MetaTalk

The specific is not the universal, and when an article is posted about the specific experiences of a specific group, especially if it's about traumatic experiences, it is really alienating to have people come in and try to zoom out so they can shoehorn it into their favorite construct of the moment. It blots out the ability of members of the group in question to discuss their reactions if there's a constant need for "Actually it's more complicated than that." [more inside]
posted by PMdixon at 8:01 AM - 37 comments

As discussed in this Fanfare Talk post, there are some heavily narrative games that would benefit from Fanfare discussion. The rationale is that release threads on the Blue aren't really appropriate, because of the spoiler content, and (in terms of format) these games are similar to movies, shows, and books, in the way that discussion revolves much more around the plot and characters rather than game mechanics. I understand the reluctance to expand Fanfare any more than its current scope, but I think it's worth having the conversation about narrative games as an exception. [more inside]
posted by codacorolla at 11:25 AM - 19 comments

We've gone back and forth in the election threads for over a year now. And plenty MeTa ink has already been spilled alternately bemoaning and re-litigating names for his Trumpiness, how annoying nicknames are, why some people want them, etc. etc. It's been recently argued that his name is already pretty silly for the English. From Lord Dampnut to [], this topic seems done to death. Can we just settle this and put it in the damn wiki? Has it already been? Isn't this a better place than the unwieldy election threads?
posted by aspersioncast at 8:40 AM - 117 comments

Hello fellow MeFites! I'm wondering if we can discuss as a community the possibility of shifting the site norms and policies around what makes a good AskMe answer. Is this something others would be interested in and what would be a good norm/policy for you? [more inside]
posted by capricorn at 9:33 AM - 157 comments

Etiquette question. I was sure - but am now thinking I was mistaken - that one was required to exercise a degree of caution or decorum for how masturbation was mentioned and/or described in posts on the blue. Why, I don't know or can't remember. Ergo, I skipped daintily around the word in a recent post, but a subsequent blunt comment didn't elicit any adverse reactions. Searches across both MetaTalk and the blue don't turn up contentious vexations, so was I mistaken and it's okay to mention masturbation in any broad manner and context, or not? [more inside]
posted by Wordshore at 3:28 PM - 75 comments

There are a lot of links to tweets where the link text is the text of the tweet. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate not having to click a mystery link to find out what it says, and I understand that we want to cite our sources, but it's annoying to click something expecting to read about some topic and find that I've already read everything there is to read. Could we have some sort of post-link marker to indicate that clicking the link will take you to a tweet that says exactly what the link says? Maybe [tw] or [twpic] or something if the tweet has no other text but some multimedia content? [more inside]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:01 PM - 29 comments

So Joe from Australia posted this comment in the Nazi punching thread. The crux of it was a link called Solidarity is for Goyim, in which the author argues that Jews have not received the same sort of support from the left as other Jews, despite the very visible rise of antisemitism. [more inside]
posted by maxsparber at 8:34 AM - 511 comments

It seems like there have been more and more obit posts lately. I understand that some luminaries have passed, but is it really necessary to post an obit for every celebrity/musician? Do these posts live up to the "Best of the Web" standard we set for posts to the Blue? [more inside]
posted by reenum at 3:25 PM - 107 comments

Wanda: No. Not to me. To Archie. And make it good, or we're dead. It's been very politely brought to my attention that several of the links I've pointed to in the latest incarnation of the Great Trump Inaugural Thread had already been posted by others. I could blame the length of the thread & the loading time or whatnot but the truth is I haven't been as diligent in checking first as I should have been. I honestly feel quite bad about it & decided to make a post here as both penance for myself & reminder to others. I apologize to all & will make sure to check more thoroughly going forward.
posted by scalefree at 3:05 PM - 33 comments

I've spent the last eight years asking conservatives to refer to President Obama in respectful terms, because like him or not, he's the President of the United States of America. Now I get to ask liberals to refer to President-Elect Trump the same way. [more inside]
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 9:34 AM - 448 comments