Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Reducing clutter on r/blind (self.Blind)
submitted by KaiDoesStuff
In this post, I will identify both an issue with the r/blind subreddit, as well as a possible solution to such an issue.
The problem is simple: r/blind is beginning to (if not has already) become a place for university students to score free research for their big research projects.
While one survey or poll seems harmless — they're not hurting anyone, are they? — it's not the fact that it's data collection, it's the sheer volume of these types of posts that has become an issue. With these types of posts constantly sprouting up all over the subreddit, it becomes a bit tedious for people who want the content that matters to them.
So, what is a possible solution to this proposed challenge? **Megathreads.**
For those unaware, a megathread is one big thread for which a certain type of content is posted in mass numbers. Many subreddits use megathreads to reduce post spam relating to new announcements or content. Implementing a megathread on the subreddit seems like a great idea to counteract the number of research posts, clearing up the community and exposing new kinds of posts.
The megathread should be stickied so that students and others looking to post their surveys can find it very easily.
How can this be achieved? There is a $1 from the AutoModerator subreddit that describes this process.
With a megathread, clutter could be reduced dramatically. More posts that matter to the community would show up where they might not have before.
**Additionally, create a rule.** This rule would state that people cannot post surveys or research links outside of the respective megathread. Posts that violate this rule should be removed and redirected to the megathread.
I recently sent a modmail with this proposition, and received a response from u/-shacklebolt- stating:
>>"...we are currently working on implementing survey restrictions in the sub."
I wanted to gauge the response from tje community, and to further elaborate for the mods, since my original modmail was a bit vague.
Do you agree? Is this a good plan? If you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments.
**Edit**: Removed "recurring" from my post
**Edit 2**: To clarify, the thread would need to recur frequently enough so that the post doesn't automatically get archived, disabling replies.
The problem is simple: r/blind is beginning to (if not has already) become a place for university students to score free research for their big research projects.
While one survey or poll seems harmless — they're not hurting anyone, are they? — it's not the fact that it's data collection, it's the sheer volume of these types of posts that has become an issue. With these types of posts constantly sprouting up all over the subreddit, it becomes a bit tedious for people who want the content that matters to them.
So, what is a possible solution to this proposed challenge? **Megathreads.**
For those unaware, a megathread is one big thread for which a certain type of content is posted in mass numbers. Many subreddits use megathreads to reduce post spam relating to new announcements or content. Implementing a megathread on the subreddit seems like a great idea to counteract the number of research posts, clearing up the community and exposing new kinds of posts.
The megathread should be stickied so that students and others looking to post their surveys can find it very easily.
How can this be achieved? There is a $1 from the AutoModerator subreddit that describes this process.
With a megathread, clutter could be reduced dramatically. More posts that matter to the community would show up where they might not have before.
**Additionally, create a rule.** This rule would state that people cannot post surveys or research links outside of the respective megathread. Posts that violate this rule should be removed and redirected to the megathread.
I recently sent a modmail with this proposition, and received a response from u/-shacklebolt- stating:
>>"...we are currently working on implementing survey restrictions in the sub."
I wanted to gauge the response from tje community, and to further elaborate for the mods, since my original modmail was a bit vague.
Do you agree? Is this a good plan? If you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments.
**Edit**: Removed "recurring" from my post
**Edit 2**: To clarify, the thread would need to recur frequently enough so that the post doesn't automatically get archived, disabling replies.
quanin 7 points 4y ago
If we must permit these surveys and junk, then I'd be all for a megathread. the mods have the skills to implement it with automod, and if they don't and/or don't want to, I can be available for doing so. Or we could just nuke the lot of them from high orbit, since 90% of them are just trying to reinvent the wheel anyway.
