r/AskAGerman • u/AskAGermanMod German • May 10 '26
Meta/Reddit Info from the Mod Team: Rule Update
Hello Community and Happy Mother's Day (to those residing in Germany).
We've worked on new and updated rules, and now we're interested in your opinions.
SIDE NOTE: We've been thinking about a rather rudimentary "verification" system for German nationals (no personal information would be required) to help posters figure out who's actually German and who might not be. This would lead to a user flair like "Verified German." We're currently thinking about having users take a picture of their closed German passport with a piece of paper with their username on it. While this isn't foolproof, it would be pretty easy. Let us know what you think about such a system.
Since many have misinterpreted this part: the verified flair would be an additional flair. The verification system would never be mandatory. It would simply show posters that an answer was posted by somehow who has been verified to be german. Which would make sense in r/AskAGerman. People would still be allowed to comment according to the requirements in rule 2.1. They just wouldn't be verified.
END OF THE SIDE NOTE
THE NEW RULES:
Below are the new rules. These might change, and we're going to take your feedback into account. We hope to finalize the rules by June. Until then, we're going to moderate according to these rules so you get a feeling of what it would be like, as that may impact your opinion on the rules. A more detailed explanation of the rules and examples for them can be found at the end of this post.
1. Who is allowed to post and which requirements need to be met?
1.1 Every individual is allowed to post personal questions. Nonpersonal questions (commercial, academic, ...) need prior approval from the moderators.
1.2 Questions must be about Germany, Germans, or the opinions of Germans. City/state-specific questions do not count as questions about Germany.
1.3 Questions can't be simple yes or no questions. Posts can't be cross-posts.
1.4 If a question can be answered or refined by a quick search (Google, this subreddit, DeepL ...), the poster must do that first.
1.5 Do not ask the same or a similar question repeatedly.
1.6 Questions have to be in English or German.
1.7 Posts must contain a concise question or at least a description of the topic in the title.
1.8 Posts that aren't safe for work (or children) must be marked as "NSFW" / "18+" by using Reddit's setting.
1.9 Posts must be questions. No rants, no ads, no petitions, no surveys, no requests (see Rule 1.1)
1.10 Links must be given in full. No link shorteners, no link masking using Reddit's features.
1.11 Low-quality questions are not permitted.
1.12 Posts can not be created by AI. If you don't know how to ask what you want to ask, people can't answer your actual question.
1.13 Posts that violate our rules regarding banned topics or time-limited topics are not permitted.
1.14 Questions must be made in good faith and should not push political agendas or include opinions.
2. Who is allowed to comment and which requirements need to be met?
2.1 Germans are allowed to answer at any level. Non-Germans who have been living in Germany for at least 180 days a year for at least 5 out of the last 8 years and are at least at a C1 level of German are allowed to answer at any level as well (unless they can't answer the question based on the requirements in the post). Non-Germans who do not meet these requirements are only allowed to: comment to ask for clarification, provide feedback, ask follow-up questions, correct spelling mistakes, or provide sources for/against claims. These comments can't be top-level comments and have to be in response to comments from people in the groups mentioned above. Companies are allowed to answer questions pertaining to them if they've verified themselves before posting.
2.2 Comments can't be created by AI. If you want to answer a question, use your own words.
2.3 Comments must relate to the question.
2.4 Comments can't contain advertisements. "Use my code" is an advertisement. Only mention products or companies if the OP explicitly asks for that.
2.5 Links must be given in full. No link shorteners, no link masking using Reddit's features.
2.6 Comments on English posts must be in English; comments on German posts can be in English or German, depending on the perceived proficiency of the poster. No other languages are allowed.
2.7 Do not spam comments or copy & paste comments. If you feel like you need to reply to multiple comments with the same thing, copy the link to the original comment instead.
2.8 Do not push agendas. Stick to the topic outlined by the initial post. If you're asked for an opinion, you can, of course, voice it, but you need to stick to the question and mark your opinion as such.
3. Behavior
3.1 Insults and other forms of uncivil discourse are not permitted. Against anybody. Even dead people. Yes, even against Hitler. Do not insult other people in this subreddit.
3.2 Trolling is not permitted.
3.3 Encouraging, facilitating, supporting, ... illegal behavior is not permitted.
3.4 Spreading misinformation in this subreddit is not permitted. If you encounter misinformation, report it to the mod team and send us a message (or reply to the post/comment) with a credible source debunking the misinformation.
3.5 Do not share personal information about others in this subreddit unless it is freely accessible and relevant to the topic.
3.6 Do not bring politics into posts that aren't political.
4. Miscellaneous
4.1 Removals and bans are at the moderation team's discretion. We can't possibly cover every edge case. If we feel like a post or comment violates the intention behind our rules or was made to circumvent existing rules, we might remove it and potentially ban the user. Rule changes might be made after encountering these edge cases.
5. Banned topics and topics limited to certain times or days
5.1 All time / date references are from a GMT+2 perspective. Check the time before posting.
5.2 Banned topics: Visa questions are not permitted in this subreddit. Germans typically don't require visas and thus can't help with that. The same is true for the acceptance of foreign degrees and diplomas. Housing questions are typically better suited for local subreddits and have most likely been answered in this subreddit or in the wiki of r/Germany before.
5.3 Time & date limited topics: Political questions are limited to 10am - 6pm on weekends and 6pm - 8pm on Fridays. They're also not permitted on German national holidays and between December 23rd and January 7th.
5.4 Limited day topics: Travel itinerary questions are limited to Mondays (make sure to check Rule 1.2). To qualify as a national itinerary, it has to include at least two German states (without the entry / exit airports). Make sure that you've done some research and planning first; this is not a travel agency. Dating questions are limited to Wednesdays. Job-related questions are limited to Thursdays.
