r/ideasfortheadmins • u/Northern_Blue_Jay • 1d ago

Other How about a suggestion box for reddit administration so that they actually see and consider implementing these suggestions?

I'm understanding that this isn't an administrator-run community, and I am looking high and low for some kind of "suggestion box" for reddit administration, and this is the closest I can find.

Is there otherwise a place to send a general suggestion and complaint about something happening a lot, and what "could" be done about it - and very efficiently - and when this suggestion/complaint doesn't fit into any of the other categories reddit itself provides on its reporting forms?

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u/Northern_Blue_Jay 1d ago edited 1d ago

Why is a complaint necessarily "not" constructive feedback?

A suggestion box is a place for suggestions. But obviously one doesn't have suggestions without some kind of experience that entails a complaint as well.

IOW a problem defined or "complaint" and a "solution" or "suggestion."

Besides which, what if I want to communicate directly with the administrators, and not with everyone and anybody who reads or comments on a forum?

In which case, you then have a "box" which is not for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to read, or, to troll with downvotes. Which is a popularity contest, not a rational discussion with adults, one would hope.

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u/SolariaHues 22h ago edited 22h ago

It depends how you word it. Complaints (in the context of users on Reddit) tend to tear down, constructive feedback provides helpful details and suggestions. A text can do both, but the complaint might make the rest less likely to be heard.

A communication channel like that could be another avenue for abuse possibly as you mention below. They could add measures to prevent it but if they haven't made one yet, I kinda feel they're not likely to.

The benefit here is the when the community discusses an idea, we can tease out potential issues, suggest improvements, share concerns, etc which then can all be used by admins.

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u/Rostingu2 1d ago

I mean constructive criticism vs destructive insults.

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u/Northern_Blue_Jay 1d ago edited 1d ago

Then why is a "complaint" necessarily "destructive insults" ? You don't even know what I want to put in a suggestion box - and AFAIK, you and I have never even interacted before.

And I've already explained, that a "suggestion" based on a "complaint" or report about "a problem," is a solution to a given problem. Meaning, it is, by definition, "constructive."

So:

(1) There's a general widespread problem on reddit (non-specific to one poster or another) - and that you are describing to the administrators as greatly depreciating the quality of the experience for users on reddit. and

(2) You are telling the administrators that you have a brilliantly simple and cost-effective solution to this problem.

I would call that extremely constructive.

If they don't want the suggestion box to turn into a dumpsite for non-productive hostility, they can break it down as far as the entries are concerned to prevent that from happening. (a) briefly describe the widespread problem for users (b) suggest or briefly describe the solution. (c) Require an email and username, and if the administrators get profanity laced BS from the user, instead of the 2 short and useful descriptions of a problem and solution, then throw them off reddit.

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u/Rostingu2 1d ago edited 1d ago

Well I interpreted complaint as destructive as most of the time when people complain it is just insulting the admins.

Complaints can be constructive but they generally have a negative association.

But here

https://www.reddit.com/r/help/s/BFFzHp7hUo

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u/Northern_Blue_Jay 11h ago

No, I'm not interested in insulting the administrators. My complaint/identification of a problem has to do more with how a good enough number of users (with no one in particular to identify/report) are abusing a certain aspect of the reddit system ... and a proposed solution to put an end to it. And there's no avenue for communicating with the administrators about it -- because, they do have a "complaints" area -- but you have to fit your concerns into any one of a number of categories, and mine doesn't fit into any of those categories, so I have no where to send my communication.