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noracharlesETA Dec25: Re a complementary newsletter: I made a suggestion in dw_suggestions about a meta feed. Bad timing, but I was worried about forgetting to do it if I put it off for too long. So far people seem worried that it will give dw a poor image (too fannish) and will catch too many false positives with the tag I suggested. If you have time and feel up to it, maybe you can join the discussion or signal boost. /ETA
blnchflr writes about the apparent lack of meta: Where's all the meta?, and the discussion turns to ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
metafandom.
I first became aware of metafandom many years ago on LJ. I read it only for a few months, because back then I wasn't particularly interested in meta, but I remember that I somehow got the impression that self-pimping was not the done thing. I was aware that the comm owners picked and chose what to link based on some arcane criteria which I thought included (but were not limited to) being either a personal friend of a comm owner, a BNF or being found worthy of comments/nominations by some threshold number of people.
Within the last few years I've become increasingly interested in meta, in fact I often enjoy it more than fic, and I've started seeking it out. When I saw that the comm was on dw I eagerly subscribed. I like having a censored newsletter. An all inclusive round-up includes so much chaff that I tend to pick what to read based on recognizing names (iffy - I'm terrible with names) and using bookmarks and comment counts to find new writers to take a chance on. Withmetafandom I'm reasonably confident that the content linked will be interesting, and I like the snippets and tags a lot. They're more useful than just a user name and a title.
But the combination ofmetafandom and my reading list/network page is not satisfying my craving for meta anymore. I want to read new to me people's thoughts. I want to read meta grounded in a specific fandom, even if it's not my fandom. blnchflr suggested a dw specific more inclusive newsletter, and asked if there would be any interest in that. Some metafandom people in the thread countered with a plea for volunteer link collectors for their comm, a plea which is also on the newest edition of the newsletter.
Listen,metafandom: I enjoy and appreciate the newsletter, and I'm grateful for all the hard work you're putting into it. You're doing fandom a real service. But as I said, I subscribed to metafandom on dw after not reading it for years. I was under the impression that the comm had moved to dw from LJ. I read the user info - there is none. It was months before I learned the comm is still on LJ, and it never even occurred to me that the user info would not be a mirror like the posts are, until I went and checked today.
- I did not know you wanted people to pimp their own stuff
- I do not know what your criteria for posting links are
- - What type of content is welcome?
- - What style of writing is welcome?
- - How is relevance determined?
I am not going to suggest my own content for a comm where I suspect it might be off topic. I am not going to suggest my own content to an editor who is going to hold it to a "secret" standard.
But if I knew what you're looking for, I'd be likely to suggest both my own content and whatever interesting meta I come across, so please consider writing some general guidelines for contributors.
And that still leaves the issue of fandom specific content, and more whimsical, light-hearted content. I want to read it, and I want to read it on dw. At the moment I'm totally depending on my reading list, network page and sporadic journal searches.
What does everyone think? Should we ask dw for a tag feed for "meta"? I like that idea a lot, though we'd have to spread the word that people should tag their stuff. This would be a huge improvement on a journal search, which takes a long time to sort through because it catches all mentions of the search term no matter how irrelevant.
Should we make a low maintenance notice board comm, where people can post links to their meta without feeling all full of themselves and presumptuous (and fearing rejection)? Again, this would depend on spreading the word. It would be less inclusive than the tag feed, but it would be opt in, in a way many people don't think tagged, public posts in searchable journals automatically are. It might get unwieldily traffic heavy, more than people will tolerate for a multifandom comm.
Should we make a high maintenance newsletter comm, with editors including everything/including the most interesting things according to public criteria and posting a cut digest? This would be the most reader friendly option, but it depends on some idealistic fools volunteering to do the work. It might have more content than a tag feed, because it could include untagged posts, or it might have less, because there are limits to the time and effort the editors could put into gathering links.
This poll is to see which options there is any interest in. Please check all that apply :-)
I think answer no. 4 is superfluous, since we already havemetafandom. Answer no. 3 is unlikely to happen, but it's possible someone thinks they have the time and energy to edit a newsletter like that. Answer no. 2 might be feasible. I would probably not put a comm like that on my regular reading filter, and it might get annoying if people didn't tag their posts consistently or well, but it could work. Answer no. 1 is my favorite, and if enough people want that, dw might grant the wish :-)
blnchflr writes about the apparent lack of meta: Where's all the meta?, and the discussion turns to metafandom.I first became aware of metafandom many years ago on LJ. I read it only for a few months, because back then I wasn't particularly interested in meta, but I remember that I somehow got the impression that self-pimping was not the done thing. I was aware that the comm owners picked and chose what to link based on some arcane criteria which I thought included (but were not limited to) being either a personal friend of a comm owner, a BNF or being found worthy of comments/nominations by some threshold number of people.
