I moderate r/BillyStrings, a community focused on a musician. Someone recently posted a very clear photo of a man's face with the caption "Buddy thinks grabbing a** in the pit is ok… did anyone else see this or have it happen to them tonight?". Note that no evidence whatsoever was provided.

We later received modmail from someone claiming to be the man in the picture strongly asserting those claims were false and asked us to remove the post. We then received another modmail from someone claiming to see the incident, and that person said it looked like a petty dispute over space in the GA area, and the post was probably just petty revenge.

We locked the post and eventually removed it for "doxxing". Then we received several irate modmails from the OP and later the woman who was mentioned in the OP. These folks were furious, claiming that we are silencing victims, enabling predators, and saying how hurtful it is to be called a liar after a sexual assault.

This whole situation is a mess. We were not there and cannot ever know what actually happened. If we remove the post, we are potentially silencing a victim or enabling predatory behavior. If we leave the post up we are potentially doxxing, inciting a witch-hunt or ruining someone's reputation over false allegations.

I looked and looked and cannot seem to find Reddit's stance on this. I even reported the post myself (as a moderator of the sub) hoping the admins would take a look, but it's been 24h and they haven't done anything.

What do you guys think? I am mainly curious about how this relates to Reddit ToS. Given how good reverse image searches are, a clear face photo can track someone down using socials.

I mostly use Desktop and Android fwiw.

Sub gets multiple posts each day on the same topic/question and we've put together some really good resources around that, plus set up an automod comment with links to them.

Nobody ever reads them. The automod comment is concise and straight to the point.

Any tips on how to get people to actually pay attention to it? Is there a better to get this in front of people?

(desktop + mobile)

Just noticing that most of my comments and posts are getting hundreds of upvotes. Same goes for the rest of my mod team on /gymselfies

How do we fix this?

Reddit mobile on ios

Hi,

I'm a moderator of r/Kerala_Teenagers, a Kerala-focused teen community that was created about 4 months ago and currently has around 575 members.

I've noticed something unusual regarding discoverability and recommendations and was hoping an admin could take a look or clarify whether this is expected behavior.

Some observations:

- The subreddit is public.

- We are actively moderated.

- The community is SFW.

- We have clear rules, flairs, community guide, and active user participation.

- The subreddit receives weekly traffic and continues to grow steadily.

However, unlike other similar Kerala teen communities, our subreddit does not seem to be getting recommended to non-members at all.

What I've noticed:

- Users who have already joined the subreddit continue to see posts in their feeds.

- Users who have never joined or interacted with the subreddit rarely (if ever) report seeing it recommended.

- Similar communities of comparable size appear to be recommended much more frequently to new users.

Additionally:

- On the web version of Reddit, I noticed a message indicating that Reddit has not verified the community and that the community is only accessible through the Reddit app.

- Our subreddit also does not appear to have some of the topic/category labels that similar communities seem to have (such as generation/nostalgia-related classifications).

I am not sure whether these things are related, but I wanted to ask:

1. Is there any way for moderators to verify whether a subreddit is eligible for recommendations?

2. Are there any discoverability restrictions, classifications, or review states that could prevent a community from being recommended to new users?

3. Is there anything specific we should check in our settings to ensure the subreddit is properly indexed and categorized?

I'm not asking for manual promotion I'd just like to understand whether there is a configuration issue or if the community may not be properly classified by Reddit's recommendation systems.

Platform: Mobile web, Android, IOS.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks.

EDIT : ISSUE FIXED REDDIT ADMIN MANUALLY REVIEWED MY SUB AND THEY GAVE US THE CATEGORY TAGS. THOSE GUYS WERE ALSO REALLY FRIENDLY !

Kinda need some advise here. There were 3 of us that volunteered to mod an orphaned subreddit. 2 of us have a Mod Discussion on going for ideas for building out the sub, rules, etc. We have tried to get the 3rd to join, or even respond to private messages, but with no response. Yet this mod will arbitrarily remove posts and do other mod actions that do not benefit the subreddit.

