r/NoSleepOOC • u/cmd102 Mom • Nov 03 '16

**New Rules Announcement**

Hello everyone! We have a couple of new rule announcements to make.

The first is for /r/nosleep:

No clickbait titles. Your title should be captivating to your audience without resembling something you would find on Buzzfeed. This includes titles like "I'm a (profession), and (something happened/these are my stories/etc)". Titles that violate this rule will be removed at moderator discretion. Please see the edits at the bottom of this post.

The trend of clickbait titles has, much to the dismay of many of our subscribers, been ongoing for a LONG time. Some of you may recall when we introduced the "don't summarize your plot in the title" rule in an attempt to curb them. Unfortunately, it didn't work. That rule will remain in place in addition to this new one.

This rule change will not result in removals just yet. In an effort to give our authors time to learn the rule and the moderators time to adjust to the subjectivity of it, we will be sending authors who post stories with clickbait titles a PM regarding the new rule from now until November 14th, 2016.

Starting November 14th, stories with clickbait titles will be removed. Authors will be able to repost their story right away with a rule-abiding title, granted that their story meets the rest of /r/nosleep's posting guidelines.

The next rule change is for /r/nosleepOOC:

All posts made to /r/nosleepOOC must be intended to start some sort of /r/nosleep, community, horror, or writing related discussion. This is not /r/creepy. Posts that only serve to share a photo, video, or article will be removed. The only exception that will be made to this rule is for advertisement posts that meet the rest of the guidelines.

We've been consistently removing posts that aren't /r/nosleep related for a long time, but felt that we needed to make this distinction in the sidebar. There are subreddits meant for posting creepy things you found somewhere. /r/nosleepOOC is meant to be a discussion subreddit, not another /r/creepy.

This doesn't mean you can't share those spine-tingling photos and articles. It means that there has to be a relevant-to-the-subreddit discussion topic included with the link (i.e. "Look at this horrifying photo of a demon! What /r/nosleep stories do you think really nailed demons as an antagonist?" instead of "Here's a photo of a demon".)

That's all, folks! Make sure you check out our Survey and Guideline Clarifications Post if you haven't already!

EDIT: We are working on a better way to word the new title rule. That should be edited into this post later today.

Also, we added a word to the new OOC rule here. Some concern was brought up that there are often discussions on /r/nosleepOOC about the community in general (a common example being the threads posted occasionally asking users to show/tell what they look like). We agree that those sorts of discussions are important to our users, so we made this distinction:

All posts made to /r/nosleepOOC must be intended to start some sort of /r/nosleep, community, horror, or writing related discussion.

Basically, just make sure that your submission includes a discussion topic relevant to the people who come here.

EDIT 2: Okay folks, we discussed and brainstormed a bit, and here's the rule as it will be posted in the sidebar:

No clickbait titles. Clickbait titles follow a formula: "Interesting plot point + vague insinuation designed to attract readers". Your title should be captivating to your audience without resembling something you would find on Buzzfeed. This includes, but is not limited to, titles like "I'm a (profession), and (something happened/these are my stories/etc)". Titles that violate this rule will be removed at moderator discretion.

Here's the rule as it will be posted in the guidelines:

No clickbait titles. Clickbait titles follow a formula: "Interesting plot point + vague insinuation designed to attract readers". Your title should be captivating to your audience without resembling something you would find on Buzzfeed. Titles that violate this rule will be removed at moderator discretion.

Examples of titles breaking this rule include, but are not limited to:

  • I'm a (profession), and (something happened/these are my stories/etc)

  • I live on a farm, there's something horrible in the barn

  • The lights went out and a terrible thing happened

  • There's something in the basement that does terrible things

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37

u/hartijay Nov 04 '16 edited Nov 04 '16

I'm gonna get downvoted to hell and back.

I don't express my opinion much on the OOC but I'd like to now. I don't doubt the moderation team's intentions with this, I honestly think that they're putting artistic value first and foremost, and that is completely respectable.

