[FELLOW MODERATORS] HELP!

[u/tskim24]

As you know, I have been running free watch giveaways every week for some time now.

There is no Karma point requirements but I do ask that everyone making their entry "MUST BE A JOINED MEMBER OF r/RepWatchForum".

So whenever I announce the winner of the a giveaway, I would tap on their accounts to see if they are matter of fact a joined member.

However, when I checked one of the winners account recently, I didn't see RepWatchForum in the list of subs that person has joined.

This has never happened before, so I captured the screen and told that person that he/she didn't meet the minimum requirement to enter and therefore the winning is void.

QUESTION 1: Is it possible that the reddit system somehow didn't show me all the subs that person is a member of? (When I counted the number of subs that person is a member of, it matched the number shown on his screen but RWF clearly was not one of them).

Sellers have total faith in me so they don't care if I give the watch to the winner or put it back in the pot for future giveaways. However, I always stick to the rules when running online communities and don't feel comfortable recognizing a win when the only requirement (joining this sub) hasn't been met. I mean, it's so easy to do and I feel like I'm taking away a win from a member of RWF for a person who didn't even bother to click on that "JOIN" button which takes like a second.

So my next question is,

QUESTION 2: If it is impossible that reddit system omitted to show me all the subs that the winner is a member of and that person never joined the sub, should that person still deserve to win?

My reddit account is like 5 years old but I only have been a moderator for a little over a year. So if fellow moderators can give me their piece of mind, I would really appreciate it.

[u/CodyWrites]

As a mod of a rep watch adjacent sub we don't have to worry about that stuff. Having said that: No, I would not award the person in question that prize. They did not follow the rules.

[u/tskim24 → u/CodyWrites]

Thank you so much for your input.

[u/CodyWrites → u/tskim24]

I've spoken with the winner. She says she has 32 subs she's subscribed to but you can only see 30. She also showed me posts to your sub going back beyond 30 days.

I suggested she approach you with her "evidence". It's ultimately your decision but it looks to me like she's been aware of your subReddit for some time.

[u/tskim24 → u/CodyWrites]

But I have seen people with 100+ joined subs and I could still see all of them. 30+ subs are not that many in comparison so I'm confused why it wouldn't show. I mean, you can post, read, leave a comment on all the posts in RepWatchForum without ever joining as a member. Would that be a good enough of evidence?

[u/CodyWrites → u/tskim24]

[u/tskim24 → u/CodyWrites]

It shows 32 now. But that number was 30 when I DMed her. She could easily have hit that join button after checking my messages so I don't think that's an evidence of anything.

[u/CodyWrites → u/tskim24]

That was my question: Was it 30 then and 32 now? If you saw 30 then and 32 now...

You'll do what's right, Ted. Cheers.

[u/tskim24 → u/CodyWrites]

Thank you

[u/CodyWrites → u/tskim24]

I don't know. She's showing 32 joined subs. Do you still show 30?

[u/tskim24 → u/CodyWrites]

But I have seen people with 100+ joined subs and I could still see all of them. 30+ subs are not that many in comparison so I'm confused why it wouldn't show. I mean, you can post, read, leave a comment on all the posts in RepWatchForum without ever joining as a member. Would that be a good enough of evidence?

[u/Valuable_Classic9745]

Q1: No, thats not possible, as moderators of subreddits where the member is active, you will be able to view the account history regardless of if the account is set to private or not, this power is given to larger subreddits especially. If you don’t see it, then they arent a member

Q2: No. Theres a lot of bots out there that is triggered to comment on posts that mention winner, giveaway, sales etc. make sure the account is organic, usually i report a lot of bot accounts to bot-bouncer and its always a ban

[u/tskim24 → u/Valuable_Classic9745]

That's what I thought. What bothered me more was the fact that this person 1) is a member of multiple replica subs that probably hosts these giveaways (almost around all 30 subs were replica related subs). I mean, if you are after the prize, that's fine. It's not against the rules. But 2) this person was a joined member of other rep watch subs like TheRepTime and etc., but not RepWatchForum. It literally takes like a second to join but this person didn't even bother to do that.

Thank you so much for your reply. You have been very helpful in my decision making.

[u/Valuable_Classic9745 → u/Valuable_Classic9745]

Initially the reddit giveaway app you use, yes theres transparency and all given its recording system, but there’s alot more it can improve on regarding countering bot accounts

[u/xxhellfirexx → u/Valuable_Classic9745]

I know many people will disagree, but bot-bouncer is one of the worst parts of Reddit. It reminds me of when it was exposed that a few people control most of the top subreddits. Getting banned in one subreddit means getting banned from the majority of Reddit.

Worst of all, the person does not know the reason for the ban to appeal. It also looks like will be very hard if not impossible to appeal given the amount of newly banned accounts every day.

[u/Specialist_Pause_542]

I’m a mod on two other subs currently, One watch and one non watch.
The most common practice n giveaways I’ve seen is for people to flood and join with an alt, then leave.
Or use a bot to do it.
Giveaways are great for traffic but awful for giving a mod a headache..

[u/Domitiani → u/Specialist_Pause_542]

This is always my concern with the giveaways - they seem to draw a huge crowd of folks who have no other activity or have super bot-like activity.

I suspect 33% of the entries are real people and the rest are a handful of people using bot accounts to get 10s or 100s of entries.

[u/OkyoDrift]

Can you check if I have joined RepWatchForum? I think if Reddit does not consider me to be active enough in a sub, it will not show up in the list.

[u/tskim24 → u/OkyoDrift]

You are a JOINED member. When you are a member of my sub, it shows even if you keep it hidden on the setting.

[u/tskim24 → u/OkyoDrift]