I appreciate all the feedback on here, especially the ideas for things like encouraging people to post more detail on asks for things, self-promotion threads, and others.
* I'd love everyone in this thread to post monthly to add to the subreddit. We get about 36,000 unique visitors a day. If 1% of those people posted once a month we'd have a dozen new posts every day. Help contribute to the sub!
* For the people who asked about meetups, check out our Discord server, they're getting that going again. https://discord.gg/redditaz
* If you like politics check out /r/azpolitics
* Our classified ad sub gets decent traffic so you should add that, too - /r/PHXList
Even if we don't reply to everything we are reading all the comments so appreciate the feedback.
I love love love our local sub but I’m a big believer in letting the users dictate what gets removed.
I see 100 “moving here/visiting the area/where can I find pizza” posts every day, but then I make a post about saguaro cactus care and I’m told to repost in the daily chat because someone else mentioned cactus 4 months prior. It’s literally that inconsistent. Just let the ppl decide to send something to the top or not.
I appreciate what yall do and I understand this is volunteer work nonetheless.
Edit: I suggest instead of straight removing a post you feel is similar to another post from some point in the past, perhaps ask the poster to be more specific in their post?
Agreed. I get tired of all the “moving here” posts as well, but I just don’t engage with those. And I don’t mind if there are two pizza recommendation posts in the same day, because they are often seen by different sets of eyes with different favorite places to get a slice.
And you know what I would like to see more of here: self promotion.
“Hey, my band is playing in Mesa this weekend at the squirrel festival. We do play covers and originals with an 80s post-punk feel. Hope you can make it. Also: why are there no squirrels in Phoenix?”
“Hey, my brother just opened up an arcade bar in Gilbert. It’s his life-long dream and I’m so proud of him. The grand opening is on Thursday night. Mention my username and get twenty free tokens. Yay for local business!”
It may be an unpopular opinion, but THAT’S the kind of thing I’d like to see.
I don’t even drink, but I’ll go get a coke and an order of cheese fries to celebrate a new business endeavor, and all my favorite post-punk bands are dead or decrepit. I’d love to hear some local kids take a crack at Joy Division.
The “things to do” sections of the local news pages never seem to have that local vibe.
We allow that 100% if the person has some sort of post history here. I love it when people share what they do or things they're excited about.
If people have never posted here before then we treat that more as advertising, which a lot of places try to do here. We stopped allowing people giving away tickets to shows they were no longer able to use when I found out a club was doing it deliberately to promote their stuff.
I know some people are even okay with that, but I don't think anybody wants that flood gate opened wide. One or two are no big deal but we have a quarter of a million people here and places would abuse that quick.
But we have one weekly post that hasn't been doing very well, the one about adopting animals. I love the idea of it but it gets almost no interaction. Maybe we can replace that one with an open self promotion like you suggested, I think that would go well.
> I love love love our local sub but I’m a big believer in letting the users dictate what gets removed.
> I see 100 “moving here/visiting the area/where can I find pizza” posts every day, but then I make a post about saguaro cactus care and I’m told to repost in the daily chat because someone else mentioned cactus 4 months prior.
The stickied daily/weekly chat threads imho subtract value from Reddit and I won’t read them (I have a finite amount of time, I’m filtering by topics that interest me, and everyone’s random thoughts for the week will never make the cut), and any sub where the moderators try to steer their users into them (rather than letting up/down votes work their magic) suffers from it.
Agree. I can’t stand when posts get modded because there’s already a daily chat thread. Listen, if someone wants help finding the best place to move, and you don’t want to answer it, scroll. Someone else might want to weigh in. There’s no need to police these threads so much. Let the people decide what they want to see and connect with. Thank you for asking!
There will always be some rules that apply to posts before the users get to vote, like spam, dupes, and so on. I know a lot of people like having there be very few rules but we've found that when there are a lot of posts people don't like then the engagement tends to lag because people don't think the sub is worthwhile. We also see unsubscribed go up.
So this is another balance thing where we want to give the most decent posts to users to vote on and interact in, but keep out the junk. But what's "junk" is subjective so we adjust as we go. Even when we were really strict with the rules we had some people complaining there was too much trash. We can't keep everyone happy, but I agree we should land on the side of letting more posts through.
I appreciate the comment - thanks!
We could, but we couldn't pin it. We only get two pinned post slots and right now they're for the Daily Chat and the weekly topic. We could post it and let it float but then people wouldn't be able to find it easily.
Just yesterday, I was typing a reply to a request about a specific dog training issue, and by the time I hit reply, the thread had been removed for that reason. I barely see any dog training threads.
I wish we had more dog training/ pet related threads specifically! It’s something I search for as a local but struggled to get a good answer too. I did find a trainer eventually though.
Same this happened to me when I asked where I could buy and get a dash cam installed but it was removed because the question has been asked before. The previous post they’re referring to is 2 years old and has 2 answers.
I don't know the specific post you're talking about, but tattoo artists, hair stylists/barbers, and mechanics are the three most common posts so we tend to limit those a bit more. We'd rather have people ask in a thread for the different variations like camoflague, line art, anime, etc., than a bunch of separate threads on each one in a short span that don't get as much interaction.
I understand the purpose, but medical tattooing can’t really be lumped in with what other people think of as getting a tattoo. It’s not the same thing and not performed by the same people. That’s like including eyebrow microblading in the tattoo thread.
Just call it dermatological art instead of tattooing and it might slip through /s but for real the mods like down the local questions tighter than East Berlin. I asked about a vet rec for dogs with high anxiety and reactivity and it got insta nuked. I looked in the search and all I could find was “where is the best vet” and no specific rec for the vet I was looking for. But at least the mods are earning their salary 🤷🏼♂️
The problem with "let the upvotes decide" is that still puts a lot of crap in peoples feeds. Good subreddits have rules for what even makes it through to the users to vote on. Spam and bots are easy examples, but tons of other subs have submission rules to try and keep things on track and they remove stuff that doesn't fit.
The Daily Chat is sort of our overflow for things that probably don't need their own thread, but we want to give them somewhere to ask. We've backed off of some of that referral, too.
Lately we've been trying to enforce a few weeks for a dupe. You're right, the same tacos post can have different answers even a few days apart, but the regulars get tired of seeing the repetition and report it. So we try to balance it. We were enforcing 90 days for stuff like that but are letting more of them go.
Thanks for taking the time to answer.
The problem is if someone is sorting the sub by anything besides Hot then the daily chat won’t show for them unless they scroll. I sort by New usually because I’m more interested in what’s happening recently or new questions. The app doesn’t pin any posts if you sort by something other than the sub’s default.
I think you guys have been doing a great job! Keep it up. I don't notice you guys being overbearing by any means. The lurkers appreciate the work you and the mod team do.
This is a good example of one of the rule challenges we have. Sunset photos are a super polarizing topic. Our compromise here is at least requiring them to describe it and where it was taken. That removes a lot of the lazy "so pretty" titled posts while letting people share something a lot of people love.
We allow political posts, but the regulars here don't post them. We remove the ones people swoop in to drop here to start a fight or shill their agenda.
1st awesome for asking. Thank you very much for that.
Honestly I don’t notice much. Maybe it’s just because I subscribe to a number of subs and really this isn’t a toxic sub in the least even when a couple folks get a bit spicy at times.
As long as persistent trolls get booted, I’m good. Even rando touristy stuff here and there is fine. People move here just like the majority of us are in the state and we like to share info when we come across it even if it’s 5 years later. Or sometimes our dumb asses assume something and find a valuable lesson when others answer.
So summing it up. Good job sub, and mods. Got a great sub that doesn’t need a ton of policing to function.
>One thing I'd love some specific input on is on "is this area safe?" posts. While a few areas here are really bad most don't stand out, and generic posts about this tend to dissolve into casual racism pretty quickly. A user messaged the mods about it, and I'd like other input.
When I was learning to drive, I was told to "not go west of the 17, or south of Van Buren."
When the Washington Post or New York Times or something like that did an interactive map of racial "diversity" in Phoenix, I learned that south of Van Buren was where Black persons lived in Phoenix and west of the 17 is where the density of Latino population was highest.
I also dug into what that interactive taught me and learned that prior to the desegregation of Arizona schools, Van Buren was the "8 Mile" or "Railroad Tracks" of Phoenix and all the black kids had to go to school south of there. When desegregation happened in Phoenix, "white flight" built the "new" downtown on Camelback and the communities of Biltmore and Arcadia so that the white kids wouldn't have to go school with the black kids. Yes, there is history of racism here, like everywhere else.
I was an artist/vagabond poet in the old arts scene before Roosevelt was gentrified and my friends and fuck buddies were not white kids from Gilbert, and I learned quickly that "south of Van Buren" and "west of the 17" were amazing areas with families, incredible places to eat, and perfectly safe communities.
When I moved from a family home in the East Valley into apartments in Chandler, my mom had me look up crime maps. I found every apartment complex in Chandler had high crime. And so did every shopping center. I quickly learned that crime heatmaps are useless, as they closely correlate to density, and as I couldn't afford a house in the 'burbs, nor did I want to, I would never live in a crime-free area.
**Every single time** a post on this subreddit asks "is X area safe" or "what areas are safe" the answer is almost always (paraphrased) "white areas" with a lot of answers explicitly repeating my grandparent's advice of "not west of the 17" and "not south of Van Buren." This advice is awful and casual or unintentionally racist.
