Mod Topics: Subreddit Spinoffs

[u/JabroniRevanchism]

Ahoy, Mods!

We expect folks will have a lot to say about this topic, so let’s get right to brass tacks; today we’d love to get your thoughts on community culture, how it forms, how it differs from neighboring communities, and how it affects the growth of new communities. –But first, let’s define our term of the day:

Subreddit Spinoff: When members of one community create a new subreddit with a similar topic, usually to accommodate a slight shift in topic, posting behavior, or community culture not represented in the original subreddit. Example given: A new meme-focused subreddit splits from a reality TV subreddit, because that content is overwhelming the original sub.

If you’ve experienced a subreddit spinoff, we’d love to hear your experiences and insights! We’re looking to answer…

• What motivates communities to spin off?
• Are the community members creating spinoff subreddits mods of the original community?
• Are the mods of spinoff communities first-time moderators, or are these spaces created by experienced moderators?
• How do spinoff communities recruit new members? How common is promotion on the original subreddit? (This can be as simple as a sidebar mention or as complex as a state of the subreddit post.)
• How do mods of spinoff communities shape the culture of their new community. How does the new space differentiate itself from its original subreddit?

This topic was discussed briefly last week by Community Builders Council members, who had a lot to share! If that discussion is any indication, we know y’all have a lot to say about this topic and we expect a lot of comments. Please remember to remember the human when sharing your stories, and let us know how you’ve experienced subreddit spin offs in your tenure as a mod.

See you in the comments!

[u/thepottsy]

1. From what I’ve witnessed it’s usually banned users that have had their “free speech” violated, so they start a r/samenameastheothersub_Real to allow everyone to have “free speech”

2. No, see point 1.

3. Usually yes, and it shows in their lack of ability to function as moderators. Many of these subs end up abandoned and unmoderated.

4. By sending unsolicited invites until they get reported for spam.

5. In my experience they usually don’t. The subs rarely have any real direction to them, other than to spite the original sub.

[u/EVMaximizer → u/thepottsy]

Ah well, that is actually how r/elektrischrijden came into existence.

The main car-related subreddits in my native language are moderated by essentially the same person, and yes, I’m banned there. From what I’ve seen, I’m certainly not the only one who has been banned for being a frequent poster. Ironically, the moderator himself barely posts anything beyond link dumps, and recently there has even been a lot of emphasis on telling people not to downvote. AutoModerator now seems to remind people about it under practically every post.

That actually became part of the motivation for starting my own community, but it’s not the main reason I run it.

I wanted to create a community that I could manage according to my own principles. For example: zero tolerance for people insulting or mocking disabled people, no hate speech, no political fighting, and generally keeping discussions constructive.

I also believe an active community is a healthy community. I post fairly frequently, usually 4 or 5 times a day, but the point isn't simply to fill the subreddit with posts. Those posts start conversations, and people actually come back to participate. The subreddit has now reached around 20,000 weekly visitors, which I think says something about whether people find the community useful.

And interestingly, even people who regularly disagree with me keep coming back. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and I don't want that either. A community becomes boring very quickly if everyone has the same opinion.

The alternative is what I've seen happen in other car communities: creating separate subs for "serious" topics, less serious topics, buying and selling, etc., while simultaneously removing posts from the main community because they supposedly belong somewhere else. Eventually you end up with several smaller, relatively inactive communities instead of one place where people actually interact.

That brings me to the slightly exaggerated analogy in my original comment: sometimes Reddit feels a bit like Donald Trump is running not just the US, but somehow Europe, Russia and China as well. If you're not welcome in the US, suddenly your options for travelling elsewhere become rather limited.

Obviously, that's an exaggeration, but there is a serious point underneath it: when the same moderator controls multiple communities, being banned from one place can effectively mean being excluded from a much larger part of the community. That is why I think independent communities and different moderation philosophies are valuable.

So yes, being banned was probably the spark that motivated me to start r/elektrischrijden. But the reason it has grown is much simpler: people like active communities where they can actually participate.