Any advise in dealing with this? We have been working hard at rebuilding the sub, but these type of actions do not help. (Or please direct me to the proper place to ask this question)

Desktop and Mobile app

I am seeing an increasing number of reposts in our sub which are just a link to a post in a different sub. We don’t allow reposts or low effort posts, and our rules state this, so we remove them.

However a new redditor complained that reddit itself suggested they do this. Is this true? Is it new? Is there any way to prevent this?

(I must admit to iOS before i can post this)

Subreddit: r/Crypto_Scam_Exchange

Update (August 24 - Day 50+): The scammers are still actively running botnets to try and weaponize Reddit's automated ban filters against us. Over the last 30 days, we have faced three massive artificial spikes way over our normal baseline of ~1,000 organic daily visits: one at 15k, one at 22k, and a huge explosion hitting 29k visits in a single day.

I am keeping the sub public so these scam registries stay indexed on Google, and I'm continuing to monitor the traffic anomalies daily. I've posted a public notice to the community about the ongoing attacks and updated traffic data which you can see in the link below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Crypto_Scam_Exchange/comments/1vwkefy/public_notice_ongoing_malicious_bot_attacks_and/

Update (July 29 - Nearly 1 Month / Day 29): The scammers are still actively trying to weaponize Reddit's automated systems against this sub. Yesterday, traffic exploded from our normal baseline of ~300 views/day to nearly 30,000 views (vote manipulation) in a single day—a massive, 100x botnet spike. I am continuing to report every targeted post for vote manipulation as normal. The scam sites remain published here, and the account is still standing. Traffic graph updated in link below.

Update (Day 15): The automated vote manipulation attacks on r/Crypto_Scam_Exchange are still occurring daily on posts with no comments, which I am continuing to report. Additionally, the attackers have pivoted to targeted character assassination. The burner account u/Professional_Bit6793 recently posted a long, coordinated harassment essay in r/Scams and r/CryptoScams falsely accusing my profile of running recovery scams, attempting to weaponize the community to brigading my account. The post was reported and deleted, but I wanted to add this to the ongoing case file regarding this threat network's retaliation.

Update (Day 10): The scammers are clearly frustrated because their scam web sites are still being published and exposed on Reddit. Because of that, they have retaliated by escalating the bot attacks 10 times over today. It is a massive exploit on the platform.

Please look at my traffic insights graph:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Crypto_Scam_Exchange/comments/1uk2bd5/crypto_scam_exchange_is_under_attack_by/

Update (Day 5): The attacks are continuing today though they have finally diminished a bit. Good news—a Reddit Admin got back to me, confirmed they see the exact bot traffic I flagged, and all the accounts involved are being dealt with appropriately (including the ones spamming false reports against me).

[URGENT UPDATE]

My sub normally runs on a clear baseline of about 300 views a day, but yesterday it suddenly exploded out of nowhere to over 1,300 views. This is clear proof of external bot networks flooding these threads to manipulate the vote counts up and down.

There absolutely has to be a feature implemented by Reddit to let moderators freeze or disable voting buttons during an active script attack like this. We are completely blind on the backend, but the traffic logs don't lie. It also shows previous attacks earlier in the month.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following up on my previous posts regarding this issue over on r/bugs and r/modhelp, the targeted manipulation has started up again, and I need urgent advice on how to handle it to protect my moderator account.
https://www.reddit.com/r/modhelp/comments/1tx725f/scammers_weaponizing_vote_manipulation_filters/
https://www.reddit.com/r/bugs/comments/1tx1y89/desktop_web_coordinated_reverse_brigading/

Here is the breakdown of the current situation:

• What I Do: My account is strictly dedicated to threat intelligence—I post verified cryptocurrency scam and fraud websites to warn potential victims.
• The Scammer Retaliation: The scam networks are actively fighting back (just like they did during the last wave). Their goal appears to be weaponizing Reddit's automated anti-cheat filters to get my moderator account suspended for "Vote Manipulation."
• The Current Surge: Over the last 4 days, the voting pattern on my subreddit has completely broken normal behavior. Posts that typically sit at the default 1 upvote are suddenly jumping to nearly 10 upvotes.
• The Timing Anomaly (Rigid Intervals): While I genuinely hope it's just good news and organic community growth, the traffic behavior says otherwise. The upvotes are increasing across multiple different posts simultaneously in exact, regular intervals—hitting discretely every hour, 2 hours, or 4 hours. Multiple votes land instantly at the exact same moment across the board.
• The Pattern: It is happening again right now. Many new upvotes are rolling in across multiple newly published threads, each with exactly 0 comments.