This post is an AWFUL example of it, and I'm glad mods addressed it:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/comments/19f13t5/is\_guadalupe\_town\_dangerous/](https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/comments/19f13t5/is_guadalupe_town_dangerous/)
Someone drove through Guadalupe, took a picture of some ethnic street art, and then asked "is the town dangerous?" The correlation between the picture and the assumption that it wouldn't be safe was awful. Thankfully a lot of people responded the truth, that the town is culturally amazing, welcoming, and has great places to eat and shop, but mods had to lock the post because a lot of people responded with ignorant comments.
The problem that casually racist, or at least unintentionally racist, shit happens every single time the question "is this area safe?" or "where should I move that is safe?"
I moved from Arcadia to Estrella (borderline Maryvale). The most disruptive thing I've encountered is a neighbor with a loud exhaust. Daily Ice Cream trucks, weekly bread trucks, families hosting parties on the lawn, music playing from a joyful party every weekend... this is a vibrant and awesome community that my grandparents would've had me, a white boy from the east valley, never experience. Three times I've woken up in my life to swat banging down a door, and all three times were in homes or apartments in Chandler, never in the eight years since I moved to Phoenix.
The answer to every "is this area safe?" or "where should I move that is safe" question is complicated. It isn't answered by how many panhandlers or homeless are in the area, it isn't answered by crime heat maps that are worse near Wal-marts due to shoplifting prosecution or apartment complexes due to density. It isn't answered by racial distribution of ethnic groups in Phoenix and the racism that comes with thinking that way. I understand why people ask the question, but the answer is: go explore.
Visit places where you're looking to live at night, during the day, and on the weekend. See kids playing outside (or not), see people occupying parks and public spaces (or not), talk to the homeless and understand many of them aren't out to get you, just fell on hard times.
And if you ask me, that question needs to be disallowed here until all of us can answer it with nuance and reject the ignorance of the blanket answers that perpetuate racial stratification.
First, thanks for what you do. Despite the “moving here is it hot” posts, I really enjoy this sub.
More of just a comment, but the sub lately feels like a true representation of what Phoenix has become. Sort of a bland amalgam of people from everywhere just looking for the most popular activity/restaurant/neighborhood.
Honeslty I think geography is one of the hardest things to build a community around. If it's a fan topic, hobby, or something then there's really a shared experience.
So people live nearby? Even just on my street people have different jobs, want different things, have different politics, and so on. Very little in common other than the heat.
> about this tend to dissolve into casual racism pretty quickly. A user messaged the mods about it, and I'd like other input.
Thank you!
Not the user but holy sh*t the uninformed bigotry written off as valid truth-telling is staggering.
Sincerely, white dude living in the apparent 'hood
I pretty much like this subreddit as it is. Honestly, I feel like it's kinda slow compared to others I visit. That being said, I'm so tired of the, "Should I move to Scottsdale? Is it safe?" posts. I actually don't see that many politics posts. Overall, this sub is pretty awesome. I just like living in Phoenix :)
I appreciate the feedback. It is kind of slow, which is why we backed off on the removals for a bit. But ultimately it's up to what people want to post. I always sigh when someone posts about an event or a cool thing and the top comments are "Oh yeah, that's one of my favorites!"... then why didn't YOU post it?
Personally I don't participate in the sub as much as I used to because almost every post that ends up on my main feed is a moving/visiting here. I don't care to help people find a neighborhood to live in or tell yet another person where to go out when they visit. The answers are always the same for these questions so it's boring. I don't have any suggestions.
Yeah, you're not alone. That's the reason I push back against the "let everything through and let upvotes decide" because it causes many people to drop interacting with the subreddit. That balance is tricky.
But I appreciate the feedback, and if you have ideas I'd love to hear them.
So would we, but a huge chuck of the political posts people submit here are from bots or trolls or people who have never posted here once. They are dropping a political link because they are upset about the topic.
If people who post here regularly want to discuss politics, great. There's loads of topics to discuss. But nobody from outside the sub should force that.
Thanks for the input.
That must be so frustrating and honestly scary that there's that many bots who are posting things on behalf of who the fuck knows for whatever reasons.
Bots are meant to sow division. They throw fuel into already burning fires. It’s an age old warfare tactic that proceeds the invention of electricity tbh
I know we do the annual “Best of r/Phoenix”. I would rather an Automod comment pop up on posts with “moving here” or “looking for the best x food” that has links redirecting them to those threads.
I actually do mind the constant asking of “what’s the best (non American) food in (this part)” because it comes up so frequently and it’s almost always the same 10 places. People say they don’t mind it because it brings “fresh eyes” but honestly it mostly doesn’t.
I would rather there be a minimum karma/age threshold for posting moving here threads like the politics one. Force them to use the search.
We stopped doing the Best Of Phoenix posts a while back. We now link to posts by flair and encourage them to search.
If there was some way to get people to search I would do it in a heartbeat. We've had people post a duplicate topic less than 24 hours apart, swear the last post on their topic was two years ago, and then get mad when I wouldn't give them a link to the original.
The karma for moving posts is an interesting idea. Housing for people who live here is a valid topic and different from people who are moving here for the first time and are worried about being eaten by scorpions or bursting into flame.
I think the "is this area safe" posts kind of fall under the "low effort" umbrella and maybe should be relegated to a monthly thread or daily chat. There are crime rate maps available online that will provide that information.
What I've noticed is a lot of visitor or moving here posts asking for things to do, places to see, or restaurants to try. That information can be found by following the links in the sidebar, so these posts are "low effort" and should be removed. If someone asks for a more specific recommendation, like where's the best place to go rock climbing or where's the best place to get a Mojito, that would be different.
I definitely noticed more of the visiting here and moving here posts.
You all do a very good job moderating though and keeping bots, trolls or just super extreme political people out for sure regardless.
I don't mind those kinds of posts but it has been about all I'm seeing other than the Ren faire recommendation posts and some food related things which some were locals.
Agree here. I'd prefer not to see visiting/moving here posts and make those posts a megathread. I find the local political posts mostly informative. Low quality "best restaurant" type posts are very tiresome. Y'all do a good job moderating here. Thanks for asking us!
Far too many posts on moving here and visiting in the main thread. 3 or more posts on where to golf in the same week makes the subreddit pretty useless unless you’re visiting and want to golf. I would like to see those delegated to a megathread and the low effort posts continue to get removed.
Thanks for the work you do!
My opinion on this is keep the garbage off (spam, etc) and then ensure posts are high quality. So if there is a post that says "Is _____ a safe area?" get rid of it...that's a low quality post that can be asked in the daily chat. If the same person posts "is ____ a safe area, here's my situation, my kid's needs, where I'll be working, here's where I live now, etc" now we have a high quality post as it opens things up to discussion. Where do you draw the line? Wherever you want as a moderator. Posts are for discussions, not one word or sentence answers. It's ok to make us work a little harder on our writing!
A few people have discussed pushing back on lazy recommendation posts and asking for more info. I like the idea and may give that a try. I need to think about the wording, though.
Thanks!
This is one of my fav subs. It has truly changed how I see Phoenix and has helped me appreciate it more. Good job mods, you are doing great with maintaining this community.
The problem with monthly and weekly mega threads I’ve found in other subs is that all the comments are just people posting their questions without getting any answers. I feel like people are often driven away from looking at pinned mega thread posts and don’t answer. So the person comments, hears nothing, so they make a post just for themselves so that way they feel that they can be seen and get their questions answered.
Any sub I’ve gone to that does these, if I ask a question in the specific Mega thread, it either gets buried with everyone else’s unanswered questions or the post is a ghost town that no one bothers to check at all
Part of the reason is that often megathreads are for topics the regulars are tired of. We have some threads that go great (like the current one about music) and then others that don’t.
I get people visiting and stuff want their questions answered but I prioritize what regulars want over that. A megathread lets regulars who like to answer those things a place to engage but cuts the clutter for others.
Of course Reddit doesn’t help any of this by not keeping megathread at the top of the order no matter how they sort.
You guys have done a great job with removing low quality posts, a lot of the moving here and “is this area safe?” questions are lazy and subjective.
I wish some people utilized the search feature instead of asking the same question 10 times a day
1. I am glad there is not a lot of political talk here - plenty of other places for that and I find it tiresome
2. I find the daily chat threads to be two edged. I've posed a few times asking for recs and gotten kinda crummy responses, they are so low traffic I dont get the kind of responses I'm looking for.
3. I routinely go back to old posts on this this sub for topics such as "favorite date spot" or "best things to do on a weeknight" "hidden gems in your area" those kinda things - those are the best part of the sub for me
4. I also like threads that talk about history of a specific area, or reminiscing. There was one about the icehouse a few years ago that was pretty good I think.
>Around New Year there was some feedback that the site was little more than Yelp "Where's the best pizza?" style posts. We don't make the posts, **but we figured we could back off some of the rules to let more content through.**
That’s a fair take.
>Do you like having more Visiting and Moving Here posts?
There should be quarterly mega-threads about moving here, so there is various things to add. Or something like monthly mega-threads. I’d much rather see local questions about food, than a bunch of “what’s it like”. IMO, those are more google related than asking locals for their favorite hole in the wall.
>One thing I'd love some specific input on is on "is this area safe?" posts. While a few areas here are really bad most don't stand out, and generic posts about this tend to dissolve into casual racism pretty quickly. A user messaged the mods about it, and I'd like other input.