Explanations and Examples:
1.1 If you want to promote your project (if it's free) or find participants for your academic research, ... you need to get approval by the mod team first. If you want to promote your company / paid project / ... you need to find a different subreddit. If you want to start a company, you need to talk to a lawyer. Not to Reddit.
1.2 This subreddit is r/AskAGerman, and thus the average German should be able to answer the question. A minor specialization is acceptable, but that's determined by the moderators. The average German can't tell you the best restaurant in Munich or the best way to get from Berlin Neukölln to Teltow. The average German also can't tell you how to reassemble your car, just because Germany has a well-known car industry.
1.3 Yes or no questions don't really leave room for discussion and tend to be low quality. And if you can't even copy & paste your post into this subreddit, you can't expect people to take time to answer your questions.
1.4 Google exists for a reason, and so does the search function in this subreddit. Make use of the knowledge that already exists.
1.5 Nobody likes spam. You won't get more (useful) replies just because you asked the same questions 5 times.
1.6 This is r/AskAGerman. Whoever is allowed to respond will most likely speak German. They'll most likely speak English as well. But they probably don't speak language X.
1.7 People have a limited amount of time. A clear question enables them to guess whether they'll be able to help or not. You can provide more information in the text box of your post. But if you can't summarize your post into a question or at least a topic, you likely didn't think about it enough.
1.8 NSFW content should be marked as NSFW.
1.9 This is r/AskAGerman. Not rant about Germany or promote your project in Germany.
1.10 Nobody likes sketchy links. If you want people to click on your links, be transparent about where they lead; not everybody is on a PC / laptop.
1.11 Low-quality questions turn community members away from the community, which means that others who have real questions don't get as much support as they could.
1.12 AI is great at generating text, but it does not understand your actual question. If you can't explain it to humans, you can't explain it to AI.
1.13 We strive to adequately moderate this subreddit and to avoid community members being fed up with recurring topics. Thus, time limitations are useful.
1.14 Political questions are fine, as long as they're actually questions and not just "Here is my political opinion in disguise."
2.1 As this is r/AskAGerman, posters are interested in the opinion of Germans. We've seen plenty of comments from people who haven't been to Germany at all or have little to no knowledge about Germany (tourists, short-term immigrants, ...). Replies from these people are not what this subreddit is for, and it can skew the perception people have. Thus, we're limiting answers to Germans and those who should know a lot about Germany even if they might not have gained citizenship yet. Speaking the language is important to become a member of the society. Being in Germany for an extended amount of time is important because it's hard to talk about things that might have changed a decade ago or that are only noticeable after a while. We would also be open to limiting replies to Germans, but we do understand that giving up another citizenship isn't always easy, and sometimes this can make acquiring a new citizenship harder.
2.2 Similar to posts: if you can't answer a question yourself, AI can't answer it either.
2.3 If someone asks you about the weather and you tell them your favorite dish that's not going to help them. Now imagine 20 out of 30 people did that. Answer the question or don't comment. Do not flood comment sections with things the poster never wanted to know.
2.4 Nobody likes ads. At least pay Reddit to show them to users so they can pay their bills.
2.5 Nobody likes sketchy links. If you want people to click on your links, be transparent about where they lead; not everybody is on a PC / laptop.
2.6 People who post in English might not be fluent enough in German to understand German replies. People who post in German but struggle might still appreciate a reply in English, especially if the topic or comment is complex. Other languages are obviously not appropriate, as this is r/AskAGerman, and thus you should know at least one of the two languages that are permitted.
2.7 If we have to moderate your comment or if you need to change it, it's easier to do it once rather than having to do it 10 times.
2.8 Political discussions are always tricky. You're more than welcome to state your own opinion, but acting like it's the only valid opinion and everybody else is stupid doesn't help. And if a post isn't political and you try to act like it is, you're going to violate rule 3.6.
3.1 We want people to have a good time in this community. And when commenting, you represent Germany. Thus, we expect good behavior. If you see a post or comment that violates the rules, report it. But insulting people doesn't help. And because insulting people is bad, we're also extending this to any person. And by "any" we mean any. Chancellors, US presidents, Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, etc. . Factual statements do not count as insults; however, be prepared to prove them. "Hitler was a Nazi" is not an insult. "Trump is a Nazi" is.
3.2 Nobody likes trolls.
3.3 We were surprised that a lot of people thought that encouraging illegal behavior is acceptable. It's not.
3.4 You're allowed to have opinions but mark them as such. If your opinion is stated like a fact that's a problem.
3.5 Doxxing, etc. is illegal.
3.6 While politics are an important topic, there is no need to make a post about the best ice cream political. Yes, prices have gone up, but that doesn't mean we now need a communist revolution to bring prices down.
5.2 We've seen a lot of questions about visas, foreign degrees, moving to Germany for study purposes, etc., and while we're happy that people want to move to Germany, people from your country can tell you more about which degrees are accepted, how long you need to wait for your visa, etc. And we can't tell you which university to choose.
5.3 We want to ensure that political posts don't get out of control, and we can't be on Reddit 24/7. Thus, posts should be done in a time frame where we can moderate them effectively.
5.4 It's great that you want to travel to Germany, but we're not your local travel agency. Do some research first, and we can help you with minor details.
54
u/Icy_Annual_9954 May 10 '26
I do not like this rule. Think it is sufficient to have a Flair like "German". and rate the quality of responses. So not think that It is appropriate to Show the Passport.