KaiDoesStuff [OP] 1 points 4y ago
I actually linked to a pretty specific guide on how to set a recurring megathread up.
quanin 1 points 4y ago
I know you did. And it's probably the same guide I'd be referring to if I needed to. However, on top of the scheduled post, I was thinking rules around removing posts that should actually be comments to that scheduled post. Or, you know, basic automod things in general.
preiman790 6 points 4y ago
Considering we get at most a couple dozen new threads a day and that’s on the highest traffic days I’ve seen since joining, I don’t really see it as a problem. It’s not like I have to scroll past 20 or 30 of them to find the posts I’m actually looking for.
OutWestTexas 5 points 4y ago
Surveys do not bother me. I generally skip over most of them because they tend to be poorly written.
Marconius 4 points 4y ago
Megathreads are a nightmare to navigate using BaconReader, so I'll be largely disinclined to ever enter it and look if new surghveys have been posted. Perhaps rather than a Megathread, we require survey and research posts to be tagged like [Survey] or [Research] so that users can filter them out of the feed if they get sick of seeing them. Any research survey not tagged would be removed.
Edit: Megathreads are also a bad idea since they are meant to culminate and collect all the posted threads for one topic, such as breaking news. Megathreads are not meant to collect large amounts of links over time.
Edit: Megathreads are also a bad idea since they are meant to culminate and collect all the posted threads for one topic, such as breaking news. Megathreads are not meant to collect large amounts of links over time.
ENTJ351 2 points 4y ago
Agreed with you yes. I have similar sentiments and these surveys do not bother me honestly so yeah.
KaiDoesStuff [OP] 1 points 4y ago
>> Megathreads are also a bad idea since they are meant to culminate and collect all the posted threads for one topic, such as breaking news. Megathreads are not meant to collect large amounts of links over time.
Could you explain that a little bit more? If you want to see the newest surveys, you could always sort by New. Plus, researchers could always specify the topic/content of their work, so... could you elaborate?
Could you explain that a little bit more? If you want to see the newest surveys, you could always sort by New. Plus, researchers could always specify the topic/content of their work, so... could you elaborate?
Marconius 2 points 4y ago
A megathread is generally used if tons of people are posting the same thing from different sources. The way the threads are presented is really annoying, but then again that just comes down to my reddit client. Semantically, it's just not the right thing to do. Using tags allows users to quickly identify survey threads for either interaction or avoidance, plus allows for filtering of content.
rkingett 3 points 4y ago
Let's nuke the lot of them or stick them all under a mega thread or, better yet, send them elsewhere. There's mailing lists that post this kind of stuff.
I have yet to see a survey that presented an innovative idea.
And, none of these are paid, with a few exceptions.
I have yet to see a survey that presented an innovative idea.
And, none of these are paid, with a few exceptions.
wheresmyglasses12 2 points 4y ago
My thoughts and personal opinions.
1. I see people here largely saying they skip these survey posts anyway, so what good is posting the survey here if nobody answers anyway and it just clutters things up for us?
2. If I'm plunging time into something, I'd like to see it benefit me, you know? Most of these projects seem like they'll never go beyond a presentation for a class. For those that do, I'd like it if they compensated us if the survey was of substantial length. Then again, I'm a broke college student. Spending cash is a luxury for me right now.
3. Something just seems slightly off-putting about people coming to a forum about blindness just to outsource a bunch of blind people for something a sighted person is doing. Not sure why, really, for some reason that doesn't sit well with me.
1. I see people here largely saying they skip these survey posts anyway, so what good is posting the survey here if nobody answers anyway and it just clutters things up for us?
2. If I'm plunging time into something, I'd like to see it benefit me, you know? Most of these projects seem like they'll never go beyond a presentation for a class. For those that do, I'd like it if they compensated us if the survey was of substantial length. Then again, I'm a broke college student. Spending cash is a luxury for me right now.
3. Something just seems slightly off-putting about people coming to a forum about blindness just to outsource a bunch of blind people for something a sighted person is doing. Not sure why, really, for some reason that doesn't sit well with me.
retrolental_morose 2 points 4y ago
post flairs are the way to go surely?
HDMILex 2 points 4y ago
Agreed with the megathread idea. It's honestly not a huge deal to me though.
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