9 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: An update on subreddit classification efforts
Fair feedback. It’s definitely not our aim to stigmatize any communities, or to have all drug use tagged as V. We do intend for more “extreme or shocking” drug use -- that could potentially greatly harm someone -- to fall into the V category. However, if the content tags for your communities feel off and too extreme, we want to know. This is exactly the type of feedback that’s really helpful. Hearing from you and other moderators who are the subject matter experts for your communities can help us add nuance to the system that may be missing now. These content tags aren’t final, and we’re asking for moderators to review and provide feedback on them so if something needs to change, we can change it.
Comment by [deleted] at 05/09/2020 at 04:20 UTC
4 upvotes, 3 direct replies
I tried to find the sense in both your comment and the original post as to why drug-related content should be flagged with the "V" flag rather than the "M" flag, but to be completely honest with you I have failed to do so. I personally think it's a horrible decision for multiple reasons. Allow me to try and briefly summarize a few of them:
Most of the subreddits that are based around substances and the use of these substances generally don't promote (ab)use at all, but rather promote safe use. Whilst one could argue that a world without drugs would be a better world, this simply is not the reality we live in.
Therefore it makes perfect sense for people to seek out these subreddits and asks any questions they might have about / seek information on these substances. Now I won't pretend that 100% of the content on these subs is aimed at helping people or getting them off drugs because it isn't. However it's my opinion that by flagging all drug related content under the same flag as subjects commonly accepted to be "bad content" is doing a lot of people using these subreddits (and also their moderators) wrong in numerous ways. People that are asking for or giving advice on how to minimize any potential harm when taking a substance, or sharing thoughts and mental support on how to kick a potential addiction somebody might be struggling with should not be grouped with such themes as "gore". This will only further strengthen the very worrying general perception that these are subjects that one should be ashamed off and definitely should avoid discussing with others. **Prohibition kills, education saves lives**.
To be honest it kind off bothers me that whilst the vast majority of the world is realizing this and is slowly (but steadily) becoming more open about matters such as drug use and harm reduction (with very promising results to public health), Reddit instead decides to class it as something shocking and generally off-putting. Very bad move in my opinion.
Unfortunately, unbiased information on these matters is usually pretty hard to come by as a google search will often yield results that are either from detoxing facilities, have a religious nature or are not truly unbiased in some other way. I think I do not need to explain why this is an unwanted situation, and Reddit has proven itself in the past to be a platform where these kind of discussions COULD be held and unbiased information was available for all to access. I would be very disappointed if that no barrier to entry place to exchange thoughts and both anecdotal and factual information were to become less accessible.
Regarding your comment; **all** drug use could potentially cause great harm, which is why it's called harm reduction and not harm elimination and it's exactly why these subreddits should exist).
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A lot of people look for information on what to do when things don't go as planned when, well, things don't go as planned. I guarantee you that someone in a bad trip experience would very much prefer to be able to search through this site without also having to toggle the "gore and self mutilation or otherwise shocking things you really don't need right now" flag.
I could go on but I think the general idea should be clear by now. Mature content? Sure I suppose. But violent and/or shocking would be a massive mistake.
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However, I would also like to add that I very much appreciate the fact that you are responding to the concerns from very experienced drug-reddit moderators such as u/cyrilio and u/spinderella69 and seem to take their feedback into serious consideration. After all this is just my opinion and not the absolute truth, but I hope that I managed to portray the potential bad consequences of flagging this content under "V".
Thanks for your time and your consideration, it is much appreciated!
Cheers
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Cultrix
Comment by cyrilio at 02/09/2020 at 08:12 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I totally agree about unintentional drug use or the more shocking parts of that. Thank you for understanding. I’ll ask fellow moderators to comment on this. For now I’d rather see it as part of either M or preferable a separate section entirely (D category for drugs?). Because is not an age thing but rather culture/society.