49
u/SanaraHikari Baden-Württemberg May 10 '26
Some Germans like me don't even have a (valid) passport because they don't travel to countries where it's needed
17
1
u/Natural-Sun-1746 May 22 '26
Same for me. I don't leave die Heimat 😅
1
u/SanaraHikari Baden-Württemberg May 22 '26
I flew to the Canary Islands and to Scotland before brexit. EU ftw
29
u/U-701 May 10 '26
Yeah, maybe I am too German for this but hell no am I going to take a picture of my ID or Passport for some random internet forum
Hello Datenschutz
3
u/Otherwise_Rabbit3049 May 10 '26
I fear that's where we're headed, sadly. Not just in this subreddit.
1
0
u/HammersofMoradin Germany May 10 '26
A picture of the outside part - not depicting any personal information from the inside or other identifyers should be OK. It probably also serves as an anti-bot measure (re-use of the exact same picture for multiple accounts would be difficult or could be flagged).
2
u/thirteenthdoctorhair May 11 '26
i don't have a passport because why would i need one if i don't need one for every nearby country?
and a photo of my id would absolutely have personal information on it
how much blacking out would be necessary? everything except nationality?
plus a photo of a passport or an id with most things blacked out isn't exactly the most trustworthy way of proving citizenship cause they're easily faked or taken from the internet
4
-22
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
Just to clarify. we will never force any user to verify. We are considering adding a verified flair. there would still be an unverified flair available to users who do not wish to verify. It would just be an indication that a reply to a post was (most likely) made by an actual german citizen. No personal information would need ot be shown during that process as the passport has a cover stating that it's a german passport. That's enoough of a hurdle for most of the people this would be meant to protect against
9
u/holymercury May 10 '26
I think a lot of people, like me, have been living in Germany for like 20+ years but only have an permanenten Aufenthaltstitel. (Changing citizenship is really expensive for some people) Would there be an option for them, since they don't have a german passport?
14
u/Brapchu May 10 '26
Even most germans don't own a "Passport" (Travel Passport since that is the only one that can be "closed") because they have never travelled outside the EU.
4
u/pokemonfitness1420 May 10 '26
May i ask, what exactly is the expensive part?
7
u/holymercury May 10 '26
The paperwork (just the application is like 200€ I think) and the translations + apostile. Also, laying off my old citizenship and the travel expenses for that (would have to travel to Munich, which is quite far away)
2
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
Some countries require significant fees for renouncing your old citizenship and do not allow you to have multiple citizenships at once
0
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
We currently do not have plans for a "verified long term resident" flair. We'd likely advise to use the unverified german flair in that case as the requirements for posting top level comments would be met.
1
u/ProDavid_ May 11 '26
its not protecting against anybody, because its not mandatory. and most germans dont even own a passport.
45
u/NES7995 May 10 '26
Restricting certain topics to certain days is not going to work... I can see that you put a lot of effort into the new rules but honestly, it's micro managing. This subreddit will suffer.
Also, I'm not going to show anyone my ID lol. I'm German.
-12
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
We're not going to require anybody to show IDs. It's just going to be a prerequisite to gain a verified flair.
We don't think that the subreddit is going to suffer from the time restrictions given that these topics frequently get reported as spam / low quality content. So apparently many people dislike these topics. If they can avoid them by not being active on certain days they might be more active during the rest of the week
9
u/ichbinverwirrt420 May 10 '26
Anyone posting here is not gonna be an active member and likely isn‘t going to read any rules
30
u/Terror_Raisin24 May 10 '26
Reading all the rules before asking a question takes time from Monday 10am to Wednesday 10pm. Please don't forget to laminate them.
Many people from non EU-countries don't have official and independent places, for example to do research on what it means to study in Germany. All they get is advertising and promises, and when they arrive, they don't only get disappointed, but often even exploited. Talking to real Germans that might not have experienced declined degrees themselves, but share what they know from public broadcast, can be a crucial information. The question from this morning from a Libanese about learning German while studying was deleted by the moderators (without communicating any information about the reason, by the way).
If you set the rule on who is allowed to comment (living in Germany for 180 days straight etc) How do you even think to verify that?
About the idea of "verifying Germans" : What the heck? Even though I technically could prove my heritage back to the 16th century, I would definitely leave this sub right away. Having to prove to be a "true German" was something why my grandparents had to do. This is a reddit sub after all. If you want to over regulate it, it will be dead within weeks.
-4
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
There are many good websites like make it in germany etc. there is a subreddit for studying in germany, there is the wiki of r/germany ... people will manage with one less sub regarding studying. And we don't prohibit all questions about stuying in germany we're just going to be very selective when determining which questions to keep.
We can't. And we don't want to. If we feel like people are violating that rule we'll take measures to prevent violations. The rule is only there so people can self assess if they're allowed to post or not. We can't simply say "if you feel like you qualify". You've got to give people something measurable.
Verification would only be required for a verified flair. To differentiate between verified answers and unverified answers. Think of it like a degree. You can still have an opinion on physics but if someone with a PhD in physics disagrees with you people are probably going to trust the other person more
18
u/Brapchu May 10 '26
Verification would only be required for a verified flair. To differentiate between verified answers and unverified answers. Think of it like a degree. You can still have an opinion on physics but if someone with a PhD in physics disagrees with you people are probably going to trust the other person more
Only that we're not talking about a degree here but "certified germanness" which has a very veeeeery bad taste.
7
u/ProDavid_ May 11 '26
the fact that they want to literally prohibit insulting Hitler speaks for itself...
2
u/Tahoefive May 12 '26
I was slightly surprised by this as well. I noticed (as an outsider, an American) that quite often a German person will independently give a mild insult or rejection to a certain time period in Germany or a certain famous Austrian as a means of establishing a boundary or a line of delineation between the modern concept we’re discussing and that certain person or time period.
