MetaTalk

During the Winter Solstice holiday season, there's a shopping mall. There are MeFites and MeFi-affiliateds who make masks. Perhaps we could support them? There are mask questions on Ask.Me, so there's a market.
posted by theora55 to MetaTalk on Jul 4 at 8:15 AM
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Has there been any consideration given to inviting Mefites to join in on the monthly podcasts? It would be fun to hear from many of our community members about anything ranging from their FPPs to their own experiences on Metafilter. I wanted to put this out to the community so that others here have an opportunity to give their input.
posted by nightrecordings to MetaTalk on Jul 4 at 9:14 AM
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A few years ago I came across a comment in this site which talked about how to teach people how to solve their computer issues compassionately.
posted by eleanna to MetaTalk on Jul 6 at 9:43 PM
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A new feature has been rolled out site wide to block the ability to make posts or comments with a specific egregious racial slur and variants. Mods currently delete comments with other slurs as fast as they can after the comment is flagged but the community has decided we'd rather not have those words appear even for a short time (previously). Currently if your text includes a prohibited word your ability to post/comment is disabled. This thread is for discussing which other words fall into the category of racial slurs which should similarly be prevented from appearing in the site under any circumstances.
posted by Mitheral to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 9:44 AM
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Life can be difficult, time are tough; it is very easy to feel overwhelmed. That being said, I'm curious about what you are reading, watching, listening, and playing to get through these turbulent times. I'm also interested in knowing if your consumption of media has changed over the last couple of months. Are you seeking out things that are light and easy to consume? Or maybe you seek comfort in something heavier and darker. Or maybe you've withdrawn from screens altogether and are finding pleasure in a more analog and tactile space. Share with the community if you feel up to it. As always, be kind to yourself and to others. Cheers.
posted by Fizz to MetaTalk on Jul 3 at 4:19 PM
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Hi all, I want to thank you for your patience. After some conversation with staff, I’m going to take the lead on initiating some things that I am hopeful will change the way we handle things on the site.

*I am encouraging this thread to remain a space for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color only.*

I’d like to hear from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color about their feelings on creating a community advisory board consisting of 5-10 rotating voluntary members. Our first meeting could consist of drafting community agreements to follow for meetings, creating an agenda with topics to cover, and ending the meeting with a summary of agreed-upon action items. I’m 100% open to suggestions and specificities around the structure of these meetings.

I’m imagining the advisory board as an intentional space and tool for addressing the ongoing concerns of the site. It'll be a space for solutions and changes to be implemented with a transparent and community-focused structure. You all deserve the space to have conversations with each other and with mod staff that produces tangible and sustainable results.

