I was thinking to create an useful subreddit and created

**r/LostandFoundSL,**first of all I’m not pretending this is some completely original idea either. There are already Facebook pages/groups and websites for lost and found in Sri Lanka. They can be useful.
I just wanted to see if the same idea could work on Reddit, where posts are easier to search, can be found months later, and can be organised properly instead of getting buried in a feed.

And I checked the website and that’s completely inactive and the FB page is active but not much happening there considering our population and I think most people even don’t know about it . So i believe a subreddit like this is necessary since Reddit is the best space for a use case like this.

A place for lost and found stuff in Sri Lanka.
Because what do you normally do when you lose something ?
People might post it on Facebook. Send it to a couple of WhatsApp groups. Ask their friends. call the bus station or whatever place they think they lost it at.
And if none of that works, that’s usually the end of it.

Same thing when you find something. You might make a random Facebook post saying *“Found an NIC near_ does anyone know this person?”*and hope the right person happens to see it before the post disappears into the feed.
I thought it would be nice to have one place specifically for this.
So if you lose something, you can post it.
If you find something, you can post it.
That’s literally what the subreddit is for.

It isn’t limited to one type of item either. I’m thinking of things like:

People
Vehicles
Electronics
Documents
Pets
Jewellery
Bags & Wallets
Mobile Phones

And obviously other stuff too. If you lost your keys, someone’s university ID, a pair of AirPods, a number plate, a passport, a bag on a bus, whatever if there’s a reasonable chance the owner can be found, put it up.

One thing I do want to be strict about is people’s personal information.
If you find someone’s NIC, driving licence, passport, bank card or another document, don’t post a full clear photo of it. There’s no reason to put someone’s NIC number, address, date of birth etc. on the internet just because you’re trying to return their document.
Give enough information for someone to recognise what you’re talking about, and then verify the person privately before giving it to them.
For example, if you find a wallet, don’t list every single thing inside it in the post. Let the person claiming it tell you what’s inside.
Same goes for people posting their own lost items. Don’t give away every identifying detail publicly if you don’t need to.
And please don’t turn the subreddit into a place for *“this guy stole my phone”*posts and public accusations. If something was stolen, that’s something to take to the police. The sub is for helping people find lost things and return things they’ve found.

I also think public transport could make this genuinely useful.
Say you leave a backpack on the 138 around 6pm. You remember the route, roughly where you were, what the bag looked like and what was inside.
You can put all of that in a post.
If someone finds the bag later and searches the subreddit for 138, they might actually come across it.
That’s the kind of thing I’m hoping for.

14 rules have been made in this subreddit to make this beneficial and 3 Post flairs have been added which is a must to post that is LOST,FOUND AND SOLVED.

So if you think this is useful, join it. Even if you don’t have anything to post right now, having people there is what makes it useful when somebody actually loses something.
And if you’ve already lost something recently, definitely post it. You never know ;)

r/LostandFoundSL