On That Meta Community
So that idea I threw out a few posts ago - about starting a meta links community that works like a ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
crack_van/![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
poetry-style recs community, where people rotate in and out as the person who collects and posts the meta links - seems to be fairly popular.
So consider this a post for brainstorming/recruiting/planning (and please link it around to anywhere else there might be interest!)
First, a really basic interest poll:
Here are some very rough draft proposed community rules and guidelines that I wrote up a few months back for said community (I have a whole folder of guidelines for hypothetical DW communities, guys, it's an illness.) If you're interested, read them over, and come discuss in the comments.
Also the working title for this community in my notes is![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fantechnicon (from pantechnicon, because I think I'm terribly clever) so that's what appears in the notes, but I'm open to other suggestions. :P
Admin/sticky posts would be a) a basic rules/about post; b) a sign-up post; c) a more involved post with optional advice for drivers; d) a post for non-drivers to drop meta links they've found; e) a talk-to-the-mods post.
What is the Fantechnicon?
The Fantechnicon is an organized recs community for meta, sort of a combination of crack_van and metafandom, where every week or so, somebody posts a list of interesting discussions about fandom.
How does it work?
People sign up in advance to drive the Fantechnicon for a week. During that week, they collect links of interesting fandom-related discussions they see, and then post the collected links to fantechnicon.
How do I sign up to drive?
You go to this post, and leave a comment saying you would like to drive. An admin will go down the list in order, offering people weeks. Anyone can drive! The only requirement is that you sometimes see interesting discussions about fandom that you would like to share with other people. If you sign up but later decide you can't do it, simply reply to your sign-up post with "I need to cancel". For more details, read the guidelines on the sign-up post.
HOW TO BE A DRIVER
1. Go to the sign-up post, and add a top-level comment stating that you'd like to drive. Track replies to that comment in some way.
2. When your comment gets to the top of the list, an admin will reply to your comment asking if you're available for an upcoming week. Reply to this comment as soon as possible, either confirming a week when you will be driver, or stating that you are not currently available. (If you would like to drive again, add another top-level comment to the post, to get back in line.)
3. If you are not a member of fantechnicon, join. You will be given posting access before your week begins.
4. Start collecting links to meta, however you prefer to do that!
5. During your week, post!
Part of the goal of fantechnicon is for each week's driver to reveal their own individual experience with and sense of fandom, so the actual rules for posting are pretty minimal. Take a look over the existing posts to get an idea of the range of things which are possible!
But here is the absolute minimum you are agreeing to do if you sign up as a driver:
1. You will make at least one post to fantechnicon during your week;
2. Containing at least three links to fandom meta content;
3. Of which at least one will be on DW;
4. At least one will be in English;
5. At least one will be by someone other than yourself;
5. And at least one of which will have had activity during your week.
6. You will provide some method for readers to contact you directly, whether through PMs, comments, or e-mail.
"Meta" is for these purposes defined as "whatever you think counts as meta", although please don't just post recs to fic or art that have no particular connections to meta or invitation to discussion - there are other communities for those recs.
If you agree to a week and don't manage to do this minimum, please consider carefully before signing up again; however, no-one will be banned
What you are agreeing not to do:
1. You will not link to any post that is not publicly available to the entire internet (even if the security filter it's under has open membership; however, posts under an age restriction, as long at they require no registration or provision of personal information, are allowed.)
[2. You will not link to any post authored by a person who is on the list in the filtered post of people who have requested not to be linked.]
3. If the author of a post requests that links to their post be removed, you will remove them.
4. You will not knowingly duplicate a link already posted to fantechnicon.
5. You will not make any post to fantechnicon that does not consist primarily of links to meta-related content posted elsewhere (and descriptions thereof), without prior authorization from the admins. (Though we define "meta" very broadly.)
