Quick update on the orphan letter writing feature:
Some people have been scamming the system. They created a househould full of logins, one member of the household writes a letter then the rest of them upvote it from different usernames. To combat this I have added more detection features to reject more than one vote from the same account, or related account.
Another problem I found is some people are using canned messages, they just copy and paste the same message with a different name. I dont necessarily mind this, but at least try to make the letter thoughtful. Not "Hi Sweetie, you are so cute," with no real substance. So please try to downvote these if they are tacky and not from the heart.
I incremented the minimum vote threshhold to be net 10 instead of +7. Net 10 meaning 10 net Yes's when accounting for downvotes.
Someone on here also started a message "Hey Kid, " and it was just one line long and had an upvote. First of all, dont write to children that way. Second, we shouldnt be upvoting it. I deleted the message.
Next I made the list filter by 45 days back (instead of all time) to limit the weblist size.
Now that the list has been cleaned we need 15 or so letters written so please consider writing a letter.
I'm thinking about writing a proposal but as a MN owner, I don't want the community to think its a money grab. The one issue I see with my proposed idea is a lack of notification that would be required.
My idea is this, all letters must be upvoted to +7 on the site, then they go to a panel of 3 MN owners selected randomly each month. Once per week they each get to up or down vote secretly each +7 letter. If all three agree (0-3 or 3-0), the letter is approved or rejected depending on the vote and each of the three MN gets paid 5 or 10 BBP per letter. If they split 2-1 or 1-2, the letter is still approved or rejected but there is no reward. If no votes are cast during the voting week, that MN is replaced on the panel for the remainder of that term and is banned from selection again for 1 cycle (and escalating for each successive panel ban). That way, those MN not interested in participating won't be hassled with it after a time, and those that provide a service will be very modestly compensated. But it provides more oversight without significant burden.