There's been a relatively large amount of posts here recently asking us to do something about the current state of the sub. I responded to one of these posts but perhaps it wasn't visible enough. Here's the quote with some minor additions for the sake of visibility:

Yes, the sub is in a bad place right now. No, I do not think it is the end of OKBR. I agree that action must be taken quickly. And we are working on it.

I say this not as an excuse for our seeming inaction, but as a reminder to those who seem to forget. The entire mod team consists of humans. We have lives and priorities to attend to. As much as I would love to spend every waking hour maintaining this sub and doing literally nothing else with my time since there are hundreds of thousands of subscribers, I can't. And the other mods can't either. At our current size we need more hands on deck, but due to the nature of our sub, finding mods that are both capable and have a thorough enough understanding of the sub's humor to maintain consistency is difficult. Likeability and cooperation skills are also essential, unfortunately, as the mod team needs to like each other in order to function on any meaningful level (go figure).

Our current run of janitors hasn't gone exactly as we had hoped. This isn't meant to imply that the janitors we've chosen are bad, but perhaps is an example that some people look better on paper than when they're doing the real thing. We're still trying to work out the kinks and make some changes before we decide to open up for new team members. It's a long process, and it's something we want to get right so we don't have to keep trying every couple months. But unfortunately it's not that easy.

Minutia aside, please let it be known that we ARE working on fixing things. We have plans for a new and hopefully more effective filter. We are always communicating with each other, relaying our thoughts on the sub, and trying to improve. Among the mods who make the more important decisions, it's hard to balance it all, as we, too, have disagreements sometimes.

Please do not mistake this post for a giant excuse. I simply want to make it clear that, no, we are not intentionally letting the sub slip. We do not desire to let it do so and are just as worried about it as you guys are. But it's hard for us to maintain a positive image while also working to keep what remains from falling apart. We cannot respond to every post complaining about the state of the sub. We get it. All we can do is hope you guys give us the time we need to sort things out even if it seems slow and, at times, nonexistent.

And to clear up some similarly common questions:

• Can't you just ban users active in other problematic subreddits?

Maybe. But it couldn't be that simple. While, yes, a large amount of problematic posts on OKBR come from people who browse subs like dankmemes, this isn't always the case. Even if it is the case, some users follow both subreddits and are capable of separating the humor. The problem arises when they try to bring content from other subs into ours when it doesn't belong. Blanket banning these people would definitely help the issue, but it would start one as well, even if the new problem isn't as detrimental. As of now, blanket banning these users or enacting a similar safe guard isn't out of the question, but it isn't something we are entirely comfortable with doing yet, either.

• Why are there rules if they aren't enforced?

They are enforced. The issue is that at the speed things are being posted, it's hard to keep up. There are periods of time where only a few are moderating because it's impossible for us to be active 24/7.

• Do you guys need more hands? I could help moderate!

Unfortunately, unless we are previously acquainted with you and have worked with you in similar environments (modding similar subreddits, etc.), we seldom, if ever, add individuals by request. Applications will likely open again in some form or another, and when they do, those who are genuinely interested in helping out will be made aware.

• Can we lock the sub?

This would probably just attract more attention to us. We've yet to completely settle on what we will do though.

• How can I contact the mods?

If it's something you don't want others to see, use modmail. Anything else can be posted here on okmetaretard. We check pretty often.

Thank you guys for caring about the sub and sticking it out. There's no definite timeline, but changes should be made relatively soon. Feel free to discuss below.