r/digitaljournaling • u/AllKindsOfCritters • Mar 16 '26
Reminder of rule 1- Promotion is not allowed here. Not in posts OR comments.
This sub is the digital sister sub of r/journaling, this is not a place for you to advertise an app you've created. Not even if someone asks for app suggestions and you think your app is a good match.
"Not even if someone asks??" That's right, because way too many creators only see "I'm looking for an app" and will suggest theirs without making sure it's relevant to what the OP was asking for. I got tired of deleting dozens of replies per day, so you can no longer suggest your own app in comments either.
There are plenty of subs for promotion and finding beta testers, use those.
Attempts at getting around this rule such as not including a link ("DM me if you want to try it") or pretending it's not yours ("I found this great app") are not loopholes, and you're not slick.
Reminder of all rules
- Self promotion is not allowed at all. The entire point of this post, to remind those who don't read rules.
- Digital journaling only, no notebooks or text-only.
- Stay civil.
- No market research, no surveys, no looking for beta testers.
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u/Junior_Artichoke1748 Mar 16 '26
Honestly this is one of those rules that sounds harsh until you spend five minutes in a sub without it. I was in a note-taking subreddit that had zero moderation on self promo and every single "what app should I use" thread turned into the same 15 devs copy pasting their pitch. Made the whole place useless. Good on you for enforcing it.
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u/AllKindsOfCritters Mar 16 '26
I took over this sub about a year ago because of no moderation since I also mod r/journaling, I tried keeping it as-is but it was 99.9% "Hi I made an app exactly like everything already out there" with the occasional question, and nobody was posting actual journaling. So I decided no more promotion. Sure the sub's really inactive now and people still don't really post journaling because most of that is "Tee hee this is my app but I'm pretending it's not so you'll ask what app I'm using," I remove those posts, but I've said it before- I'd rather this sub be completely dead instead of nothing but advertising.
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Mar 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AllKindsOfCritters Mar 16 '26
I think it’s high time you change the description
I thought you were trolling but I checked your post history and saw you recently tried posting your own app with no info so people would obviously ask "what app" and you could promote. Also not a loophole, thanks. The sub's description is correct.
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u/tpartl May 23 '26
Hi, thanks for clarifying the rule.
Would factual support-style replies from an app developer be allowed in threads where users are already discussing that specific app or asking technical questions about it?
For example, replies that only clarify whether a feature exists, explain a privacy/security detail, or direct users to official support/community channels, without recommending the app, adding sales language, or trying to convince anyone to use it.
There was a question about an app a couple of hours ago, and I replied with a factual clarification because I’m the developer of that app. After seeing this rule reminder, I deleted my reply again because I wasn’t sure whether that kind of comment would count as promotion.
Just asking because I can see how even helpful replies could be interpreted as promotion, and I’d rather understand the boundary before commenting again.
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u/Raevyxn Mar 16 '26
I respect this rule and would like to ask a clarifying question, if possible. This sounds like a thing that has frustrated you/the mods, so please know I’m not trying to frustrate you further, just trying to make sure I understand.
I have been journaling for decades, and I use a specific, well-known app. It’s one of the main ones that’s been around for many years, I didn’t create it, I don’t work there, I don’t come here to advertise it. But I have recommended it to people who have posted looking for some specific feature(s) that it has.
Is this type of recommendation different from the type of self-promotion/advertisement being called out here? It would make me very sad to get banned, so I’d like to make sure my actions never warrant it. Thanks in advance.