Posts with Recent Comments
Do replies need a character limit?
Just because your reply has a lot of characters, that doesn't mean you have character, am I right. Okay.
New Site Ready for Beta Testing
The beta version of the new site is ready for testing. See lots of notes inside.
Sexism: not just for "young girls" anymore
Are the only problems with this comment the ones described in this mod note? Would it be better if it said "women"? The community deserves clarity in rules, not to wonder if mods are worried users are thinking of "immoral actions" (what?). Why wasn't this just deleted for being objectifying, rather than left standing with a mod note that doesn't seem to align with the existing guidelines?
Moderator Code of Conduct - an idea whose time has come
In the recent post about removing the MeTa queue, Violet Blue made a comment that they had submitted a post about creating a Moderator Code of Conduct that had been refused at the time with a suggestion to try again later. We're officially a non-profit, responsibilities for site management are transitioning to the board and the Moderation Oversight Committee is working to form. I think "later" is now.
đź’Ś Be Part of Our 8th Annual Mefi Valentine Card Exchange! đź’Ś
Come join our annual Valentine Card Exchange. Let’s spread a little love, share some smiles, and brighten each other’s day in a fun, friendly way!
the case for banning chatgp
As per Brandon's suggestion, consider this a discussion space for whether or not ChatGP/LLM/generative AI posts, comments and (perhaps most importantly) AskMe answers should continue to be allowed.
Turn off the MeTa queue before it becomes a teenager
Ten years, eight months and 12 days ago, the MetaTalk queue was turned on. The reason for doing so was a reduction in the availability of moderators at any given time and the high workload MeTa threads created relative to other parts of the site.
However, it has continued to be a contentious issue for members from time to time, much more so recently, where the queue is seen to have become much more of a filter than a queue, with perceptions that some people are now actually being Silenced All Their Life.
Matthew Green, Servo5678, owner of pressthebuttons.com, has passed away
Obituary. He was member Servo5678 here, and also on everything2, which is where I first met him. I mean online, I never met him in person. For more, see inside.
Why are "wrong" answers getting deleted now?
I get annoyed when people answer questions in AskMe that don't meet the asker's stated criteria, but they were not previously deleted this aggressively. That seems like a large change that goes against what many people in MeTa have been asking for, and has been instituted without any discussion.
The World is Not Going To End Soon.
Inspired by the answers to Is the World Ending, it seemed like a good idea to share these answers with as many people as possible! It's a lot harder to have a Calmer Vibes Chill Thread today. That seems so quaint. Yikes. This is a place to post all of the reasons you know about that mean The World is Not Going To End Soon. ❤️ (examples within)
Keeping Disrespectful Robots Out of Metafilter.
In the recent thread regarding use of LLMs on AskMe, et al, Lanark reported on the current state of Metafilter's robots.txt file and its limitations:
There are 6 and a half TFG posts on the front page right now
Including one especially depressing one with the heartbreaking comment, "Where is the USPolitics tag? I didn't need to see this."
The current balance between "MetaFilter is not a news site" and "We need to vent because we're shitting our pants in terror" does not seem sustainable.
I propose enforcing a no-doubles rule on TFG matters. If he signs an executive order tomorrow outlawing public laughter, let anyone putting up a post about it be told to put it here.
Anonymous Comments?
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but the recent Federal Government Workers Thread made me think it might be works revisiting. I would think that anyone actually working in government, who might have a very good perspective to contribute, would be rightfully wary of posting something in a thread where they might be identified. Sure, people have user names that maybe hide their identity, but not always.
For the sake of informed dialog it could be good for people to have a way to contribute to a thread anonymously. I realize this is likely a complicated thing to solve for.
Interviewees wanted!
The Moderation Oversight Committee is hoping to get properly up and running soon, and a big part of that is going to be a submission process so we can receive and discuss users' issues with moderation practices in an orderly fashion.
As of now, we have a draft version of a Google Form that we're pretty happy with as the mechanism for receiving requests, but we'd like your help refining and finalizing that form before we give it the big public roll-out.
How are Popular Comments chosen?
Reading the Popular Comments is the best way to find the hidden gems of knowledge and deep dives from awesome people on this site.
Less is more?
I am finding the sheer number of US politics threads (many touching on overlapping issues) overwhelming. I do find the threads and discussions useful and interesting, but also distressing. So having lots of them to track feels worse to me than if US politics topics were consolidated in one place. I wonder whether others feel similarly. I seem to recall that for some time we had more of a one-at-a-time system. I would support returning to a similar model if there is sufficient consensus.
MetaCritter
Have a critter, do you? (And, just between ourselves, a paragon of the species?) As a community-building exercise, let us showcase them here.
Deletion Trend Report?
With all the talk about deletions - justified, unjustified, excessive, etc. - it might be useful to see some kind of data or reporting on deletions.
Are the amount of deletions up over the past few years (certainly seem so)?
What kinds of comments are being deleted and what are the reasons for deletion?
It might be useful to get some broader sense from the community about whether or not the increased deletions are improving people's experiences as an asker, reader, commenter.