Greetings Dramanauts,

It’s time again for one of our cozy fireside chats about comments and posts—specifically grandstanding and surplus topics. Over the past couple of months we’ve noticed the smug levels going up to 11, which as audiophiles know is one more than 10 and well beyond the acceptable threshold. Similarly, we’ve seen an uptick in the number of surplus popcorn posts—many of which simply aren’t special enough to merit a post.

What Is Grandstanding, Anyway?

Here’s a simple guide:

• Are you making a comment about the drama, or are you simply making a general comment on an issue about which you feel passionate? If it’s the latter, you could be grandstanding.

• If you are talking about surplus topics (trans drama, gender wars, social justice issues etc.) in a non surplus thread, you are being off topic and grandstanding.

• Could you have made this comment without even having read the drama? If so, you could be grandstanding.

• Are you making a comment about how much Reddit sux? If so, don’t do it—it’s against the rules.

• Are you “counterjerking” because you think that somehow only you can save SRD by setting straight those damn SJWs and putting them in their place? If so, you could be grandstanding.

We don’t want any of it, and it’s turning this place into a landfill. If we see comments like this, they will be removed. If you continue to do it after being warned, you may be banned.

About Surplus

About the surplus topics, you know them well. They are in the sidebar. If you’re going to post surplus drama, make sure it’s large enough in scale and interesting enough to merit a post. We’re going to return to being more exacting when approving surplus posts, so be prepared as we may remove them. Over the past few months, we’ve gotten a bit lax—hell, I even posted a couple of surplus self posts, and I usually just stick to food and relationship dickery. We’ve got to tighten the reins in order to keep our front page (and our comment sections) diverse and interesting. Help SRD stay diverse and interesting by posting unusual drama topics—and only make surplus posts if they’re exceptional. What is exceptional, you might ask? It doesn't just mean big--it means interesting. If it's the same old arguments about ephebophiles vs. pedophiles, or whether or not trans people are one gender or the other, well, that's not what we're looking for. I know that terms like "interesting" are fairly subjective, but think of it this way: if we've seen the same argument about a surplus topic posted here a million times before, we no longer consider it interesting enough. This is not an effort to stymie or promote any particular viewpoint--rather it's an effort to keep posts fresh.

About Self Posts

Finally, you might ask "but why do we still need to make self posts if we get karma no matter what?" Here's the deal--if you're making a surplus post, chances are you're going to need more than just one thread to cut it, and a self post provides that opportunity. They're always editable, they're expandable, they're ideal for surplus topics, as well as larger topics that span multiple subs/posts. And since you get karma for it now, there's no reason not to.