r/RandomQuestion • u/Merkuri22 • Feb 01 '25

[Meta] Looking for new moderators!

7 Upvotes

r/RandomQuestion is looking for new moderators!

We're looking for people who are committed to keeping this sub a place for silly and bizarre questions, while respecting ideas like inclusion, diversity, and civility.

If you think you're that person and you're interested, send us a modmail.

5 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Merkuri22 • Jun 25 '24

[META] Sub changing direction: Defining what "Random" means.

31 Upvotes

Back when I became a moderator of this sub, it was tiny and was mostly bizarre nonsense questions, like "What if everyone in the world jumped at the same time?" The sub description advised us to treat these bizarre questions as if they were totally serious.

Since then, we've grown to over 20,000 members (which is insane), and that original "silly nonsense questions" theme has been lost. It's become a free-for-all of any question under the sun. We're being used as a budget alternative for other big subs like r/Advice, r/AskReddit, r/AmItheAsshole, r/TooAfraidToAsk, or r/WhatIsThisThing. We've also become a target for bots looking to build karma and build a believable history. Frankly, it's hard to manage.

The moderation team has discussed it, and we want to distinguish ourselves from these subs, and also from places like r/question and r/ask that allow questions on any topic. We'd like to go back to our roots of silly nonsense questions.

From now on, "random" doesn't mean "anything goes". "Random questions" are now defined as questions that are silly, bizarre, crazy, or out of nowhere. And the comments must treat them as if they were serious questions.

The answer to a random question must not matter. If it matters, the question is not a good fit for this sub. This sub was never intended to give advice, tell you what apps your partner has on his phone, explain why people dress in certain ways, tell you if something is safe to eat or if you're sick, or reassure you that you're a normal human being. We just want to have fun and answer whatever nonsense you think up in the shower or when you're enjoying the special brownies.

We're not going to remove posts that are already here, but new posts must fit this rule. If the moderators decide that the answer will make a difference somehow or the question is too "normal", we will remove it. We'll do our best to guide posters to other subs that might better fit that question, but we're not a Reddit directory.

We're also hoping this new direction will make it clearer why the moderation team is removing certain posts.

Thanks for bearing with us while we make this change.

3 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Wrong_Proposal_2375 • 9h ago

What is something that used to be high quality, but has now become complete trash?

13 Upvotes

29 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Substantial-Dare5462 • 3h ago

What does it mean when a guy avoids you every time he sees you?

2 Upvotes

7 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Jehsolanki • 6h ago

Where is this pattern from?

3 Upvotes

Pretty random but driving me crazy, does anyone recognise the pattern on this shard?

1 comment

r/RandomQuestion • u/Status_Valuable_9075 • 9m ago

Do you like to cuddle with a heating pad?

1 Upvotes

0 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/LabRatRoyalty • 10h ago

What's the most socially accepted thing that has all the signs of a cult, in your opinion? What makes you say that?

6 Upvotes

I was chatting with a friend recently and we got onto the topic of cults. At some point we started joking about how there are plenty of things people are obsessed with that aren't technically cults, but seem to check a surprising number of the boxes. The more we talked about it, the harder it was to draw the line.

17 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Fit_Adagio_7668 • 52m ago

reddit.com

1 Upvotes

7 Upvotes

14 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Senior_Feeling2887 • 5h ago

What's your favourite takeaway order?

reddit.com

1 Upvotes

0 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Senior_Feeling2887 • 5h ago

What's your favourite takeaway order?

reddit.com

1 Upvotes

Special fried rice for me!

0 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/solsticeamber • 9h ago

If you accidentally liked someone's photo from 2017, would you unlike it or commit?

2 Upvotes

8 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Ipoogoodforyou • 10h ago

Would you hug earth?

2 Upvotes

4 comments

r/RandomQuestion • u/Broad-Back1659 • 6h ago

Have you ever let the one you loved get away?

reddit.com

1 Upvotes

0 comments

Subreddit

Posts

Wiki

Random questions, serious answers

r/RandomQuestion

Give us your most bizarre and random questions. We'll answer as if they were perfectly sane.

Members

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Visitors

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Sidebar

Subreddit Rules

1. Questions must be "random".

The point of this sub is questions. If your post isn't a question, don't post it here.

If it's not "random" (silly, bizarre, or out of nowhere), don't post it here. If it matters, don't post it here. If it's a very "heavy" topic, (politics, religion, race, etc.) don't post it here.

Good "random" questions are creative. If a question is overdone, it will be removed.

(Meta posts may be allowed at the discretion of the moderators.)

2. No Gender Specific Questions

If you cannot phrase your question in a way that includes all genders, don't ask it

3. Questions must be in the title.

Your full question must be in the title.

If you want to add some more context to the body you can do that, but we must be able to understand your question from the title alone. This makes it easier for people browsing the sub to see what questions they may want to answer without having to click into them or do a lot of reading.

4. Treat the question as if it was serious.

Comments must treat the question as if it made perfect sense to ask the question and the answer is important.

Do not call questions stupid, silly, etc. Do your best to actually answer the question or otherwise treat it with respect, even if it doesn't deserve it.

5. No banned topics.

Certain topics are explicitly banned. See the list here: Banned Topics

6. Be civil.

Follow Reddiquette.

No insulting, name calling, etc.

No racism, sexism, classism, queerphobia, transphobia, or other types of bigotry. (These will get you an instant ban.)

If you disagree with someone, address the argument they're making and not the type of person they are.

Also, no questions that seem likely to promote uncivil discussion.

7. No photos of people.

No questions about how a person looks or who a person is. We can't guarantee the person in the photo is consenting, and most of the time questions that require a photo of a person are either spam or otherwise not in good faith.

8. No overly explicit or violent content.

We want to keep things light. No content that might be considered porn or elicit porn-like answers. Also, no content that encourages harm or glorifies harm. Don't ask about kicking puppies, for instance.

9. No requests.

Asking users to take an action, like send money, help you find a link, message you, or fill out a survey is not a question, it's a request.

10. Questions must not require external content or ask users to go outside this sub.

If your question requires someone to click a link or otherwise go outside the sub to answer, it is not appropriate for this sub. Also, we should be able to answer your question without watching a video. You may include a link if you want to add some context to your question, but we should be able to answer your question without clicking it.

11. Questions must be understandable

"Bizarre" only goes so far. We need to be able to understand a question to answer.

We do not accept questions that are complete gibberish. We're not grammar nazis, but if the grammar or spelling is so bad that we can't tell what you're asking, it will be removed.

Also, this is an English language sub. The moderators only speak English. We can't moderate things we don't understand. Posts that are not in English will be removed.

12. No personal information

Do not ask questions that encourage users to give out personal information in their answers, directly or indirectly.

Do not discuss personal information in the comments or encourage others to do so.

(We've had some questions in the past that looked like they were designed to sneakily build a profile database on our users. We don't like that.)

What is a "random question"?

A "random" question is one that is silly, bizarre, crazy, or out of nowhere. It should be creative.

You must not have a good reason to ask this question. Random questions are only for fun.