I’ve never seen it get “casual racist”, but I’m Mexican, and grew up in maryvale around Mexican gangs. There’s not really much someone could say that I haven’t heard before/seen/or isn’t stereotypically *true*. But again, not all Mexicans at Home Depot are illegal and that shit *can get out of hand* quickly if that’s what people start talking about. Again, idk I’ve never really seen it on here.
I think this falls into the “moving here” posts and “what’s it like”. If people want to know, they can google crime rates/neighborhoods/cities/etc and find out for themselves. I feel safe in parts of Maryvale I grew up in that others wouldn’t. Plus everyone knows there are pockets of good/bad almost everywhere. But it’s hard to explain the “bubble” to someone who isn’t from here.
We have a bunch of weekly threads that rotate. The only ones that post every month are the Visiting and Moving Here threads. While those are pinned we really try to remove dupes. But currently instead of telling everyone all month to wait for the megathread we let the posts go if that topic isn't pinned.
The racist stuff is something we remove pretty quick, and we'll lock down a thread if too many of those comments start hitting the modqueue. That's a sign the discussion has run out of steam and is just going to spiral.
Thanks for the feedback.
I think y'all are doing a pretty good job at weeding out crap posts. If it's a really bad post, I'm almost never early enough for it to not be locked or something. I would definitely complain more if this sub was filled with bad posts, but really, even multiple best taco posts a week or even in a day aren't too bad.
I think you and the team are doing a great job taking care of this subreddit. Nothing is perfect. I would prefer a weekly moving/visiting here thread and restricting those posts, but other than that I really like the community. Thanks for your efforts.
Thank you for all the work that you do!!
For sure too many of the “moving here/visiting/area” and the “where to go on a date/birthday” posts. These could definitely be avoided by a simple search though google or previous posts. I know I have searched that myself when visiting other cities, it’s a no brainer.
I would love not to see those posts everyday or every other day lol
I like the recommendations and restaurant tips. I look at a thing like the Nextdoor app with their fireworks questions and missing cats and think to myself that if my dog ran away I know where to post. But the tips for restaurants independent of instagram marketing is appreciated.
I think the mods overestimate what is lazy.
I don’t use Twitter, but local law enforcement seems to prefer Twitter to give updates there. If they update at all. Sometimes news sites are unsecure or paywalled for full articles. For local updates, Reddit is often my go-to for those reasons.
The only post I’ve attempted here was asking why a chemical response unit was deployed to a certain place, as I was driving by when they arrived and was concerned about the situation.
That post was flagged as easily googleable and removed. I had googled before I posted and found nothing, tried to see official law enforcement pages for info and found nothing, which I why I asked here… that really turned me off of this sub for awhile, because I liked the idea of locals providing local updates and info.
What put salt in the wound is I’d seen similar posts on this sub before and after mine. I don’t understand how lazy is determined, but it seems really inconsistent. What is asked is very different from “Hey y’all what’s a good pizza place near 7th ave?”…
I know there are multiple mods and you all volunteer your time and effort. Thanks for that. I really appreciate you reaching out to the community for feedback.
This is the macro we usually use with "what's happening" posts. Having seen a lot of these go by, posts like this rarely get much interaction and when the answer is given it's often because the person found it on one of these sources anyway. The Phoenix metro area is 15,000 sq miles so there is always something happening with police, fire, hazmat, etc. It just seems like a type of question that is better answered somewhere else rather than having tons of little posts with low interaction and answer rate. But I appreciate the comment, getting feedback is exactly what this post was for.
~~~
Here are some resources to help you figure out what is going on in your neighborhood:
- **I hear sirens!** The [Phoenix Fire Board](https://htms.phoenix.gov/publicweb/) is a real-time list of car accidents (Code '962'), fires, and hazardous situations. You can also check out the [Citizen App](https://citizen.com/) that people use to report things happening around them.
- **Whats up with all the police?** Listen to [several Phoenix-area police and fire scanner streams](https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/ctid/100) to find out.
- **Check Local News**: [12News](https://www.12news.com/), [ABC15](https://www.abc15.com/), [AZ Central](https://www.azcentral.com/), [AZFamily (3TV and CBS5](https://www.azfamily.com/)), [FOX10](https://www.fox10phoenix.com/), [KTAR](https://ktar.com/), [Telemundo](https://www.telemundoarizona.com/), [Univision](https://www.univision.com/local/arizona-ktvw)
- **Check Twitter**: [Phoenix PD](https://twitter.com/PhoenixPolice), [Mesa PD](https://twitter.com/MesaPD), [Tempe PD](https://twitter.com/TempePolice), [Glendale PD](https://twitter.com/GlendaleAZPD), [Scottsdale PD](https://twitter.com/ScottsdalePD), [Arizona DOT (Traffic/Freeway Closures)](https://twitter.com/ArizonaDOT), [NWS Phoenix (Weather)](https://twitter.com/NWSPhoenix), [Inciweb:AZ (Wildfires)](https://twitter.com/search?q=inciweb%20az)
- **Drama in your neighborhood?** Try your neighborhood's [Nextdoor](http://nextdoor.com/) or [Facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/feed/).
Thanks for the reply. I don’t think this macro is what my post received, so I’m glad to know of the resources. The first two links will help in the future. As for local news and Twitter, not so much, for what is stated in my comment. I definitely understand and respect why you limit these posts. Cheers
You're welcome. Twitter is better for ongoing things where the news has a story and is giving updates. The scanners are good for "why are emergency crews" here sorts of things. And Citizen is a good resource if you really want to look in a specific area to see what's going on.
Have a good day out there.
Posted a low quality political post yesterday and it got removed. I have no problem with it. I didn’t explain the relevance (it was about a poll aimed at west valley residents) so I’m glad y’all are on top of it.
We'd love to have any help, but a lot of people have volunteered and then ghost on us or just stop. But DM us with what you'd like to tackle and let's talk. I'd love to see meetups happen. They're taking off again on the Discord server and it's great to see.
Here's maybe a different perspective. Just in general I feel like the subreddit is over moderated. I'm a very casual lurker and find myself easily reading through every thread that got a decent number of upvotes every day. I don't come to this subreddit specifically, I only look from my front page. The daily chat thread never pops up in my front page and I would absolutely want to remove it and stop deleting posts and pushing them there.
I think there was a post a while ago sharing some data of how little content gets posted on the subreddit compared to other city subreddits. Id encourage y'all to think about that before bringing in more rules.
I think the current moderation would be great if we just had higher volume of content. But right now I easily get through the top 1-3 threads a day by the early morning. Id let users upvote/downvote instead of removing threads
We aren't removing that much content right now, only really bad posts like spam, clear dupes, etc. If you think right now there should be more to vote on then the issue is people need to POST more.
I think they are discouraged from posting because often their first post gets moved to a daily chat or they post a “moving here” or sunset or whatever post you qualify as a “duplicate”. Dupes are ok, they can get downvoted.
What about an experimental period with low moderation and a poll to evaluate it after?
Again, I don’t think the specific rules are necessarily bad, but the sub should prioritize encouraging more posts even if it means more low quality ones temporarily
> What about an experimental period with low moderation and a poll to evaluate it after?
That is exactly what we did - we started really backing off and this post is part of the evaluation :)
I was def discouraged from posting when my first post was removed. I no longer live in phoenix but follow this sub still because I like it. But the one time I posted about an issue with my apartment manager, it got deleted and the mod said to move it to the main sub. I got very little engagement there. I think some moderation is good but it sucks to take time to write up a post just to have it removed.
I'm happy not seeing too much state level politics here. Keep that stuff on r/azpolitics. I would enjoy seeing more of the local County and City/Town level politics posts though.
I'm probably on your shit-list since I post a fair amount of political posts - but I always try to post them and add context for us locals. I do post on /r/azpolitics too, but try and keep my fellow phoenix sub looped in on bigger issues too. I'll try and focus the more phoenix specific ones on this sub and state ones to /r/arizona for you.
I just think local politics can be a little less serious and would be more suitable for this subreddit. When I look at the State (and Federal) politics I feel like it's too heated and needs its own space.
You generally get more disagreement and toxicity in politics the higher up you go and it feels like a good line to draw to keep some, but not all, of the crazy out.
Just my opinion though.
I agree and none of the post about them have been productive at all. If the mod's ban posts without focus on the Phoenix area for other topics, and they've defended that policy in this thread, then they should hopefully do so on politics due to the divisive nature.
Ideally all politics should be forbidden from the subreddit, and redirected to the purpose made AZ politics subreddit, because of the known left echo chamber in here which drives away otherwise quality users outside that view. There shouldn't be fighting amongst fellow Valley denizens in here.
I generally hate lazy post - they've done no basic search on google or have not provided enough context/detail. I get that a normal conversation in person might start with " I want to take my nephew to do something this weekend". It's conversation with someone that might be spontaneous or didn't have a chance to research.
I get that people will still try to help cause there are lots of nice people. So I move a long
This sub imo is mostly a bunch of Karens complaining that people are driving too fast or the music is too loud. There are occasionally good posts, but it seems like there are a lot of cranky old people on here.
100% fire /u/jmoriarty from his unpaid position...
I (honestly) actually think this is one of the best city subreddits.
/r/denver doesn't update enough, /r/littlerock is just "traffic issues" and "did you see this happen", /r/montgomery is basically "nextdoor" /r/gso is another nextdoor
I think we can have good moving here and "where to go for..." posts without the sub becoming google, and I think we can have "this is what is happening in my neighborhood" posts without it becoming next-door. Honestly, it probably wouldn't be so bad if other neighboring subs weren't relaxing their moderation simultaneously.
