After discussing this with the people most often using the mutual aid community and feedback here we will be making a single change.
Meta posts will no longer be permitted in [email protected] critical meta posts must not be about specific users and posted in [email protected] at risk of removal.
We will change the mutual aid sidebar to remove the clause permitting meta posts, we will also ask that users post once a day so that everyone's post's can be seen but this is not a hard rule as it is pretty clear that removing posts is a last resort in that community. This joins the other community recommendations that users include currency, how much is needed, updating when a user has received funds, or updating/locking the post when the need has been met.
This will be unfeatured in about 12 hours
~~Hello users of hexbear:
Due to recent meta posts in our mutual aid community we wanted to open up discussion about the community [email protected]
We will never require explanation or justification from a user asking for aid in the community, and the mod and admin team continue to commit to not featuring an individual's mutual aid request to prevent unfair exposure.
In addition, we will maintain a strict "No critical comments or meta comments" on a mutual aid post.
This post is to discuss the mutual aid community's rule of allowing meta posts: mutual aid as a community, those making posts in it and those commenting on posts.
We are considering removing the exception allowing meta posts but wanted to involve the userbase before committing to a change.
Please comment with any thoughts, feelings, or suggestions regarding this change.
Thank you~~
If this was how the comm worked, I know about hella resources for people experiencing homelessness in Portland, but I've been hesitant to reach out in these posts because it might be "meta" to offer something other than money.
I've still done so and I'm down to help anyone navigate these systems, but idk if anyone has followed up on any of it.
Maybe we should implement an exception to the rule against meta posting for people who make multiple requests, indicating more of a chronic need than an acute one?
Same, I have worked in case management for years and am decent at finding resources and navigating them for people but that isn't what's being asked for and I get nervous about coming off rude or something if I throw suggestions out there.
Same. I also do social work and could probably assist in some way and depending on the country/system that can be very concrete stuff, but it isn't money. I do donate here and there as well, but there are posts where I have felt like some advice could also help.
I do this advice thing for good food banks, right to benefits etc. in my local setting elsewhere and I think it would be pretty hard to implement on an anonymous forum like this with people from all over the world. But we could try.
I agree about the difficulty. I know in the US at least it could be starting macro, like national resources, then working down to state ones, or letting people DM us with location requests from a throwaway account or something.
I think providing other resources besides money is a good idea! Just the issue of doxxing people’s locations but could easily be DM’d instead