March 14
Idea for IRL Posts - Political Actions!
Just had a thought - how about adding a new type of activity to the IRL tab, alerting people to different local political activism opportunities (rallies, demonstrations, postcard-writing campaigns, etc.)? [more inside]
March 12
Is it time to revisit favorites?
I want to suggest that we consider decoupling bookmarks from favorites. I very frequently want to favorite a comment to show my support or agreement, but I have stopped using favorites because I do not want to bookmark hundreds of comments that I appreciated but do not need to revisit. [more inside]
March 11
mods deleting posts at user request
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." [more inside]
March 10
New Site Update 10 March
Update on the beta version of the new site. See notes inside. [more inside]
March 7
Don’t be a hoser*, eh?
Although many tariffs are again delayed, the political landscape has been shifted by Donald Trump and Canadians and Americans uneasily find themselves on opposite sides of a border that is, economically at the least and potentially existentially under threat. If this week’s tariff thread is any indication, this fracture can lead to differences in opinion and sentiment – new and old – flaring up on the site. This post is from a Canadian perspective – one, because there are many of course. Hoping it may help to express a minority (8% of all traffic) perspective and also have some discourse. This is NOT a policy or mod ask. All opinions my own. [more inside]
March 5
Could Fanfare posts be decoupled from their posters?
Currently, if somebody deletes their account, their Fanfare posts are also deleted. We have no idea how many books, movies, etc. had fanfare posts that have now disappeared. What if, in the new site, when you wanted to make a Fanfare post, the post itself was associated with a dedicated user (maybe "The Opener"), populated with some standard description from some API when possible, and your own thoughts went in your own comment?
March 4
What rhymes with “Election”? Calling all Mefite poets!
In these turbulent times, we literate few (who voluntarily inhabit a non-threaded text-only 20-year-old website that doesn’t use algorithms) cry out for the solid comforts of Fine Poetry to unify us and soothe our collective fevered brow. In short, fellow Mefites, we need a Poet Laureate (Pro Tempore*).
+++This is the Poet Laureate (Pro Tempore) Election Thread+++ [more inside]
March 3
New Site Ready for Beta Testing
The beta version of the new site is ready for testing. See lots of notes inside. [more inside]
March 1
Board elections timeline
When will elections for permanent board members for the MetaFilter Community Foundation take place? [more inside]
February 28
Moderation Log
The new site should have a moderation log from day one. [more inside]
February 25
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. [more inside]
February 23
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. [more inside]
February 22
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?
February 21
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: [more inside]
February 20
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. [more inside]
[MeFi Site Update] February 2025
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) [more inside]
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.
Time to remove Facebook social sharing?
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.)
February 16
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. [more inside]