000. welcome & faq

Jan. 20th, 2019 04:01 pm
tozka: title character sitting with a friend (twm flower)
[personal profile] tozka posting in [community profile] thisweekmeta
This Week in Meta is a pan-fandom meta newsletter. It collects links from: Dreamwidth, LiveJournal, Tumblr, Twitter, Youtube, blogs, and anywhere else people may be writing and talking about meta. Newsletter guidelines, linking rules and etiquette, as well as posting policies and moderator accounts can be found here.

Anyone can join and anyone can comment, but only editors can post.

FAQ


What is meta?
"In fandom, meta is used to describe a discussion of fanworks of all kinds, fan work in relation to the source text, fanfiction characters and their motivation and psychology, fan behavior, and fandom itself.

Meta or a meta essay can also be a fan-authored piece of non-fiction writing that discusses any of the above topics."
-- via Fanlore

What is linked here?
Meta about: fandom as a whole/concept, fandom history, fannish activities/experiences, fandom statistics/polls, acafan writings, fandom-wide news and resources.

We will (probably) not link to: memes, headcanons about specific characters or fandoms, episode reviews, book reviews, movie reviews, homework help, troll comments/deliberate wank.

Why don't you link to meta about specific fandoms?
Sometimes we do, if it's the kind of meta that could apply to multiple fandom genres, character types, tropes, etc. Also most fandoms have a newsletter or noticeboard of their own, so if you're looking for meta about one specific show, you can usually find it easily enough.

Who runs this thing?
Right now it's [personal profile] tozka, who started it after realizing that all the old meta fandom newsletters had died several years back.

I want to add my link!
Leave a comment on the newest newsletter post, or email the editor.

I don't want my link here!
Leave a comment on the newsletter post your link appears in, or email the editor.

I have other questions or comments!
Leave a comment on the newest newsletter post, or email the editor.

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-- Last updated January 24, 2019.
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Date: 2019-01-22 08:28 pm (UTC)
tozka: title character sitting with a friend (Default)
From: [personal profile] tozka
That's understandable! I was waffling about that myself, since I know that part of the problem with other newsletters was sending a horde of people over to relatively small journals with no warning. On the other hand, the newsletters that asked permission first kept getting stymied by non-responses(/other stuff I'm not sure about because I wasn't involved). I thought perhaps a good compromise would be to sort people and link them directly to the issue they're in, and then offer to take down the link if they wanted.

Date: 2019-01-22 08:35 pm (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
Yeah, I know if aggregates ask permission, they tend to be denied or put off or the post gets locked, &c &c.

I thought perhaps a good compromise would be to sort people and link them directly to the issue they're in, and then offer to take down the link if they wanted.

Not to be just negative, but: I don't think that really works -- the link will have been out there long enough that people will have already followed it, and people also get notifications of posts or leave their tabs open and so on. It can be very hard to unring the bell. Then if someone is unhappy with having been linked, they might just delete or lock the post anyway, and think twice about posting public meta in the future.

I think it's partly Tumblr v Dreamwidth yet again. On Tumblr everything was absolutely open and people could find you with universal keywords or reblogs, and so people were very open to dozens or hundreds of strangers reblogging their post and commenting on it. (Or not open, as the case might be.) With Dreamwidth, people are more used to talking to their circles, although most people will also welcome comments from outside circles or even other sites. But that tends to be a trickle, not something that can happen all at once. One reason why I'm on DW is I really disliked the Tumblr pile-ons.

Date: 2019-01-22 08:50 pm (UTC)
tozka: title character sitting with a friend (Default)
From: [personal profile] tozka
I understand, and I definitely don't want people to be uncomfortable posting things publicly. :( What would be your suggestion for a good way to aggregate links without antagonizing people? I'm open to ideas!

Date: 2019-01-22 08:55 pm (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
....I don't really know? Which I know sounds like a cop-out, but this isn't my project?

Date: 2019-01-22 09:17 pm (UTC)
muccamukk: Bill standing in front of the TARDIS bookshelf. (DW: Queen of Books)
From: [personal profile] muccamukk
I think asking if you can add them is a good solution. Some people may not answer, but there are lots of other posts you can include. Most DW people WILL answer.

