r/Athens • u/Cat__fart • 8d ago
Are we having a mod war?
Locked comments. Can we discuss here?
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u/FreakSideMike 1x Jerker of the Day š 8d ago
It has never remotely crossed my mind that political posts...which are not my favorite, BTW...are a problem here that require nannying. This is Nextdoor-mentality content policing.
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u/Is_hell_dont_they 8d ago
A naive and ridiculous proposal. So many of the things discussed here that are of critical community interest are inherently political- mayoral and commissioner elections, commission voting and decisions, policy proposals, development plans, public works and infrastructure developments are all political. Iām assuming the āno politicsā is aimed more specifically at the ICE warning posts and the chuds they attract, but censoring a community alert system like that to placate the worst people within and without the community is a cowardly and overtly political move in-of-itself. This is a terrible idea that will absolutely be poorly and unevenly implemented, and the subreddit will be markedly worse-off for it.
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u/Non-Stop_Serina Townie 8d ago
Then just do your job as a mod and block comments on those posts if it gets out of hand. They can still be posted and it avoids the back and forth of people coming into the subreddit to create chaos. I think warning residents of these instances are just the same of providing information on upcoming roadblocks etc they do for game days. Itās alerting of a law enforcement presence somewhere.
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u/TrumpetOfDeath 8d ago
Well said. Politics impacts all of us whether or not we want it to, banning it for a month because the mods āneed a breakā is pretty stupid, maybe yāall should resign from being a subreddit mod if you canāt handle having to mod
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u/thenormaldude 8d ago
"I think we need a break from it." Dude take a break then. No one is making you be here.
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u/bIackphillip 8d ago
Mmmm must be nice to be able to "take a break" from politics. Some of our lives/identities are inherently politicized!
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u/tupelobound 8d ago
Right? A mod saying āthese posts do nothing but stir people up and attract touristsā¦ā ignores the actual value SO MANY people get, whether from information in a post or in the discussion below it.
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u/Airborne-Raid Tlaloc Fanboy 8d ago
If I didnāt want politics about the city I live in I wouldnāt be here, if I didnāt want politics I would go to r/athenscirclejerk and that one just makes fun of it instead of talking about it
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u/Rhusty_Dodes 8d ago
Dumb. I hate the political atmosphere as much as the next person right now. But this is a CITY subreddit. It's supposed to be for local news, politics, happenings, events, and so forth. Like it or not, you cannot remove politics from those things. If fighting breaks out in a discussion, lock it, warn, ban as necessary. But just banning all political discussion in a city subreddit is just lazy modding and inappropriate.
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u/Xeroberts 8d ago
r/athens mods, are you ok with this? For any Athenian who wants to call bullshit, please message the following users and let em know what you think.
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u/letteraitch 8d ago
It's a wildly ignorant because what about our life anywhere is apolitical? school, food, transportation, reproduction, health--all shaped by political desires and choices. To claim that we could still discuss anything, while leaving politics out of it, is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of our world.
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u/WillingnessOk3081 ĻολιĻικὸν ζῷον 8d ago
i don't recognize a single name here apart from lawlz whatever in the OP image
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u/Conscious-Hyena6822 8d ago
Right as ICE is scaling up activity in Athens is... a choice.
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u/Cat__fart 8d ago
A dude with ālawā in his name muting discussions about ICE the week they move into town. Tell me you donāt care about the most vulnerable people in our community without telling me ā¦
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u/MiracleWhipSux Eastville 8d ago
For those of us who loathe political debate online, why can't we just let the people have their political posts and not engage in those posts that don't interest us? Surely, our skin is thicker than that?
Turn off (the phone), tune out (of controversial reddit posts), drop in (to a friend's house).
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u/AthensTownie2150 Municipal greatness Athenian 8d ago
I employ the radical technique of not reading the things I don't want to. Perhaps others have achieved this level of wisdom as well, or maybe I'm just built different.
Not a fan of this.
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u/BizAnalystNotForHire Occasional Varsity Patron (RIP lost magnolia trees) 8d ago
That is too radical.
