2015
Rule 8 and 9 changes
Rule 8 has been expanded to forbid slurs, and bigoted jokes. If you feel a certain way about a race/gender/orientation/group, you're welcome to express that but please do so in a way that's not just saying it to be offensive. You are also allowed to use slurs if you're quoting someone or trying to illustrate an example but mods will use judgement in determining if the use is appropriate. Bans may be issued for repeated slur use/bigoted comments but may also be issued on the first occurrence depending on the circumstances. As usual, bans may be made permanent/temporary on a case by case basis. We want to be clear, you're welcome to express any opinions you may have on any subject, but you need to do so in a respectful way. We want all groups to be comfortable here and making fun of commonly bullied groups doesn't help with that.
Rule 9 has been expanded to add a provision that prohibits ASCII images over 1 line long. You may post single line emoticons (ಠ◡ಠ, ʘ‿ʘ, ¯\(ツ)/¯ , etc.), but large ASCII images do not add value to discussion and will be treated as spam. We're doing this because the giant blocks of text tend not to add to discussion and they get in the way of other comments. In addition, these don't always show up correctly in mobile apps and become very inconvenient for those users.
-Original Mod Post, January 29, 2015
Rule 1 change and announcement of a two week trial prohibiting text box use.
Part 1: new rule is: "You must post a clear and direct question in the title. The title may contain two, short, necessary context sentences."
Part 2: We're going to enter a two week trial of not using the text boxes at all, with the hope that newer users won't be confused by it (they may see text box use on the front page and think they need to use it in their post), and current users won't be annoyed with unnecessary use of the text box, especially with regard to edits. This means no more "WOW FRONT PAGE" or "RIP inbox" (you do know you can turn off inbox replies, right?) edits during the trial.
-Original Mod Post, November 18, 2015
2014
Another Reminder Against Personal Information (Rule 4)
To reiterate, Posting, or seeking, any identifying personal information will result in a ban without a prior warning. This includes for yourself or other people, and refers to, but is not limited to, phone numbers, email addresses, facebook or other social media accounts.
There are entirely too many people sharing risky information over reddit. The anonymity of a site like reddit allows for the malicious to lurk right alongside the benevolent. Sharing any information can be extremely risky, and is an issue that the moderators are extremely 'Zero Tolerance' about. We won't fact check it, we won't check on context, we will simply remove it and ban the user without prior warning.
We even have a nifty thing in the text box reminding you not to do it (if CSS is visible to you).
-Most post submitted Jan 12, 2014
The Week of Abstinence
Incidentally coinciding with the 5 millionth subscriber to the sub, on January 27th the moderators declared /r/askreddit to be free of sexual-oriented NSFW posts for approximately one week, at the popular request form a post in our meta sub, /r/ideasforaskreddit. The reception ranged anywhere from relief to outrage.
-Mod post submitted Jan 27, 2014
And returning back to normal
-Mod post submitted Feb 3, 2014
Expansion of Rule 8 About Personal Conduct in Askreddit.
Rule 8 which hard formerly said simply that mods reserve the right to remove content as need necessary, and restrict users privileges as necessary, for any content deemed detrimental to the sub. The revision laid out the expectation that users are generally to behave somewhat respectfully towards each other. Special focus is applied to personal attacks and insults against other users. Abuse and harassment will not be tolerate, and flagrant disregard for this code of personal conduct will result in a ban.
Other things brought up again where clarification of Rules 1 and 2, particularly the reminder that Rule 2 dictates that 'advice' posts need to be generic and not OP-exclusive. There are other subs more suited for providing specific and personalized advice to any personal matter.
NSFW-link Aggregator Threads Are Now Prohibited
Encompassed under Rule 3, NSFW-link (porn) aggregator threads (threads where the top-level replies are expected to be NSFW links, pictures, gifs, videos, websites, etc) are being prohibited from /r/askreddit. The reason for this is that they do very little to foster the kind of community involvement and discussion we aim for in /r/askreddit, they usually result in simply a link-dump of NSFW links and very little engaging discussion beyond top-level comments. /r/Askreddit is a self-post, text-based subreddit first and foremost, we discourage content that doesn't promote those values.
[Stories] Post tags
Dedicating specific posts to story threads only
All you need to do is add [stories] before or after your question and it will be automatically flaired. In a [stories] post, all top level comments (top level comments are replies to the original question, replies to replies are not counted) must contain a story that has been fleshed out and explained. We're not checking veracity, we just expect effort be put in (that being said, things like tree fiddy will be removed). Automod will remove any top level comments that aren't at least 500 characters long and we will also be checking the posts manually as much as we can. Additionally, the question must be appropriate for a [stories] tag or it will be removed. For example, "[Stories] What is your favourite colour?" is impossible to answer with longer comments and would therefore not qualify.