posted by travelingthyme to MetaTalk on Jun 25 at 10:33 AM
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I have noticed that certain egregious racial slurs are being deleted by mods with a note. I am requesting a feature to simply prevent users from posting these slurs in the first place.
posted by xtine to MetaTalk on Jun 26 at 1:40 PM
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Perhaps my favorite thing about Ask Metafilter is when someone asks a question that could best be answered by a very particular, obscure kind of expert, and then that exact expert shows up and answers, expertly. Can you post great examples of that here? The more perfectly precise the match between the needed expert and the one who shows up, and the more improbable it is that the right expert would have come along and answered, the better.
posted by daisyace to MetaTalk on Jun 11 at 3:53 PM
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Hey Singaporean Mefites, is anybody working on an FPP for the elections? If not, maybe I'll try to whip something up, but I've been kind of busy lately so it would be something simple. It would be great to have a nice lengthy post full of useful links and background information though! (mods I kind of recall it is okay to ask questions like this on MeTa, but if it isn't do let me know what's a better way!)
posted by destrius to MetaTalk on Jun 30 at 9:26 AM
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Since Cortex has requested we not bring these concerns into other existing Metas, I thought it would be a good time to introduce a dedicated Meta on the State of the Site vis a vis racism and general improvements in the POC-member experience.
posted by arabidopsis to MetaTalk on Jun 12 at 12:23 PM
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So, the world is kind of crazy and bad right now. I'd like to move the needle on that by mailing Surprise Art (MeFi TM) to other MeFites. Would you like to receive surprise art? Do you have a friend who you think would be happy to receive surprise art? Do you want to make surprise art and mail it to another MeFite (or their friend)? Please respond or fill out this google form.
posted by arnicae to MetaTalk on Jun 30 at 8:59 PM
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I'm playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game was just released and it's available on the Nintendo Switch. It seems like everyone is playing these days. Let's talk about our islands/towns. What fruit did you end up getting? There are five possibilities (not counting coconuts): apples, cherries, peaches, pears, and oranges. If you're up for it, let's share our Nintendo Switch Friend codes so we can visit each other's islands/towns. This is a super chill game and it makes me happy. If you have the opportunity, consider picking it up. As always, be kind to yourself and to others. Happy crafting, farming, shopping, & exploring friendos.
posted by Fizz to MetaTalk on Mar 21 at 8:23 AM
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There's a lot of awfulness going around. Let it all out here.
posted by daybeforetheday to MetaTalk on Jul 6 at 8:28 PM
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The love of my eternal life has a birthday today. Please send her a groovy greeting. She is the absolute grooviest!
posted by vrakatar to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 10:27 PM
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The first version of the digital-only music swap 2020 is up for comments / testing.
posted by signal to MetaTalk on Jun 28 at 4:00 PM
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Have you noticed an increase in posts about race by people of color lately? It’s not just your imagination. Come and learn about our #poctakeover initiative, and our major takeaways in trying to provide a vision of what a site truly inclusive of people of color would look like.
posted by Conspire to MetaTalk on Jan 13 at 10:40 AM
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Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week, since we haven't done a picture one in a while, show us a picture of something new and different about your home during the pandemic! Do you have a makeshift home office? Do you have a mask storage station? Have you created a homeschooling hub for kids doing e-learning? Do you have food storage that could put a bunker to shame?
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaTalk on Jun 13 at 5:33 PM
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In light of the deletion of a Metafilter comment that pushed back against a racist comment in the Frank Ocean thread, I am requesting that the community discuss the benefits of allowing "push back" comments to stand - especially when those comments are insightful, enlightening and challenge other Mefites to be better members of the community.
posted by nightrecordings to MetaTalk on Oct 24, 2019 at 9:29 PM
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May 22nd is my metafilter 20 year anniversary. I can remember signing up from my little cinder block office in graduate school at the University of Louisville. I thought I'd post now so I don't forget. It's kind of amazing that this community still exists, and wanted to thank everyone for their contributions. Since joining Metafilter I've finished grad school, had three more kids, gotten a full time job and of course gotten older. Thanks all for your many links, comments and useful solutions over the years.
posted by mecran01 to MetaTalk on May 19 at 6:23 PM
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Happy Weekend, MetaFilter! This week, because I am sick to death of literally everything I cook due to non-stop quarantine cooking, I want to know what you're cooking lately that's really good!
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaTalk on Jun 20 at 5:17 PM
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[more posts]