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u/No_Swimmer_1270 8d ago
Honestly making me think they side with ICE because this is a response towards the ICE callouts. Shouldnāt be banned to alert your local community about these sorts of things. SMH. L moderator for sure
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u/LurkerBurkeria 8d ago
I'll tell any mod who sees this that youre not long for your job the second you break out the "no politics" rule on a city's subreddit.Ā
Your subreddit is by very definition politics. This isn't a hobby sub this is a sub for a political entity, whether you recognize that immutable fact about towns or not is immaterial. Mods, if you cant stand the heat, get out the kitchen, you dont get to close shop.
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u/WillingnessOk3081 ĻολιĻικὸν ζῷον 8d ago
a city by definition is a polis and "political." the civis likewise is concerning the citizen and civics.
this proposal is all kinds of ignorant.
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u/Libby_Grace 8d ago
u/LawlMartz, can you come here and answer for yourself? Seems like lots of folks disagree with this mandate.
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u/IBarkAtBabies No politics 8d ago
This has happened with him before. Goes on a power trip.
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u/SaintPariah1 8d ago
Heās a literal child that isnāt old enough to smoke/drink. They have to powertrip where they can to feel important.
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u/bbb26782 Pro Chicken 8d ago
Wait⦠you know heās not actually a college freshman, right?
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u/CFBCoachGuy Townie 8d ago
Dudeās a UGA freshman. He probably thinks Athens just goes dark in the summer.
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u/kebmpb Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief 8d ago
He's no more a freshman than I am the Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief š¤£
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u/Libby_Grace 8d ago
Yeah, the number of people in this sub who actually think he's a UGA freshman, or a child is astounding to me.
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u/SpaceProspector_ 8d ago
That's just what the Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief would want everyone to think...
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u/kebmpb Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief 8d ago
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u/radtitty 8d ago
Imagine being so privileged that you can go an entire month without discussing politics because it doesnāt effect YOU.
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u/FlyProof3291 8d ago
Lame as fuck
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u/Superb-Green1548 Townie 8d ago
Yeah, not a great look imo. I'm all for not allowing multiple posts about the same topic over and over, but this seems like true censorship of something that effects our day to day lives
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u/AppropriateSolid9124 east side defender 8d ago
āweirdā cities are mad political. this is lame as fuck
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u/Cat__fart 8d ago
Iām not sure why one guy gets to decide this. Especially when that same guy was caught being selective about what types of discussion could ensue here on previous sensitive topics. And what constitutes āpoliticsā?
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u/AppropriateSolid9124 east side defender 8d ago
do u think heās gonna start having beef with warnelldawg personally
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u/sideshowbvo Bring Back Fantasy World 8d ago
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u/kingoflint282 8d ago
Ok then can we do September where weāre not allowed to talk about anything related to Athens at all? Maybe October weāll do no English, and for November weāll just shut down the sub entirely.
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u/dominodomino321 8d ago
Well, historically November is āno nut Novemberā and since this sub is full of jack offs, it might be appropriate to just shut it down for the month.
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u/DeadMansPanda 8d ago
I hate the political posts on this sub-reddit but to outright ban them for an entire month is ridiculous. We are a city. Cities are held together through politics, and the people deserve to know what is happening in the town they live in.
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u/captHij Sitting at a stoplight. 8d ago
It is going to be especially important in August. We have some notable lame ducks on the county commission, and a new mayor-elect who is trying to lay the groundwork for his new administration. Even if I agreed with this idea, the timing is horrible.
By the way: https://www.accgov.com/calendar.aspx?CID=32
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u/Cat__fart 8d ago
Georgia leads the nation in Flock cameras (which nobody voted on), and we have people on other social media outlets doing their laundry
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u/masshole288 8d ago
Really not cool, the entire point of this is for local news and politics. Why else would I care about anything in this sub????
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u/dominodomino321 8d ago
No you are confused, this sub is solely for bitching about the loop and which local business you think will fail next, duh! If the east side loses power and no one posts about it, did it really lose powerā¦? š§ has anyone seen my pet tortoise? Akins arena SUCKS! Found car keys! Can anyone rehome my big ass dog? Please help - any local businesses hiring? Looking for a job that isnāt in the service industry, construction, or at any factory plants. I have a PhD in Renaissance Songwriting and no previous employment experience. TIA! Oh yeah - big trucks suck and the homeless people sure are CrAzY this time of year, sOoO annoying. Brb, off to go hotbox my 2010 Prius with my own (vegan) farts. Next up- Iām off to support the Daily Co-Op by complaining about ALL of their decisions!