Remember, reporting a comment = is not an 'I disagree' measure, but a measure for keeping the posts on topic and at a high level of discussion. Not every comment will necessitate removal, and not every post will be appropriate for a [Stories] tag(those posts may be removed). It ultimately will have to be determined by the mods, but we aim to enforce it fairly strictly and require help from the community to identify the posts and comments that abuse this feature.
-Original Mod Post, August 6, 2014
Update: As of January 31, 2015, the [Stories] tag no longer exists. Consider phrasing your question in a way that asks for stories instead of using the tag.
AskReddit is bringing back no sex week! This time it'll last two weeks.
For those who aren't aware, in the past we have needed to 'take a break' from sex related posts because of an overwhelming negative reaction to them taking over the subreddit. You can see our previous mod post about it here. We've also had a lot of suggestions regarding sexual topics in our subreddit /r/IdeasForAskReddit.
This fortnight of no sexual topics will begin October 15, 2014 and will run for two weeks. While discussion of sex is not completely banned, we are going to have a temporary ban on questions where the main part of the question is sex. This includes, but is not limited to questions about pornography, sexual experiences and personal preferences in regards to sex.
-Original Mod Post, October 15, 2014
2013
Personal Information
--Rule 4 Reminder.--
Posting any details or private information of an individual, or soliciting that information, is strictly prohibited, and will result in a ban without prior warning. This includes:
Full Names
Addresses: physical, Post Office Boxes, or email addresses.
Personal social media accounts- including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
- Pictures hosted on social media accounts, as they can be connected back to the host profile.
Phone numbers
Pictures of an individual with the intent to identify them.
Any other information, or requests for information, that can be used to expose the personal or private details of an individual.
Facebook pages (but not private profiles), professional contact information, or other details regarding the public life of a public figure(authors, celebrities, politicians, athletes, etc) are still permitted, provided the post or comment in question does not violate Rule 5. If you're in doubt as to whether it is considered 'private personal info', it is best to err on the side of caution and not post it at all.
This rule is in place as a protective measure to ensure that personal information that could be used to damage or harass an individual is not spread without their knowledge and consent. Furthermore, since it is impossible to accurately verify the identity of the person posting or requesting the information, their intent, and therefor full consent, we are disallowing the sharing of this information all together.
-Official Mod Post April 24, 2013
Hidden Comment Scores
A new feature for subreddits
A new feature was recently implemented that obscures the vote tallies for comments in posts for a predetermined amount of time, to be set by the mods to meet the individual needs for their subreddits(kind of like how the vote total for new threads is hidden for the first hour). The goal of this feature is to discourage bandwagon voting, and hopefully encourage the voting of comments on their merit rather than being influenced by the public support of the comment. Just as posts have their scores obscured for the first hour, the same is happening with comments now. It's to encourage you to read the comment and vote on it with impartiality, rather than skim it and then vote with the crowd.
Ideally this will level the playing field for high quality comments that are submitted later than immediately after a post is first submitted, and as opposed to 'contest mode', this doesn't randomize sorting (top comments will still be at the top, just with the count obscured), and doesn't hide child comment chains either.
-Announcement by /u/Deimorz April 29 2013
-Original Mod Post, April 30 2013
Now your comment score is visible to you, but other scores are hidden.
Recently amended by popular request, /u/spladug (admin) announced that the score-hiding had been tweaked a bit to allow for users to see their own scores, while still allowing for subreddits to hide the count for comment as seen by other users.
-Change announcement by /u/spladug, Feb 15 2014)
[Serious] Post tags
Dedicating specific posts to serious discussion only
We have introduced a new tag for certain posts to /r/askreddit, to be used at the discretion of the OP, to dedicate certain threads to serious discussion only. This means that jokes and off-topic replies not pertaining to the discussion are subject to removal from these threads.
To mark your thread, put [Serious], in brackets, in the title of your post. This allows for Auto-Mod to recognize it and automatically provide link flair, as well as easily indicate that the thread is to be serious. For non-serious comments in the thread, we ask that you downvote and report the comment that is in violation.
Remember, reporting a comment = is not an 'I disagree' measure, but a measure for keeping the posts on topic and at a high level of discussion. Not every comment will necessitate removal, and not every post will be appropriate for a [Serious] tag(those posts may be removed). It ultimately will have to be determined by the mods, but we aim to enforce it fairly strictly and require help from the community to identify the posts and comments that abuse this feature.
-Original Mod Post, June 28 2013
4 Million Subscribers! (and a reminder about [Serious] threads)
Praising the community, and a couple other talking points.