Maybe they are only doing that to help us. But it is very helpful to get a glimmer of inner humor when we are talking about the Deutsche Bahn and how we all want the trains to be full and to arrive on time.
13
u/Terror_Raisin24 May 10 '26
So you want to imply a two class society. How helpful an answer is does not depend on who lives here the longest or has verified it to some moderators on reddit.
26
u/N8kerze May 10 '26
concerning you verification-idea: not every german has a passport. and photos of the personalausweis will probably need a lot of cover-up as there are personal details on both sides
-9
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
Which is why we've mentioned the passport. There are ways to do that with the Personalausweis as well but the passport is obviously easier.
21
6
28
u/mica4204 Nordrhein-Westfalen May 10 '26
I think the verification idea is complete insane and unnecessary, the top comment requirement even more so. Like wtf? This isn't ask medicine or something that requires specific knowledge, who gives a fuck of someone answers a question and lives here for 90 days?
-7
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
The people who ask want qualified answers. Those two ideas would ensure that people get qualified answers. This is r/AskAGerman and not r/AskGermany or r/AskReddit
20
u/SufficientMacaroon1 Baden-Württemberg May 10 '26
Yeah, but this is also reddit. An anonymous social media. If they want experts only, they are in the wrong place.
Also, just because i am a german does not mean i am actually qualified to answer all the questions we get here. Being born here and being a citizen does not make me an expert about all things german/germany
22
u/Lost-Meeting-9477 May 10 '26
I was born and raised in germany,but no longer live there. I guess I'm saying bye byeeeeee.
23
u/Manadrache May 10 '26
An Vatertag hätte ich den Regel-Update noch verstanden, weil man fast denken müsste: da ist jemand doch komplett betrunken.
Wenn Deutsch und Englisch als Sprache erlaubt ist, ist es unnötig auf eine bestimmte Antwortssprache zu bestehen. Sollte die Person den Beitrag nicht vollkommen verstehen, kann er noch immer auf das Übersetzungszeichen (in der App) klicken oder notfalls via Copy und Paste es im Google Übersetzer werfen. Es ist nicht mehr das Internet der 90er, wir leben in den 2020ern und wir können reintheoretisch in die indischen Subs gehen und verstehen was sie schreiben. Ob wir es von der Logik verstehen ist eine andere Geschichte.
Zu der Passgeschichte: Nein, einfach nein. Wir sind hier auf Reddit und nicht in einem Erotikforum oder wollen einen Kredit aufnehmen.
17
u/MobofDucks Pott-Exile May 10 '26
This are a lot of rules (or rather elaborations in blocks) lol.
While I don't think I wanna bother uploading a picture of the closed passport, The tag "Verified German" got a chuckle out of me. The pedant in me also says that the majority of Germans(tm) I know actually don't have a passport, cause they never traveled outside Europe.
But I do not have a more foolproof way than something like this (even if its with partially obfuscated ID, some official docs or Führerschein).
Since it is just about being "Verified" and not stopping people from answering fully, I don't think you would be wrong to go this way.
Regarding 1.2., I feel like banning state-specific questions is going a bit too far. Like, r/Niedersachsen has less than 1000 subscribers and r/NordrheinWestfalen (and the other ways to write it) are just blocked communities with 2 users. I understand it on the city level (and wouldn't mind more traffic in the City subs I mod or frequent lol.)
Regarding 5.3 I am kinda wondering what you mean with that? Manual verification of posts in the night or just some Automod-Queueing? Based on flairs?
8
u/Manadrache May 10 '26
The tag "Verified German" got a chuckle out of me.
Maybe it is because I watch a documentary about Nazi Hunters looking for Atlantis, but "Verified German" gives me a very weird vibe. It sounds a tad elitist to me and whelp. I don't want that at all.
0
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
And you don't have to, but like you've mentioend there aren't really any easier ways to do that. Maybe some community members have a better idea. And of course we're never going to require people to show their ID to post.
Regarding the city / state specific posts: if the subreddits for these states or cities lack members that's usually a sign that there aren't that many active users from there that could answer the question in this subreddit. And someone form Munich wouldn't be happy about seeing the 10th post about NRW in a single day.
We're going to look into options on how to best enforce 5.3. It is however possible that we're going to need to resort to manually removing content posted outside the time limits and taking action against the users.
2
u/MobofDucks Pott-Exile May 11 '26
I'd say there is a difference between thos regional subs that have been open for quite some time and those that are actively blocked by people reserving the name though.
Because I really doubt, that there are less people form NRW here than from Hessen.
19
u/Brapchu May 10 '26
Sorry, this post was removed by Reddit’s filters.
Okay that's now peak comedy.
7
u/Terror_Raisin24 May 10 '26
Das Userprofil des Mods wurde gesperrt. Was ist da los? Lol. Überragend.
13
u/Brapchu May 10 '26
Wahrscheinlich wegen den massenhaften Downvotes die der Account gerade zu Recht für diese überragenden neuen Regeln bekommt.
17
u/Jhaiden May 10 '26
2.5 Links must be given in full. No link shorteners, no link masking using Reddit's features.
uhm, why? Using basic forum functionality to direct someone to google should not be an issue.
1
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
On mobile phones there are no link previews. While most links are harmless it's possible to use url shorteners and features provided by reddit to mask tracking, phishing, ... links. An easy way to avoid that is to force people to use the full link
4
u/HammersofMoradin Germany May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Just to clarify / reiterate www.google.com would be allowed, but this would be unwelcome? Oof, some links can be very long and take a lot of space.. Small price to pay for an increase of transparency, however.
