r/teenagers is not a political subreddit, and we never intend to be. However, in this current day and age, it is important for teenagers to discuss such topics. So while we aren't a political subreddt, we don't intend to restrict political posts.
However, it's become quite clear that that same idea of "[not] intending to restrict political posts." also does some harm. We don't currently have any rules surrounding such posts because it was never an intended talking point of this subreddit. This lack of proper guardrails has lead to an influx of falsified news, biased writeups, harmful rhetoric, etc.
Because of this, we're changing a few things.
1. Introducing a new flair
This flair will be appropriately named Political/Current Events. All submissions that fall under the umbrella of politics, and submissions that reference any notable current event, must assign this flair. Failure to do so will result in post removal.
Of course, to know when to assign that flair, you must know what counts as political. Politics doesn't solely mean government. Some examples of what would be considered political are:
- Government: Elections, legislation, government agencies, politicians, public officials, and foreign policy.
- Social and Ideological Issues: Public debates on civil rights, economic policy, war, identity, ideologies, public health, etc.
If you feel a post falls under the political umbrella, it probably does. Posts that also touch on certain current events are to be assigned this flair. The two often bleed into each other. Some examples of what would be considered a notable current event are:
- Breaking & Developing News Stories: These invite rapid speculation, unverified rumors, and rage-bait-esque remarks before facts are verified.
- Events Involving Public Officials or Institutions: Any current event involving heads of state, local government officials, law enforcement agencies, or legislative bodies.
With the introduction of a dedicated flair, it allows users to filter out political posts. We've been asked this a bit, so this is a fair middle ground to allow hiding, without totally restricting. On the flipside, it does also allow users to solely filter by political posts, which is a slippery slope. This is where some guardrails are introduced:
2. Karma requirements
From this point on, there'll be a community karma requirement to create or participate under Political/Current Events submissions. We won't share the threshold for obvious reasons, but it isn't egregious. The main purpose behind it is to prevent bad actors with un-established accounts, or some unwanted visitors from r/all from barging in and behaving in an uncivil manner.
Gaining subreddit karma is as easy as participating. It's easier for us to trust that you wont do harm if you show us.
3. Titles must be neutral
All titles under this umbrella, whether a discussion post or a screenshot of an article must be framed in a neutral manner. Neutality means the title answers simple, factual questions (who, what, where, and when).
Adding subjective adjectives, assigning motives (the why), using loaded language, and/or inserting personal commentary in a post title will violate this rule, leading to a post removal.
Also on the topic of neutrality:
4. Posts referencing a certain event MUST include a relevant, accessible, and verifiable source
Submissions will need to have a link in the body text or the image caption. This is to do away with unverified instagram screenshots, biased articles, and blatant lies. If referencing something, prove it is real. This also helps users do their own research and come to their own conclusions.
Users often also post events that occurred years ago. While not a "current event", they still typically fall under the umbrella. Providing links to events that occurred at any moment in time, whether current or not, is mandatory. This helps verify legitimacy, and can help inform users on when the issue occurred.
Lots of articles nowadays are paywalled. While paywalls usually indicate an article's quality, it is quite unrealistic to ask a subreddit of this demographic to pay for them. If a source you are attempting to use is locked behind any sort of payment, you must also provide a summary, either in the post caption or as a reply to Automod.
5. Political discussion posts will have a mandatory word count
It's nothing high, it's 100% achievable for those who actually want to discuss. This rule is in place to prevent one sentence rage posts and low effort commentary. Writing a few words does not offer enough context, and does not promote any meaningful discussion.
This only applies to text posts. Posts with an attached image aren't affected, often because the image contains enough context. Obviously don't use images to circumvent the word count.
That's all for now. Lot's of big changes that might take time to get used to. They will be in effect right away, and the flair should be visible to users as of now. Some rules will also be updated to reflect this.
Some parts of this may be changed depending on if it's too effective or not effective enough (karma requirements, word counts, automated vs manual checks). Nothing is ever set in stone, as mentioned at the beginning of this post we don't want to unnecessarily restrict political discussions.
Since this is a big change, feel free to leave any thoughts/critiques down below, or via modmail. Of course, please be reasonable with such comments, thank you!
- r/teenagers mod team