6. If you allow comments on your post, you will be responsible for moderation of those comments.
7. You will not delete any entire post you make to this community.
8. You will try not to be an asshole.
If you have to remove a link from one of your posts, because the author has requested it be removed, because it has been retroactively locked or deleted, because you've been informed it's a duplicate, or because you have decided in your own judgement that it should not be linked, you must remove all references to the actual URL, and if requested, also the author's name and the site where it was posted and any direct quotations. You may decide whether to simply remove the item, to replace it with a notice that the item was removed, or add a notice that the link and identifying information were removed but retain the rest of the description.
Every link posted to fantechnicon should include:
1. A link to the post or comment thread.
2. The name provided for the author of the post or the OP (if it is anonymous, 'anonymous' should be listed as the author.)
3. If not on DW, a statement of where the content was posted.
4. A description of the content of the link, which includes:
a) keywords which someone trying to find the content might look for, including the fandom name, if it's about a specific fandom;
b) a notice if the linked content itself includes warnings for triggering content (you as driver may choose to add additional warnings to a link, if you so desire);
c) a notice if a link contains non-worksafe content;
d) a notice ['old post'] if a link has not had substantial activity or content added in the past two week;
e) a notice if the linked content consists primarily of non-textual content (images, video, audio, flash, etc.) for which text-only alternatives are not available, or which autoplays.
f) a notice if the post contains major spoilers for a story that has not been publicly available anywhere in the world for more than a month; any spoilers in your description should be under their own cut.
The mods' jobs would basically be to manage the sign-up list, recruit more drivers if necessary, make sure a week's drivers have posting access, and handle any disputes that are brought to them. (Possibly also to fill in for a week if a driver has to cancel at the last minute.)
There are other things we could do too - like special events or meta-fests or open posting periods - but I'd want to get the basic comm structure rolling before we got into that.
crack_van/poetry-style recs community, where people rotate in and out as the person who collects and posts the meta links - seems to be fairly popular. So consider this a post for brainstorming/recruiting/planning (and please link it around to anywhere else there might be interest!)
First, a really basic interest poll:
Poll #12630 meta recs community
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 142
If there was a community like that, I would be interested in:
View Answers
following the community
137 (96.5%)
compiling a week's meta links every once in awhile
26 (18.3%)
being a co-mod/assistant mod
5 (3.5%)
being the lead mod
1 (0.7%)
none of the above but you should start it anyway
3 (2.1%)
not sure but I want to keep an eye on your plans
25 (17.6%)
this is probably a bad idea but I'll still be around to point and laugh when it goes up in flames
1 (0.7%)
Here are some very rough draft proposed community rules and guidelines that I wrote up a few months back for said community (I have a whole folder of guidelines for hypothetical DW communities, guys, it's an illness.) If you're interested, read them over, and come discuss in the comments.
Also the working title for this community in my notes is
fantechnicon (from pantechnicon, because I think I'm terribly clever) so that's what appears in the notes, but I'm open to other suggestions. :PAdmin/sticky posts would be a) a basic rules/about post; b) a sign-up post; c) a more involved post with optional advice for drivers; d) a post for non-drivers to drop meta links they've found; e) a talk-to-the-mods post.
What is the Fantechnicon?
The Fantechnicon is an organized recs community for meta, sort of a combination of crack_van and metafandom, where every week or so, somebody posts a list of interesting discussions about fandom.
How does it work?
People sign up in advance to drive the Fantechnicon for a week. During that week, they collect links of interesting fandom-related discussions they see, and then post the collected links to fantechnicon.
How do I sign up to drive?
You go to this post, and leave a comment saying you would like to drive. An admin will go down the list in order, offering people weeks. Anyone can drive! The only requirement is that you sometimes see interesting discussions about fandom that you would like to share with other people. If you sign up but later decide you can't do it, simply reply to your sign-up post with "I need to cancel". For more details, read the guidelines on the sign-up post.