Date: 2019-01-22 09:27 pm (UTC)
tozka: title character sitting with a friend (Default)
From: [personal profile] tozka
A friend on another post had an idea to curate stuff more deliberately (& group by topic) instead of aiming for a wide range of every post ever, which WOULD give me more time/opportunity to double-check people's linking policies. 🤔

Date: 2019-01-22 09:32 pm (UTC)
muccamukk: Groot surrounded by his own branches and glowing pollen. (GotG: Green Man)
From: [personal profile] muccamukk
You're already linking once a week or so, to posts that are days old, if it takes a day or so to get a reply, it can just go into the next issue.

Date: 2019-01-23 09:24 pm (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
That sounds like a good idea. Trying to make stuff time-sensitive on the internet is kind of a lost cause, and this isn't Twitter or Tumblr, people don't really care about that anyway. One of the nice things about LJ was people would leave comments on posts that were months old, and dormant conversations could start back up. The conversation didn't end.

Date: 2019-01-23 10:35 pm (UTC)
dhampyresa: (Default)
From: [personal profile] dhampyresa
I agree that linking to posts in the next newsletter (or the next next one or whatever) wouldn't impact my enjoyment of getting to read them. And I think grouping stuff by topic might encourage more discussion.

Date: 2019-01-24 02:16 am (UTC)
tozka: title character sitting with a friend (Default)
From: [personal profile] tozka
This is good to hear! I guess I assumed people would want newer discussions more quickly, but perhaps that's just coming off of recent Twitter/Tumblr experiences, where things moved VERY fast.

Date: 2019-01-23 12:58 am (UTC)
pocketmouse: pocketmouse default icon: abstract blue (Default)
From: [personal profile] pocketmouse
Same - I don’t tend to post a lot, but it also means I’m used to the only traffic I get being people I know, strangers wandering into my space is not something I’m prepared for. I’d say ask, and make it as low-effort as possible to respond. Like, they don’t actually have to compose a reply, even of just ‘yes,’ they just click a button (if you can do that without people thinking it’s spam).

Date: 2019-01-23 02:50 am (UTC)
muccamukk: Jan flying joyously. (Marvel: Flying)
From: [personal profile] muccamukk
Right, like I don't care, my profile says so, but I know a lot of people who DO care and don't have statements in their profile one way or another.

I don't think you'd need a button, just ask a yes no question. There's chances of a button/widget not loading right anyway.

Date: 2019-01-23 09:26 pm (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
Yeah, I like the_rck's policy that if you asked and got no answer, that was a no. It seems like this should be opt-in (or at least I, personally, would feel better if it were opt-in, being honest).

Date: 2019-01-23 09:27 pm (UTC)
muccamukk: Wanda walking away, surrounded by towering black trees, her red cloak bright. (Default)
From: [personal profile] muccamukk
I like opt in as well.

Date: 2019-01-24 02:17 am (UTC)
tozka: title character sitting with a friend (Default)
From: [personal profile] tozka
That makes sense, and sounds like a good way to do it.

Date: 2019-01-24 02:22 am (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
Also, I didn't realize til you said in Mucca's comments you are THE ONE PERSON doing this! Strength to your arm, dude.

Date: 2019-01-24 02:26 am (UTC)
tozka: the Fourth Doctor pointing accusingly at someone off-screen (doctor who fourth hey)
From: [personal profile] tozka
Yup, just me! :D AND it's my first major fandom creation, except for maybe a few rec lists, ha.

Date: 2019-01-24 02:26 am (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
I admire your dedication and fear for your possible caffeine intake!

Date: 2019-01-23 09:08 pm (UTC)
cathexys: dark sphinx (default icon) (Default)
From: [personal profile] cathexys
But Dreamwidth had newsletters as did LJ. Unlike Tumblr, we have the choice to lock posts, so I actually think linking public posts should not require the OP's consent unless there are clear indications that this would invade their privacy or cause them undue stress. (My own judgment used to be based on the poster, i.e., did I know they liked conversations, on the amount of discussion already in the post, on the size of their flist, and on whether the post was a pure meta post or contained personal stuff as well.)

I feel like the ability to lock and also the ability to just say, never link me, should be enough (yes, that'd mean that linking is default and you'd have to actively opt out, but this is the internet and even archive.com isn't respecting robots and spiders any more...which horrified me when i found out!)

Date: 2019-01-23 09:29 pm (UTC)
muccamukk: Bill and Twevle wearing forced smiles of distress. (DW: happyhappyhappy)
From: [personal profile] muccamukk
I don't see why asking for consent for blogs that don't have a posted policy is a problem, especially for a weekly newsletter. It would make several people more comfortable, and harm nothing.
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