Hello users of hexbear:
Due to recent meta posts in our mutual aid community we wanted to open up discussion about the community !mutual_aid@hexbear.net
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
my 2c as someone who isn’t in a position to give financial aid but could help with some things like helping teach skills, review CVs, drive someone places, be a fake reference, help with shopping etc, potentially put someone up short term, and the like:
the comm seems to incentivise only financial aid. Fine, money solves a lot of problems, wish I had more.
Because of the competitive nature of posting users seem incentivised to dramatise their needs. Some posts have seemed medically implausible, which does not mean someone doesn’t need help it just makes it hard to understand where you can be effective and potentially drowns out folks presenting their needs in a more low key fashion.
People don’t list the currency they need which makes it hard to know if you can afford to help
One off vs expected chronic needs are not differentiated. Stuff like “For the forseeable future I need a place to live” and “I am sick and need cash to see a doctor” have vastly different scopes and solutions, and put very different degrees of obligation on someone willing and able to help.
I dunno what the solution is, life is hard as fuck. Hoping there’s a way to help more people get what they need.
I really appreciate your points here and think they are important, especially the second one. Ive seen people in other comms talk about how they feel bad or anxious about even asking for aid because they dont feel worthy compared to other posters.