I would happily sit in on a podcast. I would say absolutely nothing, but I'd ring a little bell every time you say something that I like. [view]
posted by Tehhund to MetaTalk on Jul 4 at 9:24 AM
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This would be appropriate committee work, and I frankly can’t quite wrap my head around just what a bad idea workshopping this in public is. I haven’t read any of the comments because I am not exposing myself that way. Just ... there are ways of doing this that don’t make people fight over whether something is or is not a slur, there are... [more]
posted by stoneweaver to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 5:47 PM
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If it would fit with their schedules, I'd love to hear from our new mods! [view]
posted by Kat Allison to MetaTalk on Jul 4 at 3:10 PM
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I was facing 2 fucking death sentences which have been removed but there's still Cushings, and I haven't worked all fucking year. But damn if I didn't just have the best fucking fuck of my life with someone who is determined to be with me, (ir)regardless of my mortality for last 3 years. (Yeah, it was really REALLY good, I wish I'd filmed it for... [more]
posted by b33j to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 12:42 AM
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It's not about "ignoring" the letter -- it's about not making Metafilter yet another place on the web where we have to see shitty people being bigots. The pain this kind of FPP would probably cause marginalized members of the community really isn't worth the value of any discussion that might happen. [view]
posted by Frobenius Twist to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 6:04 PM
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I have now blocked the use of the n-word in comments across all subsites. I will also do the same for posts. The message that appears is the following: Your comment includes the n-word, the history of which as a racial slur makes it unacceptable to post on MetaFilter, regardless of intent. If you are a quoting a passage or title, please... [more]
posted by frimble to MetaTalk on Jun 30 at 12:32 PM
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Number 20 is the last name of a beloved actor, and part of the name of a town in Minnesota. Maybe it should be banned anyway, I honestly don't know the right answer. My opinion is that it is much better to ban these words and then have to do a little extra work when referring to cases like this (so, for example, abbreviating their names... [more]
posted by mcduff to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 10:36 AM
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Didn't we already have the this can't possibly be done, it's too hard part of the conversation? [view]
posted by mittens to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 12:10 PM
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Thank you! I’m very heartened to see this change. I also feel a little foolish and embarrassed about my message above. (I almost wrote a comment taking it back). And at the same time I’m so so glad to be, because it indicates that my comment was an underestimation, that I’m proven wrong. Thanks cortex and frimble for making it happen, and... [more]
posted by suedehead to MetaTalk on Jul 1 at 10:40 PM
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derail away, derail away, derail away [view]
posted by sugar and confetti to MetaTalk on Jul 4 at 7:41 PM
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(trigger warning. Murder, suicide) My best friend since high school called me up a few weeks ago. We were always thick as thieves but due to life circumstances we hadn't spoken in a few years. He told me his wife left him, and he wanted me to visit. He sounded in a bad way, so I made the trip. When I got there, it was great to see him again,... [more]
posted by captain afab to MetaTalk on Jul 8 at 9:38 AM
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I’m not saying I’d do it, but I’m not not saying it either.. FYI, my contract insists on Enya playing in the background. [view]
posted by Brandon Blatcher to MetaTalk on Jul 4 at 6:35 PM
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My guess is that there will be some actually interesting and thoughtful pieces published responding and reacting to “the letter,” which was poorly written, dull, and not particularly well argued. Maybe at that point it would make for a better FPP. [view]
posted by sallybrown to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 6:55 PM
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One of the Metafilter norms that I've internalized is something like: If you're making a post just because you want to see the discussion that ensues, that's not a good post. This seems like a pretty good example of that principle in action. I'm very happy with the mods' choices here. [view]
posted by dbx to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 8:09 PM
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This [Scunthorpe problem] will be problematic. We have the twin advantages that a) we have good live modding and b) nothing we do is mission critical. If an overly aggressive filter becomes a problematic it can be addressed essentially immediately and the only damage is a comment/post gets delayed for a few hours. Generally I'd be on the... [more]
posted by Mitheral to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 12:05 PM
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I am not a candidate, but if elected, I will serve. Or something like that. I happen to think it would be interesting to hear from ordinary regular users. Not necessarily power users. I happen to think that there is a diversity of thought that does not always come through in the more charged threads. [view]
posted by AugustWest to MetaTalk on Jul 4 at 3:03 PM
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Aw, fuck it. I'll say some of my shitty things because I'm in a terrible mood and it's late so why not shout them into the void. I found a lump in my breast. It's probably nothing but the doctor ordered some tests just to be safe and I'm very anxious. My marriage broke down and I fell in love with someone else but it didn't work out. The... [more]
posted by phoenix_courage to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 2:48 AM
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This will be problematic. Not if frimble knows their regexp. [view]
posted by jessamyn to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 11:54 AM
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My mum died a week ago and I am alternating between sadness and laughing every time I open a goddamn cupboard in her house and am ambushed with Yet More Yarn. I worked so hard for the last eight months to try and give her the best chance of surviving and now I feel totally adrift - essentially I worked twelve hour days for 8 months solid with no... [more]
posted by ninazer0 to MetaTalk on Jul 7 at 9:36 PM
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Even if we don't do regular users, I think having the new mods on for an introduction is a very good idea. I'd welcome other current mods, too. [view]
posted by Chrysostom to MetaTalk on Jul 4 at 8:05 PM
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[more comments]