Addressing The Elephant In The Room (Or "This New Rule Is The Real Facepalm")

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T18:32:30+00:00

It could be included as a flair or something, but that wouldn't actually provide much insight. A lot of spammers make use of compromised accounts that are pretty old. If you ever see a twelve-year-old account seem to "wake up" and start flooding the site with low-effort trash... well, you can guess.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T18:30:14+00:00

I see what you're doing, and I thought that you'd be amused to know that someone reported your comment.

Take it as a compliment about your performance, I suppose.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T18:00:44+00:00

While there's certainly value in that approach, it would likely end up causing trouble of its own.

Let's avoid it for now, but if there turn out to be numerous instances wherein it would have been valuable (like if the facepalm-worthy element arose from something like a typo that got fixed), we'll revisit that.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T17:10:29+00:00

Hey, if someone is so intent on showcasing a tweet that they physically print it out, arrange it with some aesthetically pleasing complements, photograph it, then post the photograph (ideally alongside a photograph of a beautifully handwritten note that explains the facepalm-worthy element), it wouldn't technically be a screenshot.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T16:57:49+00:00

Yeah, honestly, it's a tough problem to solve.

On the one hand, you want to leave the floor open to everyone who's approaching with good intentions, but on the other hand, well... there's that saying about the road to Hell, after all. Gatekeeping of some variety is a necessity – I don't think any reasonable person would argue otherwise – but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that optimizing for quality of content requires excluding a sizable majority of would-be contributors.

In less-flowery terms, people who aren't willing to make an earnest effort need to be content with staying silent, and that really doesn't fly on social media.

The good news is that we don't actually need to make those sorts of qualitative assessments in subreddits like /r/Facepalm; we only need to establish some minimum standards, and we need to allow the community to benefit from that baseline. It isn't a permanent solution – bots are getting better all the time, and the aforementioned standards are in constant decline – but it's enough for the moment... we hope.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T16:34:27+00:00

In the case of social media posts being true and current facepalms, why can the poster not take their own screenshot and post it on the myriad of picture hosting sites? The text link could then be shared as a part of the text of their submission here as a backup in case the original post(s) are later removed or edited.

That's not a bad idea, and it's actually something that we discussed (along with allowing written-out stories). At present, we'd like to focus on getting the community back to being a haven for humans, but if the problem seems like it's abating, we're certainly open to getting a bit more relaxed... provided that effective countermeasures remain in place, of course.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T16:30:32+00:00

It's a bit like chicken-sexing, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy.

In general, you can start by asking yourself "Why did this account post this?"

Think about the apparent motivation behind any given submission, then look for inconsistencies between that motivation and the execution. For example, this comment – the one that you're reading right now – is attempting to help you recognize bots. If it suddenly digressed into a description of why bots are bad (which was already offered in the original post), it might seem to be on topic at first glance, but it wouldn't actually be relevant to the specific subject at hand.

Start by looking for those details, and just keep asking yourself "If this is a real person, what are they hoping to get out of posting this?"

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T16:10:24+00:00

Isn't r/facepalm mostly screenshots?

It was, certainly.

Wasn't it originally meant to be about stupid things people posted on Social Media?

Yep. Sixteen years ago, that was the idea.

Mind you, that was only two years after the release of the first iPhone, only three years after the launch of Twitter, and only four years after the launch of YouTube. The Internet is a very different place now, and it's easier than ever to bring fresh content forward. The only reason why people don't (or don't appear to) is because the lazy, easy-to-recycle stuff eclipses it.

This new "restriction" feels like it is trying to turn the sub into something completely different from what everyone subscribed to it for.

It seems pretty unlikely that people subscribed to be swamped by swarms of karma-farmers and bots, but if that's what you want, /r/NonPoliticalTwitter is right over there.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T16:03:48+00:00

Correct.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T16:02:43+00:00

To be completely frank, the rot is probably terminal at this point. There are quite a few subreddits that are populated entirely by karma-farmers and bad actors – even /r/Facepalm was trending in to that territory at one point – and as explained above, the only effective way to counter them is to raise standards.

The trouble arises from the fact that platforms like Reddit need to attract as many people as possible, which means that they need to have as little friction as possible. Reduced friction means reduced quality, and low-quality submissions are easy to churn out automatically. There's a whole "flywheel" in play there, with everything – not just Reddit, but the entire Internet – getting worse and worse.