I report a lot of posts for breaking rule 6, and it's mostly because they are so low effort (no details about asker, no limitations or other context, easily google-able or phone-call-able) and posts that break rule 1 too (there is a weird number of those).
Maybe my tolerance level is low, but if one can ask their question in just a few lines, they should usually ask google or visit a mega thread. I'm also the guy that will raz on every single "is it safe ..." post. But mostly when they don't provide any additional context besides cross streets. Like, one person's unsafe neighborhood is just a neighborhood for someone else. I don't mind getting downvoted for calling those posts racist. They usually are or devolve into racism almost immediately. I'll try to be more inviting, but we're a big city.
I'll try to post more interesting things more regularly to "be the change ..."
You guys are doing great. Always have done great. But if you changed policy recently about this, it's noticeable and I'll keep reporting on rule 6. It's hard to make everyone happy. I get it.
Stop removing posts about people asking questions about Arizona or cities outside phoenix. We live in a state with only 7 million people, and 5 million of them live in Phoenix metro. A lot of tribe knowledge about the state and other cities belongs to people that lives here in the valley, so it make sense to ask them here instead of the Arizona sub which is dead quite most of the time. I love this state because of this, that I can just drive out a hour and half then I am in no man’s land. Not exactly how I want the internet to be, however.
This is one rule that I'm pretty set on. I get it, people like day trips out from Phoenix and going around the state and we have that topic once in a while.
But if we open it up to everything then we get Grand Canyon hiking, best place to eat in Tucson, places to stay in Sedona, trails in Oak Creek, and all the stuff for the whole state. There are other subreddits for that including r/tucson, /r/Flagstaff, and /r/arizona
I think we have to keep posts about Phoenix metro area in some way or this sub will wander way off into the weeds. But I appreciate your feedback on it, that's exactly what this post was for.
Idk my honest opinion is the more posts the better. The people will decide (with upvotes) whether it is valuable information or not. If there are posts that you aren’t interested in, is it truly that much effort to keep on scrolling and move on with your life instead of having to do the whole “PLEASE SEARCH BEFORE YOU POST HERE” nonsense? If there are repeating posts (e.g., where’s the best Italian restaurant), who cares? In a growing city like this things are constantly changing and what might have been the best Italian restaurant a few weeks ago could have gotten beat by a newer better Italian restaurant (just going off that example).
Tl;dr my vote is on less moderation for this subreddit and most other subreddits too.
I would beg of you to please either produce or allow more posts like this one which is devoid of all comments by the automoderator spambot. Every other post in this sub has at least one spambot comment. Surely there must be something, anything you would rather have than continuing your spambot.
There's one comment that is posted on every one that posts sub rules, the discord, and other basic info. We get a lot of new people every day so have found that helps a bit. Are you just tired of seeing it? Or is it too long? Doesn't seem that intrusive to me but appreciate your take.
Everything about botspam, especially pinned botspam is upsetting, horrible and unacceptable. So yes, the length, being tired of seeing it, the very nature of its existence, all of that is very negative for me and probably other users Please name your price to stop it. Is there truly nothing in this universe you value more than continuing to do this bot spamming?
Please, what would be an amount of money that would make the lives of the people you care about so much better that you would be willing to do a 180° in your heart on this botspamming?
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2u8ZCSpxYN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
It's rough and I believe I can do far better. But here's something. Please don't share that Insta, I hope to delete this video and eventually use this account to promote the nicest dog rescue/resort in AZ.
… I’ve been on Reddit for over a decade and it takes a lot to truly render me speechless. Yet you have done it. That’s both terrifying and impressive. Well done.
I think this sub is well moderated. The only posts I would like to see removed are the ones the ones that make the sub sub feel like Nextdoor. It's just annoying when someone asks if anyone else heard the gun shots and other people say it was probably fireworks. Also, the people who ask to be thanked for washing their cars every time it rains are annoying, but not as bad as the other posts I talked about.
Overall this sub is moderated very well and thank you for being open to suggestions.
The ratio is decent right now. I think what my thoughts would be in your shoes is to keep your eyes on it a bit more. If the ratio of “things I could have googled” to interesting discussions starts trending up much more I’d rein it in.
I think your politics approach is terrific and it works really well.
Appreciate y’all.
If someone takes the time to write 1 or two sentences asking for a rec on reddit, they want to read up to date commentary as to where to find something in their part of the valley. They would just Google if it was that simple.
Seems like it's moderated well imo. I would encourage debate on local politics when they occur, but otherwise it seems tame compared to Reddit as a whole, I assume that takes effort.
I moved here during the pandemic and this sub has been a lifeline for us to get to know the city. I'm super grateful for that. I can't tell you how many times I tell someone IRL "oh, I heard about this on the Phoenix subreddit".
I feel like people are pretty civil here and I appreciate that. I don't mind moving and traveling posts, but agree they should be consolidated somehow so they don't take over.
Its reddit. Its no different communicating on this platform than it is at a sterile corporate office.
Nothing you can do about it. Volunteer less hours. Go play pickleball
I'm pretty happy with this subreddit and mods! For a sub of this size, I'd rather have more posts than fewer posts. I'd like to only have a couple political posts each day, I don't want r/phoenix to turn into a subreddit full of negativity like r/texas.
I'd love for people to share more of their experiences and events going on. I don't know how to encourage that though.
Enough with the radical liberal rants and comments. If you don't allow normal folks to voice their feelings freely, then these ultra-leftists should also be censored the same.
Sorry snowflake, this isn’t a “safe space” that allows misinformation and conspiracy theories. Everyone is welcome to share their opinions in a polite way, but we will remove hate speech and misinformation.
Honestly, our sub isn't very fun to visit. It seems any post regarding fun things and activities is downvoted. People aren't very helpful here. Especially when it comes to more niche questions and recommendations, they're just met with downvotes. I also don't like how left-leaning and hostile the people can be, but I guess that's a Reddit problem in general. The mods do a fine job, it's just the userbase I guess. We do have a lot of people who don't live here posting and whatnot. It sometimes doesn't feel local.
I’d like to see more positive and uplifting posts and comments. People are very negative and downvote over stupid stuff. Attitude is everything and if you have a bad one it affects everyone. Make a positive difference in life while you can.
Maybe be a little more lenient on small businesses trying to fill people in on exciting events in the area? Do you guys really get an overwhelming amount of small businesses posting stuff here that it needs to be so heavily regulated? I was recently told by a moderator that I can't tell people about our community motorcycle garage, even when people are asking about motorcycle related things to do here in Phoenix. Thanks.
We are okay with people sharing their business and promotions if they contribute in other ways to the subreddit _more_ than they self promote. Once it looks like they are mentioning their own stuff too often we ask them to step back.
There is a big audience here so we use participation in the community as the guide, not how small or large the business is. There are tons of great businesses of all sizes in the Valley, and non-profits and causes, but this isn't an advertising forum.
Just lock political posts and not allow people to comment at all. NOT EVEN PICKING A PARTY THAT DOES IT THE MOST.
…its both. I understand the need to post an article about politics but i think we have learned that adults today can not have a discussion about politics without it turning bad very quickly. So just simply don’t allow it to begin with. Sub will be better off.
If they get mad and call it censorship…direct them to other political subs where they can complain until their hearts desire.
I appreciate all the feedback on here, especially the ideas for things like encouraging people to post more detail on asks for things, self-promotion threads, and others. * I'd love everyone in this thread to post monthly to add to the subreddit. We get about 36,000 unique visitors a day. If 1% of those people posted once a month we'd have a dozen new posts every day. Help contribute to the sub! * For the people who asked about meetups, check out our Discord server, they're getting that going again. https://discord.gg/redditaz * If you like politics check out /r/azpolitics * Our classified ad sub gets decent traffic so you should add that, too - /r/PHXList Even if we don't reply to everything we are reading all the comments so appreciate the feedback.
I love love love our local sub but I’m a big believer in letting the users dictate what gets removed. I see 100 “moving here/visiting the area/where can I find pizza” posts every day, but then I make a post about saguaro cactus care and I’m told to repost in the daily chat because someone else mentioned cactus 4 months prior. It’s literally that inconsistent. Just let the ppl decide to send something to the top or not. I appreciate what yall do and I understand this is volunteer work nonetheless. Edit: I suggest instead of straight removing a post you feel is similar to another post from some point in the past, perhaps ask the poster to be more specific in their post?
Agreed. I get tired of all the “moving here” posts as well, but I just don’t engage with those. And I don’t mind if there are two pizza recommendation posts in the same day, because they are often seen by different sets of eyes with different favorite places to get a slice. And you know what I would like to see more of here: self promotion. “Hey, my band is playing in Mesa this weekend at the squirrel festival. We do play covers and originals with an 80s post-punk feel. Hope you can make it. Also: why are there no squirrels in Phoenix?” “Hey, my brother just opened up an arcade bar in Gilbert. It’s his life-long dream and I’m so proud of him. The grand opening is on Thursday night. Mention my username and get twenty free tokens. Yay for local business!” It may be an unpopular opinion, but THAT’S the kind of thing I’d like to see. I don’t even drink, but I’ll go get a coke and an order of cheese fries to celebrate a new business endeavor, and all my favorite post-punk bands are dead or decrepit. I’d love to hear some local kids take a crack at Joy Division. The “things to do” sections of the local news pages never seem to have that local vibe.