Within the last few years I've become increasingly interested in meta, in fact I often enjoy it more than fic, and I've started seeking it out. When I saw that the comm was on dw I eagerly subscribed. I like having a censored newsletter. An all inclusive round-up includes so much chaff that I tend to pick what to read based on recognizing names (iffy - I'm terrible with names) and using bookmarks and comment counts to find new writers to take a chance on. With
metafandom I'm reasonably confident that the content linked will be interesting, and I like the snippets and tags a lot. They're more useful than just a user name and a title.But the combination of
metafandom and my reading list/network page is not satisfying my craving for meta anymore. I want to read new to me people's thoughts. I want to read meta grounded in a specific fandom, even if it's not my fandom. blnchflr suggested a dw specific more inclusive newsletter, and asked if there would be any interest in that. Some metafandom people in the thread countered with a plea for volunteer link collectors for their comm, a plea which is also on the newest edition of the newsletter.Listen,
metafandom: I enjoy and appreciate the newsletter, and I'm grateful for all the hard work you're putting into it. You're doing fandom a real service. But as I said, I subscribed to metafandom on dw after not reading it for years. I was under the impression that the comm had moved to dw from LJ. I read the user info - there is none. It was months before I learned the comm is still on LJ, and it never even occurred to me that the user info would not be a mirror like the posts are, until I went and checked today.- I did not know you wanted people to pimp their own stuff
- I do not know what your criteria for posting links are
- - What type of content is welcome?
- - What style of writing is welcome?
- - How is relevance determined?
I am not going to suggest my own content for a comm where I suspect it might be off topic. I am not going to suggest my own content to an editor who is going to hold it to a "secret" standard.
But if I knew what you're looking for, I'd be likely to suggest both my own content and whatever interesting meta I come across, so please consider writing some general guidelines for contributors.
And that still leaves the issue of fandom specific content, and more whimsical, light-hearted content. I want to read it, and I want to read it on dw. At the moment I'm totally depending on my reading list, network page and sporadic journal searches.
What does everyone think? Should we ask dw for a tag feed for "meta"? I like that idea a lot, though we'd have to spread the word that people should tag their stuff. This would be a huge improvement on a journal search, which takes a long time to sort through because it catches all mentions of the search term no matter how irrelevant.
Should we make a low maintenance notice board comm, where people can post links to their meta without feeling all full of themselves and presumptuous (and fearing rejection)? Again, this would depend on spreading the word. It would be less inclusive than the tag feed, but it would be opt in, in a way many people don't think tagged, public posts in searchable journals automatically are. It might get unwieldily traffic heavy, more than people will tolerate for a multifandom comm.
Should we make a high maintenance newsletter comm, with editors including everything/including the most interesting things according to public criteria and posting a cut digest? This would be the most reader friendly option, but it depends on some idealistic fools volunteering to do the work. It might have more content than a tag feed, because it could include untagged posts, or it might have less, because there are limits to the time and effort the editors could put into gathering links.
This poll is to see which options there is any interest in. Please check all that apply :-)
This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 54
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 54
How would you as a reader like to be made aware of interesting meta posted to dreamwidth, including the sort not accepted by metafandom?
View Answers
An official dw feed for the tag "meta"
40 (74.1%)
A notice board, where meta writers can post links to their own content
18 (33.3%)
An edited newsletter which would be a digest of all the meta the editors had come across
25 (46.3%)
An edited newsletter which would be a digest of the best meta the editors had come across
19 (35.2%)
How would you as a writer like to have your meta reported?
View Answers
An official dw feed for the tag "meta"
31 (73.8%)
A notice board, where meta writers can post links to their own content
18 (42.9%)
An edited newsletter which would be a digest of all the meta the editors had come across
25 (59.5%)
An edited newsletter which would be a digest of the best meta the editors had come across
9 (21.4%)
I think answer no. 4 is superfluous, since we already have
metafandom. Answer no. 3 is unlikely to happen, but it's possible someone thinks they have the time and energy to edit a newsletter like that. Answer no. 2 might be feasible. I would probably not put a comm like that on my regular reading filter, and it might get annoying if people didn't tag their posts consistently or well, but it could work. Answer no. 1 is my favorite, and if enough people want that, dw might grant the wish :-)