[MeFi Site Update] March 30th

March 30, 2022 11:20 AM

Hi there, Metafilter! Please find more details on the state of the site below. Reminder: I will be the only mod actively monitoring this thread so please be patient as I reply to your feedback and questions.

- Changes to the site Leadership and Structure
As you can see in this thread, this involves a lot of changes. Over the past few weeks we have been working through a list of what critical things need to happen and how we will prioritize them. As these changes happen, other changes will take place, slowly but steadily. I’ll make sure to report on all of them in the site updates from now on. Please be patient as we work out the details. While I don’t have all the answers about what or how changes will happen, feel free to ask or provide feedback about next steps.

- Signup flow, Marketing efforts, Flagging (UX) Changes.
These three are still a Work in Progress but given the changes mentioned above they have not been prioritized in the past couple of weeks. I plan to resume work here soon.

- BIPOC Advisory Board
The meeting minute for the March 19th meeting should be ready to be shared soon, I will let you know once it is. Overall, I think the change in the structure is allowing us to gain momentum and move faster, get better feedback and define concrete goals. Our plan is to keep meeting once a month for the time being.

If you have any questions or feedback not related to this particular update, please Contact Us instead. If you want to discuss a particular subject not covered here with the community, you’re welcome to open a separate MetaTalk thread for it.

posted by loup (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 11:20 AM (22 comments total)

Thank you, loup!
posted by mochapickle at 1:02 PM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]

What mochapickle said!
posted by Bella Donna at 1:10 PM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]

Thanks Loup.
From the other thread:
MetaFilter's budget is tight as is and revenue is going to be an ongoing challenge for the business
I think this needs without a doubt to be the Priority.
posted by adamvasco at 2:09 PM on March 30, 2022 [8 favorites]

My immediate reaction is that we need to get real about self-funding long term. Running the site by steering committee is not aligned with revenue maximization; though it may quell the tensions we've been dealing with in these threads for some time now. (It could also....not.)

People want to obsess over the corporate form; maybe we should worry more about the codebase in terms of long term overhead and supportability? I know ColdFusion isn't dead, but still.

(And I say that as someone who still uses Classic.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:54 PM on March 30, 2022 [5 favorites]

Mod note: Re: income/expenses/budget
Yes! As the changes are taking place one of the things I will be focusing on will be to look better at these and and there will have to be a mix of both creative and logistic adjustments to make sure that we stay within budget while we are able to come up with better strategies.

You will be hearing more about this in the upcoming weeks.
posted by loup (staff) at 1:31 PM on March 31, 2022 [7 favorites]

My immediate reaction is that we need to get real about self-funding long term. Running the site by steering committee is not aligned with revenue maximization; though it may quell the tensions we've been dealing with in these threads for some time now. (It could also....not.)

i just ran the numbers and (taps clipboard) there is a zero percent chance that running this place by committee will quell tensions.
posted by Sebmojo at 7:25 PM on March 31, 2022 [10 favorites]

Mod note: The idea of having a Steering Committee it not intended to quell tensions, but it is much necessary to find a path forward and it is one of the first steps towards a healthier and more member-driven organization.
posted by loup (staff) at 9:10 AM on April 1, 2022 [22 favorites]

Are comments getting deleted from the previous update thread even though it's closed?
posted by lapis at 9:32 PM on April 2, 2022

Mod note: Are comments getting deleted from the previous update thread even though it's closed?

No, the only comments that have been removed have been upon member's requests.
posted by loup (staff) at 1:10 PM on April 4, 2022

To be honest I felt that closing the previous update thread was a poor call. I really respect the opinions of each of the two users who requested that the thread be closed, but... it was two people. Admins swooping in to shut down an uncomfortable conversation the second that the idea is raised just does not contribute to an environment of robust and constructive discussion here.
posted by dusty potato at 2:53 PM on April 4, 2022

I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were a bunch of other people suggesting that thread be closed via the contact form.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:21 PM on April 4, 2022 [7 favorites]

That thread was not being modded, which had been made clear at the beginning. I was okay with the threat being closed. I criticized the tactics of a small group of people, and was attacked for it. There was nowhere else for it to go.

