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Announcement to non-StarTrek.website users: on July 10th, c/Quarks will change to "locals only". Thanks to the Lemmy devs for this new feature!

The goal of c/Quarks has always been to help foster a sense of community for StarTrek.website, but it is just a generic “offtopic” community and does not really have an identity of it’s own on the Fediverse.

Thanks to the new feature in Lemmy 19.4, we can create true “local only” communities. And Quark’s can be what it was originally intended to be, a place for our users. This will allow us to better discuss what kind of experience users of this instance wish to have (not just provide) without all the dorks on less cool instances coming here and ruining our weather control network.

Smiling

EDIT: to those of you concerned about missing out on “trek-adjacent discussion” @ValueSubtracted has indicated they plan on loosening the “on topic” rule of /c/StarTrek to include more of that.

EDIT2: If anyone is interested in growing and operating a community on our instance, please feel free to reach out or comment here!

canis_majoris ,
@canis_majoris@lemmy.ca avatar

Man, I don’t like Stamets but he was right lol.

When you guys just wanna do something even if people disagree you’re gonna do it.

On either side though it kind of sucks. From the mods are right perspective, yeah, basically only users from the instance post here already. On the other side though, bringing activity in from across the federation is definitely a better move long-term unless the people coming in are toxic. Latest non @stw poster had a hilarious premise and I loved it. Would hate to see that go, but I guess it’s going to /c/startrek anyways.

Everybody is kinda dug in here, it’s pretty sad.

Admin OP ,
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

The problem is nobody wants to grow and maintain a federated “Trek adjacent” community. I’ve even offered the opportunity to host one on this instance and nobody wants to put in the effort.

(Also, I just need to point out that Stamets was not “right” about anything involving our team. He claimed the Risa mods were “transphobic”, and set up a new community where he repeated the claims. When one of our Admins asked Stamets if he intended to continue, he cried harassment and used the attention to promote a GoFundMe.)

canis_majoris , (edited )
@canis_majoris@lemmy.ca avatar

I think you guys actually need more open communities and not less.

Quark’s is great as an off-topic zone. The theme makes sense because the bar is somewhere people go to unwind and not necessarily talk direct shop. Stuff like news that’s Trek-adjacent fits perfectly in here, but the subsequent topics listed after other sci-fi television kind of deserve their own community. I think the scope of Quark’s is too large.

Navigating the fediverse and server meta have traditionally been their own communities as a /c/meta sort of affair. Those are definitely things that only the @stw community would really want to discuss internally and perhaps should be kept instance-user-only, but something like news and other “adjacent” content is of value across the federation and the opportunity for everyone to post just makes more organic sense to me. I would also take the opportunity to have another themed name, like /c/battlebridge, /c/ops or even /c/conferenceroom for the meta community.

Admin OP ,
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

Yeah I totally agree with pretty much everything you just said.

millie ,

Goofy decision. I have an account here, but I rarely use it because of the ratio of spam to genuine posts on the instance.

You could always just defederate from those toxic instances? It seems like this isn’t a popular decision with the community. Might be worth rethinking it.

ValueSubtracted ,

If you don’t like the content hosted on this instance, why do you have an opinion on this at all?

Admin OP , (edited )
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

I think she’s saying she’s upset we don’t remove enough content from other communities (federated with us but not originating) on this instance. Which is correct, the admins here generally leave content on other communities alone if they are actively moderated.

Ok nevermind she’s apparently saying /c/StarTrek and /c/Risa are “spam”?

millie ,

I was actually specifically referring to Value Subtracted constantly spamming empty threads and ST:O ads.

Admin OP ,
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

Per instance guidelines, submitting on-topic content to relevant communities is not considered spam. But if you want to stay subscribed to /c/STO and block ValueSubtracted’s “spam” StarTrek.website has a block feature you can find on their userpage.

millie ,

I do like the non-spam content on this instance, such as Quark’s and Daystrom. I’m subscribed to it through other accounts, but occasionally I poke my head in on the actual account I have here.

Personally, with most of the instances I actually use, I find it easier to just look at the Local feed. On this instance, however, a significant portion of what gets posted is just repetitive spam, so it’s hard to really do that. It’s much easier to subscribe to individual interesting communities, such as Daystrom and Quark’s, through other instances that I’m more likely to actively use.

I suppose if you don’t care what kind of experience anyone has on your instance, that’s your business.

ValueSubtracted ,

spam

Inigo Montoya, with the caption “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

millie ,

I’m referring to your constant advertisement posts.

Admin OP , (edited )
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

The admin team doesn’t make instance decisions based on what’s “popular”. It’s actually against our mission statement. Though that doesn’t mean community input is ignored.

But that being said, admins can see who’s voting and we can see that the downvotes are not coming from users with much/any history in this community. So we are not taking their feedback strongly into account.

Wolf314159 ,

This logic is bonkers. Lurkers are part of the community too. Everyone participates in their own way.

bobburger ,

Good luck folks, I think each server having it's own identity and it's own place is something that makes the fediverse great.

Admin OP ,
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

Thanks, we do too!

ThunderclapSasquatch ,

You should be here, making burgers of the day using the entire galaxy of ingredients

deegeese ,

That’s a total bummer but I’m not moving my whole identity for one single community. If everyone did this, Fedi would be an ever lonelier place.

Bye 👋

Admin OP ,
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

https://64.media.tumblr.com/73fe38cc8c8d7a0564c028a584eff0ae/tumblr_pxrorui90o1vrz04eo1_540.gifv

ValueSubtracted ,

I’m legitimately curious: what is the appeal of this community to a remote user?

deegeese ,

On my home instance, the community !meta is for discussing issues specific to the instance, it’s not really relevant to people not using the instance.

