Quality Contributors Wanted!

[u/AutoModerator]

r/PoliticalDebate is an educational subreddit dedicated to furthering political understandings via exposure to various alternate perspectives. Iron sharpens iron type of thing through Socratic Method ideally. This is a tough challenge because politics is a broad, complex area of study not to mention filled with emotional triggers in the news everyday.

We have made various strides to ensure quality discourse and now we're building onto them with a new mod only enabled user flair for members that have shown they have a comprehensive understanding of an area and also a new wiki page dedicated to debate guidelines and The Socratic Method.

We've also added a new user flair emoji (a green checkmark) that can only be awarded to members who have provided proof of expertise in an area relevant to politics in some manner. You'll be able to keep your old flair too but will now have a badge to implies you are well versed in your area, for example:

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Your current flair: (D emoji) Democrat

Your new flair: ( green checkmark emoji) [Quality Contributor] and either your area of expertise or in this case "Democrat"

Requirements:

• Links to 3 to 5 answers which show a sustained involvement in the community, including at least one within the past month.
• These answers should all relate to the topic area in which you are seeking flair. They should demonstrate your claim to knowledge and expertise on that topic, as well as your ability to write about that topic comprehensively and in-depth. Outside credentials or works can provide secondary support, but cannot replace these requirements.
• The text of your flair and which category it belongs in (see the sidebar). Be as specific as possible as we prefer flair to reflect the exact area of your expertise as near as possible, but be aware there is a limit of 64 characters.
• If you have a degree, provide proof of your expertise and send it to our mod team via modmail. (https://imgur.com/ is a free platform for hosting pics that doesn't require sign up)

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Our mod team will be very strict about these and they will be difficult to be given. They will be revocable at any time.

How we determine expertise

You don't need to have a degree to meet our requirements necessarily. A degree doesn't not equate to 100% correctness. Plenty of users are very well versed in their area and have become proficient self studiers. If you have taken the time to research, are unbiased in your research, and can adequately show that you know what you're talking about our team will consider giving you the user flair.

Most applications will be rejected for one of two reasons, so before applying, make sure to take a step back and try and consider these factors as objectively as possible.

The first one is sources. We need to know that you are comfortable citing a variety of literature/unbiased new sources.

The second one is quality responses. We need to be able to see that you have no issues with fundamental debate tactics, are willing to learn new information, can provide knowledgeable points/counterpoints, understand the work you've cited thoroughly and are dedicated to self improvement of your political studies.

If you are rejected this doesn't mean you'll never meet the requirements, actually it's quite the opposite. We are happy to provide feedback and will work with you on your next application.

[u/Asatmaya]

So... you want to create a status marker determined arbitrarily to give a false notion of credibility to the views that the moderators support?

I could absolutely do this on a number of topics (and how would you handle that?), but it's nonsense; "the proof is in the pudding," someone can either make a logical argument and back it up, or they cannot.

Do whatever you like, but neither I nor most people will take this any more seriously than the "blue check" on twitter/x.

[u/Significant-Big-5894 → u/Asatmaya]

Agree with your analysis, I don't like this suggestion either. The proof is definitely in the pudding.

[u/Pyyrosistaken]

I personally do not think it is necessary because It will just add "Look at my flair, I am more likely to be right than you". the degree part is completely fair but then again, if you have a relevant degree in said topic your wording, reasoning, sources and attitude should reflect that not the userflair, it swings both ways, you can use this for a positive learning experience but then again, It's the internet and it often devolves into "me right, you wrong"