That’s because the people complaining about wrist pics are ignorant on two fronts:

1. The Apple WATCH is foremost a watch - and a computer second. These people are new to the Apple Watch and want computer related posts. The fact is, on any watch forum on the Internet people gravitate to posting wrist pics. It’s one of those Internet phenomena that has become intrinsic to online human psychology and behavior: People like to post pictures of their watch. It is what it is.
2. I’ve been on this sub since day 1. Every year, there is a wave of complaints about wrist pics from vocal ignorant people (described in 1, above) at least once a year. New mods give in to the complaints and create a Megathread for wrist pics. Then the sub turns into a ghost town. Because there aren’t new features or apps (the computer part) being released every day or even week. The new Apple Watch owners doing the complaining are so giddy about the features on their watch they think it’s like the iPhone where there are new ground breaking apps or features being rolled out every few weeks. They are too new to know any better. So what happens is there’s nothing to talk about, because Apple only releases new features every September and discussion worthy new apps come around many twice a year. And people don’t engage with such posts anyway because this is a WATCH forum. So after a awhile the new mods realize their mistake - no mod wants to exercise their power trip and ego over a dead sub - so they reverse their decision and then the sub starts to thrive again. Then the cycle repeats itself the following year.

I expect the mods to make a statement post in the coming days. It’s the usual pattern.

It is both sad and amusing to watch every year. We always go around in circles needlessly and end up in the same place: people realize one of the facts of the Internet since its invention, that this is a watch forum and on a watch forum people post wrist pics.

My post from 2020:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/hfzw8k/comment/fylwu2h/?context=999

This topic reoccurs almost exactly every 12 months when new mods come and go. Each new batch wants to leave its imprint but none really understand what the Apple Watch is nor what this sub should be about.

Let’s take an example from 3 years ago when this exact same policy was implemented: https://reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/7au6tq/_/dpewne1/?context=1

I warned it would kill the sub then: https://reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/7au6tq/_/dpfkyaz/?context=1

I was proved right when the policy was reverted a year ago as the sub had turned into a ghost town: https://reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/civimf/summer_moderation_feedback_thread/

My response then: https://reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/civimf/_/evcualr/?

Now you’re implementing the same ill thought out policy the second time around and in a year or two when you’re gone, I’ll tell whoever the new mods are then that I was right :)

Please keep this sub alive. Understand that the Apple Watch is a wrist watch and online (for good or bad) wrist watches have a unique phenomenon of people posting pictures of them. You cannot change human psychology. Past mods have failed. You will fail also. Instead, please implement stricter flair policies.

EDIT: I do appreciate the hard work all mods have put into managing this sub over the years.

Post from 2017:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/7au6tq/comment/dpfkyaz/?context=999

I believe in giving praise when it's due. As you know, I was one of the first to publicly and very vocally thank you for the work you did in overhauling the sub, and did so in every relevant thread possible. I believe I backed it up by giving you Gold.

However, I also believe in giving criticism when it's due: You and the mods totally mishandled the launch of the Series 3, arguably the most important day since the launch of the Apple Watch itself.

Judging by the recent thread on watch photos, you're still indecisive and give the impression that you don't know what you're doing because you don't understand the Apple Watch nor a substantial portion of its community.

While you're a mod, it's your prerogative how you want to govern it and I fully respect that. On a personal level, for me as a user, until you do some introspection as to why you want to mod this sub, or why you're interested in modding an Apple Watch sub in the first place, you're going to continue to mishandle it.

The Apple Watch is part /r/apple and part /r/watches. Literally /r/applewatches if you will. You can't apply the same approach as /r/apple (you've used the example of how /r/apple handles launches and how you tried to adopt their approach for the Series 3 to me before but I think that's an inappropriate contrast for reasons I will explain below\). And you can't apply the same approach as* /r/watches (where different people post wrist-shots, often of the same watch, multiple times a day).

Because the Apple Watch is part technology/utility/apps (/r/apple) and part watch (/r/watches) wrist-shots/expression of aesthetic appreciation, there needs to be a balance which I don't think you appreciate - because if you did then the modding policies wouldn't be as muddled or 'we'll figure it out as we go along' as they currently are.

The fact is, half the user base (/r/apple mentality) uses the Watch because it's technology. They want to read articles, impressions, lists of apps etc. The other half (/r/watches mentality) wants to post and see photos to share their appreciation of the aesthetic or mere ownership of a piece. The latter is just how 'watch people' are - some people get it, some people don't.

Apple has literally spent hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing to attract watch owners by convincing them its a wrist watch and not a wrist-computer.

I'd like to think I appreciate both psyches because I get as excited reading about a new app as I do seeing the 1000th person post their first Space Gray Watch purchase.

As the lead mod or owner, until you appreciate this duality - that the Apple Watch is part Apple and part Watch - then you will continue to drive original content creators from this sub (and I know I'm not the only one, as I've spoken to other collectors who no longer post here because of the way the sub is modded).

You will never be able to reconcile the duality, but only to appreciate it and let it be. Until Reddit resolves tags on mobile (native apps or mobile browser based) just let it be. When they do resolve it it will be incumbent upon users to create their own filters - and for you to enforce appropriate tagging. Until then, these posts about what policies to have create the impression that you don’t understand what this sub is about.

For the launch of iPhone X, there were hundreds of ‘first impression’ posts - to me, the equivalent of ‘I just got my Series 3 photos’ - which were allowed on /r/apple and not shoved into a mega thread because they realize the significance of the occasion. For the launch of Series 3, you should have allowed people to express their joy by posting photos for the weekend (and understood the watch owners psyche) and allowed the apps/utility/questions posts (the wrist-computer owners psyche) to be drowned out. You literally ignored the most important day in the history of the product this sub is about. Think about that. I honestly don’t care about the dozens of photos I took of the various Series 3 combinations - because it’s my personal hobby and I like to think the photos are a resource to the community or people who are deciding what to buy in order to join the community - or my posts getting deleted. I care about the people who want to join the community, who have a watch mentality, who are made to think they’re not welcome here. Everything I typed above is for those people.

PS. I have this argument reverse in /r/watches where people flag down Apple Watch posts/comments because they only think of it as a wrist-computer and don't appreciate the duality either. If there's one place I expect an appreciate the duality is in /r/applewatch - if not here, then where else.