HOW TO BE A DRIVER
1. Go to the sign-up post, and add a top-level comment stating that you'd like to drive. Track replies to that comment in some way.
2. When your comment gets to the top of the list, an admin will reply to your comment asking if you're available for an upcoming week. Reply to this comment as soon as possible, either confirming a week when you will be driver, or stating that you are not currently available. (If you would like to drive again, add another top-level comment to the post, to get back in line.)
3. If you are not a member of fantechnicon, join. You will be given posting access before your week begins.
4. Start collecting links to meta, however you prefer to do that!
5. During your week, post!
Part of the goal of fantechnicon is for each week's driver to reveal their own individual experience with and sense of fandom, so the actual rules for posting are pretty minimal. Take a look over the existing posts to get an idea of the range of things which are possible!
But here is the absolute minimum you are agreeing to do if you sign up as a driver:
1. You will make at least one post to fantechnicon during your week;
2. Containing at least three links to fandom meta content;
3. Of which at least one will be on DW;
4. At least one will be in English;
5. At least one will be by someone other than yourself;
5. And at least one of which will have had activity during your week.
6. You will provide some method for readers to contact you directly, whether through PMs, comments, or e-mail.
"Meta" is for these purposes defined as "whatever you think counts as meta", although please don't just post recs to fic or art that have no particular connections to meta or invitation to discussion - there are other communities for those recs.
If you agree to a week and don't manage to do this minimum, please consider carefully before signing up again; however, no-one will be banned
What you are agreeing not to do:
1. You will not link to any post that is not publicly available to the entire internet (even if the security filter it's under has open membership; however, posts under an age restriction, as long at they require no registration or provision of personal information, are allowed.)
[2. You will not link to any post authored by a person who is on the list in the filtered post of people who have requested not to be linked.]
3. If the author of a post requests that links to their post be removed, you will remove them.
4. You will not knowingly duplicate a link already posted to fantechnicon.
5. You will not make any post to fantechnicon that does not consist primarily of links to meta-related content posted elsewhere (and descriptions thereof), without prior authorization from the admins. (Though we define "meta" very broadly.)
6. If you allow comments on your post, you will be responsible for moderation of those comments.
7. You will not delete any entire post you make to this community.
8. You will try not to be an asshole.
If you have to remove a link from one of your posts, because the author has requested it be removed, because it has been retroactively locked or deleted, because you've been informed it's a duplicate, or because you have decided in your own judgement that it should not be linked, you must remove all references to the actual URL, and if requested, also the author's name and the site where it was posted and any direct quotations. You may decide whether to simply remove the item, to replace it with a notice that the item was removed, or add a notice that the link and identifying information were removed but retain the rest of the description.
Every link posted to fantechnicon should include:
1. A link to the post or comment thread.
2. The name provided for the author of the post or the OP (if it is anonymous, 'anonymous' should be listed as the author.)
3. If not on DW, a statement of where the content was posted.
4. A description of the content of the link, which includes:
a) keywords which someone trying to find the content might look for, including the fandom name, if it's about a specific fandom;
b) a notice if the linked content itself includes warnings for triggering content (you as driver may choose to add additional warnings to a link, if you so desire);
c) a notice if a link contains non-worksafe content;
d) a notice ['old post'] if a link has not had substantial activity or content added in the past two week;
e) a notice if the linked content consists primarily of non-textual content (images, video, audio, flash, etc.) for which text-only alternatives are not available, or which autoplays.
f) a notice if the post contains major spoilers for a story that has not been publicly available anywhere in the world for more than a month; any spoilers in your description should be under their own cut.
The mods' jobs would basically be to manage the sign-up list, recruit more drivers if necessary, make sure a week's drivers have posting access, and handle any disputes that are brought to them. (Possibly also to fill in for a week if a driver has to cancel at the last minute.)
There are other things we could do too - like special events or meta-fests or open posting periods - but I'd want to get the basic comm structure rolling before we got into that.
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