The demise of Reddit is happening right now. Thoughts?

[sbj]

Your way of handling things is honourable, but only works because your site is small. If you had a decent activity going on, trust me you would not be that tolerant because people would start abusing your tolerance.

Again, the backlink strategy is still a valid strategy. There are services which you can pay for which then plant your site link in thousands of other sites so Google thinks that your site is valuable. You would be overrun by such spammy things. Or your genuine users would start shifting each conversation towards themselves by exploiting your platform.

Imagine yourself spending 10 years of hard work and dedication towards your site. Like it took you a lot of time and money and knowledge to grow your place. People will see how valuable your place is because you have a reach and an audience. They will try to feed off of your hard work by simply inserting themselves without having done anything special. A simple link is all what it takes. That can give the linked place a nice push, a nice boost, basically they are putting an ad for free, that is what it is.

Now, in your example you yourself put those links. Well, obviously it is your own place, you can do whatever you want, there is no rules you are obligated to follow, you can create your own rules. And even if you had followed some rules or moral compass, it is curated and moderated by yourself. So you can safely put links you know which are good places, which deserve the attention and advertising. That is not the same as if admins from those sites came over and advertised themselves without your prior permission.

Go on any youtube chat, twitch chat, links are always disabled. Heck, a lot of busy forums have for exactly these cases moderating rules to not allow linking if they are newly registered or don't have enough posts or whatever. Because people will spam it, even if it is genuine and good-intented. Self-promotion is almost always disallowed in every kind of social media. The only time where self-promotion is allowed is if you asked for a permission before you posted it (or if the place allows it in general, but that's moot) or if you paid for it because it is basically an ad and you are putting your ad somewhere.

 

[TPerry]

Your way of handling things is honourable, but only works because your site is small. If you had a decent activity going on, trust me you would not be that tolerant because people would start abusing your tolerance.

Large or small... the philosophy does not change. The base philosophy is getting information out to others. I personally do not care where it comes from. In fact, have referred folks over to other sites (and discussion threads) that have information about what is inquired upon on the site.
So no, I don't "trust you" as I trust my knowledge of what my overall philosophy for the distribution of data is.

Now, in your example you yourself put those links. Well, obviously it is your own place, you can do whatever you want, there is no rules you are obligated to follow, you can create your own rules.

And I see you miss the point entirely... do you think if it's OK for me to do it (and have them shown to the world) that I would have issues with others pointing to quality niche sites that allows others to obtain information. I realize that ideation probably goes against some preconceived notion, but there are those of us out here from the "old days" that gain satisfaction from the simple distribution of knowledge and don't let "pride/ego" get enter the equation.
The entire point of the site is to distribute information. I personally don't care where it "comes from" or where the users "end up at", as long as the users can obtain information.
Since this is a hobby for me, and like all hobbies, they cost money (this is one of the cheaper ones) I finance my site totally out of my pocket, and have the ability to budget to grow if it gets to that point (current hosting will be adequate for quite a while, even if I end up with a a few thousand active users a day or several hundred hourly). I don't worry about "getting users to meet the site costs" or to "meet the company budget projections".
Granted, if users submit BS non-niche sites, then they would get moderated... but that happens on just about every site. If a site can bring knowledge to others, I have no problems with them being linked to.

That is not the same as if admins from those sites came over and advertised themselves without your prior permission.

Once more.. you miss the point entirely.... the simple fact that I have no issues with other niche related links being posted (ESPECIALLY by myself doing it) would tend to indicate that it is an acceptable practice. As I said (and most would agree), links to non-niche sites would are (and should be) moderated, but if they are valid sites, they are welcome to post them there and also in their signatures.
In fact, if the admins of any of those sites visited there is the ability of them to claim those links and then maintain them (and if I allowed it, set or unset the no-follow restrictions).




Then we have this

Now, let's not even talk about the terms & rules that most don't read.

 

[Suzanne O]

Hence the reason why the whole point on just going on to reddit to spread your site could get you banned.
look at the word could.
with reddit you can create your own community. But you need to understand that they have rules you have to abide by.
Sure, try things out, but i've found that the best social media to spread the word on is twitter.
Sure, you might hate twitter, but look you may of had your account suspended on there. Might be because of what you're doing on here. Could be something else entirely.
Facebook you can post up any link that won't break their rules.
Ok you might hate facebook. But it's not overmoderated like what reddit is. Reddit's driving people away from that platform because of how they treat everyone.
The beauty of running your own forum is that you can do things your way within reason. It would be much better than reddit and some facebook groups who don't allow gifs and memes to be posted. Some don't like links to be posted.