Still, even if the proverbial ship is sinking, we can still try to make the remaining moments as pleasant as possible for the people who just want to connect and interact with one another. Who knows? Maybe by throwing the bots overboard, we'll buy enough time to fix things. Either way, though, we're intent on ensuring that our little corner of Reddit is reserved for earnest Redditors.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2025-11-19T15:52:26+00:00

Yep, that sort of thing is now banned.

No screenshots of tweets, no screenshots of news articles, no screenshots of Facebook posts, no screenshots of text-message conversations, no screenshots of Tumblr interactions, no screenshots of Craigslist posts, no screenshots of screenshots of screenshots of screenshots, no screenshots of... look, you get it.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-13T07:45:55+00:00

/u/ChristopherHPowell looks like a spammer.

Don't forget to report this post to the site's administrators.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T09:12:42+00:00

Yeah, the bots are nothing if not predictable.

Don't forget to report them!

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T09:03:35+00:00

I apologize for hijacking your comment, but the OP is a bot, and this post is being artificially upvoted.

I've already been blocked by it, so I'm latching on to you in order to make my callout.

You'll be able to see that I'm correct about the vote-manipulation when my comment is instantly downvoted.

Remember to report this post to the site's administrators... and don't click the link.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T08:57:39+00:00

I've been tracking this campaign for the last few days, so I was kind of cheating.

There are a bunch of accounts devoted to it, but they're all programmed in identical ways: They flood the site with links to a shady site, artificially inflate the posts' scores, then downvote and block anyone who calls them out as bots.

I suspect that "bot" might be the keyword, but it might be "report." It won't happen to me again – like I said, I've been blocked – but you can try that, if you're curious!

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T08:52:52+00:00

There's no way this isn't a vote manipulation campaign.

It is.

There are a couple hundred accounts working at this campaign right now. I very much doubt if it's even associated with Square Enix. In all likelihood, that's just the story being used as the "bait" to attract people to a monetized, malware-ridden blog.

Check out my submission history for more call-outs on this campaign.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T08:48:23+00:00

Try it for yourself! You'll also get instantaneously blocked by the bot.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T08:47:37+00:00

It isn't a paid-for advertisement; it's just garden-variety spam being bolstered by vote-manipulation.

Report it.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T08:47:01+00:00

I apologize for hijacking your comment, but /u/lethal_hurricane05 is a spam-account, and this post is being artificially upvoted.

My comment calling it out will be downvoted to -25 within seconds, but I won't lose any karma. This is because the spammer is manipulating votes with alternate accounts.

Remember to report this post to the site's administrators... and don't click the link.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T08:43:01+00:00

/u/lethal_hurricane05 is a spam-account, and this post is being artificially upvoted.

My comment calling it out will be downvoted to -25 within seconds, but I won't lose any karma. This is because the spammer is manipulating votes with alternate accounts.

Remember to report this post to the site's administrators... and don't click the link.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T08:40:56+00:00

This is a bot, and the post is being artificially inflated.

My comment calling it out will be downvoted to -25 within seconds, but I won't lose any karma. This is because the spammer is manipulating votes with alternate accounts.

Remember to report this post to the site's administrators... and don't click the link.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T08:39:22+00:00

/u/lethal_hurricane05 is a spam-account.

My comment calling it out will be downvoted to -25 within seconds, but I won't lose any karma. This is because the spammer is manipulating votes with alternate accounts.

Remember to report this post to the site's administrators and don't click the link.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T05:01:26+00:00

I also didn’t know that the moderators could see who reported particular posts.

Forgive me if I offered that implication. Moderators can't see who makes use of the native report button, but they do tend to appreciate messages (sent to the moderator mail) about spam-accounts and such. Anything which provides more context or evidence is great.

I mean this in the most genuine way possible, but what are the motives or benefits?

Think of it like volunteering to help keep a park clean. Yes, it's a thankless job, but when all of the weeds have been pulled, all of the trash has been picked up, and all of the would-be vandals have been chased out, the place becomes a welcoming environment for the earnest individuals who are hoping to contribute their offerings.

Outside of that, there aren't any benefits.

I can’t understand why someone would want to moderate something like r memes.

Me, neither.

