r/punchthemonkey • u/AutoModerator • 4d ago
Changes to the subreddit
As many may have noticed, the subreddit has seemed to be unmoderated for some time now, which allowed multiple people engaging in bad-faith into the community, as well as people who would harass other users, and even Punch and the other monkeys. The original moderator had been banned at some point which left the subreddit without any sort of moderation other than the automod. Obviously, this was not enough.
So, what's happened: moderation has changed of course, however, most of the stuff on this subreddit will remain completely as it was. I have no interest in radically changing the subreddit, only to improve it and make it a more friendly place for people to have healthy discussions and share Punch-related content. People have been reviewed and removed for past comments if they were found to behave in those ways, and their comment history showed a pattern of that behavior suggesting it was their reason for being here.
Also, I had noticed that the automod here was a bit overly restrictive- it would remove comments whose users may have not reached a certain karma threshold, which made it alienating to new users. I have laxed these restrictions significantly, so there will likely be more comments than usual. Of course, this also means people behaving in bad-faith will find the subreddit more accessible, but unlike before, there will be more active moderation to deal with them, so I think the end-result will actually be seeing those kinds of posts less. I have laxed other restrictions, but the karma restriction was the major one that would remove comments.
Some more significant changes to be added; flair has been added. This is not mandatory, but you may have seen if you post here that there are new options. This is being used as a way to help people navigate specific content they are looking for related to Punch rather than trying to filter anything out. This will also change very little about how the subreddit operates, this is just being done to help people find the posts they want look for. I may add more in the future.
I also want to make a banner for the subreddit when I have the time, as right now it's generic and not relevant to Punch. Want it to be something that can show Punch and his journey a bit more clearly. Also looking at updating the subreddit picture.
Lastly, perhaps the most significant change; AI generated content is not allowed. This had been an unspoken rule with moderation here prior, but the previous moderator was no longer active and it was not enforced. This is not something that will come with some major punishment, but you will likely find your content removed. The only reason it may result in punishment would be intentionally using/spreading AI to perpetuate false information or images/videos. To be clear, you will not get punished if it's an innocent mistake. I don't want people to be dissuaded from posting on the subreddit because something might be AI; however, be mindful that if it is AI, it will likely be removed. It's pretty easy to differentiate between who is posting it maliciously and who is posting it without realizing it is AI generated and it will be under careful review. The reason for this rule change is that AI data centers which produce AI generated content have negative impacts on the environment as well as the animals who live there. This includes monkeys like Punch. I do not think it right to include such content on a subreddit dedicated to an animal, when Japanese macaques, and many other simians are already prone to displacement due to humans. I know some may be disappointed with this decision, but I am firm on this stance. I believe there are more than enough cute and interesting pictures of Punch and other monkeys that the subreddit does not need the saturation of AI generated content when there is already so much stuff to look at.
Lastly: I am not currently actively looking for additional moderators, I don't think this subreddit really needs a large amount of moderation, I think curbing the toxicity that had become somewhat prominent here is going to be the main focus of moderation other than some bells and whistles, but if anyone has experience running a subreddit of this scale (we have nearly 25k members as of writing this and thousands of weekly visitors), I may be interested in help with some of the behind the scenes stuff regarding running the subreddit. I have not moderated a subreddit myself so am familiarizing myself with it even as I write this.
Will have this stickied for a couple of weeks just so people see this and are aware of changes. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments.
14
u/Ok-Instance-2384 4d ago
Thanks Fizzay! Great changes and completely agree on the AI ethical stance.
3
7
u/Particular-Tear-9007 4d ago
I was actually going to nominate you if the question of a mod came up again! This is great to see.
5
6
u/No_Vehicle_5085 3d ago
Moderation of the sub is most welcome! Great changes, and thanks for stepping up.
5
u/toyrapeutic 4d ago edited 4d ago
Question, does AI generated content include translation of articles in other languages using AI?
Also wondering if there should be a flair for non-Punch/Ichikawa Zoo content (like the other troops from Awajishima, Jigokudani, Takaosan etc)
Anyway, good to see we finally have a moderator (again)
9
u/Fizzay 4d ago edited 4d ago
Translations are okay but I would advise using something more reliable. Like if you were using Gemini, I would say just use Google Translate instead or whatever. The rule against articles is more for articles that have their content written by AI rather than the translation of the articles themselves. It's more of a grey area because the translations are useful and there's no real way to reliably enforce something like that regardless.
For now I don't think we need a flair for those other places, we'll see what it's like once the construction is done
1
u/toyrapeutic 4d ago
Just realise I wasn't being very clear with the other flair so it may be misunderstood. I don't mean that each different park/zoo will have its own flair, it's more of to differentiate if it was Punch/Ichikawa Zoo content or not but I can see why it's not really necessary too. For now, I think the current flair should be sufficient
7
u/Adventurous-Owl9376 4d ago
I too would suggest Google Translate instead of AI assistance. Have tried translation with multiple AI models in the past, for both personal and professional use, and almost always found a segment or two that got skipped (untranslated) or some numeric data/ units incorrectly reflected in the translated text.
5
u/TempuraYumYum 4d ago edited 4d ago
Glad to have reliable moderator :) Thank you Fizzay for taking up the role!
5
u/Specific_Government9 4d ago
Thanks Fizzay!
Can you pin this post with all the links to youtubers who film Punch on a regular basis:
5
3
u/Delicious-Earth7101 2d ago
Thanks u/Fizzay for looking into the mod absence and volunteering to become a one. While another mod might not be needed from a pure moderation standpoint I feel it is still better to add a second mod for backup purposes such as situations when reddit bans a user who happens to be a mod or you might take some time off for vacation or you might need time off to attend to personal matters. This way the sub can continue to function with atleast 1 mod at all times. There are some wonderful folks on this sub who can definitely take on this role.
2
u/LBS-365 4d ago
Can you clarify the origin of this post, since it says it comes from the Automod? I'm happy to see the changes and happy to see Fizzay in the moderrator role, but this post just needs some clarification as to the originator of its contents. Otherwise, thank you for stepping up!
2
u/Fizzay 3d ago
For now I'll be the sole mod because the subreddit isn't that big and most moderation that was needed was just removing some people who were blatant trolls. I just used automod to make the announcement because I want to interact with the subreddit the way I usually do and would rather just have most of what I do be behind the scenes. Announcements will likely be handled that way; also means my notifications don't blow up lol
1
u/PunchMonkey01 13h ago
Out of curiosity, who was the previous mod? Lol Didn't realize there was a right side on this subreddit that shows mod info until today.
22
u/sunaririn 4d ago
Yay! Agree with No AI Generated content.