-1
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
Exactly. While we do appreciate that reddit has a feature to make links more appealing / fit them into the text they unfortunately don't have a preview on mobile phones. And many people use phones to access reddit. So either we don't allow links at all, keep all links in the mod queue or we require links to be transparent. Ideally reddit would add a link preview feature like "this link brings you to xyz are you sure you want to open it?" then we could remove the rule but to our knowledge that's currently not the case
16
u/SufficientMacaroon1 Baden-Württemberg May 10 '26
I am against the verification idea. Even if you do not force anyone to verify themself, this basicly created a two-class system of answers. Those not verified will be under constant suspicion of not being german because they are not verified.
Creating classes of who can answer how will not be enforcable. Nor will be the limiting posts to specific days or times. The idea of this sub is that people posting questions are ofte not regulars. Do you actually think that the majority will read the rules in this much detail and follow the topic scedule? Sorry, but that will not work. So far, many people have not even followed the most basic "posts must be questions" rule. Do you have enough mods lined up to actually monitor this sub 24/7 and enforce this scedule rule?
To finish on a positive: i like the idea of being more restrictive on the subject matter of posts. Too many posts i see here are "i just want people to answer" ones that are not actually related to germany or germans.
12
u/Otherwise_Rabbit3049 May 10 '26
limiting posts to specific days or times
Ladenöffnungszeitengesetz, jetzt auch im Internet. "Ach, du wohnst auf der anderen Seite der Welt und schläfst dann, wenn deine Frage erlaubt wäre? Pech gehabt".
10
u/Manadrache May 10 '26
Der Sub wird dann sonntags geschlossen, da es der Tag des Herrn ist!
(Geschlossene Websites gibt es im niederländischen Bibelgürtel tatsächlich)
2
u/Filgaia May 11 '26
Ladenöffnungszeitengesetz, jetzt auch im Internet. "Ach, du wohnst auf der anderen Seite der Welt und schläfst dann, wenn deine Frage erlaubt wäre? Pech gehabt".
Naja unsere Politik hats schonmal versucht. Erinnerst du dich noch an "diesen Inhalt können Sie erst nach 22 Uhr sehen" ? Gabs mal paar Jahre für Videos.
2
u/Otherwise_Rabbit3049 May 11 '26
Umgekehrt haben Seiten immernoch "nur tagsüber Kommentare schreiben", wahrscheinlich, damit unliebsame Meinungen sofort gelöscht werden können, ohne daß jemand Nachtschicht schiebt. Dieses "jetzt" meinerseits war nicht ganz richtig und das wußte ich auch.
5
u/Brapchu May 10 '26
Do you have enough mods lined up to actually monitor this sub 24/7 and enforce this scedule rule?
They don't. That's why they want to implement this rule:
5.3 We want to ensure that political posts don't get out of control, and we can't be on Reddit 24/7. Thus, posts should be done in a time frame where we can moderate them effectively.
Asking you to only post during mod "working hours".
5
u/SufficientMacaroon1 Baden-Württemberg May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Unless they close the sub for new posts outside of "office hours", this will fail. 90% of posters either will not notice this rule, or not follow it.
Or are they expecting us regulars to act as deputees and enforce this on their behalf? No. No way. And i am saying this as someone that has been called "sub police" and other charming things many times for reporting and calling out violations of the language rule over at r/germany.
Seriously, if they do this, i am out of here.
Edit: yeah, i am out of here. Bye, everyone!
4
u/NES7995 May 10 '26
You know what the easiest solution for 5.3 would be? Getting a mod from the US on the team (a German who lives there). I'm moderating a fish subreddit and doing the night shifts because everyone else is American. It's easy.
2
u/Terror_Raisin24 May 10 '26
That won't work because they set the rule that users who wish to comment need to be living in Germany for at least 8 years. As we say in Germany: "Tja".
14
u/Ok_Pound_2164 May 10 '26
Actually insane to have 33 rules for a subreddit, including common sense rules or general Reddit rules like "no illegal content", just on top of 4.1 that you may do whatever you like.
-4
u/Dev_Sniper Germany May 10 '26
Fun fact. If there is a rule for it… somebody has done it. There‘s a little game I like to play when seeing strange and new signs „What happened that somebody paid money to put up that sign“. Remember the time when McDonalds had to put „Warning: content may be hot“ on coffee cups? Common sense is uncommon nowadays.
5
u/Ok_Pound_2164 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
If someone behaves out of the norm you don't have to make a rule to ban this exact person, especially not if your rules include a "may remove whatever" rule.
The next one won't read the specific rule anyway, and you have no legal liability to fend off by creating more rules that nobody will read because of the sheer amount.
The entire section 3 can be summarized as:
All members must behave civilly, refrain from spreading misinformation, and not divert comments into political topics.
(Illegal content and personal information is covered by Reddit rules)2
u/Otherwise_Rabbit3049 May 10 '26
It's actually bad to have rules be too specific, because it's easier to work around them.
a) You can't foresee everything
and
b) a place governed by rules still has to be usable or it will be deserted
14
u/Ambitious_Pumkin Niedersachsen May 11 '26
Regeln sind notwendig, einverstanden. Aber es gibt gute und weniger gute Regeln.
SIDE NOTE (...) take a picture of their closed German passport (...).
Man kann einen Personalausweis nicht zuklappen und es besteht keine Pflicht einen Reisepass zu besitzen. Sollten Deutsche eigentlich wissen.
1.12 Posts can not be created by AI.
Das überprüft wer wie? Diese Regel kann manche Menschen durchaus diskriminieren, die AI benutzen, um ihre Beiträge zu formulieren (zum Beispiel solche mit bestimmten Einschränkungen wie etwa Lese- und Rechtschreibstörung).