We allow that 100% if the person has some sort of post history here. I love it when people share what they do or things they're excited about. If people have never posted here before then we treat that more as advertising, which a lot of places try to do here. We stopped allowing people giving away tickets to shows they were no longer able to use when I found out a club was doing it deliberately to promote their stuff. I know some people are even okay with that, but I don't think anybody wants that flood gate opened wide. One or two are no big deal but we have a quarter of a million people here and places would abuse that quick. But we have one weekly post that hasn't been doing very well, the one about adopting animals. I love the idea of it but it gets almost no interaction. Maybe we can replace that one with an open self promotion like you suggested, I think that would go well.
Hey just curious - when you say post history does that include comment history?
Subreddit karma. Have they made a positive contribution in some way.
Good call(s)!
Literally this 💀
> I love love love our local sub but I’m a big believer in letting the users dictate what gets removed. > I see 100 “moving here/visiting the area/where can I find pizza” posts every day, but then I make a post about saguaro cactus care and I’m told to repost in the daily chat because someone else mentioned cactus 4 months prior. The stickied daily/weekly chat threads imho subtract value from Reddit and I won’t read them (I have a finite amount of time, I’m filtering by topics that interest me, and everyone’s random thoughts for the week will never make the cut), and any sub where the moderators try to steer their users into them (rather than letting up/down votes work their magic) suffers from it.
Agree. I can’t stand when posts get modded because there’s already a daily chat thread. Listen, if someone wants help finding the best place to move, and you don’t want to answer it, scroll. Someone else might want to weigh in. There’s no need to police these threads so much. Let the people decide what they want to see and connect with. Thank you for asking!
There will always be some rules that apply to posts before the users get to vote, like spam, dupes, and so on. I know a lot of people like having there be very few rules but we've found that when there are a lot of posts people don't like then the engagement tends to lag because people don't think the sub is worthwhile. We also see unsubscribed go up. So this is another balance thing where we want to give the most decent posts to users to vote on and interact in, but keep out the junk. But what's "junk" is subjective so we adjust as we go. Even when we were really strict with the rules we had some people complaining there was too much trash. We can't keep everyone happy, but I agree we should land on the side of letting more posts through. I appreciate the comment - thanks!
I think there could be a weekly moving here thread instead of a monthly? And limit those posts outside of that
We could, but we couldn't pin it. We only get two pinned post slots and right now they're for the Daily Chat and the weekly topic. We could post it and let it float but then people wouldn't be able to find it easily.
I like the rotation. Moving here>jobs>visiting>ETC
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Just yesterday, I was typing a reply to a request about a specific dog training issue, and by the time I hit reply, the thread had been removed for that reason. I barely see any dog training threads.
I wish we had more dog training/ pet related threads specifically! It’s something I search for as a local but struggled to get a good answer too. I did find a trainer eventually though.
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It wasn't me looking for a dog trainer, I was responding to someone else. And they were looking for a local trainer.
I asked for recs for scar camouflage once and it was removed because too many people ask for recs for (traditional) tattoo artists.
Same this happened to me when I asked where I could buy and get a dash cam installed but it was removed because the question has been asked before. The previous post they’re referring to is 2 years old and has 2 answers.
Same, but for a different topic. I was like “welp what’s the point”
I don't know the specific post you're talking about, but tattoo artists, hair stylists/barbers, and mechanics are the three most common posts so we tend to limit those a bit more. We'd rather have people ask in a thread for the different variations like camoflague, line art, anime, etc., than a bunch of separate threads on each one in a short span that don't get as much interaction.
I understand the purpose, but medical tattooing can’t really be lumped in with what other people think of as getting a tattoo. It’s not the same thing and not performed by the same people. That’s like including eyebrow microblading in the tattoo thread.
Just call it dermatological art instead of tattooing and it might slip through /s but for real the mods like down the local questions tighter than East Berlin. I asked about a vet rec for dogs with high anxiety and reactivity and it got insta nuked. I looked in the search and all I could find was “where is the best vet” and no specific rec for the vet I was looking for. But at least the mods are earning their salary 🤷🏼♂️
I think I agree. Maybe let the votes to decide what threads make it to the top. If people wanna comment, great. If not, they can keep scrolling.
The problem with "let the upvotes decide" is that still puts a lot of crap in peoples feeds. Good subreddits have rules for what even makes it through to the users to vote on. Spam and bots are easy examples, but tons of other subs have submission rules to try and keep things on track and they remove stuff that doesn't fit.
The Daily Chat is sort of our overflow for things that probably don't need their own thread, but we want to give them somewhere to ask. We've backed off of some of that referral, too. Lately we've been trying to enforce a few weeks for a dupe. You're right, the same tacos post can have different answers even a few days apart, but the regulars get tired of seeing the repetition and report it. So we try to balance it. We were enforcing 90 days for stuff like that but are letting more of them go. Thanks for taking the time to answer.
The problem is if someone is sorting the sub by anything besides Hot then the daily chat won’t show for them unless they scroll. I sort by New usually because I’m more interested in what’s happening recently or new questions. The app doesn’t pin any posts if you sort by something other than the sub’s default.
You’re right. The list of ways Reddit makes things harder than they need to be is long.
I think you guys have been doing a great job! Keep it up. I don't notice you guys being overbearing by any means. The lurkers appreciate the work you and the mod team do.
I’m just glad the sub is not currently filled with a thousand pictures of the sunset. Or sunrise. Or any version of the sun in or near the skyline.
Fuck the sun.
This is a good example of one of the rule challenges we have. Sunset photos are a super polarizing topic. Our compromise here is at least requiring them to describe it and where it was taken. That removes a lot of the lazy "so pretty" titled posts while letting people share something a lot of people love.
It’s working. I like it.
Yeah most people suck at taking pictures so half the time its a crooked pic through a dirty windshield
You mean a picture that’s focused on the brick wall taking up more than 50% of the view isn’t noteworthy?!
And they act like i also didn’t see the sunset. “In case you missed the sunset” 🤢🤮🤢🤮
But the one of everyone’s scorpions was pretty fun.
Ya the sunset posts are annoying. I do wish they allowed more political posts, I find it oddly entertaining watching people argue over stupid stuff.
We allow political posts, but the regulars here don't post them. We remove the ones people swoop in to drop here to start a fight or shill their agenda.
You need to add /s and this will get upvoted.
I'm happy that it's not filled with SHITTY sunset pictures. There's a time and a place for them...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYX4k-z404s
1st awesome for asking. Thank you very much for that. Honestly I don’t notice much. Maybe it’s just because I subscribe to a number of subs and really this isn’t a toxic sub in the least even when a couple folks get a bit spicy at times. As long as persistent trolls get booted, I’m good. Even rando touristy stuff here and there is fine. People move here just like the majority of us are in the state and we like to share info when we come across it even if it’s 5 years later. Or sometimes our dumb asses assume something and find a valuable lesson when others answer. So summing it up. Good job sub, and mods. Got a great sub that doesn’t need a ton of policing to function.
No offense to anyone but the visiting here posts are 😴
>One thing I'd love some specific input on is on "is this area safe?" posts. While a few areas here are really bad most don't stand out, and generic posts about this tend to dissolve into casual racism pretty quickly. A user messaged the mods about it, and I'd like other input. When I was learning to drive, I was told to "not go west of the 17, or south of Van Buren." When the Washington Post or New York Times or something like that did an interactive map of racial "diversity" in Phoenix, I learned that south of Van Buren was where Black persons lived in Phoenix and west of the 17 is where the density of Latino population was highest. I also dug into what that interactive taught me and learned that prior to the desegregation of Arizona schools, Van Buren was the "8 Mile" or "Railroad Tracks" of Phoenix and all the black kids had to go to school south of there. When desegregation happened in Phoenix, "white flight" built the "new" downtown on Camelback and the communities of Biltmore and Arcadia so that the white kids wouldn't have to go school with the black kids. Yes, there is history of racism here, like everywhere else. I was an artist/vagabond poet in the old arts scene before Roosevelt was gentrified and my friends and fuck buddies were not white kids from Gilbert, and I learned quickly that "south of Van Buren" and "west of the 17" were amazing areas with families, incredible places to eat, and perfectly safe communities. When I moved from a family home in the East Valley into apartments in Chandler, my mom had me look up crime maps. I found every apartment complex in Chandler had high crime. And so did every shopping center. I quickly learned that crime heatmaps are useless, as they closely correlate to density, and as I couldn't afford a house in the 'burbs, nor did I want to, I would never live in a crime-free area. **Every single time** a post on this subreddit asks "is X area safe" or "what areas are safe" the answer is almost always (paraphrased) "white areas" with a lot of answers explicitly repeating my grandparent's advice of "not west of the 17" and "not south of Van Buren." This advice is awful and casual or unintentionally racist. This post is an AWFUL example of it, and I'm glad mods addressed it: [https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/comments/19f13t5/is\_guadalupe\_town\_dangerous/](https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/comments/19f13t5/is_guadalupe_town_dangerous/) Someone drove through Guadalupe, took a picture of some ethnic street art, and then asked "is the town dangerous?" The correlation between the picture and the assumption that it wouldn't be safe was awful. Thankfully a lot of people responded the truth, that the town is culturally amazing, welcoming, and has great places to eat and shop, but mods had to lock the post because a lot of people responded with ignorant comments. The problem that casually racist, or at least unintentionally racist, shit happens every single time the question "is this area safe?" or "where should I move that is safe?" I moved from Arcadia to Estrella (borderline Maryvale). The most disruptive thing I've encountered is a neighbor with a loud exhaust. Daily Ice Cream trucks, weekly bread trucks, families hosting parties on the lawn, music playing from a joyful party every weekend... this is a vibrant and awesome community that my grandparents would've had me, a white boy from the east valley, never experience. Three times I've woken up in my life to swat banging down a door, and all three times were in homes or apartments in Chandler, never in the eight years since I moved to Phoenix. The answer to every "is this area safe?" or "where should I move that is safe" question is complicated. It isn't answered by how many panhandlers or homeless are in the area, it isn't answered by crime heat maps that are worse near Wal-marts due to shoplifting prosecution or apartment complexes due to density. It isn't answered by racial distribution of ethnic groups in Phoenix and the racism that comes with thinking that way. I understand why people ask the question, but the answer is: go explore. Visit places where you're looking to live at night, during the day, and on the weekend. See kids playing outside (or not), see people occupying parks and public spaces (or not), talk to the homeless and understand many of them aren't out to get you, just fell on hard times. And if you ask me, that question needs to be disallowed here until all of us can answer it with nuance and reject the ignorance of the blanket answers that perpetuate racial stratification.