On startrek.website, the Quarks community seems to primarily discuss Star Trek adjacent topics which are of interest to many Trek fans.

I think it’s great that you guys want a private community for discussing things only relevant to the instance. I just wish you hadn’t chosen to close a community with broad external interest.

ValueSubtracted ,

Thanks for the response.

We’ll probably relax the rules on c/startrek a bit to allow a degree of Trek-adjacent content that we might have previously punted to Quark’s.

I’m thinking of stuff like the Paramount acquisition drama, which is off-topic but clearly still relevant.

Expanding outward from there into stuff like “here’s what Frakes is up to,” we approach territory that can be covered just as well elsewhere in the Fediverse.

deegeese ,

Trek-adjacent discussions

Literally the first topic of this community, according to the sidebar. Sales of expired Yamok sauce are also relevant to Trek fans on other instances.

ValueSubtracted ,

And to be clear, Trek-adjacent discussions will continue to be allowed in Quark’s. I just don’t think making the community private will be some great blow to the Fediverse.

If it helps, we will allow sales of expired Yamok sauce in c/startrek, provided the seller can produce a certificate of authenticity.

deegeese ,

I just don’t see how closing everyone else out from Trek adjacent discussions helps the community.

The whole point of federation is letting people with varied interests come together. It doesn’t work if every niche interest makes their “general” board private.

ValueSubtracted , (edited )

I mean, if we’re talking about the sidebar…

General off-topic chat for the crew of startrek.website.

But I do understand and appreciate the perspective. It’s in-line with the internal discussion we had when making the decision.

deegeese ,

But aren’t all Trek-related discussions on-topic?

If you’re going to ban “outsiders” from off-topic chat, you should also ban on-topic chat from the off-topic community.

ValueSubtracted ,

If the concern is that we’re going to have a sooper secret, members-only Star Trek discussion group, that is not the intent. If we were going to do that, we’d just make the instance private.

deegeese ,

No, I’m concerned about balkanization of the community of Trek fans.

ValueSubtracted ,

Oh. Okay.

StillPaisleyCat ,
@StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website avatar

I have to say that this makes me rather sad.

Instead of drawing folks into the fandom tent with adjacent topics or broadening the discussion of established fans, it’s creating less conversation.

I think that there’s a place for a ‘discuss the health of the instance’ conversation on a separate dedicated community, but also a Trek-adjacent general and open discussion. I consider Frakes’ career as a sci-fi director or the Paramount saga as adjacent.

As long as it meets the norms of the instance in terms of civility, why not? Are the admins/mods truly being flooded with a high volume of spam from outside on Quarks?

Last, I would like to note that without Quark’s being open, I doubt we’d have had the interest to create the Dr Who community. I think that it’s cool that it percolated up through the discussion.

Admin OP ,
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

I hear you, but “drawing folks into the fandom tent” was not what Quark’s (or the instance for that matter) was created for. Quark’s has always been “General off-topic chat for the crew of startrek.website.”.

That said, if you or anyone else wanted to create a community with that or a related stated purpose (and promised to grow and actively maintain it in line with instance values) I would be more than happy to entertain the idea. But you can’t have mine lol

starkraving666 ,
@starkraving666@jorts.horse avatar

@Admin @StillPaisleyCat bye 👋

ValueSubtracted ,

Yeah, it’s probably good to mention that all (I think?) of our DMs are open if someone has a suggestion for us.

starkraving666 ,
@starkraving666@jorts.horse avatar

@ValueSubtracted @deegeese you're joking, right?

I only discovered this place after I was on fedi for 3+ years. It's incredible and amazing to be able to participate remotely. I honestly can't fathom why you WOULDN'T want that. But hey if they want to close it then bye I guess.

ValueSubtracted ,

From what I can see, you’ve only participated in this community once, nine months ago.

The other communities (StarTrek, Daystrom, Risa, etc.) are all staying open and federated.

starkraving666 ,
@starkraving666@jorts.horse avatar

@ValueSubtracted oh I didn't realize there were requirements for "participation" my bad

ValueSubtracted ,

It was just a point of clarification in case you misunderstood.

starkraving666 ,
@starkraving666@jorts.horse avatar

@ValueSubtracted oh I completely understand now that liking, boosting, or privately enjoying posts is not an acceptable level of engagement in an online community where "participation" is required. Thanks 🖖💫

ValueSubtracted ,

OK

jonny ,
@jonny@neuromatch.social avatar

@starkraving666
@ValueSubtracted
Never trust an instance with a closed governance process

jonny ,
@jonny@neuromatch.social avatar

@starkraving666
@ValueSubtracted
Except jorts which transcends governance entirely

DakkiReads ,
@DakkiReads@jorts.horse avatar

@jonny @starkraving666 @ValueSubtracted wait, we have governance?

I thought the owner of this instance just set it up in some substance-induced euphoria and then forgot it existed

Admin OP ,
@Admin@startrek.website avatar

@ptz@dubvee.org Tagging you here because you’re basically the only other person who contributes to this community.

Ledivin ,

…and the fractured drawbacks of lemmy slowly become apparent. I see this happening more and more, and don’t expect lemmy to survive if it continues.

ValueSubtracted ,

YOU KILLED LEMMY

YOU BASTARDS

njaard ,

This is dumb and makes no sense, even for the intended purposes.

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