Hello All!

You may have noticed (we hope, but probably not) that our auto-note on posts has recently changed. Specifically, it now starts with:

Do not comment on the original posts

Commenting on the original posts is known as brigading, and brigading is something that Reddit does not allow. The idea is that Reddit does not want users from one sub heading to another sub to manipulate votes or change the mood/response that members of another subreddit had.

For instance, if we were an anti-cake subreddit, and we all posted links to posts from cake subs that we especially didn't like, and our members went over to the cake sub to tell people we hate their lousy, crappy, dry, unoriginal cakes and that pie is far superior, that would be brigading. Likewise, if a lot of members loved pies, and some members occasionally posted links from a pie sub so that our members would head over there to talk about the lovely, amazing, delicious pies, that would still be considered brigading, even though it is positive.

Now that we have the 7 day rule (all updates/final posts must be at least 7 days old in order to be posted here) it is VERY easy to tell when our members are brigading another sub. It's easy for us to tell, and it's easy for Reddit to tell. Even if you don't comment on our BoRU post, but head over to one of the original posts to comment, it is assumed that you saw the post from the sub that just published it and that dozens (or hundreds) of people didn't randomly discover an old post and start commenting on it and that just happened by magically be at the same time that the story went up on BoRU.

Several lovely subs that posters get a fair bit of material from are considering no longer allowing cross-posting because of brigading. Because of this, we are going to be changing our policies on brigading. Previously, if someone commented on one of the original posts, we banned them until they removed their comments, then unbanned them.

Because of the uptick in bans (and quite a few people being repeatedly banned then unbanned), we will no longer be removing bans for brigaging.

If you go on the original post and comment, you will be banned from BoRU.

Please help us follow Reddit's rules and refrain from commenting on the original posts.

Also, this shouldn't need to be said, but it probably does:

If you send the OOP a DM based off of a BoRU post, and they let us know, you will be banned from BoRU and reported to Reddit, which may result in your account being permanently suspended.

Thank you for your cooperating with this, and helping us to make sure we follow Reddit's policies.

Editing to add u/amireallyreal's excellent further explanation of why this is important. Bolded emphasis is mine:

One issue when 80 people comment on a post that is 7 days old or more, is that it does look a lot like a coordinated effort, especially if the majority of those comments are rude, critical, aggressive, or demanding. There doesn't really need to be one unifying post/comment on our sub saying "yeah, let's target THIS post" for it to set off all the red flags that indicate brigading.

Moreover, the mods of other subs don't like it. They don't like having to go to a post that's 7 days old to lock threads, remove abusive comments, and ban people. It adds a lot of extra work to their plate on top of the regular work they have to do on current posts to maintain their subs. We want to respect the mods of the subs we pull content from. Without their work, there would be no BoRu.