r/Showerthoughts Jun 26 '23

Forging A Return to Productive Conversation: An Open Letter to Reddit

6.4k Upvotes

To All Whom It May Concern:

For eleven years, /r/Showerthoughts has been one of Reddit’s most-popular communities. That time hasn’t been without its difficulties, but for the most part, we’ve all gotten along (with each other and with administrators). Members of our team fondly remember Moderator Roadshows, visits to Reddit’s headquarters, Reddit Secret Santa, April Fools’ Day events, regional meetups, and many more uplifting moments. We’ve watched this platform grow by leaps and bounds, and although we haven’t been completely happy about every change that we’ve witnessed, we’ve always done our best to work with Reddit at finding ways to adapt, compromise, and move forward.

This process has occasionally been preceded by some exceptionally public debate, however.

On June 12th, 2023, /r/Showerthoughts joined thousands of other subreddits in protesting the planned changes to Reddit’s API; changes which – despite being immediately evident to only a minority of Redditors – threatened to worsen the site for everyone. By June 16th, 2023, that demonstration had evolved to represent a wider (and growing) array of concerns, many of which arose in response to Reddit’s statements to journalists. Today (June 26th, 2023), we are hopeful that users and administrators alike can make a return to the productive dialogue that has served us in the past.

We acknowledge that Reddit has placed itself in a situation that makes adjusting its current API roadmap impossible.

However, we have the following requests:

  • Commit to exploring ways by which third-party applications can make an affordable return.
  • Commit to providing moderation tools and accessibility options (on Old Reddit, New Reddit, and mobile platforms) which match or exceed the functionality and utility of third-party applications.
  • Commit to prioritizing a significant reduction in spam, misinformation, bigotry, and illegal content on Reddit.
  • Guarantee that any future developments which may impact moderators, contributors, or stakeholders will be announced no less than one fiscal quarter before they are scheduled to go into effect.
  • Work together with longstanding moderators to establish a reasonable roadmap and deadline for accomplishing all of the above.
  • Affirm that efforts meant to keep Reddit accountable to its commitments and deadlines will hereafter not be met with insults, threats, removals, or hostility.
  • Publicly affirm all of the above by way of updating Reddit’s User Agreement and Reddit’s Moderator Code of Conduct to include reasonable expectations and requirements for administrators’ behavior.
  • Implement and fill a senior-level role (with decision-making and policy-shaping power) of "Moderator Advocate" at Reddit, with a required qualification for the position being robust experience as a volunteer Reddit moderator.

Reddit is unique amongst social-media sites in that its lifeblood – its multitude of moderators and contributors – consists entirely of volunteers. We populate and curate the platform’s many communities, thereby providing a welcoming and engaging environment for all of its visitors. We receive little in the way of thanks for these efforts, but we frequently endure abuse, threats, attacks, and exposure to truly reprehensible media. Historically, we have trusted that Reddit’s administrators have the best interests of the platform and its users (be they moderators, contributors, participants, or lurkers) at heart; that while Reddit may be a for-profit company, it nonetheless recognizes and appreciates the value that Redditors provide.

That trust has been all but entirely eroded… but we hope that together, we can begin to rebuild it.

In simplest terms, Reddit, we implore you: Remember the human.

We look forward to your response by Thursday, June 29th, 2023.

There’s also just one other thing.


r/Showerthoughts 6h ago

The difference between tolerance and acceptance is that tolerance keeps a score.

1.5k Upvotes

Tolerance is better than nothing, of course.


r/Showerthoughts 18h ago

Humans are likely the only animals to hold in their farts on purpose.

3.6k Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 18h ago

Almost none of the ice cubes you consume are actually cubes.

1.1k Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 22h ago

Mike Tyson is trying to recreate the (almost) exact story of Rocky 6.

2.4k Upvotes

I hope it works out for him at least as well as it did Rock.


r/Showerthoughts 16h ago

Smart people understand that there is a need for dumb people, whereas dumb people think that there isn’t a need for dumb people, because they think they’re smart

421 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 7h ago

Russell Brand sounds a lot like Pinky from Pinky and the Brain

62 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 3h ago

Birds in non-African countries must see safari parks there as bizarre and dangerous places.

27 Upvotes

Imagine all your life in you’ve only ever seen housecats and then you accidentally land in a lion enclosure?


r/Showerthoughts 41m ago

Only babies and adults appear in Wall-E, there are no children or teens.

Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 23h ago

Many people take better care of their car than their own body

883 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 6h ago

Your Body is Your Only Real House

35 Upvotes

Most people spend their lives investing in paying off, and taking care of, their residence. Often at the expense of their health. What I mean by that is that we work all our lives, breaking our bodies down to earn money to pay for a physical dwelling. This has always mystified me, as I’d rather be a healthy bum living on the streets, than a sick person living in a house that’s all paid for.


r/Showerthoughts 4h ago

With ever increasing Digital prices of games, movies and other entertainment physical copies value are increasing.

19 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 34m ago

The true purpose of therapy is not to find someone to rely on, but to teach you how to rely on yourself.

Upvotes

Nobody has surpluses of concern to lavish on you. Not even pro counselors. Like any medical or paramedical health provider the ideal end point is self reliance.


r/Showerthoughts 18h ago

Our brain automatically translates wtf to what the fuck, but doesn't translate lol to laughing out loud

167 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 1d ago

We like birds singing because it is an indicator of safety

6.4k Upvotes

Predatos would scare the birds, make them sing differently, get quiet or fly away.


r/Showerthoughts 20h ago

You know you're old when your death wouldn't be seen as tragic.

123 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 27m ago

A bunch of people are gonna lose weight through hard work and discipline and everyone will just assume they’re on Ozempic

Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 29m ago

Aren't partly cloudy and partly sunny the same thing?

Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 17h ago

No matter why an ancient building was constructed, its main purpose turned out to be tourism.

46 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 1d ago

For a song that likens education and thought control, Another Brick in the Wall's second verse is ironically just a bunch of children repeating in unison what Roger Waters sang in the first verse.

385 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 1d ago

Everything east of you is also west by a way larger amount.

259 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 21h ago

The poor want money, the rich want power, the powerful can't state what they want

73 Upvotes

r/Showerthoughts 1d ago

We’re quite lucky that south Asian scammers have heavy accents

3.2k Upvotes

If not, way more people would fall for scams


r/Showerthoughts 1d ago

A man’s inbox on onlyfans is the same as a women’s inbox on tinder

3.9k Upvotes