Hey everyone. I cleared this post with the mods beforehand.

I know this sub is usually dedicated to surviving the queue, troubleshooting and asking about bans 😂, but I wanted to step back and ask a bigger question about the reality of the work you/we do (I'm a mod too).

I’m working on creating a podcast. We aren't covering standard internet memes; we are digging into digital governance, the psychological toll of managing anonymous mobs, and the friction required to build a thriving ecosystem. We're treating subreddit moderation not as a quirky hobby but as a massive sociological experiment.

I’m looking for the messy realities of community building on Reddit. I'd love to hear your stories in the comments:

• Tell me about a time a vague rule in the sidebar caused a complete meltdown and how you had to rework things to fix it.
• Walk me through a time the community mutinied against a major change you made.
• How do you handle the friction of transitioning fleeting, real-time trends into permanent community lore?

I want to read your stories below. And if anyone has a story that is too complex for a Reddit comment and wants to vent on the record, my DMs are open for potential podcast guests.

Thanks for keeping the internet from burning to the ground.

If you have questions about the podcast, you can ask those too...

I have come across some really egregious spam in unmoderayed subreddits.

I will avoid giving examples, but it is gambling spam showing up in completely unrelated subreddits.

For example, there will be online gambling spam questions in AI subreddits, or science podcast subreddits.

The mods for these subs are MIA.

The spam is so egregious. There will be a post with 100 comments and 100+ upvotes in a subreddit where the average topic gets 2 upvotes and 3 comments.

There is a pattern also where the top comment is clearly upvote manipulated to have many dozens of upvotes.

The comments themselves are clearly generic comments with no substance.

Reporting the spam falls on deaf ears because there are no active mods.

The accounts that posted the spam, and the accounts that answered the spam questions with their spam links are often suspended by Reddit already, but the posts and their spam links remain up.

These posts rank in Google and take traffic away from middle-sized, legitimate, on-topic subreddits because they cannot compete with the volume of fake upvotes and manipulations that have taken place.

I wont post links to any of this because it would break the rules of this subreddit.

I would like some advice on how to get these super-spam posts removed once and for all however.

Any tips?

Thanks!

EDIT: If I Created A Special Subreddit

I want a subreddit where we could report this crap as a group.

Maybe if a dozen people report obvious spam it will force more scrutiny, by a human Admin or by a bot, I dont care, so long as the spam gets removed.

If I created a subreddit where we as mods, as people who easily spot spam/bot networks/etx on Reddit, could post about this spam, providing links to it... would you join me there and help me mass-report spammers?

I would help you do the same.

Anyone?

Hello, is it possible to check what’s going on with my account? I checked the appeals link and can’t file an appeal but all my past posts have been removed by filters. Thanks in advance 🙏

My community here on Reddit has been inactive for 2 years, how can I prevent future and or potential problems from happening?

I’m new to posting on reddit, so apologies if I dont know how this works. I’ve made a number of posts on different forums over the past few weeks and have now noticed that a lot of them have been removed from the forum or locked. I’ve followed the rules of the groups and maybe been ranting a little but nothing over the top or disrespectful, and yet a lot of my posts have been removed without any comment as to why.

Am I doing reddit wrong? I feel like I’ve come across truly mean or disrespectful posts and nothing has happened, so i don’t understand why my posts specifically are being taken down.

Anyone have a guess?

I just commented on a Marvel Rivals question, where OP posted, “Who is a good counter to Devil Dino?”

My answer: “TankPool. Sh**t his noggin.”

I immediately was flagged for Rule 1.

I’m guessing that word with the ** is what triggered it. But in a hero sh**ter thread? Come on guys (I appealed immediately.)

With that being said, are there just words that we should avoid that will automatically trigger this? I don’t want to get banned just by giving a normal response to a question.

This happened to me only a few times, but it feels so strange. I had some back and forth with redditors, and at some point I tried to reply, just to see that their comment no longer existed. Looked back to see all their comments deleted alongside their account, like minutes after their last comment. And for seemingly no reason as well, at least not in the discussion with me.

Is it bots being deleted (but felt like real people, idk)? Or is it possible they did something really bad somewhere else, so they gut nuked?

Just curious, no hidden criticism intended.

I’ve recently noticed that I have at least one post removed because I answered a question for “women over 60,” inferring that I’m not old enough. Well, I am (even though I’d love to be a bit younger). So why was it removed?

I posted this there and it was removed 😂

EDIT: https://old.reddit.com/report
This one worked for me! You can report a deleted message by copying the URL in your inbox, and it'll go through even if the person blocked you. Much thanks to u/LitwinL for the solution (July 2026)

People have found a way to abuse this. Especially by posting content that's in very clear violation of the rules and Reddiquette.

