BETA: Weekly Round-Up and Newsletter | 2020-04-03

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fuamtr/beta_weekly_roundup_and_newsletter_20200403/

created by Georgy_K_Zhukov on 03/04/2020 at 15:42 UTC*

538 upvotes, 140 top-level comments (showing 25)

Edit: The report on the test is posted here

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Hello /r/AskHistorians[1]!

1: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians

We are pleased to be testing out the Mass Mailer feature for a new /r/AskHistorians[2] Weekly Round-Up. This is a new Beta feature that the site Admins have been kind enough to allow us to be involved in the testing of. This being the sixth test, there have been a few kinks to work out so far, so we really want to hear your feedback on what you would like to see this feature look like in the future. Not everyone got the mailer, as it is an A/B test, but we welcome feedback from everyone!

2: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians

We have a **brief survey which you can find** **here**[3] that we would greatly appreciate participation on, and also please consider weighing in here in the thread to offer your feedback and discuss things further! If you really don't want to receive this though, there is an option to opt-out, while remaining subscribed to the subreddit, at the bottom of the message you received.

3: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScKci_bzB-oMuEJUr_5fvhsJJj8F2em4YkaJIHItmlw5WrFAg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Either go to the profile of /u/ModMessages and click 'Block' OR simply click 'Block User' at the bottom of the message to use one less click

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*A Recap of AskHistorians 2020-03-27 to 2020-04-02**

*Popular This Week**: You might have clicked too early, so here are the responses to some of the most upvoted questions from the past week:

"Modern depictions of Cerberus often look like a three-headed Rottweiler. Is this a result of modern perceptions of "tough" or "guard" dogs, or did the Romans have a specific breed in mind when they described this creature?"[4], response by /u/toldinstone
"Horseback archery is insanely difficult and was rare in the west - yet Turks, Magyars, and Eastern armies seemed to have built their armies around it. How?"[5], response by /u/wilymaker
"What was the reaction to the Beatles’ “Back in the USSR”?"[6], response by /u/texum and /u/lookingisfree
"Where would a middle or upper class black person store their wealth during the early 20th century. Were banks segregated? Could my money go “missing”?"[7], response by /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov
"We often hear of the Black Death mentioned in the context of destruction it caused Europe. A video I had to watch for homework stated at least 25 million people in Asia died before the bacteria even reached Constantinople. What were the effects like on the Asian societies afflicted by the disease?"[8], response by /u/mikedash

*Things You Probably Missed**: Great stuff flies under the radar every week! Here is a selection of responses the Mod Team enjoyed, but didn't get the attention they deserved:

4: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fq0p9g/modern_depictions_of_cerberus_often_look_like_a/flofe68/

5: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fsbn1m/horseback_archery_is_insanely_difficult_and_was/fm1dg5p/

6: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fqlat5/what_was_the_reaction_to_the_beatles_back_in_the/

7: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fpmv7x/where_would_a_middle_or_upper_class_black_person/flnfbc1/

8: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fqw3sw/we_often_hear_of_the_black_death_mentioned_in_the/fltp4vv/

"How close to Germany come to overwhelming the RAF in the Battle of Britain, and how close was public / political opinion in favour of making a deal with Germany?"[9], response by /u/bigglesworth_
"How was land/property divided after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War / Israeli War of Independence?"[10], response by /u/ohsideshowbob
"How do historians evaluate the truth value of a claim"[11], response by /u/asinus_docet
"Why did the Babylonian Empire deport defeated Judahites instead of just killing them?"[12], response by /u/trevor_culley
"Poor people today eat better than medieval kings"[13], response by /u/sleepyscholar

*Features You Might Have Missed:**

9: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/ftilhf/how_close_to_germany_come_to_overwhelming_the_raf/fm7rxfu/?context=3

10: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/epxpka/how_was_landproperty_divided_after_the_1948/fluzda7/?context=3

11: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fs2d3f/how_do_historians_evaluate_the_truth_value_of_a/flzytpy/?context=3

12: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fkf5gg/why_did_the_babylonian_empire_deport_defeated/fluicp0/?context=3

13: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fpjatz/poor_people_today_eat_better_than_medieval_kings/flnx8ed/?context=3

2020-03-27: "I am Dr. David Silkenat, here to discuss my recent book 'Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War'[14]"
2020-03-29: Rules Roundtable V: Sources, What is Required?[15]
2020-03-30: "My Name is Kevin M. Levin and I am the Author of 'Searching For Black Confederates: The Civil War's Most Persistent Myth.' Have a Question About this Subject? I'll Do My Best to Answer It.[16]"
2020-03-31: "The Women's Histories Floating Feature: A space for all to share the stories and histories of women through the ages[17]"
2020-04-02: April Fools 2020, /r/HistorialAITA, Roundup[18]

