MetaTalk

In this recent MeTa, the community discussed the ways in which Metafilter does not serve people of color well. So this post is a space for discussion, dedicated for people of color. If you identify as a person of color, and you have suggestions, complaints, or just thoughts about the site, please share them here!
posted by restless_nomad to MetaTalk on Jun 6 at 11:39 AM
13 users marked this as a favorite

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week, I'd like to know, if you could go anywhere in the world that you haven't been yet, where would you like to go?
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaTalk on Jun 22 at 5:20 PM
6 users marked this as a favorite

It's been ten years to the day since my wife passed suddenly and unexpectedly.
posted by mrbill to MetaTalk on Jun 16 at 1:44 AM
5 users marked this as a favorite

i just wanted to say happy 10th anniversary to my spices.
posted by chasles to MetaTalk on Jun 18 at 11:22 AM
4 users marked this as a favorite

End of another week, let's talk about something else that is not related to politics. Let's talk about coffee. Do you like it? Hate it? Love it? Is it something you struggle with? Is a vice or indulgence? Dark, medium or lightly roasted? Milk and/or sugar? Or do you take it black? Do you grind your own beans? French press, pour over or drip? Starbucks or Dunkin? Beanplating is of course, acceptable. As always be kind to yourself and others.
posted by Fizz to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 8:33 AM
3 users marked this as a favorite

I am trying to cut social-media-style dopamine hits out of my life as much as I can, and I have noticed myself checking in more than I'd prefer on my "Favorited by Others" count, and clicking through to see what comments I've made that are getting lots of favorites. I'd rather not do this, but it's a longstanding habit at this point, and it's been surprisingly difficult to kick it. Would it be possible to add a preference to hide the count and link?
posted by potrzebie to MetaTalk on Jun 12 at 10:31 PM
2 users marked this as a favorite

This is the 5th in a series of Hyucking Hyuck threads, for riffing, joking, and misc. non-hollerin' overflow from politics discussion on the blue. If it breaks up the flow in a politics discussion, this is a better place for it.
posted by ZeusHumms to MetaTalk on Jun 24 at 9:16 AM
2 users marked this as a favorite

Nearing the end of another week, let's talk about something else that is not related to politics. Let's talk about supernatural phenomenon, things that cannot be easily explained, (ghosts, UFOs, aliens, Bigfoot, chupacabras, telepathy, etc.). Have you ever experienced something like this? If so, please share with the rest of the community. Or maybe you firmly disbelieve in things like this and that's totally cool too. As always, be kind to yourself and to others. The truth is out there.
posted by Fizz to MetaTalk on May 23 at 10:52 AM
1 user marked this as a favorite

Someone to whom I am not married to has linked me in Contacts using the descriptor "Spouse." What recourse do I have?
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies to MetaTalk on Jun 16, 2009 at 6:27 PM
1 user marked this as a favorite

We've been chatting in the funding thread about a number of things, including the necessity of growing MeFi's userbase and creating a site climate that facilitates that. That discussion has a lot going on, so I thought it might be good to have a dedicated space specifically to talk about user site climate encouraging more discussion, commentary, and joining in on this community. That is: how can we as a community make this space enjoyable and interesting to engage in, both for strangers and each other?
posted by sciatrix to MetaTalk on Jun 15, 2018 at 1:04 PM
1 user marked this as a favorite

Recently, I announced that MetaFilter was in serious financial trouble, and asked you to help with additional community funding of the site.

Y'all have really, really come through. Recurring contributions supporting the site are up by almost $10,000 a month and growing, erasing our current shortfall and helping move MetaFilter toward a more sustainable, independent revenue model. Community funding alone now covers very nearly half our operating budget. That's amazing.

Come on in and I'll give you the details on what's happened and what we're up to next.
posted by cortex to MetaTalk on Jun 28, 2018 at 12:00 PM
1 user marked this as a favorite

Latest venting thread now open as there is much to vent about. Gentle members, pray begin your cries of woe within.
posted by Bella Donna to MetaTalk on Jun 11 at 12:04 PM
1 user marked this as a favorite