First I came across people posting clearly violating content then blocking the person they're harassing/hating/etc., because the person can't report them. Now I even came across a situation where the person says the clearly violating thing, blocks the person, THEN deletes the violating comment, because they know it's going to appear in the person's inbox. However in both cases it's impossible to report even via the "Submit a Report" ticket.

This feels like an oversight with how blocking works. I was under the impression "Submit a Report" should still allow to report rule violations, but it seems like it's taking the user account's status (being blocked) in relation to the poster of the content that's being reported, for some reason?

Hiding the subreddit and names..etc:

ME 12:13 PM why in the world? What was low effort about it? It generated a chat. did someone complain?

MOD 12:37 PM It’s a low-effort post that has nothing to do with (subreddit).

Me 4:33 PM of course it does, did you read my comment?

I even tagged it as '(flair)'

It obviously resonated with other (name of sub), given it had 20 some comments in 10 minutes. seems like it was a low effort 'removed by moderator', but whatever, I'm not here for points. lame tho bud

MOD 5:41 PM So now you have a ban for mod harassment. No need for insults.

Today

ME 8:30 AM lol what was the insult?

are you serious?

MOD 8:33 AM Yes, I’m serious. Mods are volunteers, and we don’t have to take your ration of shit.

ME 8:34 AM where is the insult

8:35 AM I didn't swear, didn't harass anyone? you permanently banned me for something I didn't even do

I didn't insult anyone, you're just overreacting

MOD 8:37 AM “Lame” is an insult. Now, unless you would like to appeal your ban, stop messaging the mod team.

“Lame” is an insult. Now, unless you would like to appeal your ban, stop messaging the mod team.

ME 8:37 AM unbelievable

MOD 8:38 AM Last chance for an appeal. Next step is a permanent mute.

And it is unbelievable that you are so entitled.

ME 8:40 AM I'd like to appeal, I don't know why you're behaving like this

MOD 8:43 AM Let me explain: mods are not here for you to abuse IN ANY WAY. If someone called YOU lame in the sub, we would not allow it. You do not go get to insult other members and the same standard applies to the mod team. This has been explained to you, and all you have done is whine about it. You are being held to the same standard as every other (subreddit) member. You do not get a pass. All you have done is exhibit a spoiled, entitled Karen attitude.

ME 8:45 AM I didn't even call you lame. I called that action lame. If I said 'you're lame' ok..fine, but that's not what I said.

MOD 8:46 AM It’s not fine. That’s the point.

ME 8:46 AM I didn't even call you lame. why are you doing this?

all you've done is escalate this

MOD 8:47 AM You have been permanently muted from (subreddit). You will not be able to message the moderators of (subreddit).

I advised them to reach out to the other mod team or delete their work from this sub. Is there anything else that could be done? The reposting user is seemingly farming karma by crossposting random popular content from here to there. Please advise.

I wrote a post a week ago and stopped checking to see if it was accepted. I logged in today to see that it was still "pending moderator approval" after 7 days. Is that normal? I am worried now that a post I made to a different subreddit is going to sit forever as well. What if there are simply no active mods left?

Update

In their sticky they say

"We use automod to filter out new accounts and those with low karma due to the number of new accounts being used to create rule-breaking posts. If you are a new user or have low karma and your post or comment does not appear you likely do not have enough karma or enough days on reddit. Please wait until you have been on reddit and built up karma."

But I have been on Reddit for 7 years and have 14K Karma, so I'm not sure why my posts would be automoded.

I have had 2 emails this morning from Reddit. 1 saying my account was blocked and another saying the email on my account was changed. I have not clicked on any links on either email and my account is not blocked and my email is still my own email when I checked. I need to report these emails, but the help sections aren't helpful enough. Can I get help please?

I run a music group subreddit, and it's suggesting that I crosspost content into wildly unrelated subreddits (say, a pop group into a goth sub, or a new wave group into a VanHalen one).

What makes it worse is that I click on the suggestion (so I can check it out), and it goes straight into the submission page for crossposting it--one dangerous click away from spamming a fellow mods' sub with stuff that doesn't belong.

Is this a beta feature, is it one that you like, or am I just making a big deal out of it. I'd really prefer to do my own crossposting the old-fashioned yet still easy way.

This offer was from a completely new account which claimed to be representing someone else (though didn't say who). And the message was very generic just saying they admire how well the sub is run.

android and pc

Eg if any long term users, with positive community karma, have had their posts or comments filtered all of a sudden?

It has been used for harassment forever. Users used to be banned for abusing the future. Now there is no link to report this anymore.