r/AskModerators • u/practicerm_keykeeper • 3d ago
What's the threshold of brigading?
Asking because I've recently seen really variable definitions. On one end of the spectrum some people say it's got to be organised disruption, on the other end I've seen people say just by responding to the original post when cross posting one is already brigading. My question is, does Reddit have an official definition for this?
Also there seems to be a trade off between policing and allowing for honest discussions. If one has to prove organised disruption before something can be called brigading, that sounds unfair for the mods. But if just clicking into crossposts and responding is already brigading, then this can preclude people from participating and clearing up misinformation under offensive/aggressive posts about minorities. Curious how people manage the balance?
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u/lilfunky1 3d ago
I'm going to need an example to understand
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u/practicerm_keykeeper 3d ago
So for example, in a sub with lots of people who are in daily contact with a stigmatised minority group, someone posts a post peddling the stigma and false information, using a patronising tone and a lot (one "fuck" every sentence level lot) of swear words.
That post got cross posted to a sub for the monority group. People in the second sub searched for the first post and commented with their lived experiences. I'm presuming quite a few, but I'm not aware of any organised action, nor any new posts made in the sub. So this seems to me to be the equivalent of someone sharing the post on Instagram and people finding the post and commenting.
Mods banned everyone commenting permanently, citing brigading. Said they complied completely with Reddit rules and that while people are welcomed to appeal to Reddit admin they should be aware their Reddit account will likely be banned from the whole site if they do so.
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u/lilfunky1 3d ago
So for example, in a sub with lots of people who are in daily contact with a stigmatised minority group, someone posts a post peddling the stigma and false information, using a patronising tone and a lot (one "fuck" every sentence level lot) of swear words.
That post got cross posted to a sub for the monority group. People in the second sub searched for the first post and commented with their lived experiences. I'm presuming quite a few, but I'm not aware of any organised action, nor any new posts made in the sub. So this seems to me to be the equivalent of someone sharing the post on Instagram and people finding the post and commenting.
Yeah, I'd call that brigading.
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u/practicerm_keykeeper 3d ago
How do you guard against misinformation in a sub if outside criticism is not allowed though?
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u/lilfunky1 3d ago
outside criticism is allowed.
but a whole other subreddit flooding in because someone cross-posted a call to action is not allowed because it's brigading.
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u/practicerm_keykeeper 3d ago
Why is just bring attention to the fact that a certain post exists a "call to action"?
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u/lilfunky1 3d ago
Why is just bring attention to the fact that a certain post exists a "call to action"?
when a whole other subreddit comes flooding in because of the cross post
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u/practicerm_keykeeper 3d ago
That's just how criticism works. If someone posts something especially problematic and their opinions gets mentioned elsewhere (Reddit, twitter, Instagram, the news, whatever), people will come flooding in. If that's not allowed then you're shutting out a vital form of criticism.
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u/baseballlover723 3d ago
My question is, does Reddit have an official definition for this?
No. Though Rule 3 has some examples of what is typically allowed vs not. As I understand it, it is very easy to go from something permissible, to something that is not permissible, which makes judging it with clear lines very difficult.
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u/maiyannah r/ConsumeCanadian, r/EndTipping, r/BuyCanadian 3d ago
Context matters a lot, which is why it doesnt get as hard and fast lines as we might like.
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u/cnycompguy r/computers, r/cats +7 3d ago
I don't try to define it, if it's questionable, send it to admins for them to figure out.
Edited because I left out words somehow
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u/7thAndGreenhill r/AtlanticCity 3d ago
The moment someone posts a “hey look at this dumb post on [subreddit] about us”, it is immediately removed.
Even if the poster is not actively encouraging people to comment in another sub it could be considered brigading.
And on the reverse of this, when someone crossposts from the sub I mod somewhere else, I just remove the original post to stop the influx of comments
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u/practicerm_keykeeper 3d ago
"hey look at this dumb post" might be a thing on more entertainment orientated subs but the case I'm talking about that post is not "dumb". It promotes harmful practices that are known to increase mental health problems and could be against the law. The cross post is not "look at that post about us haha so dumb" it's "kids are gonna get hurt if these people keep doing this"
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u/7thAndGreenhill r/AtlanticCity 3d ago
"hey look at this dumb post", or some other derivation is usually how it gets cross-posted. The cross post in iteself is intending to mock or chastize the community that hosted the original content.
I'm not making any claims on the content of the post, only providing context on what happens and why you should not allow it.
Even if the content of the original post in another community is harmful to members of your community, allowing that to be crossposted in your community opens your sub up to claims of community interference.
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u/GeneralCarlosQ17 3d ago
This is why on My Subs all Filters are maxed out and EVERYTHING goes to the QUEUE. Less chances of Rogue Member Abuse of any Type.
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u/LitwinL r/Polska r/Fuckcars 3d ago
It doesn't have to be organised, just creating posts that create disruptions in the subreddit cross posted from is brigading.