It's been a rather crappy past decade for me.. Wife passed away in '09 as y'all well know, diagnosed with T2 diabetes and stage 4 kidney cancer last June, surgery to remove a kidney and tumor last September, and ongoing chemo to reduce the metastasis in my lungs, and I'll eventually need surgery to rebuild my left shoulder due to a bone lesion. Through all this - y'all have been the most kind, caring, considering, and just gently awesome folks I could ever as for. Even when I'm having a really crappy day, I end up reading something on here, or talking to a MeFite on twitter (I'm @mrbill) that just makes me smile and cheer up a bit. So, in short, I'm all schmoopy right now.. thank you. Thank you Matt, Cortex, Jessamyn, and all y'all.
posted by mrbill to MetaTalk on Apr 17, 2018 at 4:08 AM
1 user marked this as a favorite

In the most recent Fucking Fuck thread, a member buttoned after having a post deleted - the deletion reason was listed as "This is classic outragefilter, sorry." As per a mod suggestion, I'm starting this MeTa to discuss whether the community finds value in deleting posts for this reason.
posted by 23skidoo to MetaTalk on Jun 4 at 9:25 AM
1 user marked this as a favorite

End of another week, let's talk about something else that is not related to politics. Let's talk about music. What are you listening to? How do you listen? On your phone on the bus? In the car on your way to work? At home with some high-end audio equipment? Are you strictly listening digital? Analog? Do you stream your music? Do you only listen to records? Are you a collector? Is there a certain genre you hate or avoid? Do you pirate your music or pay for it legally? Is there a single or an album that you've been listening to on repeat? Is there something you're looking forward to being released later this year? Let's turn the volume up. Stay safe and be kind to each other.
posted by Fizz to MetaTalk on Feb 1 at 8:32 AM
1 user marked this as a favorite

[more posts]

Actually, I will say it: I think that narwhal and Autumnheart absolutely need to sit there and think about what they've done. That is precisely where they are at. They clearly did not think before they came in here with their solutions and talk of lists of goals for the site and lengthy, lengthy comments with absolutely nothing regarding race on... [more]
posted by sockermom to MetaTalk on Jun 22 at 10:42 AM
64 users marked this as a favorite

Just wanted to elaborate about the whole 'back off, white people' thing, which I have said before around here but bears repeating: An actual mechanism of privilege is that we don't have to worry about problems other people face. It's not a positive gift so much as... certain difficulties are not present in your life. That means that in places... [more]
posted by mordax to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 8:45 PM
56 users marked this as a favorite

Taps mic... is this thing on? I'm here again. It's late but I felt like I should let y'all know I've been following both this thread and the outragefilter thread. It was interesting to really be forced to listen, ironically, since I disabled my account and couldn't comment. But it gave me time to process and see where this was heading. First,... [more]
posted by jj's.mama to MetaTalk on Jun 23 at 2:02 AM
55 users marked this as a favorite

Okay. For the record, in the future reconsider framing/labeling things that POC are doing w/o white people as somehow lacking in leadership, passive, disorganized, uncoordinated, etc. [view]
posted by internet fraud detective squad, station number 9 to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 4:27 PM
47 users marked this as a favorite

For the love of God, narwhal, *stop talking.* We are on seriously thin ice with the major stakeholders here (and I’m not talking about the mods) and you’ve managed to piss away half of what little goodwill we have left in the space of less than an hour. I can’t believe you managed to type: I've felt that while it's been healthy & good for PoC... [more]
posted by haltingproblemsolved to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 4:32 PM
45 users marked this as a favorite

Recognizing that any document I [a white man] create is *necessarily* incomplete & missing the perspective of other ethnicities, genders, sexualities, religions, localities, cultures, etc., is *precisely* why the *first* order of business once the draft summary document has been created is to post it to MetaFilter & start filling in... [more]
posted by pseudostrabismus to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 6:15 PM
44 users marked this as a favorite

I'm going to bring the focus back to what I think is a huge point: 1) We currently have no mods that are POC; all the mods are white. 2) Historically, attempts to discuss race on Metafilter and Metatalk have been met by white people with toxic whiteness / white fragility / disrespect / flippant dismissal / ignorance. Many members in both this... [more]
posted by suedehead to MetaTalk on Jun 22 at 2:18 PM
42 users marked this as a favorite

23skidoo... ❤️ thank you! Stoneweaver, ❤️ thank you. Thank you, Kalessin, ❤️: I appreciate your comments and emotional labor throughout all this. Thank you divabat ❤️; thank you internet fraud detective squad, station number 9. ❤️ Thank you everyone who has commented here. ❤️ I'm trying to set some boundaries for using metafilter for myself so... [more]
posted by jj's.mama to MetaTalk on Jun 23 at 2:36 PM
41 users marked this as a favorite

part of the issue may be that lots of white mefites aren't really feeling any discomfort at all, and problem-solving is fun. [view]
posted by prize bull octorok to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 3:53 PM
41 users marked this as a favorite

