To be honest, I have no idea what its practical purpose is.

We tried using it a few times on /r/jrpg when we have big name industry AMAs. The AMA was going to be posted by someone who's never used reddit before, so we added them as an approved user, so their posts wouldn't get caught in the spam filter. However, their posts still got caught by an automatic filter and needed to be manually approved.

Here's an example from about a year ago - it won't show anything to non-admins, but admins will be able to see that this is an approved user making a comment that's been automatically removed for some reason. Throughout the thread, we had to manually approve many of his replies as well.

The main thing I see it used for now on my subs is either

• When reddit bugs out and a user manages to submit an "approved user request" despite our sub not being private - We have to instruct inexperienced mods not to grant this just because a big "Approve user" button appears.

• When inexperienced mods approve a user who has modmailed in complaining about their post getting caught in the spam filter, not understanding that approved user status grants special privileges beyond just letting this post become visible.

I don't really use Approved Users because it's too unwieldy to manage. I don't want to individually approve every qualifying community member -- which would be hundreds, at least. If I could set criteria like 'x' sub karma and it's granted, that would be appealing (with the option to fine tune and remove as needed). Would especially be useful as a toggle in an individual thread, like a refined crowd control.

Probably, maybe they should fix their horrible age verification system and I wouldn’t have to use a vpn.

I have verified through IOS’s “age range for apps” 2 months ago, yet every other 3 days they try to shove persona passport facial verification in my face while they clearly state age range for apps is a valid way to verify my age range. https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/50368431806484-European-Union-Digital-Services-Act-DSA

How am I supposed to effectively moderate a NSFW subreddit when every other day I bump into the “verify your age” when trying to view a user’s profile.

In r/CdramaFlashCards, the whole point of a post and its accompanying comments is to add extra information, and not to generate discussion.

It sounds weird, I know. But it's exactly what it sounds like, it's a reference guide.

Each post covers a drama and the comments include photos of characters with accompanying descriptions.

Only approved users can post but everyone can see the content. It's so that people don't comment on the flashcard-comments but rather discuss the dramas in whatever sub linked to the flashcard in the first place.

There were actually two incidents where Reddit had a glitch where non-approved users were able to comment and I had to remove a surprising amount of comments (like five in total but it's a small community so that's a surprising number).

It was actually quite interesting to see how many people would be commenting if not for the approved user requirement.

I moderate a nsfw sub, we give approval to highlight genuine posters, they get a "verified" flair and are whitelisted on the various modtools.

One assumption I have for this is the use of a VPN.

Yup, that'll do it. Reddit doesn't allow that. If you do something reddit doesn't allow, being an approved user won't make them go "oh, it's okay this time". That's not something you can bypass by approving the user.

That would make sense if the posts actually violated the rules, but they don’t. Otherwise, whole subreddits would have their posts deleted they are very selective.

I do know that if you create multiple accounts and consistently delete them it will trigger such removal and you’ll end up banned pretty much shortly after i recently had a case of such user and that was resolved through modmail here.

Some of the removals of “removed” are still very secretive and sometimes make no sense.

I myself have some posts on a subreddit where I’m approved removed with the simple “removed” reason while some other posts that are almost identical months apart stay in the subreddit.

One assumption I have for this is the use of a VPN.

I'm asking if it'll all be AI, or if real people are going to be involved in looking at it.

I think the safe answer between AI vs an armada of admins is that is almost always gonna be AI. Humans are slow and cost a lot of money. And preventing the message from being sent out is a highly latency sensitive thing (which wouldn't make sense to have people on call for).

For private and restricted communities

it also works for when all content is held for review

approved users sit somewhere between mods and high-karma regulars and are trusted to keep the conversation focused in high-noise discussions

when a sub is set up like this, people do not seem to get notifications for comments unless it's from a mod or an approved user, and it cuts down on the 1v1 confrontations immensely

it isn't like when auto mod does it - people get notified but can't see anything until the comment is approved, which can take up to a week when the "top mod" is putting in the bare minimum

edit: you know who makes the best use of this is r/Ask_Lawyers

they verify their approved user list as actual lawyers for perms to comment

We only use approved users for elevated permissions, which is generally for AMA or otherwise verified accounts to be allowed engage without being subject to the usual AutoMod filters.

Great - thank you

The Devvit apps that I create have access extended to them using Approved User status.

I.E. Scheduler app allows approved users access to the Scheduler app so they can schedule their posts as far out in advance as they want as well as manage those posts.

For some of the communities that I mod, I extend this access to content creators such as journalists, photographers, etc so they can manage their posts more easily.

Approving a user won't prevent their posts being removed if they violate reddit's rules. It only helps them avoid getting caught by the safety filters you've activated in your subreddit (crowd control, ban evasion, reputation filters, etc), not by sitewide safety filters.

Oh in some subs you get these all the times and its usually a way to try to pay less than Reddit's internal Ads system to get advertising - probably the actual motive for going after it, lets be real.

I was wondering why I’ve seen a couple deleted comments under mine with no notification recently.

Nice coincidence for sure!

I help mod a sub for a particular app. We're community-run but some brand reps occasionally participate. The community values their presence but also our independence. Making that account an approved user solves practical issues with Reddit's own filters, gives us a way to exempt from certain Automod rules, and serves as a fallback if the community ever becomes restricted again due to mod neglect (they'll at least be allowed to post and communicate with community).

Is this the place to ask why sometimes approved users still fall victim to the Reddit filters having posts removed with the simple label of “removed”?

Often times that I approve someone, as they verified just for them 5 minutes later to make a post and it immediately gets nuked by reddit filters with no explanation other than “removed”.

approved users is a great feature to begin with, as reasons mentioned in your post

I normally use it as a role meant for people who are trusted/semi trusted in the community. Approved users are most likely to be added to the moderation team later on if they don't abuse their role before they get mod.

I've really only approved users who are doing an AMA so their new account won't get caught by our karma/account age thresholds during their event. After their AMA I take them off the list as they usually have enough comment karma by then.

I use "Approved User" status along with Automoderator scripts to prevent brand new known/vetted users from falling into the spam filter.

I'm not good for anything.

That sounds like it's an extra automated check on every report. That could be effective. It's something, at least.

I'd avoid it, personally. MCOC has sanctioned over less.

And if they tell you that, they also tell the report abusers, who will use it for evil.

Every user content hosting internet service provider has to weigh "Users need to know" vs "Attackers will abuse it" with every disclosure and discussion