MetaTalk

Could we do away with the "National Treasure" honorific when quoting/linking to media pundits/journalists/personalities? [more inside]
posted by stagewhisper at 2:15 PM - 100 comments

Hey folks, big discussion time. We're going to be making some changes on how U.S. political discussion plays out on MetaFilter, to try and make sure it remains available as a useful resource in a way that isn't as unsustainable as the current approach has been. I’ll lay out some concrete steps we’re taking, and some general thoughts, below. This is detailed but important and I appreciate you taking the time to read through it. [more inside]
posted by cortex at 7:45 AM - 464 comments

In potus45 threads, moderators seem to be ratcheting up their opposition to discussing topics that have been previously discussed, even if those topics are evolving, and even when participants in those discussions find the continued discussion valuable. Previous MeTas seemed to lean in the direction of spinoff threads for certain aspects of US politics, and folks are asking for a spinoff thread now for the Al Franken situation, but the mods seem to be against that, based on the idea that we're rehashing/retreading previous discussions. This same logic has been applied to other sub-topics in the past, e.g. anything that touches on the 2016 primaries, and it makes a certain amount of sense. Still, I find it unsatisfying when these discussions are closed off when (a) the underlying story is evolving, (b) other community members are making compelling points, and (c) the discussion isn't terribly shouty/fighty -- criteria I think all apply to the discussion so far re: Franken. What say you, MeFites? [more inside]
posted by tonycpsu at 10:17 AM - 259 comments

In the poster's defense, kinder eggs are delicious and almost as addictive as heroin. But still, maybe memail or email would be a better choice for composing a list of businesses who sell illegal goods? Especially since helpful answerers are including some phone numbers and addresses on a publicly-accessible and search engine-indexed thread?
posted by zarq at 7:26 AM - 32 comments

Despite my high usernumber, I've been reading metafilter for a very long time, and like all of you I've seen the site -- and the site culture -- change a lot, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. One of the reasons I've stuck with the site for so long, and eventually signed up, is the sensible politics that somehow have always come to the forefront of discussions (thanks moderators!). In particular, discussions on Metafilter have traditionally provided a fantastic contrast to the less-hinged portions of the web where hyperbole and childish insults dominated. [more inside]
posted by dbx at 9:55 AM - 161 comments

This recent FPP includes acronyms not explained in the post; and, generally, even for someone (me) who is generically science-literate at an undergrad (+, depending on the area of science) university level, it's pretty unclear what the post is about. I've had complaints about some of my comments being too technical for the general metafilter audience, so I imagine if I found myself having little idea what the post topic was about after reading, it's probably unclear to many other folks too. I'm a little sad about this both from a quality of Metafilter FPPs viewpoint and from a quality of public science communication viewpoint, as someone who cares about both of those things. In short: the links therein might be the best of the web, but the FPP isn't. Can we try to do better please? Would a reminder on the new post page that posters should keep the entire Metafilter audience in mind when crafting posts perhaps help?
posted by eviemath at 4:23 AM - 87 comments

I recognize that as of three minutes ago this is irrelevant for the example post, but it's the sort of thing that could become relevant again. It was posted earlier today that Tom Petty was dead based on an erroneous news report from CBS. He in fact was not then, but is now. I understand it's not the policy to change an FPP once it's made. However, in this era of fake news and itchy-trigger-finger reporting, should there be some sort of Amendment to the Metafilter Constitution for these situations? [more inside]
posted by rednikki at 1:02 AM - 50 comments

The asker of this post used "child" and "spouse" in their question, but some answerers changed those to "daughter" and "dad" or used she/he pronouns. Why? [more inside]
posted by sockpuppetryarts at 3:16 PM - 269 comments

When we have an obit for someone who is ... controversial, as Jerry Pournelle, what should be the mefi etiquette for either leaving the obit at all or possibly crapping it up with the bad memories and misdeeds? Feelings with regard to some people can run strong, and the reasons aren't always obvious to everyone.
posted by Bringer Tom at 8:07 PM - 210 comments

Can we not link to university (or corporate) press releases for scientific discoveries. If we must do so, can we especially avoid single links? [more inside]
posted by lalochezia at 11:03 AM - 26 comments