February 11
Turn off the MeTa queue before it becomes a teenager
Ten years, eight months and 12 days ago, the MetaTalk queue was turned on. The reason for doing so was a reduction in the availability of moderators at any given time and the high workload MeTa threads created relative to other parts of the site.
However, it has continued to be a contentious issue for members from time to time, much more so recently, where the queue is seen to have become much more of a filter than a queue, with perceptions that some people are now actually being Silenced All Their Life. [more inside]
February 8
MetaCritter
Have a critter, do you? (And, just between ourselves, a paragon of the species?) As a community-building exercise, let us showcase them here. [more inside]
February 5
Is there a rule against swearing now?
I had a comment deleted by travelingthyme with a note "One deleted. Please practice care with comments and refrain from swearing etc."
All I said was "What is this shit? Can we say what we fucking mean?"
Was it a bit intemperate? I guess. But the second part of the mod note is ridiculous. "Refrain from swearing etc." Is there a rule against swearing now? Are the mods our parents? Do people on this website want a no swearing policy?
Less is more?
I am finding the sheer number of US politics threads (many touching on overlapping issues) overwhelming. I do find the threads and discussions useful and interesting, but also distressing. So having lots of them to track feels worse to me than if US politics topics were consolidated in one place. I wonder whether others feel similarly. I seem to recall that for some time we had more of a one-at-a-time system. I would support returning to a similar model if there is sufficient consensus.
February 4
Anonymous Comments?
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but the recent Federal Government Workers Thread made me think it might be works revisiting. I would think that anyone actually working in government, who might have a very good perspective to contribute, would be rightfully wary of posting something in a thread where they might be identified. Sure, people have user names that maybe hide their identity, but not always.
For the sake of informed dialog it could be good for people to have a way to contribute to a thread anonymously. I realize this is likely a complicated thing to solve for.
February 3
Question about opening links on MeFi
This may have been asked before - but is there a rationale for opening links in the same tab as the post, as opposed to opening the links in a new tab? I prefer the latter, but can live with the former, I'm just curious about the reasoning. My somewhat-educated guess would be that the 'same tab' behavior is compatible with browsers that don't support tabs, but that is just a guess.
Leaving the USA?
This thread is meant for discussion and information for Mefites thinking of leaving the USA because of the political situation. Mexico is my leading contender. But the discussion is open for anywhere.
Closing MeTa threads
There's a new mod trend of abruptly closing MeTa threads when they don't like how it's going. Let's discuss as a community how we feel about that, because it's an un-asked for change that was made without consulting anyone.
February 1
Comment deletions "with OP's support"?
Huh?
Not having the seen the comment, I won't second guess the mod's decision to delete. But their enforcement of the guidelines isn't supposed to depend on whether the OP supports the decision or not.
Or am I missing something?
Small Things
I am pretty sure many of you in the US, and elsewhere, feel like they should be doing something or contributing something. Even if it's a small thing. It feels important to start somewhere, and help other people do the same. Right? Please post small things you have found that are helpful for yourself or your community. For instance, someone on Bluesky offered this page where you can download red cards in many languages, from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. And john hadron collider posted a Bluesky thread on how to think about public data archiving. [more inside]
January 30
Moderation and MeFiMail
Hi all. Community member y2karl has made an accusation about the moderators ability to read MeFiMail. This is absolutely not true and I have no idea how he could come to such a conclusion. Moderators are unable to read members MeFIMail.
I’ve linked to karl’s comment and created this new thread to discuss these accusations. But be aware that it’s the middle of the night for most of the staff, so there won’t be much response. The interim Board and other staff moderators have been notified, so please be patient. [more inside]
January 28
mefi music radio hour
OK...I'm pitching. New podcast. Mefi Music made and kept me a musician. This is a goldmine of beautiful, homemade music. Bimonthly music review podcast that acts as a playlist and funnels money back to the best community on earth? [more inside]
What's the one subsite you've never posted to?
For those of us who participate on most of the subsites (MeFi (the front page), MetaTalk, Ask, Music, Projects, Jobs, IRL, and FanFare) -- if you've made posts to all of them except one, what is that one? And if some alternate universe version of you did make a post to that one remaining subsite, what would it be about? This is meant as an invitation to curiosity and amusement. [more inside]
Filtering FanFare?
Is there a way to not see particular shows on FanFare? (an anti-MyFanFare as it were) [more inside]
January 24
I could still have time to delete this
A formal proposal for allowing users to anonymize or delete their own posts and comments as part of the new site. [more inside]
January 22
[MeFi Site Update] January 2025
Hello and welcome to the first Site Update of 2025!
You can find the last update here.
[more inside]
You can find the last update here.
[more inside]
Is it time to quarantine and perhaps ban Twitter?
So Twitter is now exposed as being a media company that is openly run by an actual seig-heiling Nazi, who also uses Twitter to promote extremist right-wing violence in Europe and other parts of the world. I don't like the idea of shutting down lines of communication, but I am seeing other online communities blocking links to URLs published by Twitter and related properties for these actions, and I'm asking if we should show solidarity as another online community, disavowing support for Nazism by filtering out links to Twitter and connected media entities in posts and comments. [more inside]
January 20
Calmer Vibes Chill Thread. V. 3
Share something good or nice in here. Now is not the time to be stingy. Got new accomplishments, new kitten, new kid milestone, or new favorite food? New tschotske that makes you smile? I understand some folks might consider this a useless or foolish endeavor considering the world outside. I don't. And you don't have to come in (but you might like it here). [more inside]
Searching AskMeFi - Can searches be filtered by date?
I love doing searches of AskMeFi for lots of different things. But I find it tedious to scour through posts looking for the most recent answers. Lots of times the info I am looking for is only relevant if it's fairly recent (within the past 2 years). Unfortunately there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which posts get listed first in a search. It's certainly not the most recent. Is there a way to filter searches by date? Would anyone else find that helpful/useful? Thanks!
For those coming back here after being away, what's changed recently?
As much of the internet becomes, well, enshittified, there may be more people like me who remember the sense of community and collaboration here and want to come home. To avoid us making idiots of ourselves, what's changed in the past few years? Has there been any culture shifts or discussions that prodigal posters need to know about? Is Metafilter in 2025 fundamentally what it was in 2016? Can we even precis this? [more inside]