MetaTalk

your regularly scheduled update on the ongoing work to rebuild MetaFilter.com. see details and references inside.
posted by Kybard on Apr 25 at 2:17 PM - 2 comments

a belated #freethread was posted a few weeks ago on the blue. out of the blue, i realize it could be time for another free thread. so, in a chance of p(l)ace, i offer this: your free thread. theme/motif:
posted by HearHere on Apr 22 at 7:03 AM - 22 comments

I'm new to Zwift and was thinking about how to find people to follow. It occurred to me that there are MeFites on Zwift!
posted by hilaryjade on Apr 9 at 7:21 AM - 8 comments

I am wondering what the memberships' sentiments are on the use of AI services to answer questions in Ask MetaFilter. Is this something that people think is great or grating? Is this something that we should just accept going forward or ban for the foreseeable future? Maybe you have a nuanced take on the matter?
posted by Ignorantsavage on Apr 23 at 8:33 PM - 47 comments

Hello and welcome to this month’s site update! Thanks for your patience, we are and were waiting on some information, details are inside. Last month’s update can be found here.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Mar 28 at 7:58 AM - 110 comments

How can we create a safer and more respectful space for Jewish MeFites?
posted by Jacqueline on Mar 26 at 9:26 PM - 154 comments

This is a post to discuss the moderator actions in this recent FPP.
posted by fight or flight on Apr 16 at 9:13 AM - 295 comments

Could we make a Mefi app? I know some people dislike the reddit and bluesky ones but personally I spent more time on my phone than on my computer.
posted by low_horrible_immoral on Apr 21 at 9:22 AM - 36 comments

your regularly scheduled update on the ongoing work to rebuild MetaFilter.com. see details and references inside.
posted by Kybard on Apr 18 at 11:54 AM - 16 comments

A recent Ask about JD Salinger sticks out to me as very un MeFi somehow. The question itself together with the OP's follow-up responses felt kinda Facebook: "Bold claim: come at me!"
posted by Text TK on Apr 11 at 1:53 PM - 103 comments

Last week's April fool's post got me thinking...
posted by loup on Apr 8 at 11:28 AM - 14 comments

An obscure question about why a comment from 2016 with lots of favorites suddenly got a lot more favorites in 2018.
posted by Joan Rivers of Babylon on Apr 9 at 3:10 PM - 48 comments

introducing myself properly in the role, providing some context, setting some expectations.
posted by Kybard on Apr 11 at 10:59 AM - 44 comments

As everyone knows, the hallmark of any big-time website these days is the seamless integration of VC slop cutting-edge AI solutions into every facet of their operation. After witnessing the undeniable success of this approach across the web, we knew it was high time for MetaFilter to join the bandwagon or risk becoming even more charmingly anachronistic than we already are. So, after a quarter century of maintaining our community's distinctly human-powered approach, we're excited to announce that MetaFilter is finally embracing The Future: starting today, every page on MeFi will support Socky the Sockpuppet, your personal AI assistant ready to enhance your browsing experience with randomly generated commentary and deep-cut references that may or may not be relevant to whatever you're doing.

[Click here to activate Socky!] / or / [Click here to cast Socky into the digital abyss]
posted by Rhaomi on Apr 1 at 12:01 AM - 124 comments

I had an upsetting thing happen to me yesterday as a trans man, and was trying to find some solace in reading Metafilter, and instead ran into the train wreck of the metatalk on antisemitism. The whole experience got me thinking a lot about the quote "divided we fall, united we stand" in the face of the current fascist rise in this country (sorry to be so US focused), and made me wonder whether this might be an opportunity for understanding and reconciliation rather than leaving that thread be as is and letting it become an old wound that just festers.
posted by lab.beetle on Apr 4 at 7:06 AM - 30 comments

this is a meta to discuss the practice of mods deleting comments that don't break guidelines, but receive pushback after the fact, solely due to the original commenter coming back and saying "please delete my comment."
posted by sagc on Mar 11 at 4:18 PM - 112 comments

If a user is a member of staff, and is not a moderator, should they have mod powers? Are there situations where it would be appropriate for them to use mod powers? If not, should they have mod powers at all? If they must have mod powers, what policies are/should be in place to prevent misuse? If they do misuse mod powers, how should this community deal with it? (Going to describe the inciting incident here as gently as I can below the fold)
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice on Apr 1 at 11:01 AM - 51 comments

Update on the beta version of the new site. See notes inside.

QUICK UPDATE (April 5, 1:05pm ET): As of right now, the staging site still throws a password error when you try to sign up, so it's not possible to test logged-in behaviors. We're aware, but kirk is out of town and unavailable to fix. Feel free to check other parts of the staging site in the meantime.
posted by Kybard on Apr 4 at 9:17 AM - 23 comments

I was excited to upload my new profile picture after I found this lovely photo of some strawberries on Unsplash. Now my excitement has turned to ash in my mouth as the beauty of the photo is lost in the uploading, reduced to a blurry thumbnail. Surely the cost of hosting profile images at a better quality can't be that high?
posted by fruitdroid on Apr 3 at 10:04 AM - 19 comments

User Cranberry has passed away after a long life. She was driven, I think, more by intellectual curiosity than any other factor and when I encouraged her to sign up for Metafilter, she was able to overcome her dislike of "potty mouth" language to sign up and become a regular user and answerer of AskMe. She was very proud to be a "$5 noob," and she greatly enjoyed reading the posts of her favorite users, especially gnfti and taz. She has gone on to join other family members in the afterlife and her obit is here.
posted by Lynsey on Mar 27 at 10:00 AM - 79 comments