Going forward, however, for threads that are modded, I think the one thing that's been left out of the discussion about Metafilter's future is a big picture theory of what we're trying to achieve here. If the goal is to foster conversation and debate, I think there needs to be a foundation of respect and civility, which is reflected in policies that promote the benefit of the doubt to all mods and all Mefites. The issue I was taking up in the last thread, and will only comment on here briefly is I think part promoting the benefit of the doubt — and good debate — is not allowing conversation to get derailed with ad hominem attacks. Just because I disagree with someone who happens to self-define as marginalized does not mean I am attacking marginalized people. It means I disagree with a comment or position. The two are not the same thing.
posted by Violet Blue at 4:30 PM on April 5, 2022 [11 favorites]

Um. As I said in that thread when I seconded the request to close it, it was going in circles and people were tearing at each other, clearly nothing productive was going to happen and it was just hurting and frustrating everyone. Particularly BIPOC and queer folk.

I've certainly been critical (in that thread and in previous threads) about some of Josh's decisions -- but he did the right thing there by closing it up and giving everyone a chance to breathe, even while knowing that he might be criticized for "closing down conversation and debate".
posted by tivalasvegas at 8:12 PM on April 5, 2022 [11 favorites]

It is obviously true that one can disagree with a member of a group without having an issue with the group in question. However, if one finds oneself disagreeing with members of a group about things that pertain specifically to that group, and/or if one is disagreeing fairly frequently with people from the same group, it is often telling.

Abstract intellectual matters should usually be discussed with decorum. When the matter being discussed is integral to the sexual or racial identity of people in the conversation, the maintenance of decorum can allow the propagation of harm.
posted by bootlegpop at 2:42 AM on April 6, 2022 [9 favorites]

Mod note: A few comments deleted. Let's keep the conversation focused on the site update itself please.
posted by loup (staff) at 11:17 AM on April 6, 2022 [2 favorites]

So far as it's been decided, it would be cool to hear more about how the steering committee is going to function (without getting into who's going to be on it). It's a big change, but it's hard to discuss without any specifics at all beyond what Cortex alluded to in his update thread.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:36 AM on April 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'd like to hold space for any future steering committee to change how it's going to function as time goes on and they gain experience, rather than ask a group that doesn't yet even exist to state how they will function. My experience is that no plan to run something survives actually running it fully intact.

I do think some stated goals or a statement of the mission of metafilter might be beneficial to guide that development, however, and I think any steering committee, once constituted, should begin not by discussing how they will accomplish things, but what they seek to achieve.
posted by Chrysopoeia at 7:42 PM on April 6, 2022 [8 favorites]

Fair enough, but there's so little on the bone that the nomination process can only amount to popularity contest for want of any substantive information about what these people will be doing. Maybe it's a little too early to be asking for candidates if the group "doesn't exist yet," but that ship has sailed.
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:55 PM on April 7, 2022

Mod note: I'll provide an update regarding the steering committee in next week's update.
posted by loup (staff) at 9:41 AM on April 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

but there's so little on the bone that the nomination process can only amount to popularity contest for want of any substantive information about what these people will be doing

I will be nominated. For if I want the birds to drop dead from the trees, then the birds will drop dead from the trees. I am the Wrath of God. The earth I pass will see me and tremble. Whoever follows me, will gain untold likes. When I rule men will not be able to look me into the eye and must cast their gaze downward. I am the Third Revelation! I am who the Lord has chosen!
posted by geoff. at 10:28 AM on April 8, 2022 [8 favorites]

I am the Wrath of God

The Aguirre Candidate.
posted by clavdivs at 2:34 PM on April 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

Never go full Kinski.
posted by Meatbomb at 4:04 PM on April 8, 2022 [2 favorites]