*Features Coming Up:**

14: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fpxd3n/i_am_dr_david_silkenat_here_to_discuss_my_recent/

15: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fj1ieh/rules_roundtable_v_sources_what_is_required/

16: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/frr6uk/my_name_is_kevin_m_levin_and_i_am_the_author_of/

17: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fjc18x/the_womens_histories_floating_feature_a_space_for/

18: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/ftlzuf/thank_you_everyone_who_participated_in/

2020-04-03: **Live Now**! "Have you ever wondered why someone would defect and join the other side during a war? I'm here to answer all of your questions about the Kit Carson Scouts during the Vietnam War (1966-1973)!"[19]
2020-04-05: Rules Roundtable: Historical What-If Questions
2020-04-06: [The Histories of Peoples of Color Floating Feature

](https://calendar.google.com/event?action=TEMPLATE&tmeid=NWVjMzdkaXJoOWt0Y2k1M2pucDg2NXZxMGcgYXNraGlzdG9yaWFuc2FtYUBt&tmsrc=askhistoriansama%40gmail.com[20])

19: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fu9xsc/have_you_ever_wondered_why_someone_would_defect/

20: https://calendar.google.com/event?action=TEMPLATE&tmeid=NWVjMzdkaXJoOWt0Y2k1M2pucDg2NXZxMGcgYXNraGlzdG9yaWFuc2FtYUBt&tmsrc=askhistoriansama%40gmail.com

2020-04-07: AMA with Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky on her upcoming book 'The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution'[21]

Plenty more you might have missed though, so as always, don't forget to check out the most recent Sunday Digest[22] or else to follow us on Twitter[23]!

21: https://calendar.google.com/event?action=TEMPLATE&tmeid=NW5ibDdlOGZ1MXJxOHY5MDJndm02b21tNG4gYXNraGlzdG9yaWFuc2FtYUBt&tmsrc=askhistoriansama%40gmail.com

22: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/fr6cor/sunday_digest_interesting_overlooked_posts_march/

23: https://twitter.com/askhistorians

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Again, this is a new feature that we are only just starting to test out. How it is tweaked and changed depends on what we hear back from you. We want to know how this feature can better serve our readership. Please participate in the survey[24], or this thread, to share your thoughts!

24: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScKci_bzB-oMuEJUr_5fvhsJJj8F2em4YkaJIHItmlw5WrFAg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Brief Edit: It should have all sent out by now. We'll be looking at survey results, comments here, and data from the Admins to figure out next steps. We will NOT be sending a blast again next week as we want to have time to consider all feedback and the future of how this should look. If/when it continues, we want to be able to accomodate the feedback best we can.

Also, apologies to the handful of users who got it twice. There was a glitch in the script (its a BETA test!) which resulted in it resending, but only a few of you got that.

Comments

Comment by sageDieu at 03/04/2020 at 18:18 UTC

269 upvotes, 4 direct replies

Wow yet another feature Reddit adds that's opt-out instead of opt-in. If I had the choice to join or leave this whenever I wanted I'd probably join. The fact it's either receive it without consent or block the user entirely is such a dumb decision.

Nothing against you guys for wanting to try this out, but damn admins are out of touch in so many ways.

Comment by Guticb at 03/04/2020 at 18:34 UTC

381 upvotes, 6 direct replies

This needs to be opt-in rather than opt out.

Comment by gharmonica at 03/04/2020 at 20:59 UTC

57 upvotes, 1 direct replies

While I trust you guys not to abuse this feature, I absolutely don't want any subreddit to have the power of spamming me with PMs. So it's a no from me.

Comment by greyjackal at 03/04/2020 at 19:44 UTC

45 upvotes, 0 direct replies

1. Seems a little redundant unless you put more content in the actual mail, ie the questions.

2. Blocking /u/ModMail seems like it would block across all subs, no?

Comment by fuckiforgotmyaccount at 03/04/2020 at 16:51 UTC

193 upvotes, 6 direct replies

While I appreciate the effort that moderators put into this subreddit, (seriously, y’all make this sub extremely reliable and quality,) I don’t use reddit enough to be comfortable with getting messages. It feels much too personal. If I want to read an update on the subreddit, I’d check the stickies. Getting inboxed messages feels like I’m being targeted specifically, and I don’t like that.

Comment by GrrYum at 04/04/2020 at 05:01 UTC

19 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Feedback: Please don’t message me. I’d rather have a weekly stickied post that I can just read if/when I want. Also this message came in at 1am my time. I’m a night owl, but not everyone is. If this had woken me up, I’d be pissed.

