MetaTalk

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]
posted by warriorqueen to Etiquette/Policy at 1:00 PM - 56 comments

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?
posted by one for the books to Feature Requests at 2:33 PM - 37 comments

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]
posted by Vatnesine to Etiquette/Policy at 8:03 PM - 51 comments

The beta version of the new site is ready for testing. See lots of notes inside. [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha to MetaFilter-Related at 2:46 PM - 137 comments

When will elections for permanent board members for the MetaFilter Community Foundation take place? [more inside]
posted by ssg to MetaFilter-Related at 12:28 PM - 143 comments

The new site should have a moderation log from day one. [more inside]
posted by Diskeater to Feature Requests at 7:56 AM - 112 comments

Just because your reply has a lot of characters, that doesn't mean you have character, am I right. Okay. [more inside]
posted by kittens for breakfast to MetaFilter-Related at 5:46 AM - 148 comments

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]
posted by JHarris to MetaFilter-Related at 2:09 AM - 54 comments

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?
posted by sagc to Etiquette/Policy at 12:23 PM - 100 comments

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]
posted by ursus_comiter to Feature Requests at 2:41 PM - 13 comments

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]
posted by Kybard to MetaFilter-Related at 7:15 PM - 6 comments

Hello and welcome to this month’s site update! Last month’s update can be found here [more inside]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 4:16 PM - 249 comments

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]
posted by Glinn to MetaFilter-Related at 3:52 PM - 14 comments

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.
posted by Lemkin to MetaFilter-Related at 3:14 PM - 53 comments

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.)
posted by skynxnex to MetaFilter-Related at 8:22 AM - 36 comments

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]
posted by Dashy to Etiquette/Policy at 9:07 AM - 19 comments

As per Brandon's suggestion, consider this a discussion space for whether or not ChatGP/LLM/generative AI posts, comments and (perhaps most importantly) AskMe answers should continue to be allowed. [more inside]
posted by fight or flight to Etiquette/Policy at 11:49 AM - 187 comments

With all the talk about deletions - justified, unjustified, excessive, etc. - it might be useful to see some kind of data or reporting on deletions. Are the amount of deletions up over the past few years (certainly seem so)? What kinds of comments are being deleted and what are the reasons for deletion? It might be useful to get some broader sense from the community about whether or not the increased deletions are improving people's experiences as an asker, reader, commenter.
posted by brookeb to MetaFilter-Related at 3:23 PM - 11 comments

I get annoyed when people answer questions in AskMe that don't meet the asker's stated criteria, but they were not previously deleted this aggressively. That seems like a large change that goes against what many people in MeTa have been asking for, and has been instituted without any discussion.
posted by lapis to Etiquette/Policy at 8:34 PM - 104 comments

In the recent post about removing the MeTa queue, Violet Blue made a comment that they had submitted a post about creating a Moderator Code of Conduct that had been refused at the time with a suggestion to try again later. We're officially a non-profit, responsibilities for site management are transitioning to the board and the Moderation Oversight Committee is working to form. I think "later" is now. [more inside]
posted by phunniemee to Etiquette/Policy at 9:57 AM - 23 comments