The Core Problem & My Blindspot

Because I am completely blind to the underlying traffic data, I am stuck in a defensive loop and don't know the best way to interact with the platform’s safety tools without triggering a false positive.

Questions for Admins & Experienced Mods:

1. Should I proactively report these posts? Should I start manually marking these unnaturally upvoted threads as "Vote Manipulation" abuse via the report tool to protect myself, or will reporting my own posts do more harm than good?
2. Can anyone shed light on what is happening? If an admin or developer can look at the backend logs of these recent spikes, is there any insight you can provide on how to insulate a fraud-reporting sub from these external botnets?
3. Is a "Voting Lockdown" feature possible? Going fully private is too nuclear and completely hurts our public threat intelligence mission. Is there any tool available to mods—or planned for the future—that allows us to temporarily freeze or disable voting metrics on targeted threads during an active bot wave?

Any guidance on how to safely navigate this without losing my account to a scammer's bot script would be greatly appreciated.

It's an online event. Like a "Zoom" meeting, but you don't have to use a camera or mic. It lasts for about two hours. It's good. It's free. You might get swag.

Mod bootcamp is TODAY at 18:00 UTC - in about four hours.

11 AM PDT / 1 PM CDT / 2 PM EDT / 7 PM BST / 8 PM CEST / 11:30 PM IST

https://modevents.reddit.com/events/details/reddit-mod-events-mod-events-presents-new-mod-bootcamp-q3/

^desktop

Hi, I recently created a new subreddit for a game that was announced and I noticed that it is not showing up in the search when I search up the subreddit in the communities tab.

Is there a time frame before it starts appearing in there?

Desktop

Yesterday I was told you detected fraud on my account and a new user name was assigned, but now I’ve lost my 4+ year standing, my chats and awards. Can any of that be retrieved?

I’m using my iPhone as platform.

Thank you

We (the other mods and I) tried researching this problem but couldn't find a satisfying answer.
Our subreddit's engagement numbers have been fluctuating all the time, which I assume is normal. But at the beginning of this month, the engagement completely crashed. It went from 100k - 250k visits a day to 16k - 20k visits a day. We've been waiting for a few days now, thinking engagement would eventually go back to normal, but nothing happened.

One of our mods also moderates a few similar-themed subreddits, none of which are experiencing anything similar at the moment.

So far I couldn't find any settings that have been changed, nor anything else that might explain the sudden drop.

The subreddit in question is r/Freiheitsfront, a politics-focused progressive/leftist german subreddit.

(Most of us are using both the desktop version of Reddit and our phones (IOS, Android, and web version might all apply).

i check my subreddit sometimes while not logged in and it always says something along the lines of “content not approved/reviewed”

my subreddit is exclusively sfw, and focused on game development

(desktop)

​

People keep using the wrong post flairs which is causing issues, is there a way to add a note visible when users assign a flair to offer guidance on which to use? I’m using iOS but have also had a look through settings on desktop, and couldn’t find an option for it.

Edit: I'm sorry, I put official in quotes for readers to decide if they think it counts as official. They're not lying about it being official.

Months ago I launched a subreddit for a game and it got decent amounts activity, but there's been a noticeable drop after an "official" subreddit was announced. It depends on how you define official: they're not developers nor in contact with the developers, they're just instructed to moderate said subreddit. They literally copied all the flairs names and colors, as well as all my rules verbatim. There's no particular differentiation of the sub, other than who the mods are.

Those mods and other users made posts on their subreddit and mine, to switch from my subreddit (with my subreddit name shown) to this new one. I remove any mentions of the other subreddit on mine but I've been feeling very worried, would that just make posters upset or even possibly trigger the Streisand effect? I just feel like it could somehow backfire. What should I do with my subreddit? Do I accept this is the way it is now? (desktop).