Comment by picassopolo at 03/04/2020 at 23:03 UTC

16 upvotes, 0 direct replies

nope

Comment by yawkat at 03/04/2020 at 22:06 UTC

29 upvotes, 0 direct replies

If ModMessages is a generic user, simply blocking it is much too coarse-grained. I am subscribed to too many subreddits to deal with this kind of weekly digest, but at the same time there are certain subs where I would like infrequent mod messages when special events happen. There needs to be a way to separate the two.

Comment by lordatlas at 03/04/2020 at 19:57 UTC

79 upvotes, 1 direct replies

No. Just no. If it's not opt-in, it's spam.

If you want people to see a weekly round-up, post it here and sticky it.

Comment by qeomash at 03/04/2020 at 18:48 UTC

82 upvotes, 2 direct replies

I'm horrified that Reddit is, in general, implementing this sort of thing. If this eventually moves out to more subreddits the entire mail system will be useless and full of spam.

You're cool, r/AskHistorians . I just worry about everyone else.

Comment by GQuesnelle at 03/04/2020 at 21:24 UTC

48 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Really? This again?

Opt-In ONLY.

Comment by electricfistula at 03/04/2020 at 23:05 UTC

53 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Just got a notification about this and dropping by to say this is a horrible feature that I hate and is actually so stupid I can't believe anybody implemented this.

One subreddit doing this would be okay, if slightly annoying. Every subreddit doing it would make reddit unusable (unless I could opt out once simultaneously for every subreddit).

As is, when I have a message, that's someone responding to me. That's a conversation I'm a part of. This feature is polluting that by giving me impersonal status updates.

Comment by AU_is_better at 04/04/2020 at 06:03 UTC

29 upvotes, 0 direct replies

No. Stop. Do not send me messages.

Comment by 0rphon at 03/04/2020 at 23:52 UTC

27 upvotes, 0 direct replies

So you're spamming everyone in the entire subreddit with weekly messages? Cool. Cool. Totally not a horrible idea

Comment by jadebenn at 04/04/2020 at 01:15 UTC

14 upvotes, 0 direct replies

There needs to be a way to opt-out of the mailer without unsubscribing from the subreddit or blocking all messages from all subs (not an issue at the moment I suppose, but it will be in the future).

Comment by Gizmo83 at 03/04/2020 at 18:56 UTC

25 upvotes, 1 direct replies

You mentioned you could block modmessages user, however would that stop other subreddit messages? I'm not 100% clued up on Reddit, but would it be like blocking Automod and impact across multiple subreddits?

I'm not completely happy about being auto enrolled, but will hold fire opting out to see what this looks like. I generally binge a subreddit so I'd imagine this will prompt me more often to go down a rabbit hole on this sub.

Comment by SaphiraTa at 03/04/2020 at 18:11 UTC

87 upvotes, 0 direct replies

fucking don't

Comment by Michael747 at 03/04/2020 at 22:12 UTC

32 upvotes, 0 direct replies

This isn't a good idea

Comment by madhousechild at 04/04/2020 at 04:36 UTC

12 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I just got a message in my inbox. I don't want it but the only way is to block user? That seems like using an Uzi to zap a fly. How about just unsubscribe me from newsletter?

Comment by RudeMorgue at 03/04/2020 at 22:04 UTC

33 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Should have been opt in. Nobody in the history of ever has liked opt out.

Comment by Einhe at 03/04/2020 at 22:09 UTC

33 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Frankly, I found the message in my mailbox to be particularly upsetting.

All mailing lists (or digests, whatever) should be **strictly** opt-in. I personally consider spammy and invasive every website that automatically subscribes me to a mailing list upon registration -- no matter how easy it is to unsubscribe. Why should this be different for subreddits?

I have enjoyed reading r/AskHistorians for years, and I am glad it is usually held to a higher standard compared to the rest of Reddit. I am a lurker who rarely comments, but I really cannot stomach this. Is possible to provide feedback directly to the admins about this?

Comment by chLORYform at 03/04/2020 at 22:10 UTC

22 upvotes, 1 direct replies

This might be an ok idea for people that are REALLY into the subreddit, but frankly, I'm gonna be pissed if I get one of these from every single subreddit I'm joined to. I already see a ton of reposts and cross posts, which is fine cause I can hide or scroll by. I don't need or want them also popping up in my inbox or as a push notification. That will make me want to just unsubscribe to the whole subreddit or move away from Reddit altogether. Let me navigate my social media how I want, don't turn into Facebook.

Comment by kirsed at 03/04/2020 at 19:41 UTC

76 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I absolutely do not want this shit in my inbox. Don't be spam in my reddit inbox you're equating the sub to dick pills in my mind.