 

[TPerry]

Hence the reason why the whole point on just going on to reddit to spread your site could get you banned.

No, you implied that it would. It all depends on how you do it. If it fits into a topical area post and has relevance, it usually is not an issue.
If you simply go over there and post stuff like "Hey, come over to my website at blah.blah.blah", then it's probably going to be against existing rules (most have rules against spamming). It's ultimately down to the way you "integrate" the link(s) to your site and their being relevant to the topic being discussed.

But you need to understand that they have rules you have to abide by.

And then here you acknowledge that fact... why exactly do you think going onto ANY site and violating rules would not get moderated?

It would be much better than reddit and some facebook groups who don't allow gifs and memes to be posted.

I participate in one (r/bourbon) that will get your hand slapped in a heartbeat if you post a "see what I just snagged" post of it sitting in your lap in your car... but feel free to post a bottle image with input on tasting notes, etc.
Of course, that's also listed in their rules.
I would post them... but they are currently in "private mode" in reaction to the Reddit API debacle.

 

[cwe]

What Reddit Got Wrong

After weeks of burning through users’ goodwill, Reddit is facing a moderator strike and an exodus of its most important users. It’s the latest example of a social media site making a critical mistake: users aren’t there for the services, they’re there for the community. Building barriers to...

www.eff.org

 

[zappaDPJ]

Reddit's driving people away from that platform because of how they treat everyone.

That's not the case in terms of active members or any other metric for that matter. The platform continues to grow and increase the number of active members as it has done since inception.

That said there has been a considerable backlash to the proposed API changes with many Subreddits going private which might if nothing else cause a minor blip in its upward trajectory.

 

[Suzanne O]

That's not the case in terms of active members or any other metric for that matter. The platform continues to grow and increase the number of active members as it has done since inception.

That said there has been a considerable backlash to the proposed API changes with many Subreddits going private which might if nothing else cause a minor blip in its upward trajectory.

It is the case. Overmoderation is the problem

 

[TPerry]

It is the case. Overmoderation is the problem

Sounds more like a case of someone not following the rules and getting their hand slapped and being upset about it. As I’ve said, lots of posts on Reddit, lots of links to various info on my site in them and no moderation.

 

[Forsaken]

Sounds more like a case of someone not following the rules and getting their hand slapped and being upset about it. As I’ve said, lots of posts on Reddit, lots of links to various info on my site in them and no moderation.

Not defending @aussiefooty (who would), but the fact that each subreddit usually has different rules or moderation styles does make it a bit annoying to use.

I mostly just use some hobby marketplaces (like keyboard, miniature painting or specifically hardwareswap) but I know some places get downright annoying in their requirements (can only post once a day, or once a week, can't post specific types of threads except in the weekly topic dump).

It is basically exactly what Reddit was meant to be, which is many many different communities and as such has as many different rules and moderation styles. It does make it frustrating to be active .

 

[Taylor J]

Not defending @aussiefooty (who would), but the fact that each subreddit usually has different rules or moderation styles does make it a bit annoying to use.

I mostly just use some hobby marketplaces (like keyboard, miniature painting or specifically hardwareswap) but I know some places get downright annoying in their requirements (can only post once a day, or once a week, can't post specific types of threads except in the weekly topic dump).

It is basically exactly what Reddit was meant to be, which is many many different communities and as such has as many different rules and moderation styles. It does make it frustrating to be active .

Agreed with the different amount of rulesets making it annoying. Luckily the subs I tend to frequent don't care about what is posted or how and the rules are all fairly basic rules I'd find on a random forum besides one (r/LeagueOfLegends not wanting someone who created a video, blog post, or something along those lines to post it themselves but are fine if others post it.). r/Yugioh doesn't even really care who posts a video or post, we often have posts up that lead to the ygoorginazation website which has their own comment section as well.

 

[TPerry]

but the fact that each subreddit usually has different rules or moderation styles does make it a bit annoying to use.

Why? Does it "make it annoying" that different forums you may participate in have different rules or moderation processes than another?
Simple fact is... read the rules (which most have posted in their area) and unless you are just being an egregious arse in that area, rarely will you have issues. Just because they are under a centralized distribution point does not equate that they should all be moderated the same.

The r/bourbon area has a several rules for it (#9 I don't agree with, but I've yet to see it abused on any of my posts).
Pay special attention to #4.

Luckily the subs I tend to frequent don't care about what is posted or how and the rules are all fairly basic rules I'd find on a random forum

As are most of the ones I participate in. Like any playground, you want to play there, you follow the rules they have. And I'm pretty sure that several people have failed to abide by the rules in an area and have gotten their hand slapped. Some learn and they do not do it again, others try other ways to "get around" the rules and get their hand slapped several times. Not any different than on any stand-alone forum.