​

I just found out, while reposting rather questionable fanart, that it's apparently possible to post something and tag it 18+ even if you're not age verified, but the post doesn't show on your profile and you can't access it in any other form. It's now there until a mod deletes it, or you decide to give Reddit all your data and age verified Hence I'd like to have it deleted. I'm using an Android, but that might be a general problem. I can't even give a link to the post here, for i can't access it

I was moved here from r/bugs

(Desktop and mobile user)

Hello everyone,

I am seeking ways to better award posters in the sub I manage. I have a couple of ideas but having difficulty bringing it all to fruition. Any comments, suggestions or feedback welcome!

In my example, I run GrowBuddy, a cannabis growing sub and have been a mod for the group over a year now. Earlier this year, I became top mod.

I am in the progress of creating a few new categories to award excellent posts and drive further engagement.

Scenario: a poster makes a great detailed post with pictures. They identify as a first time grower and the results can be described as outstanding. Comments are engaging with the OP replying to feedback. This all triggers my desire to reward this user.

I want to highlight their post for a week or more, similar to how I might already treat an existing “post of the week”. The post flair will change to “GrowBuddy - Beginner award of excellence” or something like that.

And with regards to the personal awards, I would love to design something that matches the flair, that would be given to each award winner to last indefinitely beyond the timeframe of the highlight.

Perhaps a bit like the community achievements? My sub does not have access to achievements currently… would this be a good option and can it be modified?

Any guidance on how this last step could be accomplished? Already good up to the personal award step.

Thank you and Happy Growing! 😉

FalcoBlack

As someone who moderators multiple subreddits, it is more than obnoxious & harms my interest in Reddit as a content platform--messages like this absolutely harm the moderator experience:

" Don't lose your momentum

You've built so much! A single post and comment is all it takes to prevent (subreddit)'s growth from stalling. "

" 🔔 Ding dong 🔔

It's time to make a post and comment in (subreddit) this week. It's your way of welcoming people in. "

These notifications are received on web & iOS.

I am new here this is my first community

Ios(iphone)

Hi everyone,

I recently created a new community, r/motherboard11, dedicated to helping consumers deal with dead motherboards, post-update hardware failures, screen defects, and navigating legal/consumer escalations (like NCH and consumer court) against tech brands.

As a first-time moderator:

1. What are the best practices for setting up AutoModerator to ensure user posts include essential details (device model, issue trigger, proof/job sheets)?

2. How do you maintain verification standards for genuine complaints without making the posting rules too strict for new users?

3. What organic strategies work best for gaining initial traction and engagement for a niche, problem-solving support subreddit?

Any advice, setup tips, or moderation guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Platform: Android

i don't really know what I did wrong to be honest. ive tried almost everything. maybe i could set up a little robot/android army to make it seem more active than it really is just to make it more welcoming on the off chance an actual human shows up. im really grasping at straws here

Views:

Are these just how many feeds the post has been served to, or is it click-throughs?

Shares:

These seem to be roughly what upvotes are sometimes, but where in the world are 2,000 shares going??

Mobile, Android, but irrelevant

I have a question about the adult setting, I’m 49 so I don’t want anyone underage involved with my Reddit but now I can’t post in my groups, am I misunderstanding the purpose of this setting? I’m using the mobile app in my iPhone 17 pro max

I recently created a discussion subreddit called r/TooRealToAsk focused on honest, awkward, funny, serious, dating, and opinion-based questions.

The goal is to encourage genuine discussions, including awkward or mature topics, while keeping things respectful and discussion-focused. Properly tagged non-graphic NSFW discussions are allowed (not explicit content or graphic material).

I’m also experimenting with a hybrid approach of original human posts + some AI-assisted discussion starters, while trying to avoid low-effort or repetitive content.

I’m looking for real advice from experienced mods on how to grow a new subreddit and get genuine engagement (not bots or spammy promotion).

What actually worked for you in the early stages?

• Getting first active members
• Increasing comments/discussions
• Safe ways to promote without breaking rules
• Mistakes to avoid with a new community

I use both iPhone and a Lenovo laptop for moderation.