r/RockTumbling • u/waterboysh • Jul 27 '26
Concerning rock ID posts.
TLDR: No - but maybe a periodic megathread. I created a new sub, r/WhatTheRock
------------
I figured I'd make a separate post for this. This stems from the recent post asking if the rule about posting rock ID requests can be changed. I'll copy and paste what I replied there into here:
In short, no I don't think allowing rock ID posts is a good idea. They used to be allowed and a large percentage of posts were people asking what a particular rock is. I think ID requests were banned before I even took over as the mod and I left it that way.
Regarding the level of moderating on this sub, I think it's funny that some people think I'm strict or power trip. I do not actively moderate... not really anyway. If I happen to see an ID post or off topic post in my home page when browsing Reddit, I'll remove it. But most of the time, they get reported fairly quickly, I see the notification for the report, and then I remove it. There are very few rules on this sub and I actually don't remove a lot. I often get reports of "harassment" and it's usually someone being slightly rude. I don't remove comments like that. I will remove comments that are hateful in nature.
Now... if someone is truly harassing you and taking effort to do something like respond to multiple comments on multiple topics in a negative way, let me know. I'd probably just message them a warning, and if the behavior doesn't stop, a temp ban, followed by a perma-ban. I've never had to do that though. But I want everyone to know that kind of behavior won't be tolerated here.
I am hearing that the community does not like r/whatsthisrock because of the strict moderation. So I have created a new sub called r/WhatTheRock. I know, I know.... another sub. Ugh. But I will moderate it the same way I do this sub. As long as the post has a picture of a rock (or mineral) and you're asking "What is this?" then I'll allow it. I'll caveat that by saying I'll remove any obviously meme posts, like if someone posts a picture of Dwayne Johnson, or a picture of the Earth. I want to keep this sub oriented towards tumbling related posts.
14
11
u/violet91 Jul 27 '26
I got permanently banned from that sub for a rather innocuous comment about the sheer volume of requests they receive and how few actually get identified. I’m sorry I offended them but it’s true.
6
u/atropicalsnorkeler Jul 27 '26
Exactly! It seemed like real posts got ignored while clickbait got traction
3
u/makeawishcumdumpster Jul 27 '26
it is a new sub, not the terrible r/whatisthisrock
2
u/waterboysh Jul 28 '26
It's actually r/whatsthisrock. No letter I before the S. I just realized I made the same mistake in my post. Fixed :)
2
u/sefjwm Jul 28 '26
Rock identification can be very difficult, especially when people don't provide enough information. I'm in groups that have rock experts in it and they can't even keep up or identify everything.
2
5
u/disless Jul 27 '26
Thank you! I think this is totally the right call. This is one of the subs I'm more active in and it seems to have a solid level of moderation, I appreciate the effort that you put in.
And I look forward to having a rock ID subreddit that people won't get permabanned from just by breathing too loudly!!! If people want an example of over moderation, that other sub is a prime example 🙄
3
u/Waldohossenpfeffer_1 Jul 28 '26
I appreciate what you do and thank you for listening to folks on this forum and being proactive in starting a new place for people to ask the question and quite possibly have it at least acknowledged.
2
u/AkTx907830 Jul 27 '26
I’ll take over ….i charge 1.00 per ID I’m starting a subscription of 5.99 monthly for unlimited
1
3
u/The_OtherRake70_Guy Jul 27 '26
What the f...? LOL! Thank you So Much! Yeah, that other sub was too snobbish! Cheers!
1
u/MiniProgramCoder Jul 28 '26
Thank you for your time spent with this sub. It honestly is my favorite place to look each day about tumbling rock's.
0
u/i_Love_Gyros Jul 27 '26
Can we have a stickied megathread? Probably reduces the amount of clutter most effectively
4
u/waterboysh Jul 27 '26
For ID requests? Having a rotating sticky thread is something I thought about... but the thread that has all the FAQs is also a stickied thread and everyone says they don't see it with the default Reddit sorting.... so I don't know how much it'd help.
4
u/i_Love_Gyros Jul 27 '26
/r/bonsai has a weekly beginners thread that’s stickied at the top of the normal feed and while not everyone utilizes it, it does cut down drastically on it and has a nice place to point people when you do post removal. Copying that dynamic would be a great move imo
18
u/atropicalsnorkeler Jul 27 '26
Thank you. I’ve tried whatisthisrock with all required fields, a few detailed photos but got no traction since I didn’t make it clickbait-ey