 

[Paul B]

Lol at # 9.

GTFO ...

 

[Suzanne O]

Each community you go into has it's own rules.
As well as the main community of reddit.
Now those who laugh at me how would you feel if the guys here at XF made it a banable offence if you were to muck around. Because not saying that this happens here it can and it might.
You have to adapt to twice the amount of rules which might cause some headaches for you all.

 

[Suzanne O]

As i said i'm in a group on facebook that has some very strict rules. To be fair if they had all their rules up and we had to agree to them then it's all ok.
But then again i reckon you'd be annoyed at the no gifs and memes rule there.

 

[Suzanne O]

It all leads into this discussion of rules for your own forum.

I've seen some forums not have any and all they do is abuse everyone on there. Kind of not what you want on there.

If you don't like over moderation don't make your forums rules so strict in the first place.

If you want freedom of speech you have to be careful as there are some do's and don'ts with those.

There are people who will have strictly no swearing and will ban somebody if they actually drop a swearword in their post.

There are people who will just complain about the swearing but don't bother with the swear filter that's being used.

There are also some people who will copy and paste your own rules on to their foum and stuff around as well.

That's when you have to do something to their forum.

As @Forsaken said it's not about defending anyone. It's about pulling your own heads in and creating a good forum for everyone to use that isn't like reddit and is overmoderated or doesn't have any rules at all but has people that whinge all the time about others posting up things like videos, gifs and memes.

 

[Forsaken]

Why? Does it "make it annoying" that different forums you may participate in have different rules or moderation processes than another?
Simple fact is... read the rules (which most have posted in their area) and unless you are just being an egregious arse in that area, rarely will you have issues. Just because they are under a centralized distribution point does not equate that they should all be moderated the same.

The r/bourbon area has a several rules for it (#9 I don't agree with, but I've yet to see it abused on any of my posts).
Pay special attention to #4.

View attachment 287198


As are most of the ones I participate in. Like any playground, you want to play there, you follow the rules they have. And I'm pretty sure that several people have failed to abide by the rules in an area and have gotten their hand slapped. Some learn and they do not do it again, others try other ways to "get around" the rules and get their hand slapped several times. Not any different than on any stand-alone forum.

Some of those rules are red flags .

The issue isn't that each subreddit has different rules as much as the way that those rules are presented, or the tools for moderation are not as good as a forum which makes the comparison to a traditional forum not as accurate.

I can't use many examples right now, because a lot of the Reddits I follow are boycotting the API changes, but some examples are rules being well below the fold on a 1440p monitor (AmITheAsshole) or having rules in a block of different links so that it is not extremely obvious.

Reddit is also much more prone to unwritten rule enforcement, rogue moderation and arbitrary rules more so than most individual sites of decent standing.

That said, I understand why some of the rules are the way they are in most communities and that is again because they lack tools or resources for moderation.

I also don't agree with Reddit necessarily being over moderated, but more so they lack the means to make people aware of how moderation is handled per subreddit. And the requests for changes to make moderating better have gone ignored for years .

 

[Kleazy]

Each community you go into has it's own rules.
As well as the main community of reddit.
Now those who laugh at me how would you feel if the guys here at XF made it a banable offence if you were to muck around. Because not saying that this happens here it can and it might.
You have to adapt to twice the amount of rules which might cause some headaches for you all.

What works in my forum and drastically has increased engagement is:

Step away from super strict authority rules. Every offense I treat individually not by laws but by looking at the intentions of the poster. Sometimes I comment a simple “Hey guys…lets stay on target” or I remove or move the post.

We do not delete posts unless its overtly out of line like straight up porn or chainsaw cut up bodies images etc.

Instead we have a DMZ type subforum only visible to members after 200+ days of membership and a few posts/replies made. (XF user group promotion).

In the DMZ i use an add-on that allows OPs to manage their own threads. Similar to FB the thread owner can moderate subsequent replies. No admin/moderator will come to nobodies rescue if a problem gets reported unless it is breaking laws regarding children or are actual terrorist treats.

Offensive posts from general get moved to the DMZ instead of deleting them. By doing this every poster gets validated. All political posts or entire threads can simply continue in the DMZ.

DMZ is 100% de-googled. No analytics, admanger or adsense so I get zero google strikes and also zero monetization. (Xf if rules in templates)

I started that setup during the 2008 US presidential selections… on one hand I wanted people to freely express themselves yet wanted no drama as it will ruin a community that just wants to chat about a niche topic. People are apparently very emotional triggered when talking about people in DC.

