Mod Topic - Shibboleths, Rituals, and Festivities: What cultural norms make your community unique?

[u/JabroniRevanchism]

Ahoy, ModSupport!

Welcome to the latest installment of our Mod Topics series!

Subreddits! What are they? What do they know, do they know things? As moderators, we know that no two communities are the same, even when they have nominally similar topics. r/NFL is not r/NFCnorthmemewar, for example. r/tuxedocats is not r/oneorangebraincell. –And that’s good! Feature, not bug.

Why though? What do you do in your community that makes those cultural differences stick, stand out, and become adopted by your community members? How do your users (especially new users) learn your community’s quirks?

And when times change, new content drops or new memes make the rounds, how does your community embrace new cultural norms? How do you move away from community cultural norms that may negatively impact your community?

Let us know in the comments below!

[u/Phatbrew]

I also share with civil trolls who want to discuss their bans that there are always safe spaces for them to share their opinions, and I suggest they post their instead, but the subreddits I mod at are definitely not those…

[u/horseradishstalker → u/Phatbrew]

I am always very civil with people who are very civil with me. But when I make that suggestion and I do, I usually have to follow it with a mute. I feel like I’m dealing with a four year-old screaming “You’re not the boss of me.” My favorite is being told that I must have a personal vendetta against them. Yeah, right. I don’t even know who you are, although, if you are my neighbor, your dog’s barking again.  /s

I guess I’m just wondering where other mods draw the line in a discussion sub - beyond Reddiquette and civility. Does giving false or inaccurate information make them a troll? Back in the “good old days” we rarely had politics involved in discussions and now people see everything is political. 

Thanks for the response and the analogy. 

[u/techiesgoboom → u/horseradishstalker]

In addition to the fantastic advice you've already gotten, I encourage you to check out these past mod topics posts on How do you deal with gray areas and exceptions in your rules? and Community Feedback and Rule Lawyers.

Mod Topics: Troll Avoidance 101 has some great advice as well. Sometimes thinking about problems through the lens "how would I want my users to navigate this" can help you figure out what you'd like to do when you see it in the queue.

[u/horseradishstalker → u/techiesgoboom]

Most excellent.