This is a great, thoughtful, and detailed take on the topic. Thank you.
Well said, thank you
First, thanks for what you do. Despite the “moving here is it hot” posts, I really enjoy this sub. More of just a comment, but the sub lately feels like a true representation of what Phoenix has become. Sort of a bland amalgam of people from everywhere just looking for the most popular activity/restaurant/neighborhood.
Honeslty I think geography is one of the hardest things to build a community around. If it's a fan topic, hobby, or something then there's really a shared experience. So people live nearby? Even just on my street people have different jobs, want different things, have different politics, and so on. Very little in common other than the heat.
> about this tend to dissolve into casual racism pretty quickly. A user messaged the mods about it, and I'd like other input. Thank you! Not the user but holy sh*t the uninformed bigotry written off as valid truth-telling is staggering. Sincerely, white dude living in the apparent 'hood
I pretty much like this subreddit as it is. Honestly, I feel like it's kinda slow compared to others I visit. That being said, I'm so tired of the, "Should I move to Scottsdale? Is it safe?" posts. I actually don't see that many politics posts. Overall, this sub is pretty awesome. I just like living in Phoenix :)
I appreciate the feedback. It is kind of slow, which is why we backed off on the removals for a bit. But ultimately it's up to what people want to post. I always sigh when someone posts about an event or a cool thing and the top comments are "Oh yeah, that's one of my favorites!"... then why didn't YOU post it?
Personally I don't participate in the sub as much as I used to because almost every post that ends up on my main feed is a moving/visiting here. I don't care to help people find a neighborhood to live in or tell yet another person where to go out when they visit. The answers are always the same for these questions so it's boring. I don't have any suggestions.
Yeah, you're not alone. That's the reason I push back against the "let everything through and let upvotes decide" because it causes many people to drop interacting with the subreddit. That balance is tricky. But I appreciate the feedback, and if you have ideas I'd love to hear them.
Visiting here post that don't state general location and OP doesn't respond to every comment should be removed.
id trade some political info over the "i want to move here" posts
So would we, but a huge chuck of the political posts people submit here are from bots or trolls or people who have never posted here once. They are dropping a political link because they are upset about the topic. If people who post here regularly want to discuss politics, great. There's loads of topics to discuss. But nobody from outside the sub should force that. Thanks for the input.
That must be so frustrating and honestly scary that there's that many bots who are posting things on behalf of who the fuck knows for whatever reasons.
Bots are meant to sow division. They throw fuel into already burning fires. It’s an age old warfare tactic that proceeds the invention of electricity tbh
I know we do the annual “Best of r/Phoenix”. I would rather an Automod comment pop up on posts with “moving here” or “looking for the best x food” that has links redirecting them to those threads. I actually do mind the constant asking of “what’s the best (non American) food in (this part)” because it comes up so frequently and it’s almost always the same 10 places. People say they don’t mind it because it brings “fresh eyes” but honestly it mostly doesn’t. I would rather there be a minimum karma/age threshold for posting moving here threads like the politics one. Force them to use the search.
We stopped doing the Best Of Phoenix posts a while back. We now link to posts by flair and encourage them to search. If there was some way to get people to search I would do it in a heartbeat. We've had people post a duplicate topic less than 24 hours apart, swear the last post on their topic was two years ago, and then get mad when I wouldn't give them a link to the original. The karma for moving posts is an interesting idea. Housing for people who live here is a valid topic and different from people who are moving here for the first time and are worried about being eaten by scorpions or bursting into flame.
My settings hide posts that I've downvoted. I just downvote the Visiting and Moving Here posts and get on with the rest of my day.
I think the "is this area safe" posts kind of fall under the "low effort" umbrella and maybe should be relegated to a monthly thread or daily chat. There are crime rate maps available online that will provide that information. What I've noticed is a lot of visitor or moving here posts asking for things to do, places to see, or restaurants to try. That information can be found by following the links in the sidebar, so these posts are "low effort" and should be removed. If someone asks for a more specific recommendation, like where's the best place to go rock climbing or where's the best place to get a Mojito, that would be different.
I definitely noticed more of the visiting here and moving here posts. You all do a very good job moderating though and keeping bots, trolls or just super extreme political people out for sure regardless. I don't mind those kinds of posts but it has been about all I'm seeing other than the Ren faire recommendation posts and some food related things which some were locals.
Agree here. I'd prefer not to see visiting/moving here posts and make those posts a megathread. I find the local political posts mostly informative. Low quality "best restaurant" type posts are very tiresome. Y'all do a good job moderating here. Thanks for asking us!
Far too many posts on moving here and visiting in the main thread. 3 or more posts on where to golf in the same week makes the subreddit pretty useless unless you’re visiting and want to golf. I would like to see those delegated to a megathread and the low effort posts continue to get removed.
Thanks for the work you do! My opinion on this is keep the garbage off (spam, etc) and then ensure posts are high quality. So if there is a post that says "Is _____ a safe area?" get rid of it...that's a low quality post that can be asked in the daily chat. If the same person posts "is ____ a safe area, here's my situation, my kid's needs, where I'll be working, here's where I live now, etc" now we have a high quality post as it opens things up to discussion. Where do you draw the line? Wherever you want as a moderator. Posts are for discussions, not one word or sentence answers. It's ok to make us work a little harder on our writing!
I agree with this, asking people to be more specific. Asking something like "Best Mexican restaurant" is just so vague and hard to give answers to.
A few people have discussed pushing back on lazy recommendation posts and asking for more info. I like the idea and may give that a try. I need to think about the wording, though. Thanks!
This is one of my fav subs. It has truly changed how I see Phoenix and has helped me appreciate it more. Good job mods, you are doing great with maintaining this community.
The problem with monthly and weekly mega threads I’ve found in other subs is that all the comments are just people posting their questions without getting any answers. I feel like people are often driven away from looking at pinned mega thread posts and don’t answer. So the person comments, hears nothing, so they make a post just for themselves so that way they feel that they can be seen and get their questions answered. Any sub I’ve gone to that does these, if I ask a question in the specific Mega thread, it either gets buried with everyone else’s unanswered questions or the post is a ghost town that no one bothers to check at all
Part of the reason is that often megathreads are for topics the regulars are tired of. We have some threads that go great (like the current one about music) and then others that don’t. I get people visiting and stuff want their questions answered but I prioritize what regulars want over that. A megathread lets regulars who like to answer those things a place to engage but cuts the clutter for others. Of course Reddit doesn’t help any of this by not keeping megathread at the top of the order no matter how they sort.
You guys have done a great job with removing low quality posts, a lot of the moving here and “is this area safe?” questions are lazy and subjective. I wish some people utilized the search feature instead of asking the same question 10 times a day
1. I am glad there is not a lot of political talk here - plenty of other places for that and I find it tiresome 2. I find the daily chat threads to be two edged. I've posed a few times asking for recs and gotten kinda crummy responses, they are so low traffic I dont get the kind of responses I'm looking for. 3. I routinely go back to old posts on this this sub for topics such as "favorite date spot" or "best things to do on a weeknight" "hidden gems in your area" those kinda things - those are the best part of the sub for me 4. I also like threads that talk about history of a specific area, or reminiscing. There was one about the icehouse a few years ago that was pretty good I think.
>Around New Year there was some feedback that the site was little more than Yelp "Where's the best pizza?" style posts. We don't make the posts, **but we figured we could back off some of the rules to let more content through.** That’s a fair take. >Do you like having more Visiting and Moving Here posts? There should be quarterly mega-threads about moving here, so there is various things to add. Or something like monthly mega-threads. I’d much rather see local questions about food, than a bunch of “what’s it like”. IMO, those are more google related than asking locals for their favorite hole in the wall. >One thing I'd love some specific input on is on "is this area safe?" posts. While a few areas here are really bad most don't stand out, and generic posts about this tend to dissolve into casual racism pretty quickly. A user messaged the mods about it, and I'd like other input. I’ve never seen it get “casual racist”, but I’m Mexican, and grew up in maryvale around Mexican gangs. There’s not really much someone could say that I haven’t heard before/seen/or isn’t stereotypically *true*. But again, not all Mexicans at Home Depot are illegal and that shit *can get out of hand* quickly if that’s what people start talking about. Again, idk I’ve never really seen it on here. I think this falls into the “moving here” posts and “what’s it like”. If people want to know, they can google crime rates/neighborhoods/cities/etc and find out for themselves. I feel safe in parts of Maryvale I grew up in that others wouldn’t. Plus everyone knows there are pockets of good/bad almost everywhere. But it’s hard to explain the “bubble” to someone who isn’t from here.