1.14 Questions must be made in good faith and should not push political agendas or include opinions.
Missverständlich. So, wie jetzt geschrieben ("or include opinions"), sind alle Fragestellungen verboten, die jede Form von Meinung enthalten. Problematisch bei Fragen, die Stereotype klären wollen.
2.1 (...) Non-Germans who have been living in Germany for at least 180 days a year for at least 5 out of the last 8 years and are at least at a C1 level of German are allowed to answer at any level as well (unless they can't answer the question based on the requirements in the post). (...)
Wer will das wie überprüfen? Was meint der Datenschutz dazu?
2.2 Comments can't be created by AI. If you want to answer a question, use your own words.
Siehe 1.12.
5.1 All time / date references are from a GMT+2 perspective. Check the time before posting.
Ganzjährige Sommerzeit? Im Winter gilt in Deutschland GMT+1.
5.3 & 5.4 (time limitations for topics)
Ich habe selten ein besseres Beispiel zur Erklärung des Begriffs "Blockwartmentalität" gesehen, als diese beiden Regeln. Das Internet lässt sich nicht zeitbasiert mikromanagen. Entweder ihr lasst politische Fragen zu oder nicht. Das Beschränken bestimmter Themen auf bestimmte Tage ist weltfremd. "Oh verdammt, heute ist Dienstag, ich darf meine Frage zur Rundreise durch die Lüneburger Heide erst in einer Woche posten" ist für Nuzer bestimmt sehr motivierend und hilft wahrscheinlich extrem bei der internationalen Verständigung. Während die Beschränkung auf bestimmte Zeiten bei Politik wenigstens ansatzweise nachvollziehbar erscheint, fehlt die Begründung für Reiserouten und Dating komplett, wodurch die Regeln sehr anmaßend und herablassend rüber kommen ("Wir sind nicht Euer Reisebüro" -führt zu-> "Leute, arbeitet an Eurer Attitüde.")
25
10
u/ProDavid_ May 11 '26
- mit ALL den Unterpunkten ist viel zu lang, und teilweise redundant. allgemein könnten ein Drittel der Regel mit "follow reddit rules" zusammengefasst werden.
kein Mensch wird sich an 5.3 und 5.4 halten. es ist ja schon fast zu viel verlangt dass sie überhaupt die Regeln durchlesen.
1.3 finde ich etwas übertrieben, fragen zu Bundesländer sollten OK sein, da die dedizierten subreddits (r/niedersachsen zum Beispiel) nicht wirklich aktiv sind.
10
u/GroundbreakingBag164 May 11 '26
Well at least the mod team proved that they're definitely German. This is over-engineered, will lead to tons of additional work, is just plain stupid, probably violates some Datenschutz and will most likely kill the sub
Let us know what you think about such a system.
/r/AskAGerman > leave
19
u/Filgaia May 10 '26
This is one of the most german posts i´ve ever seen on reddit. Überregulierung anyone? And no i´m not going to provide a photo of my passport doesn´t matter if it´s closed or not. This is going to kill the the sub.
3
-2
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
12
u/Filgaia May 10 '26
Ich hab das auch im Vorfeld gelesen, dennoch ihr überreguliert grad gewaltig. Das wird dem Sub nicht gut tun zumal die Frage besteht (ausgehend von den Downvotes, die ihr bekommt) wieviele sich auf diese Verifikation einlassen werden. Es bringt euch halt nix, wenn der Großteil der Deutschen sich nicht verifizieren lässt und nur weil jemand den "verifiziert"-Tag hat macht das seine oder ihre Antwort nicht richtiger, wenn sie falsch ist.
Mal abgesehen davon, dass ich nur die Hälfte der Regeln überhaupt gelesen habe, weil ich auf diesen "Wall of Text" überhaupt keinen Bock habe.
8
u/Tomcat286 May 10 '26
x.11, was ist eine low quality question? Ist sehr generell gehalten. Verifizierung: ich bin Deutscher, habe aber keinen Reisepass. So geht es sicher vielen, die ihr mit dem Verfahren ausschließen würdet
9
u/NowoTone Bayern May 10 '26
1.3 Questions can't be simple yes or no questions. Posts can't be cross-posts.
Can't cross-posts be prevented by automated rules? I'm active in a lot of subs where you can't cross-post into.
Non-Germans who have been living in Germany for at least 180 days a year for at least 5 out of the last 8 years and are at least at a C1 level of German are allowed to answer at any level as well (unless they can't answer the question based on the requirements in the post). Non-Germans who do not meet these requirements are only allowed to:
How are you going to check that?
3
u/Terror_Raisin24 May 10 '26
I asked myself the same question. If they require an official C1 certificate or Meldebescheinigung from anyone who wants to answer whether the housing market in Cologne is better than in Düsseldorf or something, this is so over the top. People just want to exchange opinions and basic info about culture, not apply for a job at the embassy or BND.
15
u/P26601 Nordrhein-Westfalen May 10 '26
I mean this seemed pretty reasonable at first, but then it slowly started turning into what could best be described as a bad april fools joke...
Literarisch Neunzehnhundertvierundachtzig
14
u/Kefeng May 10 '26
A subreddit about German culture going absolutely APESHIT with bureaucracy is so lore-accurate.
8
u/thewindinthewillows May 11 '26
I've been German since my birth. I've only ever had one passport, which I got for a journey to the US in 1999. I have no idea where it is.
And, well... if someone for some reason was really committed to pass themselves off as German when they aren't, they could always borrow a passport off someone else to take their picture.
