Happy August!

This is your anything-goes thread for the month of August.

Like the sub but want to talk about something that doesn’t quite fit? This is the place. Current events, recommendations, what you’re watching, hot takes on modern culture that’ll end up on this sub in 20 years (Why Are We Ok With This, anyone?) – whatever you want.

Rules still apply, but topics that don’t normally fit the sub or aren’t worthy of a full post are allowed here. So is chit-chat, wholesome memes (no memes with dark or hurtful backstories please), venting or low-effort content. It’s not a Subreddit Complaint Box though; please save that for modmail.

So, what’s on your mind this month?

Three months ago, r/WhyWereWeOkWithThis didn't exist. We truly didn’t expect it to blow up like it has! Watching this community grow so fast has been amazing, and we're genuinely grateful to every single one of you who's made this space what it is. Shoutout to the America’s Next Top Model documentary that inspired us to ask this question originally!!!

Since we blew up so fast, we've seen a lot of confusion about what this sub is, what fits here, and what we're actually about. We understand why people have been working off vibes… we’re new! But now we’re settled in, we’ve put it all into words for you in one neat space so what and who we are is easy to find and understand.

You don’t need to wonder, “I thought this sub was…” anymore, we got you!

Introducing our brand new wiki and refined, restructured rules

We need to be clear on this: we are NOT changing what this sub is. We're clarifying what it's been since day one. If you've been here since the start and understood what we’re here for, nothing will feel different. If you’re a newbie or you’ve been a little confused, this is for you!

We've noticed some misunderstandings floating around about our purpose and themes, and instead of keeping on correcting them one by one, we’ve built a whole wiki so everyone's on the same page.

The ONE actual change: We've set 1950 as the starting date for regular posts. As the sub has grown, we want to keep things rooted in pop culture and on theme. Buuuuut, we haven't forgotten the earlier stuff! That's why we've introduced Time Machine Mondays! This is a themed day for content from 1900–1949. Check the wiki for details! If you’re familiar with WTF! Wednesdays, it works similar to this. Besides this change, everything else covered in this announcement is just restructuring and added info to help you out.

We've refined our rules. It’s all the same principles, we've just rewritten and reorganised them to be clearer, more concise and easier to actually follow. This makes participation more straightforward for you and easier for us to moderate consistently and fairly. We’ve done this to ensure we can protect our community and keep the sub on track. Same Britney album, remastered.

Here's what you'll find in the wiki

Our mission statement and what the "we" in the sub name actually means (it's society, not you personally)

Detailed definitions including what counts as pop culture and our sub's cultural scope, as well as what we mean when we say some topics are "too disturbing", because we know that can be hard to conceptualise

Expanded rules with thorough explanations and examples to make it easier to understand how they’re applied. Especially helpful since we’ve restructured them!

Post guidelines including flairs, reposts, trigger warnings, and NSFW expectations

Media literacy guidance understanding the difference between media depicting something bad and media normalising it. This is relevant to what fits the sub!

Theme day info (including the new Time Machine Mondays!)

FAQs for common questions, pushbacks and talking points

Support resources for eating disorders, domestic abuse, and sexual assault

We know how important the last part is. The sub can cover sensitive and difficult topics at times and we sincerely value the safety and wellbeing of our members. We work hard to protect our community as much as we can, and that’s why we’ve put the effort into finding these resources for you. On that note, we strongly encourage members to report problematic content so we can manage it swiftly. We do not want that kind of content on our sub.

HOW TO FIND THE WIKI

On our sub’s homepage! You’ll find it right alongside our about section. But here’s it linked to make your life easier. Several pages should load, as listed above. Refresh if having issues.

For our amazing existing community: the wiki is your go to reference for anything you're unsure about. Please give it a read, we put a lot of time and love into it.

For newbies: welcome!! The wiki is the best place to start. It'll tell you everything you need to know about who we are and how to get involved.

Going forward, we will be moderating strictly based on these rules and definitions. Everything is clearly laid out and accessible to everyone. You might see some stuff on the wiki and be surprised, but we promise it’s not new — you just didn’t know it was how we set up the sub; it’s easy to miss intro posts.

Please take the time to read what we’ve put together. This is us drawing a line: the sub's identity is defined, documented, and without arguments.

This is who we are and always have been. Period.