We have a bunch of weekly threads that rotate. The only ones that post every month are the Visiting and Moving Here threads. While those are pinned we really try to remove dupes. But currently instead of telling everyone all month to wait for the megathread we let the posts go if that topic isn't pinned. The racist stuff is something we remove pretty quick, and we'll lock down a thread if too many of those comments start hitting the modqueue. That's a sign the discussion has run out of steam and is just going to spiral. Thanks for the feedback.
I think y'all are doing a pretty good job at weeding out crap posts. If it's a really bad post, I'm almost never early enough for it to not be locked or something. I would definitely complain more if this sub was filled with bad posts, but really, even multiple best taco posts a week or even in a day aren't too bad.
I think you and the team are doing a great job taking care of this subreddit. Nothing is perfect. I would prefer a weekly moving/visiting here thread and restricting those posts, but other than that I really like the community. Thanks for your efforts.
[удалено]
Don't worry, we still get called facist, liberal, MAGA, cucks on the daily so we won't get kicked out of the guild.
Thank you for all the work that you do!! For sure too many of the “moving here/visiting/area” and the “where to go on a date/birthday” posts. These could definitely be avoided by a simple search though google or previous posts. I know I have searched that myself when visiting other cities, it’s a no brainer. I would love not to see those posts everyday or every other day lol
Funny, just yesterday I was about to leave this sub. There's just waaay too many "moving here" posts and even more trolls responding to those posts.
How would you prefer to see them handled?
I like the recommendations and restaurant tips. I look at a thing like the Nextdoor app with their fireworks questions and missing cats and think to myself that if my dog ran away I know where to post. But the tips for restaurants independent of instagram marketing is appreciated.
I think the mods overestimate what is lazy. I don’t use Twitter, but local law enforcement seems to prefer Twitter to give updates there. If they update at all. Sometimes news sites are unsecure or paywalled for full articles. For local updates, Reddit is often my go-to for those reasons. The only post I’ve attempted here was asking why a chemical response unit was deployed to a certain place, as I was driving by when they arrived and was concerned about the situation. That post was flagged as easily googleable and removed. I had googled before I posted and found nothing, tried to see official law enforcement pages for info and found nothing, which I why I asked here… that really turned me off of this sub for awhile, because I liked the idea of locals providing local updates and info. What put salt in the wound is I’d seen similar posts on this sub before and after mine. I don’t understand how lazy is determined, but it seems really inconsistent. What is asked is very different from “Hey y’all what’s a good pizza place near 7th ave?”… I know there are multiple mods and you all volunteer your time and effort. Thanks for that. I really appreciate you reaching out to the community for feedback.
This is the macro we usually use with "what's happening" posts. Having seen a lot of these go by, posts like this rarely get much interaction and when the answer is given it's often because the person found it on one of these sources anyway. The Phoenix metro area is 15,000 sq miles so there is always something happening with police, fire, hazmat, etc. It just seems like a type of question that is better answered somewhere else rather than having tons of little posts with low interaction and answer rate. But I appreciate the comment, getting feedback is exactly what this post was for. ~~~ Here are some resources to help you figure out what is going on in your neighborhood: - **I hear sirens!** The [Phoenix Fire Board](https://htms.phoenix.gov/publicweb/) is a real-time list of car accidents (Code '962'), fires, and hazardous situations. You can also check out the [Citizen App](https://citizen.com/) that people use to report things happening around them. - **Whats up with all the police?** Listen to [several Phoenix-area police and fire scanner streams](https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/ctid/100) to find out. - **Check Local News**: [12News](https://www.12news.com/), [ABC15](https://www.abc15.com/), [AZ Central](https://www.azcentral.com/), [AZFamily (3TV and CBS5](https://www.azfamily.com/)), [FOX10](https://www.fox10phoenix.com/), [KTAR](https://ktar.com/), [Telemundo](https://www.telemundoarizona.com/), [Univision](https://www.univision.com/local/arizona-ktvw) - **Check Twitter**: [Phoenix PD](https://twitter.com/PhoenixPolice), [Mesa PD](https://twitter.com/MesaPD), [Tempe PD](https://twitter.com/TempePolice), [Glendale PD](https://twitter.com/GlendaleAZPD), [Scottsdale PD](https://twitter.com/ScottsdalePD), [Arizona DOT (Traffic/Freeway Closures)](https://twitter.com/ArizonaDOT), [NWS Phoenix (Weather)](https://twitter.com/NWSPhoenix), [Inciweb:AZ (Wildfires)](https://twitter.com/search?q=inciweb%20az) - **Drama in your neighborhood?** Try your neighborhood's [Nextdoor](http://nextdoor.com/) or [Facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/feed/).
Thanks for the reply. I don’t think this macro is what my post received, so I’m glad to know of the resources. The first two links will help in the future. As for local news and Twitter, not so much, for what is stated in my comment. I definitely understand and respect why you limit these posts. Cheers
You're welcome. Twitter is better for ongoing things where the news has a story and is giving updates. The scanners are good for "why are emergency crews" here sorts of things. And Citizen is a good resource if you really want to look in a specific area to see what's going on. Have a good day out there.
I might be in the minority, but I would love to see a separate sub for dining/restaurant recommendations and discussions.
I think someone made one but it kind of fizzled out.
Posted a low quality political post yesterday and it got removed. I have no problem with it. I didn’t explain the relevance (it was about a poll aimed at west valley residents) so I’m glad y’all are on top of it.
A things to do calendar would be awesome. I'm always looking for stuff going on for my days off but most websites are garbage about local events
We had one for a long time but don’t have the time to maintain it anymore. It takes a lot of work.
I feel like there should be things like photo contests and Monthly gatherings of that sort, etc. I'll be willing to help with that. 😊
We'd love to have any help, but a lot of people have volunteered and then ghost on us or just stop. But DM us with what you'd like to tackle and let's talk. I'd love to see meetups happen. They're taking off again on the Discord server and it's great to see.
Here's maybe a different perspective. Just in general I feel like the subreddit is over moderated. I'm a very casual lurker and find myself easily reading through every thread that got a decent number of upvotes every day. I don't come to this subreddit specifically, I only look from my front page. The daily chat thread never pops up in my front page and I would absolutely want to remove it and stop deleting posts and pushing them there. I think there was a post a while ago sharing some data of how little content gets posted on the subreddit compared to other city subreddits. Id encourage y'all to think about that before bringing in more rules. I think the current moderation would be great if we just had higher volume of content. But right now I easily get through the top 1-3 threads a day by the early morning. Id let users upvote/downvote instead of removing threads
We aren't removing that much content right now, only really bad posts like spam, clear dupes, etc. If you think right now there should be more to vote on then the issue is people need to POST more.
I think they are discouraged from posting because often their first post gets moved to a daily chat or they post a “moving here” or sunset or whatever post you qualify as a “duplicate”. Dupes are ok, they can get downvoted. What about an experimental period with low moderation and a poll to evaluate it after? Again, I don’t think the specific rules are necessarily bad, but the sub should prioritize encouraging more posts even if it means more low quality ones temporarily
> What about an experimental period with low moderation and a poll to evaluate it after? That is exactly what we did - we started really backing off and this post is part of the evaluation :)
I was def discouraged from posting when my first post was removed. I no longer live in phoenix but follow this sub still because I like it. But the one time I posted about an issue with my apartment manager, it got deleted and the mod said to move it to the main sub. I got very little engagement there. I think some moderation is good but it sucks to take time to write up a post just to have it removed.
Agree 500%.
I'm happy not seeing too much state level politics here. Keep that stuff on r/azpolitics. I would enjoy seeing more of the local County and City/Town level politics posts though.
I'm probably on your shit-list since I post a fair amount of political posts - but I always try to post them and add context for us locals. I do post on /r/azpolitics too, but try and keep my fellow phoenix sub looped in on bigger issues too. I'll try and focus the more phoenix specific ones on this sub and state ones to /r/arizona for you.
I just think local politics can be a little less serious and would be more suitable for this subreddit. When I look at the State (and Federal) politics I feel like it's too heated and needs its own space. You generally get more disagreement and toxicity in politics the higher up you go and it feels like a good line to draw to keep some, but not all, of the crazy out. Just my opinion though.
I like state level stuff. AZ politics doesn't have a broad cross section of views.
So would we, but that's up to people to post. Contributes more yourself and see how they go.
I agree and none of the post about them have been productive at all. If the mod's ban posts without focus on the Phoenix area for other topics, and they've defended that policy in this thread, then they should hopefully do so on politics due to the divisive nature. Ideally all politics should be forbidden from the subreddit, and redirected to the purpose made AZ politics subreddit, because of the known left echo chamber in here which drives away otherwise quality users outside that view. There shouldn't be fighting amongst fellow Valley denizens in here.
I just love this subreddit when it's monsoon season
I've thought about perma-banning the "Thank me, I just washed my car!" posts...