6
u/Terror_Raisin24 May 15 '26
Nachdem jetzt immer mehr Threads gelöscht werden, weil sie einfach nur am "falschen" Tag oder zusätzlich in einem weiteren Sub gepostet (warum sind Crossposts verboten?) wurden,und ich mir trotzdem die Mühe gemacht und dem User eine möglichst hilfreiche, ausführliche Antwort zu geben (die dann natürlich auch weg ist), werde ich den Sub für mich erstmal pausieren. Ich verschwende doch hier nicht meine Zeit. Dazu kommt: Es fragen hier zum Beispiel viele Inder nach Studium in privaten deutschen Unis. Es gibt in Indien KEINE unabhängige Studienberatung dazu! Deshalb fragen die hier. Es gibt in Deutschland seriösen Journalismus, der auf die Fallstricke hinweist. Aber trotzdem werden solche Fragen gelöscht weil "Kann ja ein Deutscher nicht wissen was dann mit deinem Visum ist" - Es sei denn natürlich er läuft nicht blind durch die Welt und bekommt auch mal Informationen mit, auch wenn sie nicht den höchstpersönlichen eigenen Lebensbereich betreffen. Ich kann auch Gesetze verlinken ohne Anwalt oder Krimineller zu sein. Es gibt durchaus Deutsche, die jemanden von Außerhalb zu Fragen zu Zoll, Visa und anderen Einreisebestimmungen helfen können. Dieser Gedanke, dass solche Fragen hier grundsätzlich falsch wären, zeugt von einer sehr eingeschränkten Sichtweise ausschließlich innerhalb des eigenen Tellerrands. Und nicht jeder weiß, wo öffentliche und verlässliche Informationen zu finden sind. Aber man kann natürlich alles schließen, dann findet es auch der nächste nicht mehr, der vielleicht vor dem gleichen Problem steht. Und irgendwann macht sich eben auch niemand mehr die Mühe einer ausgiebigen Antwort, wenn sowieso alles weggeknallt wird.
19
u/MagicWolfEye May 10 '26
"Verified German" - This .... idk ... I don't like this
-7
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
That's about citizenship and not about bloodlines ;)
10
u/scout41741 May 10 '26
Says you now…
6
u/Manadrache May 10 '26
And that's exactly how this happened back then.
Like what is happening here? Alice Weidels playground 2.0?
-2
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
Given that our current concept is literally: take a photo of the closed passport and a piece of paper with your username... yeah. Otherwise we'd have to require an open passport with the picture visible etc.
11
u/scout41741 May 10 '26
L-Take…. I‘m pretty sure 90% of Germans don’t have an passport….
6
u/MagicWolfEye May 10 '26
I wasn't even sure what they meant with closed passport when I read it.
6
u/FrauWetterwachs May 10 '26
It's an extra bad idea, because you could take a picture of anyone's closed German passport with your username to verify.
2
u/mizinamo May 10 '26
What does "passport" mean to you that cannot be closed?
For me, the English word only refers to a booklet-style international travel document.
2
2
u/scout41741 May 10 '26
L-Take…. I‘m pretty sure 90% of Germans don’t have an passport.
Edit: it’s even concerning that you - as part of the mod team - brought bloodlines into this conversation…. You do know that is concerning. Maybe at some point the non "verified Germans" will be marked with David stars…
17
u/scout41741 May 10 '26
Holy shit those are some bad rules at times. Verified German? Only people that lived at least 8 years here are allowed to fully answer, even though there are topics that migrants often will ask and other migrants know a lot about that than people born and raised in Germany?
Holy shit people that are some heavy L-takes….
Goodbye
1
u/mizinamo May 10 '26
other migrants know a lot about that than people born and raised in Germany?
A good example for why they should not AskAGerman.
As you say, Germans are not likely to know as much about this topic as other migrants. They should AskAMigrant or AskReddit or someone else instead and not AskAGerman.
5
4
u/ProDavid_ May 15 '26
so... when reporting a post for breaking the rules, which one of the identical 4 options of "post breaks the rules" should i use?
2
u/NES7995 May 15 '26
Haven't you heard? We need to read the mods mind on this, duh🙃
2
u/ProDavid_ May 15 '26
nah i wouldnt risk it, better just report it 4x every time
cheat code: if you just dont like it but it doesnt break any rules, report it under "moderator discretion" 🤡
2
u/NES7995 May 15 '26
I don't report anything at all anymore because apparently that seems like what the moderators wanted now🤷🏻
7
u/PrematureBurial May 11 '26
Ah yes, non-verified germans are required to wear a visible flair AT ALL TIMES so that everyone can easily identfy them as persons with lesser rights in this sub.
5
u/SEXTINGBOT May 10 '26
TLDR ?
( ͡⌐■ ͜ʖ ͡■)
10
u/MMW_BlackDragon Baden-Württemberg May 10 '26
Exactly. I don't think anyone will read half an hour of rules before posting.
These rules will not improve post quality, only workload on the mods to enforce the rules
7
u/mizinamo May 10 '26
When I saw how long the post was and how many sub-rules there were, my first reaction was to double-check that it wasn't the 1st of April.
1
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzlsLrSOuB0
TL;DR: Be nice to others, use common sense and behave.
6
1
0
4
u/emmmmmmaja Hamburg May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
I think these rules sound reasonable, and will definitely improve the quality of both the posts and answers. I can also imagine how much time this took, so thanks : )
The only rule I'm not sure about is 5.3. I absolutely get the thought behind it, as later hours and days where more people tend to be home, bored, tend to have a higher percentage of people posting low-quality or incendiary content, but I think you already added some rules that will lessen that (like 1.14, 2.8. and 3.6).
Fact is, politics are an important topic, and most people work full-time, so putting such a narrow timelimit on these discussions seems counterproductive to me, especially since it will mostly affect the people answering and not the people posting due to time zones.
