Idea for IRL Posts - Political Actions! March 14, 2025 6:46 AM Subscribe
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.)?
A lot of people have been saying that they wish there were some kind of action they could take against the current government overreach, or that they aren't aware of actions being planned. But there are actually quite a lot; the 50501 group is planning several, the Indivisible team is planning several, etc.
I actually just tried making an IRL post about a recurring weekly demonstration outside a Tesla showroom, and it is indeed possible to make a regular meetup-type post. But that didn't seem a perfect fit because a) this is a weekly recurring thing, and I could only make a post about one of them, b) this isn't a meet-up-and-hang type of situation, c) I'm only planning on attending a couple of the recurring meetups and I wanted people to know about ones on the days I can't go in case they can, and d) these are events that aren't necessarily being organized by Mefites, these are just events Mefites might want to know about.
Maybe we could add another category to the IRL posts so that someone could make a post about "Attention Mefites in Billings, MT, there's a rally outside Rep. Downing's office" or "there's a weekly rally outside the Tesla dealership in Tempe, AZ" or "there's a community-building group starting up in Winston-Salem that's looking for ideas" or "there's a biweekly strategy meeting in Willimantic's congregational church and you can join via zoom" or what have you? Might that be useful?
A lot of people have been saying that they wish there were some kind of action they could take against the current government overreach, or that they aren't aware of actions being planned. But there are actually quite a lot; the 50501 group is planning several, the Indivisible team is planning several, etc.
I actually just tried making an IRL post about a recurring weekly demonstration outside a Tesla showroom, and it is indeed possible to make a regular meetup-type post. But that didn't seem a perfect fit because a) this is a weekly recurring thing, and I could only make a post about one of them, b) this isn't a meet-up-and-hang type of situation, c) I'm only planning on attending a couple of the recurring meetups and I wanted people to know about ones on the days I can't go in case they can, and d) these are events that aren't necessarily being organized by Mefites, these are just events Mefites might want to know about.
Maybe we could add another category to the IRL posts so that someone could make a post about "Attention Mefites in Billings, MT, there's a rally outside Rep. Downing's office" or "there's a weekly rally outside the Tesla dealership in Tempe, AZ" or "there's a community-building group starting up in Winston-Salem that's looking for ideas" or "there's a biweekly strategy meeting in Willimantic's congregational church and you can join via zoom" or what have you? Might that be useful?
Won't that potentially put the non-profit status in jeopardy?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 11:45 AM on March 14
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 11:45 AM on March 14
Why would it jeopardize the nonprofit status?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:53 AM on March 14 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:53 AM on March 14 [1 favorite]
501c3's can't be involved in anything the IRS considers "political campaign activities." There are carveouts for nonpartisan activities. Whether something like what's proposed here crosses the line with how the regulation is commonly interpreted would be a good question for a lawyer. Failure to comply can result in taxation or revocation of the 501c3 status.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:06 PM on March 14 [2 favorites]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:06 PM on March 14 [2 favorites]
I’m part of a 501c3 nonprofit with an online space that includes a politics channel. We looked into this and it’s not an issue as long as the nonprofit itself is not putting out statements on a specific campaign. Providing a space for users to discuss political organizing is not a problem. By all means, double check with your own nonprofit lawyer though.
posted by brook horse at 3:28 PM on March 14 [16 favorites]
posted by brook horse at 3:28 PM on March 14 [16 favorites]
This is admittedly paranoid of me but I personally would be hesitant to have a record of attending or intending to attend things of this nature on here. Virtual events with no location, or invitations to servers/chats offsite to further organize, definitely. Maybe even just listings of protests and actions without any kind of attendance numbers, just searching by location. But I don’t expect mefi owners/mods/board to ensure the kind of robust anonymity and privacy and resistance to authority needed to make me feel safe enough to be like “yes, I, user mizu, the same person who has their location on their profile and talks about local stuff, has used the same username or similar for thirty years, and is queer and jewish and fucking hates capitalism, is going to be attending this event where the police will definitely be excited to tear gas us”. So anyway. This seems like a reasonable idea, but I hope sharing my perspective on it has some value.
posted by Mizu at 5:36 PM on March 14 [5 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 5:36 PM on March 14 [5 favorites]
Mod note: Just chiming in here as a mod: This, and almost all feature suggestions, however good, are very unlikely to be implemented in the current site.
We're rebuilding the site to use more modern technology and we're definitely winding down adding new features to the current one.
If folks do have a particular idea for a new feature, they are encourage to add to the MetaFilter Rebuild Feature Request Form with the understanding that putting the feature request there is not a guarntee that it will be implemented, but it's always good to put these suggestions on paper, so to speak.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:43 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]
We're rebuilding the site to use more modern technology and we're definitely winding down adding new features to the current one.
If folks do have a particular idea for a new feature, they are encourage to add to the MetaFilter Rebuild Feature Request Form with the understanding that putting the feature request there is not a guarntee that it will be implemented, but it's always good to put these suggestions on paper, so to speak.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:43 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]
This, and almost all feature suggestions, however good, are very unlikely to be implemented in the current site. We're rebuilding the site to use more modern technology and we're definitely winding down adding new features to the current one.
Ah, I didn't know this.
Okay, in that instance, if someone DID want to alert other MeFites of possible political actions they could take in the meantime, what's the best/preferred way to do so?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:45 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]
Ah, I didn't know this.
Okay, in that instance, if someone DID want to alert other MeFites of possible political actions they could take in the meantime, what's the best/preferred way to do so?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:45 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]
I think this might be a case of get your own blog, put it on projects, link to it in free threads and relevant political posts. If not a blog, a discord server or other social media community like a subreddit or even Facebook group. There are few enough people who would see an IRL post, I suspect you would get more engagement just sort of seeding a link to a central hub of information on another site curated by you.
posted by Mizu at 10:19 PM on March 14 [3 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 10:19 PM on March 14 [3 favorites]
I think Discord is much over-rated.
But I think this discussion might still have merit about a potential feature on the new MeFi site.
posted by NotLost at 10:40 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]
But I think this discussion might still have merit about a potential feature on the new MeFi site.
posted by NotLost at 10:40 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]
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posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:54 AM on March 14 [2 favorites]