Mods. I am extremely upset that you deleted my comment about site dynamics. Especially with no mod note about the derail. Hell, what you ought to have done is leave my comment which explicitly said that context was plenty, which it was, and leave a note saying that the offending comment had been deleted, but that what I had to say about site... [more]
posted by stoneweaver to MetaTalk on Jun 22 at 11:24 PM
38 users marked this as a favorite

it's hard for me to sit idly by as my fellow MeFites raise very real concerns Ok, good. it should be hard, and you should experience discomfort. And you should have to sit inside of that discomfort and ask yourself questions about how it makes you feel that your community is in peril because of racism. And these are things that we as... [more]
posted by sockermom to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 3:53 PM
36 users marked this as a favorite

I'm dragging my own ass in here and repeating what I said elsewhere: the politicalmegathread is toxic to metafilter as someone noted, its very very hard on the mods to manage that thread and all the toxins it spews - they are the frontline in containing those toxins within that thread so that it doesn't spill out into the rest of the site - so... [more]
posted by hugbucket to MetaTalk on Jun 23 at 2:23 PM
36 users marked this as a favorite

least qualified person in room is white, decides to "reluctantly" assume mantle of leadership actual leadership is also white, deeply sympathizes and commends good intentions Y'all, this is incredibly embarrassing. Please realize the request to shut up and listen is not a formality or simple gesture of respect. It's an attempt to... [more]
posted by thoroughburro to MetaTalk on Jun 22 at 5:59 AM
36 users marked this as a favorite

I've been thinking a bit about that exact tension as well this morning: we are asking you to hold off, to not make any big plans or get too into process right now while simultaneously also saying "please don't just [delete comments] in a business-as-usual manner." One thing that I think is held within that tension is time. Both... [more]
posted by sockermom to MetaTalk on Jun 23 at 9:22 AM
35 users marked this as a favorite

Honestly, I am coming off of an academic conference so I am very tired and my brain is entirely fried, but I really don't like the direction that this thread just took. I think that there are some problematic and interesting things baked into the fact that this discussion occurred on the politics slack, and I really think that this shouldn't unfold... [more]
posted by sockermom to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 3:34 PM
34 users marked this as a favorite

People with power should know the ladder of participation by Sherry P. Arnstein. This paper is from 1969 and it talks about democratic organizations, but I still think it is applicable to communities like this where staff have the power to control how members of colour interact with the site. A warning that the paper uses outdated (offensive)... [more]
posted by Tha Contender to MetaTalk on Jun 22 at 10:43 AM
34 users marked this as a favorite

The only white people that need to be involved in the actual implementation team regarding solutions here are the ones drawing Metafilter paychecks. White people do not need to run diagnostics, advise, organize, lead, work the problem, step up*, steer, suggest, panel, workshop, figure out, share a gdoc, or otherwise elbow their way into... [more]
posted by Lyn Never to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 4:51 PM
34 users marked this as a favorite

In my ideal world, white members of MetaFilter would step up and donate additional monies to MF now. I will not donate to a private business with no commitments to planning, accountability, or transparency, no matter what. And what's happening right now is exactly why I maintain that personal policy. The transparency and... [more]
posted by Miko to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 5:20 AM
33 users marked this as a favorite

BIPOC/POC involvement in solutions cannot be an after-market add-on. In any solutions, really, but certainly for solutions for decreasing racism on the site. As others have said, if you are not BIPOC/POC, it's our job to listen right now. The assumption that YOU are the one who can step up and fix this is white supremacy in action. The idea that... [more]
posted by lazuli to MetaTalk on Jun 21 at 9:24 PM
32 users marked this as a favorite

"Routine forces of habit" are literally the problem. I really wish that the moderators were taking a lot more care, at least in this thread. Instead, we have evidence of at least two moderators just downright doubling down on the bullshit. It's demoralizing, it's fucked up, and it's damaging. Both of the really fucked up things... [more]
posted by sockermom to MetaTalk on Jun 23 at 5:27 AM
32 users marked this as a favorite

[more comments]