MetaTalk

Hello and welcome to this month’s site update! Last month’s update can be found here
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Feb 20 at 4:16 PM - 64 comments

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.
posted by Lemkin on Feb 20 at 3:14 PM - 39 comments

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:
posted by ursus_comiter on Feb 21 at 2:41 PM - 2 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.
posted by brookeb on Feb 4 at 9:30 AM - 14 comments

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.
posted by fight or flight on Feb 15 at 11:49 AM - 163 comments

In early December, there was a contentious AskMe thread that went badly and led to the loss of a site member. nouvelle-personne's departure has continued to be an argument for various things in MetaTalk and around community governance, and it would be helpful to me to have a succinct, consensus account of what went wrong.
posted by anotherpanacea on Feb 15 at 11:48 AM - 265 comments

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.
posted by Kybard on Feb 20 at 7:15 PM - 6 comments

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)
posted by Glinn on Feb 20 at 3:52 PM - 7 comments

The "social sharing" option on posts (the single little icon off to the right if you haven't turned them off in your preferences) was first added in 2011, with Twitter and Facebook. Twitter was removed in September 2023. I think, given everything, we should also remove the Facebook option. And in general I'd prefer to have zero than one, no matter what the "one" site is. I don't have a strong opinion about what sites, if any, should be there. But perhaps we could come up with a consensus on two or three new options. (I've had some small discussions with the admins about this and they suggested a MeTa post to discuss.)
posted by skynxnex on Feb 20 at 8:22 AM - 34 comments

Reading the Popular Comments is the best way to find the hidden gems of knowledge and deep dives from awesome people on this site.
posted by Dashy on Feb 16 at 9:07 AM - 19 comments

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!
posted by SunPower on Jan 6 at 7:36 AM - 26 comments

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.
posted by prefpara on Feb 5 at 11:42 AM - 26 comments

Have a critter, do you? (And, just between ourselves, a paragon of the species?) As a community-building exercise, let us showcase them here.
posted by Lemkin on Feb 8 at 9:23 PM - 54 comments

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.
posted by lapis on Feb 13 at 8:34 PM - 113 comments

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.
posted by dg on Feb 11 at 4:35 PM - 284 comments

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.
posted by brookeb on Feb 14 at 3:23 PM - 11 comments

A place to share that your gift from the swap arrived.
posted by 15L06 on Nov 16 at 8:59 PM - 193 comments

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.
posted by phunniemee on Feb 13 at 9:57 AM - 25 comments

I had a comment deleted by travelingthyme with a note "One deleted. Please practice care with comments and refrain from swearing etc." All I said was "What is this shit? Can we say what we fucking mean?" Was it a bit intemperate? I guess. But the second part of the mod note is ridiculous. "Refrain from swearing etc." Is there a rule against swearing now? Are the mods our parents? Do people on this website want a no swearing policy?
posted by rhymedirective on Feb 5 at 4:12 PM - 369 comments

This thread is meant for discussion and information for Mefites thinking of leaving the USA because of the political situation. Mexico is my leading contender. But the discussion is open for anywhere.
posted by NotLost on Feb 3 at 12:29 PM - 58 comments