r/TrueOffMyChest

People have been telling me that their posts I've been removing actually shouldn't be removed because they are "personalized" and meet the "off my chest" criterion. I'm going to explain this is greater detail with plenty of examples so what type of posts are allowed is more clear for everyone to understand.

Personalized in this case means that what you're posting has to be directly related to you (this would include a close person, such as a family member). And it can't be something that's impacting a large number of people unless it has a specific application to you.

Examples of valid "personal" posts:

"I just found out I owe a bunch of money on my taxes!"

"My parents just found out they owe a bunch in back taxes and might go under! I wish I could help them!"

Examples of "impersonal" posts:

"Taxation is theft!"

"Don't you hate it when you have to pay taxes?"

What is meant by being an "off my chest" style post?

An off my chest style post is you getting something off your chest that's personal in nature (so, both related to you or someone you know quite personally and has a direct impact on you or them that isn't generalized) AND that is a story, situation, hope for the future, or some other type of direct situation.

Note: Opinions, hot takes, asking generalized questions not tied to a valid post, political commentary, talking about things that have nothing to do with you SPECIFICALLY, generalizations, etc. do NOT count as off my chest style posts.

Example of valid off my chest style posting:

"I stubbed my toe and cried today. I feel so humiliated."

"My friend is transitioning and it feels like they're becoming a different person, but I want to support them. It just feels like I'm losing them."

"I lost my job due to [insert cancel culture thing here]."

"My parents hit my kids and I don't want them to ever see or touch them again!"

Examples of invalid off my chest style posts:

"Stubbing toes is the worst thing ever. Does anyone else agree?"

"Transitioning fundamentally alters a person to the point where they aren't even themselves anymore."

"Cancel culture is bullshit!"

"Children should not be hit!"

"As an (insert group here), I feel that (insert opinion here)."

"I like X TV show."

"Does anyone know how to fix a broken headlight?" (we've gotten these before, lol)

"Not ALL men/women..."

"[Insert any commentary on any hot-button topic here.]"

Note: You can give your opinion on a personalized situation, but your whole post can't just be the opinion, and it has to be something that's meaningfully specific. But you cannot stand on a soapbox and preach it.

In some cases, a post may be removed that can be reworded to "fit", but the majority of the time there isn't a way to reword a post to "fit".

I am quite aware that this kills a large portion of what the sub used to allow, but after seeing the types of post that are now front-paging that simply weren't allowed to before due to all the flaming and getting the same hot takes over and over again, I honestly can't help but feel like this was a net positive.

Also, my removal of your post for not following the rules has nothing to do with whether or not I personally agree or disagree with the post. I've removed something from every major category recently. I'm also pretty good about explaining how posts don't fit the criteria if asked on any given specific. This absolutely sucks for me. I've removed over 500 posts in the last 4 days. I hate this, but the benefit to the subreddit is substantial, so I'm going to keep this going as much as I can.

Also, if a post is up that violates these rules, 99/100 times it's because I'm sleeping. I may also make a mistake or another mod might approve a post that was removed by the automod and not my manual flagging.

Picture this: You're soul searching in between jobs, enjoying the single life to discover your inner self and allowing your mother to live above you and all you ask her for in exchange is a daily delivery of dino chicken nuggies and a refreshing bottle of mountain dew. It all sounds perfect, right? So why does it feel like something's missing? Well look no further because we have the solution for you...

Reddit Moderation!

What could more perfectly complement your fulfilling lifestyle than playing internet cop on Reddit? See a post you disagree with? You can delete it! User making valid points and hurting your feelings in modmail? Mute them! Having a bad day? Just ban a random, unsuspecting individual!

**Disclaimer for Mod Code of Conduct purposes: you can't actually do any of this

On to more serious matters,

We are in need of more moderators to help maintain the subreddit. No experience is needed. All we ask is that you have the time, patience and a good sense of humor. Our team will be available to train you and answer any questions you have. Communication is a must and really, why wouldn't you want to talk to us? You'll be placed on a probationary period to start and we fully understand that mistakes will be made and activity may fluctuate. Please note that being selected as a mod does not guarantee you will be a permanent addition. Not everyone is a good fit and that's okay.

So what does moderating actually entail?

• Clearing the queue will be your #1 task. The queue is where you'll see any content that has been reported or our automod has flagged for review. All you have to do is go through it, read the content and decide whether to remove it, approve it and sometimes report or ban a user. The queue fills up fast and needs a lot of attention. Seriously, some of you need to lay off the spam reports.

• Modmail is your next task. It's mostly users asking why their post is missing (automod ate it 99% of the time) and asking that you fix it. We also recieve ban appeals here. If you're lucky, you'll get a death threat every now and then. Hooray! If any modmails are uncomfortable, too personal or upsetting to you, you can delegate it to another mod.

• Sometimes a post will come up that's especially spicy or attracting a lot of attention. When this happens, one of our mods likes to comb through the comments for violations or sit on it to monitor incoming comments for violations. If it gets too much to handle, or someone isn't available, you can lock it.

• Communicating with the team is one of the most important tasks in your role as a moderator. As a team, we discuss moderation actions, rule changes, sub events and the direction of the subreddit. That all sounds very boring but rest assured, there's a lot more casual talk than anything else so feel free to chime in on Beaver's dislike of garlic bread (encouraged), Tim sharing new sanrio drops or my Call of Duty K/D ratio.

• Lastly, let's talk about the meta. Sometimes things need doing on the sub, like this recruitment post I was supposed to make months ago. While the day to day is important, we also need to keep the sub up to date with new features and tools and update it to fit the growing userbase.

If you managed to get through all that, congrats! You made it to the actual app, which is also long and annoying. Here's a tip for applying: there is a short quiz portion to the app. We don't care if you get everything right, we just want to see your line of reasoning and understanding of the rules and subreddit culture.

These apps are open indefinitely, and we will be doing staggered recruitment, so feel free to take your time.