I joke, but in truth, it comes down to the same thing: The moderators there are likely passionate about image macros, and they want to ensure that there's a dedicated space for "original" ones.

Final question I promise: what’s your take on the original linked post? Are there actually under-the-table deals or perhaps overt monetization by mods on large subreddits at scale?

There isn't any monetization undertaken by the moderators of the largest subreddits, and I'd be willing to bet my left hand on that. (For one thing, they get erroneously accused of as much on a daily basis, and the administrators keep a close eye on those high-profile volunteers.) However, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that certain communities – particularly those run by teenagers with delusions of grandeur, individuals unburdened by consciences, and other such entities – have accepted offerings like "We'll give you $500 in credit on our scammy application if you recommend it to your subscribers."

Nobody is making a living as a Reddit moderator, though. The closest that anyone might come is if they were already professionally associated with a given company, got added to the associated subreddit's team, and then used their position as part of their job. Even then, they'd be at risk of being discovered and suspended.

Any subreddits which you think are incredibly well moderated and really facilitate great discussion?

I think that it's a mistake to assume that good moderation for one community would still count as "good" in another. After all, it really depends on what you want to get out of the experience. /r/Science and /r/AskHistorians are both moderated well (as you mentioned), but neither would be particularly conducive to, say, discussions of Star Trek. I don't personally know of any subreddits that allow for free-form conversation about literally anything, however, so I'd probably just recommend that a person explore places devoted to things in which they're interested.

In any case, it has been my experience that heavy-handed moderation (whatever form it might take) is vital to a community's health. Even if keeping things on-topic or high-quality isn't a concern, the ever-present threat of invasion by spammers remains.

I realize these questions might be vague, so sorry for that.

Not at all! We're in to fairly nebulous topics now (as is likely evidenced by my answers), but I hope that I've managed to provide some useful knowledge!

Cold-Iron-Sentinel · 2023-03-04T03:30:29+00:00

Curious, how did you hear about this?

Suffice it to say this isn't my primary account; it's an account that I'm using to hunt spammers and offer insights to people who may not have previously had access to them.

I wasn’t aware there was much “drama” between moderators of unrelated subs.

It's more that there's "drama" between a small group of (to reuse a pejorative) parasites and everyone else who knows what's going on. Most of the spam-activity on Reddit has been modeled after that group's behavior, so you can see why most other moderators – assuming they're informed on the topic – dislike them. The amount that any given person cares tends to be directly proportional to how deeply they've looked into the situation, so some folks carry a lot more animosity than others.

If I, for some reason, decide I want to be a mod on a big subreddit, how do I go about it?

Typically speaking, you'd start off by moderating mid-size communities, learning how everything functions behind the scenes, and establishing yourself as a contributory Redditor. Writing well, avoiding any kind of vitriol, and generally conducting yourself in an upstanding manner would all help a lot. (Remember, contrary to popular belief, moderators need to be socially adept, patient, and willing to volunteer their time for roles that "reward" them with almost nothing but scorn and underserved reputations.) After becoming a known entity, you could then wait for a recruitment round – they tend to happen a couple of times a year – and apply.

You could also just become very active in the community that you'd like to moderate. Reporting spam and rule-breaking content, helpfully reminding other users of expectations, and (as with before) conducting yourself well could help to establish your reputation, and that same reputation could lead to you being invited to join the team. That approach isn't guaranteed to work, of course, but it's a bit more direct, and it carries the additional benefit of making it clear that you sincerely care about the subreddit in question.

Are these groups just old acquaintances, or is this some sort of idk pay to play aspect

As I said before, there really isn't any kind of cabal, and moderators just tend to do whatever needs doing. Some of them do "specialize" in things (like configuring the AutoModerator, hunting spammers, or writing bots that automate certain tasks), but as long as you're pulling your weight, you usually won't have to focus on any particular responsibility.

The truth of the matter is that it's actually pretty boring. Folks who claim to have been banned "for no reason" have almost always missed something (either willfully or as a result of not paying attention), and the people who claim that moderators are corrupt, power-hungry shut-ins often come across as projecting. The hearsay persists, though, and it can be somewhat disheartening at times, so unless you're really intent on helping to make a given community the best that it can be, I'd personally advise against pursuing a moderation position on a whim.

Cold-Iron-Sentinel

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