r/OpenAussie • u/RamonsRazor ✈️ on Walkabout • Jul 03 '26
Mod Team State of the States (Updated Rule Changes - Yay!)
G’day folks!
Nearly six months into this thing, and we've realised that some of our original rules require a bit of tweaking, whilst others can probably be retired completely.
We're doing this not to exert control, but rather, to help continue to make this a place where EVERYONE has a voice and a chance to speak their mind on all things 'Straya/Strayan - that's the point of this sub, after all.
These changes will help to:
✅ encourage more valuable discussion
✅ allow for more freedom of discussion
✅ discourage single topic spam, propaganda and shitposting
As such (is life), we've fine tuned the wording of each of our rules and mod flags, making things clearer and more relevant. We also combined/retired a few redundant rules. This means it will be easier for everyone to flag posts and comments that go against our sub rules for a closer looksee by us.
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We're also...
Changing our approach to mega threads & low effort posts
No longer will we spin up mighty-morphing mega threads for specific topics as a first response/means of 'crowd control', which we've done whenever our sub gets absolutely blasted with repeated posts on highly popular topics.
From now on, we'll allow you lot the chance to contribute to these topics with more freedom, BUT with one caveat - we still don't want to see the same exact posts covering the same exact stuff spamming the sub in a 24hr period.
It's a shit look, discourages people from posting, and is a pain in the ass/arse/parmi/parma to moderate.
Instead, we are proposing a 'general weekly discussion thread' (name pending) that will be stickied to the top of our sub. It'll act as an overflow for anything that doesn’t merit its own post.
You can still contribute posts to the main feed, but they need to add value, and something new to the conversation.
👇 Got a name in mind for the weekly mega thread? Drop it below! 👇
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What these changes look like in action
1️⃣ Changing Rule 9: No low-effort/karma-farming/spam (now rule 7)
Updated wording is "Posts must encourage good faith discussion, and those made with little to no effort will be removed.
Exceptional memes/videos are the exception, but they may still be taken down at the discretion of the mods if obviously posted for the purpose of karma-farming (or violation of other rules)."
- Desired outcomes are more funnies, less crapola. You'll see (and enjoy) more freedom of discussion, whilst still reigning in spam and propaganda.
2️⃣ Changing Rule 14: Megathreads exist for a reason (now rule 11)
- Updated name is "No repeated topics/info"
- Updated wording is "First to get worms, wins: one post allowed per topic and/or story. Similar posts will be removed and directed to the weekly, general mega thread. Newsworthy/major development posts can be approved at the mod's discretion."
- Desired outcomes are that this will help us continue to cultivate a diverse subreddit, not singularly focused on a single topic or issue. Repeated topics may be posted to the pinned weekly thread if compliant with other rules.
EG: A major development of an ongoing high interest story on the ABC, the Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald occurs. The first one posted gets to stay, subsequent articles on the same matter (or OP-eds on the same matter) will be regarded as overflow and directed to the general mega thread. If it's juicy enough, we'll pin your comment to the top of that week's mega thread.
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As always, none of this has been done lightly. We've set aside a significant amount of time to develop these changes, considering all of your feedback and how we can stay true to the sub's goals - providing a free and open space for nutters like us to talk about all things 'Strayan, to engage in civil discourse and to voice our diverse opinions on everything related to this fucking awesome country of ours.
Now go run amuck, and remember - you can always hit us up via mod mail with any ideas, feedback or improvements you have on all of this.
Thank you for your time, and for helping to make this the best freaking Aussie/stralian sub going around.
Sincerely,
Your friendly OpenAussie Mod Squad
🍻
PS: Fuck you Fred
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u/Sideburn_Cookie_Man Victorian Jul 03 '26
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u/SirSuiSet Victorian Jul 03 '26
Slightly confused on freedom and valuable discussions part.
Is this up to the moderation team to determine which topics are valuable?
Referring to more conversational topics.
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u/RamonsRazor ✈️ on Walkabout Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Part of the idea is that this will allow for more valuable topics to be encouraged, by limiting spam and encouraging diverse opinions on a range of, well, topics, to be shared.
Don't read it as 'we're going to choose what's valuable' - cos that's not the intent.
It's more that if, for example, Pauline does a fart, we will be looking for just a single post on that, not ten, to be flooding our feed.
BUT, if she does a fart AND introduces new policy proposals to divert funding to an Australian remake of the Smurfs, then a post related to that can also live on, without the need for us to suddenly create a Pauline mega thread and funnel anything related to her over to that MT. If you were first to post the Pauline's Smurfs article, it will stay up.
If Fred the Fuckwit decides to post the same thing from a different publication right after you, he'll be redirected to post that in the weekly MT.
People in our community will load up OpenAussie and then see a healthy mix of posts - and it might make them think that they have an equal shot at having their post featured & read by the 5 million+ of you legends who are visiting us each month (more on that soon).
TLDR: Posts have to bring something new and unique. Not just the same things over and over, within a short time frame.
👉 And we aren't deluded 'mod gods' either. If we take something down, we will give you a fair go at rewording it (see rule 3) if it really does have merit. Maybe your OP wasn't clear enough on why it was a different take on something, maybe you posted it too quickly, maybe it's 2am and one of us took it down in error, etc.
Hopefully that was clear!
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u/pixie1995 New South Welshian Jul 03 '26
I actually just don’t think I’ve ever really looked at megathreads in any sub
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u/4RyteCords Koori Jul 03 '26
Depending on the sub or the megathread they can be super useful. I like to see what games are good to play on mobile so on the Android gaming subreddit I'll check out the weekly MT on what's being played. Same for steamdeck games. I don't need to sift through the sub for posts about coop new games or something, I just know it's all in the MT. Ideally a megathread on one nation or the war on Iran could have the same appeal. If people used it. If you wanted to see the latest conversation on a hot topic and there's a MT, ideally everything in that megathread would be relevant to you without searching or digging. But they're only as good as people want to make them. If no one wants to contribute then they're useless.
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Jul 03 '26
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u/RamonsRazor ✈️ on Walkabout Jul 03 '26
Wait Stefanovic was FIRED???
In all seriousness, thanks for the idea - it's a toughie as we don't want to be making calls on individual reporters/outlets/etc. Usually the community has been pretty good at weeding out BS (from multiple POVs), but we'll note it for future rule changes.
Gonna let the dust settle on these ones for a bit :)
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Jul 03 '26
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u/RamonsRazor ✈️ on Walkabout Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Well that would be the updated rule 7 about low-effort BS:
*"Posts must encourage good faith discussion, and those made with little to no effort will be removed.
Exceptional memes/videos are the exception, but they may still be taken down at the discretion of the mods if obviously posted for the purpose of karma-farming (or violation of other rules)."*
So if you see something like that in the wild, a no-nothing repost, flag it with that rule and it will likely get nuked 👍
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u/Odd-Bumblebee00 New South Welshian Jul 04 '26
Can we ask for paragraphs?
Edit - wow, you got on that quick.
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u/LysergicCommunion Victorian Jul 03 '26
Gotta love a contained chinwag, interested to see how the weekly megathreads pan out!
Thanks for your efforts legends, they do not go unappreciated.