EDIT: The consensus on the proposed rule change seems to be to remove the rule, and to re-investigate it if it ever becomes an issue. Let's see how it goes!
Heyo everyone, hope you're doing well!
For the past week or so, I've been thinking about tweaking the rules slightly. Specifically, the requirement that a suggestion/recommendation must still be in production.
In previous community chats, a consistent complaint about the reddit BIFL was that it was inundated with random vintage items, some of which could be hard to track down.
However, there have been a couple times that I've held back recommending an item because its no longer in production, even though it's fairly commonly available second hand. In addition, buying used is very much in-line with Solarpunk ideals, as it reduces waste, carbon emissions from increased production, and if purchased locally or from an individual, helps keep money out of the hands of corporations.
With that in mind, I think it may be wise to remove that rule, but wanted to get the community's opinion first. Yay, Nay, or do you have a different idea?
As for the secret project...
Thanks to @poVoq@slrpnk.net's efforts, BIFL now has access to its very own wiki page! (The wiki itself will receive an official announcement at the start of next month with more details, so keep it on the down low 🤫).
Today I've been puttering around with it, and put up an experimental wiki-page for the BIFL Community.
So far, my plan with it is to slowly add in all the various things that the community recommends, taken from posts and comments, along with price information and any little tidbits the commenter mentions about the item (You can see how I'm formatting that in the Rain Gear catagory). But I'm open to any other suggestions you may have on how else we can utilize this new wiki! :D
Lastly, if you have any other general recommendations, ideas, or thoughts for the community, don't hesitate to throw 'em down in the comments!
I completely agree that second hand goods and clothing are a vital part of anything punk. Especially if there's a particular brand or model that's routinely found secondhand in good condition, due to its durability or whatever - that's the sort of information we should share with one another.
I wouldn't want to see too harsh a sourcing requirement for secondhand goods, even. It's not like you can prove a statement like "I see these at yard sales all the time" even if you do. And even posts about things that are rare and difficult to find are valuable posts, because they let people know "hey, if you see this at a yard sale, you should grab it".
Maybe require that every post has a sourcing statement - "this is where I got X" - and require that either the item is still sold or you acquired it secondhand recently indicating the item is currently available secondhand. That will disallow the "I inherited this refrigerator fifty years ago, they don't build them like this anymore, I refill it with bootleg Mexico CFCs and it runs like a dream" kind of posts and still allow for secondhand and vintage stuff.
I think this might have a chilling effect. Ultimately, I don't think posting or commenting should be too arduous, otherwise a non-trivial amount of people may not bother, and this place is already fairly low traffic.
At least for now, with Lemmy's current popularity, it would be fairly easy for me to remove the unhelpful brag posts.
Thank you for adding your thoughts! :)