed and did not go well.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:11 AM on October 3, 2019

Maybe on the Wiki

maybe I'm an outlier but I doubt I've ever been to the wiki except when it's been specifically linked to (usually from a Meta discussion). And I've been around for over a decade.

Maybe the wiki is the place to do something like this, but I would highly recommend some kind of link from the main site, and not buried in a FAQ somewhere, or whatever. A simple link off the sidebar perhaps that says something like:

Got a good idea for a front page post but not sure you're the one to post it?
(or)
Got an idea for a post that you'd like help drafting?
(or)
.... ?
posted by philip-random at 8:53 AM on October 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I saw Diahann Carroll's passing today, and am incredibly saddened but just don't feel like I have either the spoons or the chops to create a fitting tribute post
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:28 PM on October 4, 2019 [1 favorite]

This idea reminds me of a microblog.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:34 AM on October 8, 2019

I'd like if someone did something about the whopping promised blackout for 5 days all over a lot of California tomorrow, but I do not have the time/bandwidth to do it myself.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:17 PM on October 8, 2019 [2 favorites]

And someone has posted about the blackout this morning: With Great Power Comes Large Shutoffs
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:41 AM on October 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

+1 to having a regular "Thinking About a Post Thread" on MeTa. Minimizing formality (i.e. just having an open thread for running stuff by people) would hopefully also minimize any procedure-creep.
posted by Not A Thing at 8:05 PM on October 15, 2019 [6 favorites]