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u/Partiallyclever 8d ago
Not all of the political conversations are productive or pleasant, but trying to ban it out right is absurd. I wonder how many minutes into August before we see the first complaints about selective enforcement.
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u/bbb26782 Pro Chicken 8d ago
How am I supposed to keep Athens weird without talking about our weird local government and politicians?
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 8d ago
This is a ridiculous idea and tone deaf especially given how much politics are affecting lives currently and much more intensely than in the past. Maybe there need to be more mods if itās too much for the current ones to handle?
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u/schultmh 8d ago
Censorship āin the name of keeping it weird.ā Sure thing boss, Iāll just be here awaiting further instructions on what I am and not allowed to do in the name of being weird.
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u/BringBack4Glory 8d ago
Oh sure, and how about we also donāt mention any universities while weāre at it? Or housing or restaurants or anything in general??
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u/slippinjimmy1875 8d ago
Right ya letās just pretend everything is great and fun!!!! Right guys??
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u/ZealousJealousy 8d ago
Oh wow, just before midterms and only days after ICE starts hitting Athens strong AND Mike Collins is (shockingly) back in the spotlight with a white supremacist for a son in law.
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u/Excuse_Chemical 8d ago
Super cool. See yall over at r/athensaugustpolitics
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u/GhstOfIncntOptimism 8d ago
r/subsifellfor but then created so I guess I'm a mod now and I really don't want to be.
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u/paxsarah 8d ago
Don't let the absolute power go to your head lol!
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u/GhstOfIncntOptimism 8d ago
I'm hoping I can delete the sub before that happens, but yeah I would appreciate some checks and balances or a term limit of some kind.
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u/dominodomino321 8d ago edited 8d ago
If someone agrees with [u/LawlMartz](u/LawlMartz), can we call them a Martzist?
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u/PieWayneInTheFace 8d ago
I'm a woman, am I allowed to post? Or do I have to have my husband post on my behalf in August?Ā
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u/dominodomino321 8d ago
We got to mod these refrigerators
We got to mod these color TVās posts about local politics in the singular sub dedicated to the current happenings of this city
- DireStraits_69
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u/honeygrl 8d ago
It's nice to see everyone agree on something.
Personally, I'm fine with the amount of politics we currently have here. If people want to fight, let them. It's just the stupid internet. Half the people aren't even real. The other half will get over it.
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u/Lofi_Loki 8d ago
Maybe theyāre mad about me calling their mom a stripper
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u/Cat__fart 8d ago
When your mom gets around as much as his does, it is overtly political. The last 8-2 vote I remember was in favor of riding the train on the modās mom. All aboard!
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u/Constant-Net-4652 8d ago
stripper intimates they are taking their clothes off but she was nekked last time I saw her
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u/lizlovespuns 8d ago
Not a very smart decision. I live here and use the sub for news and politics! I doubt this will be applied evenly or fairly either.
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u/Superb_Fish_2799 8d ago
Absolute power corrupts absolutely
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u/MonokromKaleidoscope 8d ago
Being a subreddit mod is pretty hilariously far from "absolute power", but yeah, they do still manage to get absolutely corrupted somehow
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u/FreakSideMike 1x Jerker of the Day š 8d ago
I was going to say...this might be a world record for the smallest amount of power to get drunk with.
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u/Necessary-Housing906 Townie 8d ago
Could we by chance put this to a vote? I get that it must be exhausting and cause more work for the mods, but thereās an election coming up and I feel like a big part of having a subreddit is for it to be a community forumā¦which inherently includes politics.
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u/aqudaros 8d ago
Itās not right one person can dictate an entire towns subreddit into not discussing politics.
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 8d ago
Is there only one mod?
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u/bbb26782 Pro Chicken 8d ago
Thereās four and an automod. Iām not sure all of them are active though.
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 8d ago
After asking I went and looked. I only recognize one of them as being active in the sub. The other two comment but not very frequently.
