ADMIN: Taking a poll...

[virtualinsomnia]

I thought that more people might answer a poll, since it takes less time than writing out a comment. I'm leaning towards flocking everything at this point, since it really does seem safer, but I do want to get as much feedback as possible. Also, the second question is possibly even MORE important than the first, as it will help me figure out how I'm going to go about implementing things if I decide the flocking is definitely a go. It's all hypothetical at this point, of course, but it helps me plan more accurately, seeing as locking down the whole comm is going to be a HUGE undertaking.

Please, please, please vote! And vote honestly. That is crucial. Even if it's to tell me that you hate the idea of friends locking so much that you'd leave the comm over it, I still want to know. I want as much feedback as possible, good and bad. It's the only way to make an informed decision.

Thanks guys! :-)

[Poll #1036003]

Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, on question 2, option 2: when I say "a month" what I mean is a month's worth of fic. Like, you'd be assigned one month of past entries, and your job would be to check and see what fic hasn't been locked and comment on the posts in question requesting that the authors lock them. And then maybe check back in a few days and see if it was done.

It doesn't have to be exactly a month's worth, either. If you felt you could handle 2 or 3 months, that'd be awesome! And if you could only do, say, a week's worth, that would still be very much appreciated. Even a DAY'S worth would be helpful! *g*

ETA: We might not actually need people for question 2, option 2. kernelm is working on a script that might take a lot of the work out of it. But please still answer that question honestly, if you don't mind. For if the script doesn't work, we'll have to go back to plan B and assign months (or weeks or days) to people.

Comments

[naughtyelf.livejournal.com]

It's true that we don't link to flocked fics (or flocked anything, actually). I only found out about any of this at all tonight when I checked the Cortex email and somebody that had emailed we'd missed her fic which she'd posted here and at another unlocked comm, and commented that "I know one has gone friends only but not the other". So I came over to check out what was going on.

I'm one of those members who doesn't read here regularly - I post fic when I write it, but I have very few communities on my friends list. Fic communities are one thing I don't friend - I just go and do the rounds at the communities themselves when the mood takes me, so I wouldn't have seen any announcement about that.

The reason we don't link to flocked posts is that we want everything that we link to, to be easily accessible to anybody who clicks the link. If it becomes the case that more and more authors are uncomfortable with having their fic unlocked, we might have to review this, but as it stands, it means that checking the Cortex watch list automatically leaves out anything that's friends locked, and we can rest assured everything we're linking to is open. (When we first started, checking out another friends list still showed any friends locked posts that the logged in person had friended, and we always had to log out before starting an issue, which was a real pain!)

So, personally, I don't think that locking is necessary for anything other than the obviously against ToS stuff, and to be honest I'm less keen to post my fic here if the place is locked. Because I usually post here knowing that it's a nice open place that the majority of fandom can check out easily, and I can link to the one post from wherever. If that changes, I might be more inclined to use somewhere else to post as that central place, which is the reason I checked the "No way!" option, though I'm not quite as gung ho about leaving as that might make it sound!

Anyway, would you like us to add a link to the poll to tomorrow's issue (I'm about to post tonight's and go to bed or I'd add it tonight) with a brief mention of what the locking decision would mean for the Cortex - just so that if nothing else, people who don't have the community friended but check out our issues are aware they need to post elsewhere for the time being if they want us to pick up on their fic, and that they should come along and have their say on the issue? Because I understand it's a hard decision for you that's going to be made a lot easier if you have a better understanding of what the majority of people want!

[virtualinsomnia]

The problem is that to just lock the adult fic (or the underaged stuff or the incest or whatever particular type of fic seems like it might violate TOS) takes a ton of work. Lots more than to lock everything.

My bf is a programmer, and he's developed a script that will let us comment to all unlocked fic requesting a lockdown, and then that same script will be able to get us a list of the ones that don't comply for later action. And setting the comm's minimum security level to friends only easily takes care of all the new fic, too. To just lock a certain kind of fic requires a watchdog group of some sort, both to net all the older fics that need locking and to keep an eye on all the newer stuff. And with as huge as this archive is, I simply don't have that kind of time. I don't know of who would.

So while, in theory, locking only the fic that violates TOS seems like the best route for everyone, I just don't know how actionable that will be. Which is really troublesome, because I, too, like the idea of a comm that anyone can access, regardless of whether or not they have a livejournal or are a member here.

I don't know; maybe there's an option I'm just not seeing here. If so, please point me in the right direction! I just honestly don't feel comfortable leaving TOS-violating fic unlocked in LJ's current climate, but I can't see of a way to fix that short of an all-inclusive lock down. :-\

I would love to get as much feedback as possible though, so please post the link to the poll on the Cortex. I'm not sure exactly what I'd do if hundreds of people all came here and voted "No way!" but if that's the case, I do still need to know about it.