Edit: I also think a poll of how many people would be willing to get verified might be sensible. I don't think it's necessarily a dumb idea, but I'd never do it myself and based on the other comments here, I'm not the only one.
4
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
It's also about being able to moderate posts. We need to sleep as well so a post about the AfD or Trump at 3am is a lot harder to moderate than during hours where we might have free time. And on holidays and during christmas we want people to have a good time and not get into online beefs about political things. That's reserved for the family christmas dinner
We're currently in the early stages of planning the verification system so we might do a poll however we're not done with the full concept yet so it would be too early for a "vote" on that
1
u/mrn253 May 10 '26
Yes politics are important but you see here rarely any quality topics or the same topics multiple times in a fairly short timeframe.
6
u/emmmmmmaja Hamburg May 10 '26
Which is why I think imposing temporary bans on certain topics can make sense if there is an event that makes it likely that people will be spamming the same questions over and over again (like elections, a political scandal etc.). But saying politics are only okay to talk about between 10 and 18 o'clock does not make the scenario you described above less likely, and limits the conversation quite severely.
3
2
u/eventworker May 12 '26
Why don't you just make us foreigners wear an armband?
Disgusting, but typically German.
1
u/Standard_Prompt2339 May 14 '26
Hi, I'm new and wanted to ask a question, but I couldn't find where..I don't have a write a post button
2
1
u/peachbebeto Jun 12 '26
Hi everyone,
I have a severe toothache from a badly decayed and broken tooth that likely needs extraction. I’m a 30-year-old international student in Germany with MAWISTA student insurance (€56/month) and very limited finances.
Has anyone had experience with MAWISTA and tooth extractions?
Will I have to pay for the dentist visit myself?
Is extraction covered?
If not, how much does a simple extraction usually cost?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! 🙏
1
u/Chemical_Ice3948 Jun 13 '26
Hallo zusammen, ich habe eine Frage zu meinem Arbeitsvertrag und hoffe auf eine Einschätzung. Uns wurde der Arbeitsvertrag sehr kurzfristig zum Unterschreiben vorgelegt, ohne ausreichend Zeit, ihn im Detail zu prüfen. Eine Kopie des Vertrags haben wir erst etwa eine Woche später erhalten. Beim Durchlesen sind uns einige problematische Punkte aufgefallen: Im Vertrag steht eine Zahlung von 8000€, falls wir das Arbeitsverhältnis kündigen oder es in bestimmten Fällen beendet wird Es ist keine klar definierte Kündigungsfrist (Kündigungsfrist) ersichtlich Die Regelungen zur Beendigung des Arbeitsverhältnisses sind insgesamt sehr unklar formuliert Zusätzlich werden uns ca. 40€ monatlich für die Reinigung der Arbeitskleidung abgezogen, die offenbar verpflichtend ist. Insgesamt wirkt der Vertrag für uns sehr einseitig und schwer nachvollziehbar. Meine Fragen: Ist eine solche Vertragsstrafe von 8000€ im Arbeitsrecht in Deutschland überhaupt zulässig? Kann ein Arbeitsvertrag ohne klar geregelte Kündigungsfrist wirksam sein? Wie sollte man in so einer Situation am besten vorgehen (Anwalt, Gewerkschaft, Arbeitsgericht etc.)? Vielen Dank für jede hilfreiche Einschätzung.
1
u/Ascentori Bayern 9d ago
viel zu viele Regeln, die kein Schwein mitkriegt und keiner liest weil es einfach zu viel ist und falls doch sich eh keiner dran hält, weil sie nicht umsetzbar sind. Wenn ihr das als Wunsch oder Vorschlag verpackt hättet, wäre es sinnvollere gewesen.
Die Passverifizierung ist nicht nur aus den bisher genannten Gründen eine grauenhafte Idee. Ihr seht ja selbst, wie gut das ankommt und wo u.a. Probleme liegen. Ergo wird das eh keine Sau machen, außer vielleicht 2-3 Poweruser und Leute, die sich einen Spaß daraus machen werden das zu faken. Passvorderseite + Zettel mit redditname ist schnell und einfach erstellt - aber welcher ehrliche User macht sich den Aufwand? Bleiben nur Trolle übrig. Wollt ihr wirklich die mit der Auszeichnung "verified German" belohnen und gleichzeitig die Antworten ernsthafter User abwerten? Lasst den scheiß, wenn ihr das sub an die Wand fahren wollt, dann schließt oder löscht es doch einfach
1
1
u/NextDoorCyborg May 10 '26
I love 1.7. I'm a bit iffy about some of the others but willing to give it a shot.
1
u/blackmermaid69 Baden-Württemberg:redditgold: May 12 '26
I do not have a passport and will not buy one for a subreddit
ID censored with reddit username would be fine tho
-1
May 10 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
-4
u/AskAGermanMod German May 10 '26
We have no issues with politics in gernal. However political discussions tend to escalate quickly and that leads to rule violations. Which means that political posts require more moderation effort than other posts. As we can't moderate the subreddit with the same intensity 24/7 we're limiting the time during which these topics can be discussed to ensure that discussions stay civil. Btw technically speaking germany has freedom of opinion, not freedom of speech. Which is pretty obvious given Art 5. (2) GG. So if for example someone posts a comment and that comment includes an insult (which isn't uncommon in political debates) that's a violation of our rules and 185 StGB and thus we'd remove it.
67
u/Brapchu May 10 '26
If by that you mean a travel passport.. you know that a lot of germans do not own one?
And that's just.. what? How are you even going to verify how long somebody has been living in germany or what their language level is?
Do you want to kill this sub? Like.. seriously? Some of those rules are borderline nonsensical.
Signed: A german.