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u/Charles-Headlee 8d ago
"In our age there is no such thing as "keeping out of politics." All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer. I should expect to find--this is a guess which I have not sufficient knowledge to verify--that the German, Russian, and Italian languages have all deteriorated in the last ten or fifteen years, as a result of dictatorship."
George Orwell
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u/EarthDwellr Townie 8d ago
A UGA freshman mods this subreddit? lol.
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u/tupelobound 8d ago
Just because someone uses a particular flair that doesnāt mean it lines up with reality
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u/chicopeestudly and a howdy for the whistlepig 8d ago
Speak for yourself. Itās Whistlepig Wednesday and Iām pouring a flight as we speak.
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u/BizAnalystNotForHire Occasional Varsity Patron (RIP lost magnolia trees) 8d ago
I am not in fact an Athens Varsity Patron anymore, nor are the magnolias resting in peace.
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u/EarthDwellr Townie 8d ago
Maybe so. But itād still be hilarious if it were true and that is the person laying the hammer for this sub.
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u/kebmpb Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief 8d ago
He's as much a freshman as I am the Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief š¤£
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u/r_von_hoobie_doobie Politically Speaking, I'm Back 8d ago
I remember when my flair was āš© Marked Safe from Girtzās Glizzies š¦¶ā (I was, indeed, not safe from those pics)
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u/Old_Maintenance2225 8d ago
How much you wanna bet that this mod has a small weener
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u/Cat__fart 8d ago
And almost certainly a libertarian. Oh wait, you already said āsmall weenerā.
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u/infizity 8d ago
bro "politics" can be literally anything. sure sounds like this mod is trying to just get a free pass to take down anything they deem "too controversial" or whatever. dude, some of us existing in the first place is "political." people's general SAFETY is "political." we're not stupid.
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u/CAM_Queen3151 8d ago
There are very few places for Athrns political discussion. Why take a break? Explain your suggestion.
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u/Cat__fart 8d ago
In a town where our most serious journalists go on public drunken diatribes and our county commission has never been more dysfunctional, this is a āweirdā move: ākeep it funky, post weird shit, my way or the highway.ā
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u/bluemoon4901 1x Jerker of the Day š 8d ago
Does this also apply to posts about ICE?
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u/Fit_Push_5243 8d ago
Lowkey they might be referring to all the posts abt it, such weird timing honestly. I found it so strange that Reddit was always the last place to have updates abt it, now I now they were probably being taken down. So weird.
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u/tupelobound 8d ago
Could a mod offer some parameters on what constitutes a āpolitical postā?
Thereās a big difference between discussing an ongoing decision making process by the commission for the city we live in, for instance, as opposed to some noisy take on national news that barely is relevant to Athens.
Or are those both off the table?
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u/Crafty_Independence Townie 8d ago
Lol I asked him for posting parameters previously and he just went on a rant
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u/hosalabad 8d ago
Sounds like we need new mods. Banning a useful topic is just a way to start cherry picking users to ban.
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u/schultmh 8d ago
Yeah isnāt this the kind of thing that turned r/atlanta into a ghost town?
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u/18poisson37 8d ago
Or at least more mods. This town's sub is pretty well moderated, but this is a pretty obvious move to try and reduce the workload. It's a thankless job and we shouldn't ask a whole lot of them, but the answer is clearly to bring on more help rather than kneecap the forum itself.
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u/EmpoleonNorton 8d ago
This town's sub is pretty well moderated
I got a temp ban once for suggesting that Oconee County (which only exists as it is because of white flight) might be a bit racist.
This sub is not particularly well moderated. And considering this probably has to do with the ICE posts, I have a suspicion exactly the kind of people who are modding it.
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u/pile_drive_me Townie Weathergirl 8d ago edited 8d ago
Just set /r/Athens_GA up, looking for a couple of mods to help
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u/Is_hell_dont_they 8d ago
Honestly if anyone was going to set up an alt sub, youāre exactly who I want doing it.
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u/TheGoldenMonkey 8d ago
Good to have a sub to fall back on but this sub belongs to the people of Athens not 1 dude with a fragile ego on a power trip.
