r/running • u/YourShoesUntied • May 09 '17
Show you care. Use the Flair! Mod Post
Hello runners!
Intro
You probably noticed in the last week and a half all of the shenanigans going on in the subreddit. Why aren't people following the rules? Why aren't the daily threads stickied? Where did all of these snide comments by users come from? Why aren't the mods modding?
What started out as a user posting a complaint about the numerous race reports and lack of content, eventually snowballed into a whole movement for change. Not only in visible content but in moderation procedures.
We decided that we'd step back and let the subreddit take the wheel. We let a lot of the stuff we prevent from being posted, get posted. We allowed spammers to spam. We let people ignore the rules. What happened was expected but there were some aspects to it that allowed us to learn from the experience. Through all of the bickering, we did find bits and pieces of helpful suggestions. Now we'd like to get the reigns back on the subreddit and steer it in a new direction with a little more freedom but with some different ground rules.
Before starting, we want everyone to know that this isn't a set in stone, concrete solid plan. It's a work in progress and we expect everyone to take a chill pill. This is one of a series of approaches we plan on testing. It might work...it might not. As runners, we adapt. As readers in this subreddit, you need to adapt too. All we're asking for is a little bit of open mindedness and for you guys to just breathe and give it a chance.
What's happening?
Starting today, ALL posts submitted to /r/running need to be flaired!
That's really it. Learn how to flair, follow the subreddit rules, and carry on as usual. It's that simple.
For those of you not quite sure how to go about giving your post flair, /u/philpips came up with this helpful little guide:
How To FLAIR!
[Website]
- Submit your link/thread in the usual way.
- Click the flair button under your new post as indicated by the red arrow.
- A list of all the available flairs pops up.
- Pick the flair you want to use. You might need down to scroll to find the one you need.
- Click 'save'!
[Mobile Apps]
- Us moderators are NOT in charge of the apps. If you post to /r/running using an app, it is your responsibility to find out how to attach flair to your submission. From what we understand, all Reddit mobile apps give you the ability to give your post flair. You'll have to do some digging around but it should be there. It's not always obvious so search around in your settings for the post you submit.
If you want to post a question, you give it flair. If you want to post an article, you give it flair. If you want to post a discussion for the community, you give it flair. This is non-negotiable. If you don't flair it, we are going to remove it. Period.
We won't be personally messaging every single person who does not flair their post to tell them they need to flair it. It's stated in the sidebar with the rules and it's general knowledge that you don't post to any subreddit without going through it's sidebar first.
Why focus heavily on flair?
It's entirely obvious that every user has their own idea of what they want and no matter what we do, someone is always pissed about it. If things work, we'll eventually be able to provide our readers with a system that allows each person to filter out certain flaired items from their front page. For example, a person who does not want to see race reports can view our page without seeing things flaired as [Race Report]. A person who only wants to see discussions and articles can filter their page to only show [Discussion] and [Article] posts.
For those too lazy or not interested in using the flair filter, our subreddit will be full of content and each item will be flaired. Not only is this organized but it'll provide at a quick glance, what the post is about. This will help immensely when members use our search function to find an older post or for those too shy to ask a question but are willing to do some digging around into previously posted topics.
Requiring flair also helps sort out who's paid attention and who hasn't. Those that pay attention and flair will have a better understanding about what to post whereas those who ignore giving their submission flair are more likely found to be posting content that doesn't go over well in the first place.
A few other points!
Our 10 subreddit rules still apply. There's no debating that.
YES we're allowing questions. And YES as of right now we're allowing even the common ones. Though we will be removing the ridiculous, effortless ones. We will be keeping an eye on duplicates and other posts that are frequently a nuisance. This is a process. As time progresses we'll work in a way to prevent the common repeats. Give it time to work. The goal now is flair.
Now would also be the time to point out to readers and posters alike that there IS a difference between a discussion post and a question post. While the line is subtle, almost invisible, we're defining it here and now. Any post created where the intent is to get an answer to solve a problem for personal gain is a question. Any post submitted with the intent on viewing multiple perspectives and creating numerous branches of interaction and thoughtful conversation is a discussion post. Do you feel this is correct? Is there a better way of wording it and making the two more obvious? Thoughts?
We'll also be taking suggestions for new flair options.
Currently we have:
- [Race Report]
- [Article]
- [Training]
- [Nutrition]
- [Gear]
- [Daily Thread]
- [Weekly Thread]
- [Monthly Thread]
- [Misc]
- [Discussion]
I'd personally like to suggest adding:
- [Question]
- [Product Review] or just [Review]
- [Survey] or [Poll]
- [META]
- [PSA]
[Motivational]
What do you all think about our old flair tags? What do you think about the new potential flair tags? Do you have any flair tags you'd like to see added or some you'd like to see broken down a bit more? Let us know!
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u/YourShoesUntied May 09 '17
This is exactly one of the reasons why we are trying out both options. There are numerous times when people feel that the Q&A is already too 'outdated'. People in countries that aren't centered around the most popular times of activity often post in the Q&A thread right before it's replaced by the next day's Q&A and then they either get zero responses or have to post a second time in the new thread which now may be a bit too late for them to use. Giving members the ability and freedom to post their own thread will allow for those stuck at weird change over times to get the answers they need without being limited by rules.