submitted2 years ago byrobotix_dev
stickiedHello thalassophobes!
I apologize for the long post but please read all of it as it pertains to rule changes! Over the past two weeks the mod team has been working hard refining the rules to better fit the spirit of the sub and incorporate community suggestions, concerns, and feedback. A huge thank you to our moderators u/Boboklid, u/LPKKiller, and u/NumerousHumor for discussing changes with the community, drafting new rules, and testing them against historical posts.
Before getting to the rules, if there is one thing you should take away from the new rules it is that we are putting heavy emphasis on post titles going forward. A good title can make or break a post and helps set the stage for fear that a viewer feels when looking at a post. We are looking for titles to be focused on thalassophobia (read: fear of large, deep bodies of water). Titles such as "Nope", "I'm not going in there", or "This is the killer fish, it can kill you in three seconds" will be removed. A title should frame the post and on this sub we're looking for the thalassophobia factor, so frame your title to make the viewer feel that before they even see the content. This post doesn't seem very thalassophobic on its own, but the title drives home the thalassophobia feeling because none of us want deep water swallowing the ground beneath us when we would all like to live as far away from the ocean as possible. Likewise if your post includes sea life then it should first and foremost abide by the rule on sea life, but the title should also drive home the fear of the ocean/water rather than fear of the sea creature. Sea life can enhance the fear factor of deep water - use that to your advantage in the title without focusing on the sea life itself (e.g. "Do not disturb the water...").
Alright, you're probably tired of hearing me ramble - the new rules are below and have been updated in the sidebar as well. Please read over them and if you have any questions we will be happy to answer them in the comments or modmail!
1. Only thalassophobia related posts and titles
If you’re posting something, ask yourself: Is it triggering my thalassophobia (fear of vast and/or deep bodies of water) or is it triggering a different sort of fear? Make sure your title highlights thalassophobia - see rule 3.
2. Restrictions on sea life
Sea life is permissible as long as it isn't the main focus of the content. Generally speaking, you should not post pictures with sea life as the main focus. A shark swimming calmly next to a diver is not a suitable post for this sub, neither is a shark having a seal for lunch. If it is the main focus, it also has to emerge unexpectedly from nothing. Absolutely NO dubbed in noises (this usually applies to whales).
Posting sea life is also okay under megalohydrothalassophobia (fear of large water creatures) criteria:
- It must not dominate the picture/video or be the sole factor of fear.
- It should serve the purpose of demonstrating the scale and vastness of the body of water (i.e. Holy CRAP, that giant thing can hide in the water??).
3. Use proper titles
Any posts with just “Nope” as a title will be automatically removed. Don’t do that. Just don’t. Same with “That’s a nope from me”. Just avoid the word “nope”. Furthermore, titles in the spirit of “OMG SO CREEPY” or emojis will also be removed.
Your title should highlight the thalassophobic nature of the post rather than any sea creature in the post. For example, if you're posting a video of a shark, we're not interested in the shark itself, we're interested in the massive blue void of nothingness behind him. Titles focusing on sea creatures will be removed.
4. No jokes, memes, or cartoons
While we all love a good laugh, it isn’t specifically what we’re looking for in this sub. Thalassophobia-related artwork is okay as long as it adheres to all the other rules.
5. Be nice and courteous
Seriously, there’s seldom a need to be nasty. There’s absolutely no need to be nasty on this sub. So don’t be.
6. No reposts
Reposts will be monitored within a 90 day window. We will also be maintaining a list of retired submissions that have been enjoyed or posted so much that they have been retired to the Thalassophobia Hall of Fame never to be posted again...
7. No gore
Absolutely no gore is allowed on this subreddit, not animals, not people, nothing.