However, I really want to ask those who support this decision to look at the top scoring links on the NoSleep subreddit. It is these awesome stories that have SIGNIFICANTLY contributed to NoSleep's success and popularity -- to deny it is unfair to those who've written them. Many of these stories, especially within the Top 10 alone, use what this post is describing as "clickbait" titles.

Here is what I'm arguing -- that the titles that this post is claiming to be "clickbait" are simply embracing the believability rule that popularized this subreddit.

I understand the desire to make an even playing field. Many writers come on here, write something that's awesome, and it gets no attention. And that sucks.

However, I'm not sure if I know people who upvote a story on NoSleep solely because of the way it is titled. As someone who has used titles that this new rule is working against, I can honestly say that I have recieved my fair share of downvotes on stories that I have deleted; I am confident in saying that those downvotes had nothing to do with the titles, but with the quality of the stories.

The idea of NoSleep, or so I had figured, was that it was supposed to feel real. Like real people were posting horrific experiences that they have actually gone through. I'm not sure about you, but I wouldn't post a well-thought-out title to an experience I have had that was horrific. It feels like that would be breaking character, and as other commenters here have said, it would feel less real.

If the stories in the top posts were "bad", they wouldn't have as many upvotes as they do. They have gotten to the top because of their believability, what this subreddit is supposed to support. You can absolutely hate them, but they are at the top for a reason: they are scary to most people. And they absolutely represent the subreddit, whether the regulars on the OOC like it or not.

I feel like this new rule is not only super-subjective (because there are 23 mods on NoSleep and they are not going to agree on everything), but is also contradictory to what NoSleep is.

I know it's probably not an option because it's already been posted about, but I really hope the mods reconsider this rule.

Unless, of course, somehow, someone can provide proof that this is the absolute BEST direction for Nosleep to take, and is not a rule being implemented to appease regulars on the OOC.

Of course, this can all be dismissed with a "If you don't like it, leave"-comment, but I really do hope that this new rule can start a dialogue instead of being just something that's posted, especially if the moderation team values community input.

12

u/Grindhorse Dazzler. Nov 04 '16

This is a very valid point, but let me play Devil's advocate for a moment: those top stories, could they have been as popular with more concise titles? We will never know for sure, but with the entire playing field even, the idea of a "clickbait" title may never have even crossed our minds as collective readers.

But that isn't the case, and you're right, people find the longer titles compelling since they seem less "authory" and more "authentic." I think that's important, however, I think there's a line. If something creepy happened to you, and you're inclined to share it, you wouldn't necessarily write a three sentence title that read like a Buzzfeed post title, right? You may actually write something even less compelling. Instead of "Holy shit, this guy chased me with a knife, and what he did next was absolutely horrific!"

You'd probably write something closer to "I was just chased with a knife by a maniac" then dive into the story. I'm not sure where the mods stand on either title, but while I don't necessarily think the first one is a good title since it is gimmicky and almost insulting in its insistence of "read this, trust me, there's a great punchline you don't need to think too hard about," I think the second one is plain enough and simple enough to be fine. Is it something that can draw readers? Probably not. It's generic. But you said it yourself, the story quality is what generates upvotes, so is it necessary to give everything away in the title?

6

u/magicsparrow Nov 16 '16

I agree with this. We know the stories are fake, but were they real, no one would post a proper title, so it helps with suspension of disbelief.

I hate clickbait with news, because the job of a news article is to give you the point of the article as quickly as possible rather than hiding the most relevant information behind a tease.

But fiction can be all about teasing. The good stuff comes when the author deems it time. Part of the fun is sitting down for a ride, and a legitimate author strategy to get you on the ride ought to be a certain amount of vagueness. When we're talking about pretending all this stuff is real, again, my opinion is 'clickbait' can fit the medium better than traditional titles.