Another year, another goat. (January 2023 nominations)

@Lynnerizer We’ve had a few (indirect) repeat goats already, so it’s not really a factor. It’s still a community decision (via votes) whether such should be inflicted upon the mehmber, however.

Likewise, if we end up without any nominations, that too would be a community decision.

@Lynnerizer
/image Slim Pickens

@Kyeh yeah but I gotta go search for who that was who kept begging off and the other person who put their foot in their mouth and bit off their leg at the knee. LOL If you happen to remember who that was whisper me or nominate them.

@Kidsandliz

Sounds like a self-nomination to me!

@Kidsandliz try this
https://meh.com/forum/topics/awkward-party-shirt-giveaway-unofficial#6337b2bdce1e1b45da4be3b8

You have to find the post and click on the back half after “said” to get the link with the guid to link straight to it I believe.

@unksol Thanks

HaHa I just saw I called this a threat when I meant thread. I guess it is a threat though to those nominated.

@mediocrebot Ok so that is too weird.

@Kidsandliz @mediocrebot
Euuwww!

@Lynnerizer Of course we have had total silence out of @speediedelievery… might be a quiet month of January…

@Lynnerizer I get the feeling that overall participation in the forum has dropped below the critical threshold at which reader attention is easily maintained. It takes something that creates enthusiasm to get folks interested in keeping up, and there hasn’t been much this past year. In particular, the IRK drought seems to have caused quite a few silent departures or equally silent reversions to lurking. I think the question now becomes whether the forums can still promote the enthusiasm needed for maintenance of an active community, or will increasingly reflect the lack of it.

@Lynnerizer Oh, we’ll have one; she might just be another ghost goat. (Ghoast?)
I hope not, though!

@Lynnerizer @werehatrack I think meh, somewhat late in the game, realized their neglect resulted in something that they didn’t want, or at least nostalgically didn’t want. It can be hard to rebuild what they lost. And while in that thread where they talked about rebuilding meh and its community (and so it is clear at some level they realize what they have lost and there is some level of nostalgia for that) I also think the company has moved beyond meh in their focus.

Certainly years ago snapster admitted the income stream from meh was trivial compared to other parts of his company as he built it from his new start with me, but that meh was important to him because it was part of his early vision and the roots of his company. The company has matured, priorities have changed, and in a large part the company has moved on.

While it is clear now that there are several people where at least part of their job is to be part of the community to try to drive it and support it, the focus isn’t there. They ran a contest with no winner declared even when reminded. Irks odds are approaching lottery ticket odds, especially if one has a slow internet connection and I think they have lost what those used to mean to the community where everyone had a fair chance. I don’t think they have a vision for the community part of meh other than can we somehow resurrect the quirky, special past that was meh and its community?

Certainly a dedicated plan doesn’t appear to be there to implement rebuilding what they have lost. The community comes from company culture, culture is created by the top. Culture is one thing that gives a company a competitive advantage. It takes underlying values, behaviors that reinforce that, participation in ways that “stoke the fire”. That isn’t easy to do or more companies would be more successful doing that.

And of course the culture of meh in the past helped drive business from woot to the new startup meh, something that isn’t needed now. Now they have their ‘seen on TV’ business from the morning shows hawking crap much of what the original meh customers wouldn’t care to buy. But that doesn’t matter. They have their outlet store and we have become, for the most part, the dumpster fire for what doesn’t move in the outlet store. We have lost a level of quirkiness that used to be part of meh. We have lost many from the original community as the cumulative effects of neglect pile up.

What is offered is rinse and repeat, something that didn’t used to be the case. While we had speaker docs left and right “back then”, there were so many different kinds and only a few were multiple reofferings. And at least one of those was actually half way decent. The beginning of a new year was an opportunity to offer something new/special/enticing and instead we got a recycled offering today that is male oriented.

While I don’t think the cause is lost, I do think we are not a priority in a way we used to be and it shows. Of course companies are about making money and we don’t do much of that for them. I think the owner has matured and moved on too. He now has a family with kids and they, rightly, should be a primary focus of his life along with keeping his growing company in the black. He doesn’t ‘need’ us like he used to.

It is what it is. I hope this community doesn’t fall by the wayside, and there are still elements here that show that it still means something to at least some of the members; some of the traditions are at least still marginally supported (and traditions are an important part of a community but they need supported and driven by the top, not just the members). I think it can be saved. The question becomes whether or not that is really a dedicated priority.

And so the goat may become a historical artifact… it would be a shame, but then again change happens, people move on, and it isn’t going to matter for the future of the parent company… it will just matter for those of us who knew what it “used to be” and hope(d) for “what it can be again”.

@Kidsandliz I wish there was some part of that analysis that wasn’t pretty much dead on target, but as far as I can see, it’s accurate and maybe even a bit charitable/optimistic. There has certainly been nothing in the recent listings to lend any credence to the idea that the buyers are spending time specifically looking for the stuff that’s quirky, perhaps even deserving of a somewhat disparaging and brutally honest writeup the way that many have not even come close to being lately. They’ve done very slightly sarcastic ones, but they haven’t been quick to actually point out (and preferably ridicule the source for) most obvious product shortcomings like the size goof on today’s item. I have to wonder how many of them actually have the breadth of experience to be able to spot the flaws in a candidate item, and evaluate whether it can be flogged at a price that will sell well despite the sort of up-front effrontery about perceivable flaws that will pique the curiosity of typical Mehtizens. The Meh tagline calls us “cynical”, so they understand that we appreciate a well-executed semi-flop. What they seem to forget is that cynics can be proven right too often, at which point they go elsewhere to heckle. And like any group, we get bored when we see the same-old-same-old ad nauseum. We need different crap to keep us interested.

@werehatrack had a typo
“start with me” meant to say start with meh (second paragraph). Also meant to flag @snapster above and forgot to type the @.

Also I don’t think it is as much “spot the flaws in a candidate item” or “different crap to keep us interested” as it is choosing items that fit this niche target market that are also in line with the community they used to have and hope to rebuild (and then having the write up reflect that).

@bigjl98 It has nothing to do with being great in this case - it’s the scapegoat, who’s supposed to bear the blame for everyone’s gripes and grievances. I think it used to be a lot more active and has gotten less and less attention as time’s gone by.
https://meh.com/forum/topics/calendar-of-the-scapegoat