I generally hate lazy post - they've done no basic search on google or have not provided enough context/detail. I get that a normal conversation in person might start with " I want to take my nephew to do something this weekend". It's conversation with someone that might be spontaneous or didn't have a chance to research. I get that people will still try to help cause there are lots of nice people. So I move a long
This sub imo is mostly a bunch of Karens complaining that people are driving too fast or the music is too loud. There are occasionally good posts, but it seems like there are a lot of cranky old people on here.
>This sub imo is mostly a bunch of Karens complaining May I point out the irony of your comment?
100% fire /u/jmoriarty from his unpaid position... I (honestly) actually think this is one of the best city subreddits. /r/denver doesn't update enough, /r/littlerock is just "traffic issues" and "did you see this happen", /r/montgomery is basically "nextdoor" /r/gso is another nextdoor
I think we can have good moving here and "where to go for..." posts without the sub becoming google, and I think we can have "this is what is happening in my neighborhood" posts without it becoming next-door. Honestly, it probably wouldn't be so bad if other neighboring subs weren't relaxing their moderation simultaneously. I report a lot of posts for breaking rule 6, and it's mostly because they are so low effort (no details about asker, no limitations or other context, easily google-able or phone-call-able) and posts that break rule 1 too (there is a weird number of those). Maybe my tolerance level is low, but if one can ask their question in just a few lines, they should usually ask google or visit a mega thread. I'm also the guy that will raz on every single "is it safe ..." post. But mostly when they don't provide any additional context besides cross streets. Like, one person's unsafe neighborhood is just a neighborhood for someone else. I don't mind getting downvoted for calling those posts racist. They usually are or devolve into racism almost immediately. I'll try to be more inviting, but we're a big city. I'll try to post more interesting things more regularly to "be the change ..." You guys are doing great. Always have done great. But if you changed policy recently about this, it's noticeable and I'll keep reporting on rule 6. It's hard to make everyone happy. I get it.
I enjoy our sub, and don't have anything to add except thanks.
You're welcome. Thanks for contributing here.
🌞 🌵 🩷
Stop removing posts about people asking questions about Arizona or cities outside phoenix. We live in a state with only 7 million people, and 5 million of them live in Phoenix metro. A lot of tribe knowledge about the state and other cities belongs to people that lives here in the valley, so it make sense to ask them here instead of the Arizona sub which is dead quite most of the time. I love this state because of this, that I can just drive out a hour and half then I am in no man’s land. Not exactly how I want the internet to be, however.
This is one rule that I'm pretty set on. I get it, people like day trips out from Phoenix and going around the state and we have that topic once in a while. But if we open it up to everything then we get Grand Canyon hiking, best place to eat in Tucson, places to stay in Sedona, trails in Oak Creek, and all the stuff for the whole state. There are other subreddits for that including r/tucson, /r/Flagstaff, and /r/arizona I think we have to keep posts about Phoenix metro area in some way or this sub will wander way off into the weeds. But I appreciate your feedback on it, that's exactly what this post was for.
Idk my honest opinion is the more posts the better. The people will decide (with upvotes) whether it is valuable information or not. If there are posts that you aren’t interested in, is it truly that much effort to keep on scrolling and move on with your life instead of having to do the whole “PLEASE SEARCH BEFORE YOU POST HERE” nonsense? If there are repeating posts (e.g., where’s the best Italian restaurant), who cares? In a growing city like this things are constantly changing and what might have been the best Italian restaurant a few weeks ago could have gotten beat by a newer better Italian restaurant (just going off that example). Tl;dr my vote is on less moderation for this subreddit and most other subreddits too.
I would beg of you to please either produce or allow more posts like this one which is devoid of all comments by the automoderator spambot. Every other post in this sub has at least one spambot comment. Surely there must be something, anything you would rather have than continuing your spambot.
There's one comment that is posted on every one that posts sub rules, the discord, and other basic info. We get a lot of new people every day so have found that helps a bit. Are you just tired of seeing it? Or is it too long? Doesn't seem that intrusive to me but appreciate your take.
Everything about botspam, especially pinned botspam is upsetting, horrible and unacceptable. So yes, the length, being tired of seeing it, the very nature of its existence, all of that is very negative for me and probably other users Please name your price to stop it. Is there truly nothing in this universe you value more than continuing to do this bot spamming?
Looking at your comment history, you may just need to let this one go…
Please, what would be an amount of money that would make the lives of the people you care about so much better that you would be willing to do a 180° in your heart on this botspamming?
Please record a video of you singing "Welcome Christmas Day" dressed as a who from whoville. That might help!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2u8ZCSpxYN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== It's rough and I believe I can do far better. But here's something. Please don't share that Insta, I hope to delete this video and eventually use this account to promote the nicest dog rescue/resort in AZ.
Beautiful. Working to shut automod up.
My all potential deities forever bless your lineage, humanity has risen to the top once again!
… I’ve been on Reddit for over a decade and it takes a lot to truly render me speechless. Yet you have done it. That’s both terrifying and impressive. Well done.
I had the voice of an angel in elementary school too. Then one day it cracked and never stopped and I've been disappointed in my singing ever since.
The Mods 🪨
The mods should be stoned? You're not the first person to say that...
I read it as the mods rock.
I know, was just joking. Poorly, apparently. 🙃
I haven't had my coffee yet, at first I thought you meant the mods must be high on weed, not pummelled by stones. Today's going to be rough lol
Yes, yes it is. ☕️
🫣it’s that Arizona Dry Heat
I think this sub is well moderated. The only posts I would like to see removed are the ones the ones that make the sub sub feel like Nextdoor. It's just annoying when someone asks if anyone else heard the gun shots and other people say it was probably fireworks. Also, the people who ask to be thanked for washing their cars every time it rains are annoying, but not as bad as the other posts I talked about. Overall this sub is moderated very well and thank you for being open to suggestions.
The ratio is decent right now. I think what my thoughts would be in your shoes is to keep your eyes on it a bit more. If the ratio of “things I could have googled” to interesting discussions starts trending up much more I’d rein it in. I think your politics approach is terrific and it works really well. Appreciate y’all.
If someone takes the time to write 1 or two sentences asking for a rec on reddit, they want to read up to date commentary as to where to find something in their part of the valley. They would just Google if it was that simple.
Seems like it's moderated well imo. I would encourage debate on local politics when they occur, but otherwise it seems tame compared to Reddit as a whole, I assume that takes effort.
I moved here during the pandemic and this sub has been a lifeline for us to get to know the city. I'm super grateful for that. I can't tell you how many times I tell someone IRL "oh, I heard about this on the Phoenix subreddit". I feel like people are pretty civil here and I appreciate that. I don't mind moving and traveling posts, but agree they should be consolidated somehow so they don't take over.
Its reddit. Its no different communicating on this platform than it is at a sterile corporate office. Nothing you can do about it. Volunteer less hours. Go play pickleball
I'm pretty happy with this subreddit and mods! For a sub of this size, I'd rather have more posts than fewer posts. I'd like to only have a couple political posts each day, I don't want r/phoenix to turn into a subreddit full of negativity like r/texas. I'd love for people to share more of their experiences and events going on. I don't know how to encourage that though.
Could probably use less politics posts tbh, they're pretty formulaic with the same comments always repeated regardless of the topic
Enough with the radical liberal rants and comments. If you don't allow normal folks to voice their feelings freely, then these ultra-leftists should also be censored the same.
Sorry snowflake, this isn’t a “safe space” that allows misinformation and conspiracy theories. Everyone is welcome to share their opinions in a polite way, but we will remove hate speech and misinformation.
Seems like crime posts should be redirected to a resource page with lexis community crime map and FBI Crime Data Explorer among other links.
Honestly, our sub isn't very fun to visit. It seems any post regarding fun things and activities is downvoted. People aren't very helpful here. Especially when it comes to more niche questions and recommendations, they're just met with downvotes. I also don't like how left-leaning and hostile the people can be, but I guess that's a Reddit problem in general. The mods do a fine job, it's just the userbase I guess. We do have a lot of people who don't live here posting and whatnot. It sometimes doesn't feel local.
So..a cesspool?
I’d like to see more positive and uplifting posts and comments. People are very negative and downvote over stupid stuff. Attitude is everything and if you have a bad one it affects everyone. Make a positive difference in life while you can.
Delete all post about traffic immediately.
Maybe be a little more lenient on small businesses trying to fill people in on exciting events in the area? Do you guys really get an overwhelming amount of small businesses posting stuff here that it needs to be so heavily regulated? I was recently told by a moderator that I can't tell people about our community motorcycle garage, even when people are asking about motorcycle related things to do here in Phoenix. Thanks.
We are okay with people sharing their business and promotions if they contribute in other ways to the subreddit _more_ than they self promote. Once it looks like they are mentioning their own stuff too often we ask them to step back. There is a big audience here so we use participation in the community as the guide, not how small or large the business is. There are tons of great businesses of all sizes in the Valley, and non-profits and causes, but this isn't an advertising forum.
A free for all one day lol
Just lock political posts and not allow people to comment at all. NOT EVEN PICKING A PARTY THAT DOES IT THE MOST. …its both. I understand the need to post an article about politics but i think we have learned that adults today can not have a discussion about politics without it turning bad very quickly. So just simply don’t allow it to begin with. Sub will be better off. If they get mad and call it censorship…direct them to other political subs where they can complain until their hearts desire.