On the 16th of August, 2013, /r/askreddit logged it's 4 millionth subscriber. Though /r/askreddit is a default, and subscribers are brought to us automatically, it's important to note two things: The system doesn't count subscribers until they amend their subscriptions(they have to add or delete a subreddit, throwaways don't register), and more people are coming/staying than are leaving. Another interesting note is that it took only some 6 months and some change since the last mod post announcing 3 million subscribers. That's some serious growth for the website and the community!
Mods also took the opportunity to remind users about the [Serious] tag for posts, for those who missed it or have subscribed after it happened. The serious post is simply a request for heavier moderation in threads, removing off-topic and joke comments. Not all the threads using a [Serious] tag need to be exceptionally deep or philosphical, simply a thread where a sincere topical discussion is possible and appreciated.
Also in that reminder, we opened the floor to other suggestions about additional post flairs, reminded everyone that these things can be an ongoing discussion at /r/ideasforaskreddit, and also brought up the fact that in the future we may be using Auto-Mod to focus more on certain characteristics common of trolls and removing them from the sub. As /r/askreddit continues to grow, we aim to make it a subreddit where everyone can feel welcome and where discussion is not inhibited from people looking to ruffle a few feathers or just make a mess of things.
-Official Mod Post 16 August 2013
Minor rule tweaks and general rule feedback
As always, the mod group has been trying to work out the best way to improve the subreddit. With a sub of this size and volume, trying to find the right balance of rules can be very tough. However, we've made a couple of very minor tweaks to the rules that we think could help.
Rule two now reads as follows:
Askreddit is for open-ended, discussion-inspiring questions. Questions with a single correct answer do not generate open discussion and will be removed. Any post asking for advice should be generic and not specific to your situation alone.
The reason for the change is
It makes it more clear that we're looking for discussion questions. "How many rolls are in a bakers dozen?" doesn't generate discussion because there's only one correct answer.
We believe that advice posts are an important part of the subreddit. However, we've made considerable effort in the last year to move away from "storytime" posts where the OP's story or own answer is the only reason for the upvotes (Cough, Colby). The question should live or die on its own merit. For that reason and more, advice posts should be limited to general advice and not something overly specific to one person's situation. For example, "How do I tell my boyfriend that I'm pregnant?" would not be allowed because it is specific to one instance and will receive undue attention because of the implications of the story. However, "How do you tell someone that you're pregnant?" is still okay because it's generic and doesn't involve unnecessary information.
Rule six now reads as follows:
Questions seeking professional advice are inappropriate for this subreddit and will be removed. This includes but is not limited to medical, legal, mental health and financial advice. If you think that you need professional support, please contact a professional in your area.
We have had a very strict no legal/medical advice rule for about two years now. For anyone who isn't aware, the reason for this is simple. Any doctor or lawyer with sufficient training to be able to give you advice, would be well trained enough to know that diagnosing or providing legal advice over the internet is a terrible idea. Therefore, the only advice you'll get is from people who don't know what they're talking about.
The change we've made to the rule is to simply make it more broad to cover all professional advice. Getting professional advice over the internet is a bad idea and we don't want to support it in this subreddit. It is impossible to verify the credentials of the user, valuable information is lost when not properly appraising the situation (e.g., describing the sound your car makes instead of hearing it) and there is no accountability from anonymous strangers on the internet.
Please let us know in this post what you think of the new rules. If you think any other rules need an update, please feel free to post that as well since we are always keen for more feedback. Overall, we feel like the subreddit is headed in an incredibly positive direction and we aim to keep making it better for everyone.
-Original Mod Post, October 21 2013
2012
Rule 1, Proper Post Formatting
You must post a clear and direct question, and only the question, in your title.
Any context or clarification should be posted in the text box.
Your own answer to the question should go in the comments as a reply to your own post
Part 1: Clear and direction question, and only the question, in the title- Do not include your answer or other background or contextual information, additional excess or irrelevant parts, or any other bits that might be considered ploys for attention. (This includes the usage of pseudo-tagging posts "Possibly NSFW" or "Maybe NSFW" or the likes. Either your post is and you can tag it, it isn't and you don't need to tag it, or you can leave it out of the title and put it in the text box.)
Part 2: Context in the text box- Do not share your answer here. The text box is for providing further background for the question, context, clarification or setting conditions for the post.
Part 3: OP's answer is to go as a comment reply to the post, so that it may be voted on separately from the actual question being asked.
The purpose of this rule is to allow for users to distinguish between the question and OP's answer for voting purposes. A good question can still rise to the top of the queue even if OP's answer is unpopular, and more importantly, responses to OP's answer can form in a child comment chain off of their submission in the thread, rather than clutter up the rest of the thread and overshadow genuine responses to the question.
revision by sexrockandroll— view source
