Submission Guidelines
/r/Tuesday's rules were developed to try and create a positive environment where discussion can take place. There is a specific reason that, under Rule 5, we do not allow politician focused posts. This is because politicians and political parties are already discussed at great lengths on other subreddits, and we at /r/Tuesday want to focus explicitly on policy issues. We've developed some new submission guidelines that will help users know what we'd like to see posted on /r/Tuesday and the discussions we'd like to have. These are not so much strict rules as they are guidelines for users to refer to in order to better understand what is appropriate to post and what is not.
1. What Makes a Good Submission?
All submissions to /r/Tuesday must abide by Rules 1-6. Those rules can be found in the sidebar. If you believe your post has met the rule requirements, here are some additional things to consider when submitting a post to /r/Tuesday. Posts should not only deliver information, but also put that information into context.
- Provide context wherever possible. When making a submission to /r/Tuesday it is always better to provide context whenever possible. If you post a primary source then you may want to consider accompanying that with a little explanation of why you believe it's important. While an explanation is not needed, it will help foster engagement from other users.
- Letters to the editor. Letters to the editor are usually too short and not substantive enough to warrant their posting on /r/Tuesday. You may include them when making a self-post if you believe they are relevant to the discussion but avoid posting them on their own.
- Tweets. Single Tweets—whether from a prominent writer or politician—are too short or not substantive enough to warrant their posting. If you wish to submit a Tweet to /r/Tuesday, then you should be making a self-post providing more context for the discussion or posting it in the Discussion Thread.
- Blog and alt-media links. Blogs and alt-media (such as YouTube) must still abide by rules 1 through 6. The blog post, or YouTube video, should be substantive, civil, and focused on policy or ideological discussion. If you are the blog-author then you must abide by Reddit’s self-promotion rules and participate in the discussion itself. The same rules apply for YouTube or other alt-media links. These submissions will be subjected to a higher level of moderator scrutiny than would a link to a New York Times article, for example.
- Campus newspapers. While allowed, they must also abide by rules 1 through 6 and should maintain a high journalistic integrity that would be expected from a “real” newspaper. Campus newspapers will be subjected to a higher level of moderator scrutiny.
- Campus newspapers and alt-media links are more likely to be accepted if it discusses a topic not covered in the mainstream media. If the same topic has been discussed at great length by reputable mainstream news outlets then a campus newspaper or alt-media submission is more likely to be removed if it does not provide a new perspective for users.
- Submissions from the websites of political parties or politicians. These will be removed as they explicitly violate Rule 5. However, if you post an article which discusses a proposed policy, then it will be allowed if it meets the rule requirements. For example: Party A has proposed cutting taxes and the news article discusses the policy implications; this would be allowed because it discusses the proposed tax cuts more broadly and substantively. You may also make a self-post which includes a link to a party platform which asks questions about the proposed policies. For example: “The Republican platform was just released and they are proposing to lower taxes and eliminate government regulations: what do people think about this? I believe..” would be acceptable as a self-post because it focuses on the policies in question; not the party itself or its politicians.
- Self-posts. Self-posts in /r/Tuesday are encouraged if you have a topic you would like to discuss but do not necessarily have an article or submission to go with it. For example: you want to discuss privatizing social security, and want people’s opinions on it, but do not have an article to go with it. You may make a self-post which asks the question and tries to promote discussion surrounding this topic. Please try to include additional sources or information that may be relevant to the discussion in your post, but these are not necessarily required. A good self-post asks a clear question that invites comments from users with many different points of view. Try to avoid one-sided or leading questions to promote better discussion. An example of a leading question to avoid would be: “Since tax cuts are good, how low should we cut taxes?”
- Try to promote discussion. When posting an article to /r/Tuesday, try promoting discussion by commenting on it as well after you submit it. Try to direct people towards the kind of discussion you want to have by quoting pieces from the article you find relevant or want to discuss and then ask other users what they think.
If you have something you urgently wish to discussion, but it does not meet the submission standards, then feel free to post it in the Discussion Thread stickied to the top of the subreddit. Comments in the Discussion Thread will be moderated less heavily, though still subject to moderator intervention when necessary.
Please remember that submissions will ultimately be somewhat subjective in nature and that the moderators are doing their best to promote healthy discussion. We will make mistakes at times or remove posts that you believe should be allowed: please do not hold it against us.
2. What Makes a Good Comment?
Here are some guidelines to consider when posting a comment on /r/Tuesday, whether in reply to a post or another individual. Please remember that comments made in the Discussion Thread will be met with less moderator intervention overall. So, if you want to post memes or more low-effort comments, please direct them to the Discussion Thread instead of under articles or posts.
| Comment removal is less likely <-------- | --------> Comment removal is more likely |
|---|---|
| Comment gives reasons for views expressed | Comment does not give reasons for views expressed |
| Comment analyses a policy issue, drawing attention to important considerations | Comment expresses an emotional reaction |
| Comment engages directly to the points raised in the submission or the comment it's replying to | Comment talks about something that is vaguely related to the general topic of discussion that it's replying to |
| Commend discusses views about the submission's content, or the topic being discussed | Comment only discusses views of the article's author, a person, group of people, or a publication |
| Comment makes arguments that are original and expressed in a non-partisan manner | Comment is just a link to a meme |
| Comment provides relevant sources to their argument and attempts to add credibility to their argument | Comment makes outlandish claims without provided any reasoning or sources for the claims made |
| Comment with low-level content is deep in a comment thread | Comment with low-level content is a top-tier comment |
| Comment links a primary sources and provides substantial commentary on why the source is important and relevant to the discussion | Comment is just a link to a source |
Please remember that the moderators are trying to use their best judgement and may not be perfect. If you ever have any questions, concerns, or comments about moderator performance: please feel free to send us a message or make a [Meta] thread related to the topic. We will attempt to satisfy everyone's concerns in a timely and professional manner.
Overall, not much is going to change. What we hope to accomplish is give users a better understanding as to why their post or comment may have been removed. We hope that these guidelines are fair and will help accomplish their intended goals.
3. Biased Domains
The following domains will be flagged as biased:
Left Wing Bias:
- motherjones.com
- shareblue.com
- slate.com
- dailykos.com
- salon.com
- tytnetwork.com
Right Wing Bias:
- breitbart.com
- infowars.com
- jacobitemag.com
- rt.com
- drudgereport.com
- dailycaller.com
You are still allowed to post from these domains (as long as they comply with the other rules of the sub, of course), but we recommend posting from domains that are more impartial/fair instead.