Its the best of both worlds. Retain free speech but only in the backroom.

Keep the general near family friendly and around the corner is a biker bar. People in the wrong room get moved to the correct room.

Then eventually i cleaned up the DMZ by participating in the crazy convos, however I made it a point to respect each member. The bullies I started to call out on their crossing of lines and now the DMZ is a bunch of good old guys respecting each other.

I dont always see eye to eye on every topic as every conspiracy there is gets discussed and thats a-ok. As long as its done with respect. And if not the poster doesn't get my thumb ups or replies. Most play the game the correct way by now…those that dont nobody feeds attention and they parish after a while.

Again… a big box social media platform does not offer this at all whatsoever.
Their strength is they are big.
Their weakness is they are big.

Winning one day at a time.

 

[PatriotGB]

What works in my forum and drastically has increased engagement is:

Step away from super strict authority rules. Every offense I treat individually not by laws but by looking at the intentions of the poster. Sometimes I comment a simple “Hey guys…lets stay on target” or I remove or move the post.

We do not delete posts unless its overtly out of line like straight up porn or chainsaw cut up bodies images etc.

Instead we have a DMZ type subforum only visible to members after 200+ days of membership and a few posts/replies made. (XF user group promotion).

In the DMZ i use an add-on that allows OPs to manage their own threads. Similar to FB the thread owner can moderate subsequent replies. No admin/moderator will come to nobodies rescue if a problem gets reported unless it is breaking laws regarding children or are actual terrorist treats.

Offensive posts from general get moved to the DMZ instead of deleting them. By doing this every poster gets validated. All political posts or entire threads can simply continue in the DMZ.

DMZ is 100% de-googled. No analytics, admanger or adsense so I get zero google strikes and also zero monetization. (Xf if rules in templates)

I started that setup during the 2008 US presidential selections… on one hand I wanted people to freely express themselves yet wanted no drama as it will ruin a community that just wants to chat about a niche topic. People are apparently very emotional triggered when talking about people in DC.

Its the best of both worlds. Retain free speech but only in the backroom.

Keep the general near family friendly and around the corner is a biker bar. People in the wrong room get moved to the correct room.

Then eventually i cleaned up the DMZ by participating in the crazy convos, however I made it a point to respect each member. The bullies I started to call out on their crossing of lines and now the DMZ is a bunch of good old guys respecting each other.

I dont always see eye to eye on every topic as every conspiracy there is gets discussed and thats a-ok. As long as its done with respect. And if not the poster doesn't get my thumb ups or replies. Most play the game the correct way by now…those that dont nobody feeds attention and they parish after a while.

Again… a big box social media platform does not offer this at all whatsoever.
Their strength is they are big.
Their weakness is they are big.

Winning one day at a time.

Agree 100%. My forum has very few rules. We're adults. No rules against language. Drop F-bombs all you want. If language offends you, then go where they treat you like a child.

I say that my forum is "R-rated" not "X-rated."

I moderate very very little. My forum is NOT "woke."

I agree with @Kleazy that to be moderated, it's got to be WAY over the line... personal threats... advocating illegal acts... overt pornography... etc.

 

[Kleazy]

Agree 100%. My forum has very few rules. We're adults. No rules against language. Drop F-bombs all you want. If language offends you, then go where they treat you like a child.

I say that my forum is "R-rated" not "X-rated."

I moderate very very little. My forum is NOT "woke."

I agree with @Kleazy that to be moderated, it's got to be WAY over the line... personal threats... advocating illegal acts... overt pornography... etc.

I monetize via adsense.
They some times flag us for censorship. It appears to be AI driven because they pickup stuff that is out of context. Or maybe someone reported a page.

I started a custom field only available to admins. Once i check off a box that specific thread gets de-googled. No ads, no analytics. Submit back to adsense for review and voila they are happy and I lose a few hundred page views monetization.
No add-on. Just some XF If template mods and tge CF custom field feature.

Also… i have a custom add-on that allows a user to disable CF censorship. Those users can post 4-letter words and see them posted. Default users and guests see **** while those that disable it see the word.

My point is that XF allows for amazing moderation.

Plus moderating is not firm and binary.
Every incident requires discernment.

 

[Suzanne O]

On my own forums i have 10 rules that generally do the trick.
One of them is manners when asking for things to be done.
I'm lenient when it comes to swearing but i don't want it to reach levels that lead others to be abusive towards someone else.

I don't overly infract people but i do warn them. Thread banning them is part of a warning.