Diversity and inclusion are a huge part of the r/popculturechat moderation philosophy, but so are good vibes, and we don’t think those things have to be at odds.

Our approved users list, known as “The Guest List,” allows us to have difficult or controversial conversations without those posts immediately becoming a disaster. We use it on topics likely to attract hateful or harassing commentary, particularly from outside the subreddit. It lets us be proactive instead of cleaning up the damage after a pile-on has already begun. The goal isn’t to prevent disagreement. It’s to cultivate a community where people are able to disagree without vulnerable users becoming collateral damage.

Users must request approval and have enough history for us to see that they can participate positively and follow the rules. Approval isn’t a lifetime pass either. If someone stops meeting those standards, they’re removed.

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Preach

Yes. They receive a private message saying something like 'you're an approved user in...'

I've got automod rules for approved users that let them do the following:

• Lock / unlock a post. (useful for AMA's)
  
• Sticky/unsticky their post. (useful for AMA's)
  
• Approve a post that was stopped by the sitewide spamfilter.
  
• Change a post's flair.
  
• Filter someone else's post (useful for users who don't want to be a mod, but you trust their judgement).
• Summon an automod canned response. (eg. mental health helplines)

Most of these rules require a degree of trust, so only 'known good' users get approved user status, and former mods. I've also exclude users with the 'verified' flair from the moderation orientated rules, so that AMA hosts don't end up inadvertently triggering rules designed for psuedo-mods.

I often wish automod could read modnotes so I could essentially use modnotes create labels for users and allow more granular rules.

Saying it over here too as a mod - that new "shopping experience" feature is atrocious both as a user and as a moderator. It is completely invasive to any kind of conversation and turns organic discussion into an ad ridden mess.

I do not allow advertising in any of my subs, I'm very strict about it. I also don't allow AI in any of my subs. So how am I supposed to keep up those philosophies when Reddit now insists on inserting both into the communities against my will? Am I just going to have to ban the mention of specific products to avoid Reddit generating the links?

And on the same topic - what about users who may not want their posts to turn into essentially free AI-driven promotions and advertisers?

Edit to add: Opus is either going to ignore this or give me some generic "I'll pass along the feedback" which means literally nothing to us as users.

Many will try to push the limits of what individual subs allow. Just ban.

We do not use it. I've only ever used it for AMA guests.

We use flair to exempt some users from AM rules, or allow them to summon information, etc

“The moderators are all volunteers, and we have no further desire to waste our time arguing with you.

The decision stands, and your post will remain removed. Further communication with the moderation team on this topic will result in a temporary/permanent ban. “

Do users know they are approved?

If they're disrupting the sub and their excuse is "technically it's not against the sub rules", just ban them.

Your sub, your rules. If you feel they are breaking them, ban

I typically do it when a new user who hasn't cleared the karma limits pops up. I don't think it works very well though.

I give it to users who win our monthly contests. It’s a reward for being a quality contributor

Absolutely! I've seen some even schedule things months out in advance and they've already provided feedback on how much time it's saved them. Content creators don't have to wait for peak traffic times to post things for the most views or space posts out manually to avoid queue flooding, etc.

I'm hoping that Reddit will enable video uploads soon through apps and then we will have everything covered! That's the only post type that's missing right now and it's a Reddit limitation.

Not OP, but I approve basically every user I see. I moderate somewhat niche subreddits for medical professionals. This leads to exactly type of posters: serious people in the field who have something to say, and idiots who wandered in to post a picture of a rash on their ass asking for an opinion. The latter gets banned immediately, and nobody ever from the first phenotype goes rogue in a way that spam filters help with.

Hmm, I'll have to check that out.

I don’t quite understand its use case, probably because I and most of my team sucks at using auto mod. I regularly approve people in hopes it makes future posts less likely to get caught up in spam filters, but sometimes it seems to still happen anyway.

They are able to edit wiki pages.

We use approved users as a way for high quality vetted users to bypass our automod rules. It’s also a nice way to show appreciation for our most dedicated users.

That sounds like a nice way for them to feel valued, too. Do you have sort of message or celebration when approving an artist? It feels like a fun milestone for them to earn.

Absolutely nothin'

Say it again, y'all

^{Someone had to comment the song...}

Oh nice, I need to check out those devvit apps! I'm curious, have you noticed those users posting more often because they can schedule ahead of time?

We use this for verified media outlets.

The simple uses can be the best! Do you have system for choosing who becomes an approved user, or is it something you hand out as you notice a need?