MeFiGiftGuide2022

November 21, 2022 10:07 PM

Friends, our journey creating MeFiGiftGuide2022 has culminated in a fantastic FPP! Now the next stage of our strategy begins: sharing our content across other social networks to bring in more members and grow our community!

This is a bit of shameless self promotion of our community, showing off how fantastic Ask Metafilter is, and showing off how great the moderator/member, slow-conversation model that Metafilter follows is. 

This is the perfect time for Metafilter to get more attention. With the consolidation of social media into a few tech monopolies, people are more eager than ever for market alternatives. Big Social is not offering privacy, neutrality, moderation, or other high-demand services. Secondly, the “trust” factor of influencers is very bad. We turn to MeFi because users have a history of not being shills, spammers, or scammers. Finally, people are hungry for answers for how to live well, not just how to buy well. The answers in AskMe consistently go a layer deeper, really helping the question askers with dignity, grace, and love. The world needs more love.

How can you help?

• Share the FPP with anyone who you think might find it interesting. It helps to add a personal note, inviting them to join the community.
• Click into the gift guides, screenshot, and share the comments you find interesting on your social media stories/feeds. Link to the FPP.
• Our project team is planning who to send the press release to, but anyone who has professional, real relationships with folks with a platform could share our press release with them.

A side note to avoid derails: Originally I proposed to generate a gift guide filled with affiliate links. We ran into two issues - (1) affiliate links are really complicated, and (2) they don’t actually make that much money for Metafilter compared to having new members. That said, we did get the ball rolling on setting up affiliate accounts. (You can see this other MeTa for more info.)

posted by rebent to MetaFilter-Related at 10:07 PM (3 comments total)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MetaFilter’s Holiday Gift Guide 2022 Now Available
Online community offers personal-experience-based shopping tips in time for Black Friday

Today, November 22, 2022, the MetaFilter.com community announced that its first Holiday Gift Guide is available. This unique guide draws on the collective wisdom of smart, caring Internet strangers with a solid track record of providing useful advice.

Over the years, Ask MetaFilter has become almost famous for rescuing teenagers at risk of being trafficked; answering urgent Can I Eat This questions; sharing great travel tips; helping resolve pet dilemmas such as Do I dog? and Help me speak cat; solving a decades-old family mystery; offering insight on staying at a job, leaving one, and finding something new; as well as responding to many other questions – including how to stay warm in a cold house.

The Holiday Gift Guide 2022 is a compendium of gift-giving wisdom. It features holiday ideas for pet bunnies; hobbyist bakers; those who love botany, gardening, and reading; those who are neurodivergent, as well as many more. Why not create your holiday shopping list based on guidance from AskMetaFilter? Those who join MetaFilter can get personal advice by posting their own questions.

About MetaFilter
MetaFilter’s Holiday Gift Guide 2022 was a grass-roots idea from member rebent, who wanted to attract new members to the community. Since 1999, MetaFilter has focused on fulfilling the web's potential by bringing people together for conversation and more but has been slowly losing active users to algorithmic-driven content platforms.

While far from perfect, MetaFilter has built a strong community by kicking out trolls, professionally moderating conversations, and welcoming volunteers to make the place even better. The member-supported, text-only site invites anyone to join, comment, and post, within guidelines, for $5.

Founded by web developer Matthew Haughey, the community was steered by second owner Josh Millard, an artist and former moderator, beginning in 2015. Earlier this year, MetaFilter was acquired by longtime community member and former moderator Jessamyn West, a well-known librarian, technologist, author, and public speaker who lives in Vermont.

For more information:
Contact Maurreen Skowran (member volunteer) at [e-mail] or Jessamyn West (owner) at [e-mail] to learn more.
posted by Bella Donna at 2:46 AM on November 22, 2022 [4 favorites]

Yes yes yes, love this.

I'm including the post on the blue in the top slot of my newsletter this week. Here are 3 more ways to spread the message:

Add a short teaser (~3-words to one sentence) and link in your email footer

Ask your friends if they have any long-standing challenges, tech questions or other mysteries. Post a Q on their behalf. They'll likely keep checking in on the responses and may be inspired to join the way so many of us have before.

Make a post about a topic someone you know loves and share it with them. This is great for books and films on FanFare! (Like a MeFi version of making someone a music playlist?)
posted by iamkimiam at 11:03 AM on November 22, 2022 [5 favorites]

Thank you all so, so much for doing this. It was a LOT of work and deserves all of the shares.
posted by kimberussell at 6:51 AM on November 23, 2022 [1 favorite]