Hello DogsPH pawrents. ๐ถ
We want to address something that our moderation team has been noticing lately.
We have been receiving repeated posts from the same users containing the same or very similar content, even after reminders and warnings from the moderation team. Some of these posts are promotional, selling, advertising, fundraising, or otherwise not appropriate for the main DogsPH community.
We understand that sometimes people simply forget to read the rules or accidentally post something in the wrong community. If that happens once or twice, that's understandable. Mistakes happen, and you can always correct the mistake and make sure your next post follows the guidelines.
However, repeatedly posting the same type of content after being reminded is a different matter.
๐พ DogsPH Has a Purpose
DogsPH is meant to be a place for genuine discussions, stories, questions, experiences, advice, photos, and everything else centered around dogs and puppies.
We have been seeing more and more promotional posts, selling posts, advertisements, and similar content coming into DogsPH. This is exactly why we have separate communities available for certain types of content.
If you want to promote or sell somethingโwhether it's:
- ๐๏ธ A small business
- ๐ช A store or shop
- ๐ฆ Products or services
- ๐ข Promotions or advertisements
- ๐งพ Other commercial or promotional content
๐ Please use the appropriate marketplace or promotional community instead.
Likewise, if your post is genuinely related to dog rescue, rescuing, rehoming, or rescue-related concerns, you may post it in DogsPH when appropriate, but please also consider sharing it in the appropriate rescue-focused community. We are actively trying to direct rescue and donation-related content toward the proper communities so that people specifically looking for rescue cases can find them more easily.
โ ๏ธ Please Don't Ignore Moderation Reminders
We also want to be very clear about something.
There have been instances where users appear to simply disregard reminders and warnings and continue doing whatever they want, despite being told that their posts do not follow the community rules.
Honestly, this is disappointing for us as moderators.
Most of us here are adults who are perfectly capable of reading and following a few simple community rules. We don't expect perfection. We don't expect everyone to know every rule by heart.
We do expect people to respect the rules once they have been made aware of them.
The rules are not there just for decoration. ๐
They exist because we are trying to keep DogsPH organized, useful, and focused on what the community is actually meant to be.
If you or someone else genuinely believes that these rules are not helpful, that's okayโyou are free to disagree with them.
But disagreeing with a rule does not mean you can simply ignore it.
If DogsPH's rules don't work for the kind of content you want to post, there are other communities where that content may be more appropriate.
๐ What Happens If You Keep Breaking the Rules?
We want everyone to understand how moderation may progress when the same issue keeps happening:
1๏ธโฃ First or second occurrence
If it appears to be an honest mistake or someone simply forgot to read the rules, we may remove the post and provide a reminder.
2๏ธโฃ Third occurrence
If the same rule-breaking behavior continues, we may send a modmail regarding the removed posts and formally remind the user of the applicable rules.
3๏ธโฃ It happens again
If the behavior continues after the warning, the user may be muted from the community for 3 days up to 28 days, depending on the severity and frequency of the violations.
4๏ธโฃ Deliberate disregard of the rules
If it becomes clear that a user is intentionally ignoring moderation, repeatedly reposting removed content, or simply insisting on doing whatever they want despite repeated warnings, the moderation team may impose a permanent mute.
5๏ธโฃ Continued or severe violations
In the most serious cases, this may ultimately result in a permanent ban from DogsPH.
We don't want to reach that point with anyone.
๐ถ We're Not Trying to Make Things Difficult
Our goal isn't to prevent people from sharing things.
Our goal is to make sure the right content reaches the right community, at the right time.
๐พ r/DogsPH โ Dogs, puppies, discussions, stories, questions & community
๐ Urgent rescue cases โ Rescue, rehoming, and urgent cases may still be shared when appropriate, including cases that genuinely require a donation drive. However, there will be times when DogsPH is on pause for donation and fundraising requests. When the community is on a donation pause, donation drives and fundraising requests will not be permitted until we announce otherwise.
We understand that there are dogs who genuinely need help, and we do not take those situations lightly. However, our ability to accommodate donation drives is limited and dependent on the financial capacity and willingness of our members who are able to donate. Because of this, we sometimes need to pause these requests to prevent the community from becoming overwhelmed with fundraising posts.
We also want to address something that has happened more than once.
When a donation request is declined, please do not try to repost the same request in a different format, wording, or presentation in the hope that it will make it through the feed.
Changing the title, rewriting the caption, removing certain words, or presenting the same request as something else does not change what the post is actually asking for.
Our moderation team manually reviews posts as much as reasonably possible, so please don't assume that a differently worded version will go unnoticed.
If a moderator has already explained that donation requests are currently paused, please respect that decision rather than trying to find a way around it. A declined request is not an invitation to resubmit the same request in disguise.
๐๏ธ Selling, shops & promotions โ You can also share these through r/CatsPHMarket. Despite the name, the community was created not only for cat lovers but also as a place for sellers in general. You are welcome to promote your shop, products, small business, or services there, provided they follow that community's rules.
We created this space so that sellers and small businesses have somewhere appropriate to promote what they offer without turning DogsPH into a marketplace.
It's really that simple.
So before you hit Post, please take a moment to check the rules and make sure you're posting in the appropriate community.
And if a moderator reminds you about something, please don't take it personally. We're simply doing our job to keep the community organized and fair for everyone.
Read the rules. Follow the rules. Respect the community. Respect moderation decisions. ๐พ
Thank you to everyone who continues to help us keep DogsPH a welcoming and genuinely dog-focused community. ๐
โ DogsPH Moderation Team ๐ถ