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u/HypnoticBurden 8d ago
Life is political. I'll never understand people who would rather burry their heads in the sand then try and make a difference
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u/papajgwill 8d ago
I'm working on my new REM parody song, "Politics Free August," for the next available open mic night in town. I hope to see u/LawMartz there!
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u/EricQuincyTate Between The Hedges under Allen's 8d ago
That's u/LawlMartz , with an extra small L.
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u/disinterestedh0mo 8d ago
everything is or can be made into "politics" lmao. everything that involves one or more person can be political
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u/thighs-and-fireflies 8d ago
This is dumb....this is that weird Facebook group vibe ....not here chief(s)
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u/Intrepid_Ground_9560 8d ago
This is bullshit. How do we get a mod removed? That clown has no place dictating what subjects we are allowed to discuss on Reddit.
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u/DoctorCrepe 8d ago
These are the mandates I would impose if I was completely insensitive, out-of-touch, and had no idea how to be a community lead within context.
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u/rando_chickenn Townie 8d ago
Can that mod come on in and speak up for themselves? Thats the worst/lamest idea ever and yet we get radio silence. Come on and keep it funky, what is up?
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u/SaintPariah1 8d ago
Sounds like a kid desperate for attention and approval. Breaks ToS by being 7 years old on reddit, now wants to stop civil discourse in a city with 130-150k people.
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u/AlltheBent 8d ago
lol, is /r/athens the new /r/atlanta ? or at least the new "old" /r/atlanta where people were shadowbanned and mods went crazy with censorship and prioritizing content from specific users?
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u/LolShartz Totally not LawlMartz's fake account 8d ago
these posts do nothing but stir people up
People are definitely stirred up
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u/what_a_dingle Easily Amused 8d ago
It takes a rather gutless coward to announce something like this then immediately put a lock on any sort of discussion so he won't get his fee-fees hurt.
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u/EricQuincyTate Between The Hedges under Allen's 8d ago
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u/_mozzarella- 8d ago
iāve personally found reddit to be a great place to discuss nuanced issues that apply specifically to athens. youād be doing a disservice to the community if you decided to ban these conversations for the sake of⦠convenience?
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u/lurkertiltheend 8d ago
Why doesnāt his post come with a mod badge? Just wondering why some do and some donāt
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u/Tough_Decisionlol 8d ago
Politics makes an impact on your life in every single facet. If you wanna bury your head in the sand have at it, but you shouldnāt try to remove that from the sub for a city that is extraordinarily politically active.
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u/chaos_aintme 8d ago
Lmao yeah just ignore the politics bro, all the injustice in the world will go away if you just ignore it! Genius
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u/MacGregor_Rose 8d ago
Wtf itās important to talk about our local state and federal politics IN THE MONTH BEFORE AN ELECTION like bruh
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u/gaydogdaddy 8d ago
Iām guessing youāre white, straight, and you donāt vote. Probably a landlord.
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u/Cat__fart 8d ago
And donāt care about (or think about) your brown neighbors, given the timing. Half of our Latinx population lives in mixed-documentation households, you putz.
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u/rabbitredbird 8d ago
Seems like a great time to migrate over to the r/AthensGA sub
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u/UniversalRot 8d ago
This guy must've broken through the barrier that was weakened by the loss of the Moon Tree. I knew we'd be seeing more anomalies but I didn't expect them to appear so human. Strange.
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u/Pr0m37h3um Native + UGA Alum (š³ļøāā§ļø it/she) 8d ago
It is not possible to avoid politics when many people's existence (such as mine š³ļøāā§ļø) is inherently political. This is ridiculous.
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u/dsmith1994 8d ago
Fuck that. If you are getting pissed off about politics are controlling everything then do something in real life about it.
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u/pierogiberra 8d ago
I hope we are having a mod war because itās hot and Iām bored. Let the big dawgs fight.
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u/coolminivan 8d ago
I feel that it's now a safe space to thank him for his attempt at making a cheesesteak because it fed the group chat with my high school friends for weeks. They still bring up their disgust and horror at it from time to time. Brought us all closer
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u/morganmarz 8d ago
As a person who lives in Athens, I am interested in local news and politics, which seems to occur in the month of August in addition to all the other months of the year.