This was brought up in the mega but I’ve noticed this potential problem myself. While this comm has grown beyond it’s original purpose as a trans meme comm, I worry about the prevalence of news posts about current transphobia. At this moment it’s not as bad as I’ve seen in the past, but there are still 7 Erin in the Morning posts currently when sorting by active, most of which are about how we’re under attack and facing genocide. I think it’s important to be aware of these things and discuss them, but I have two main problems with this:
- Trans people (the demographic of this comm) already know about most of this and don’t need to be reminded about each specific case unless we have a need to and seek it out. The people who need to be made aware of this the most are cis comrades and allies.
- This is a meme community that has become a gathering place for many of us. While the rules currently allow other kinds of posts and I personally think they should stay that way, I think clogging up the comm with news especially of this type is antithetical to the environment I thought we wanted to create here. Plus we already have a news comm on this site that would reach the broader demographic that I pointed out these posts should really be directed at.
I’m offering this suggestion for an amendment to comm rule 10 (changes in bold):
While this is mostly a meme community, we allow most trans related posts as we grow the trans community on the fediverse excluding news posts
I could be off base here, but the comment complaining about this in the mega really resonated with me and also got quite a few upbears so I wanted to make this post and ask for feedback so please comment what you think whether you’re for, against, or neutral about this. Also please comment if you have different suggestions for wording the rule if you have any.
The new rule has been adopted, thank you all who participated in the process from providing feedback to suggesting wording!
Sorry for the delay y’all I’ve had a hell of a weekend (negative)
Since I’m seeing overwhelming support for not allowing negative news, how’s this for wording for making a new comm rule:
- Please keep the tone light-hearted. Serious or negative news about trans matters should go to a different community.
Thank you @alexandra_kollontai@hexbear.net for suggesting this wording.
Edit: following @peanutbuttercupola@hexbear.net’s suggestion, how about this?
- Please keep the tone light-hearted. Serious or negative news about trans matters should go to a different community. Exceptions will be made for urgent and actionable news and developments.
There should be an exception for news which is actionable and time sensitive. This would allow dissemination of anything urgent without clogging the comm as you described in the OP.
I added your suggestion as an option, thank you I think this is a good idea. It seems in the spirit of solving the problem that this rule is responding to.
I wouldn’t be opposed to an exception for actionable and time sensitive.
Can you give an example of such a piece of news?
I was thinking about stuff like this (edit: link removed) where you have a limited amount of time to do something with your documents, like renew your passport with the correct gender marker.
The situation with driver’s licenses being canceled in Kansas would have been another example.
That linked article is AI slop, but I can see what you mean. I wouldn’t be opposed.
Haha oops. I’ll remove that specific one then. I’m glad you agree with the more general point though.
I like it!
I think either one would be a big improvement. I don’t feel strongly enough to choose between them but would be happy with either option
it’s good
I think that’s good
It’s excellent!
I have posted news articles myself in the past but I definitely get why we’d want this sub to be a more positive space. I also agree with bountifuleggnog though that positive news wouldn’t be bad. Would having a “keep it positive” rule instead of a blanket news ban be too confusing?
We also have https://hexbear.net/c/anti_cishet_aktion which has been locked for 2 years but maybe we could bring it back strictly for focus on trans politics/activism and generally more serious stuff, which I believe was its original intended purpose.
There is also !transenby_liberation@hexbear.net which is local only
Anti cishet aktion is local only too.
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Yes you are correct, thank you. If people would like that community unlocked I am happy to do so. I also know there was talk about the potential of making this and !transenby_liberation@hexbear.net private communities in lemmy 1.0
That would be even better. I’m not sure why that comm hasn’t been in use very much but maybe it’s a good time to start again.
yeah i agree with positive news too
I would like this. I feel differently from ppl in that I frequently am not aware of the current news with regards to transphobia and so I find the posts she is referring to very informative. However I also appreciate wanting this comm to be a more lighthearted space
yeah i basically agree. i get the tendency but reading erin in the morning doesn’t actually achieve anything except making me sad
I would like if there was a place for the news stuff, but I don’t want to see them. I know most of it, and dont need to see it. Its just upsetting and not anything I can do anything about and most of the time I already know it.
The trans doom-and-gloom machine is oiled, maintained, and paid for by transphobes. Is it important to know what’s going on in the world? Of course it is. Like you said, Erin Reed does good work but imo it’s meant for cis people who need their noses rubbed in it.
My inclination is to go hard no-news unless there’s something absolutely essential to know happening, which there almost never is. And if there is, this isn’t the place for it. I might be a little biased because the disjunction between what I had picked up from marinating in ambient transphobia before I came out vs what it’s actually been like being out (nobody really cares, by and large, not in a way that is actually materially dangerous).
Also, there is a racial/class aspect to this, because there always is: if you’re a white trans person not living on the margins your experience is going to be very different than if you’re a racialized transfem doing survival sex work. No one is hunting me for sport because I’m in a position of comparative privilege here. It’s doing us all a disservice to pretend like my life, say, is in the same danger as my more precariously situated sisters are. I’m typing this out on mobile right now, I have a reading list, I will hopefully come back and elaborate on this or else do an effortpost sometime.
And lastly: this is hexbear. We are all some degree of terminally online to be here in the first place. Enough of us have experienced or are experiencing the harm that comes from doomscrolling. We don’t need to be another vector for that. What has made hexbear feel more welcoming to me than other places online in the past has been the comparative absence of transphobia here, and a lack of tolerance for the kind of uncontained doomposting that can wreck a space. I’m not on here as much as I used to be but I would like to see it not slide into another online trans doom hole.
agreed. it just makes me stress tf out for my friends and comrades who are in worse situations than me :/ but i have an anxiety disorder so
I want them to still get posted, if not here then in c/news. I value staying up to date and also hearing from other (trans) people about my fears.
I’d also like good news, especially not political news to still be posted (thinking like, pop culture stuff, actresses, other stuff like that, not legislation)
i agree with this post
Honestly I agree. I haven’t seen many of these posts because I mostly stay on the mega, but they are still distressing to see. I wouldn’t be opposed to having a single day of the week where news are allowed to be posted tho, but I’m not sure that’s that good a solution compared to just banning news. Also good news, while scarce, should be fine, right?
lost cishet suggestion: perhaps another (bi-)weekly news sticky
so it is harder for things to get buried and missed, but at the same time it doesn’t need to be engaged with unless you’re in the mood to stare into the abyss.I think it’s easier for articles to get buried and missed in a seperate mega.
Also a second mega means someone gets an inbox full of doom :(
Hey, I’ve occasionally posted depressing news stuff here even though I know the reddit community was much more meme focused. I’m not good at enjoying megas, so I missed the prior discussion on this, but I definitely get why it’d be preferable to make those types of posts elsewhere - thanks for pulling this out of the mega so I saw it.
yep, agreed. there needs to be a better balance of keeping people informed while also not inundating trans comrades with a stream of “here’s yet another new way that you’re getting stamped on” posts. i’d like this comm to be a much safer space.
I agree that those kinds of posts informing us that we’re now even more persecuted need to go, or at least go somewhere else. I think a great place would be !doomer@hexbear.net, cause that’s the whole purpose of that comm. Other kinds of news posts (if there are any?) can stay.
