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New rule for /r/smallbusiness proposed - please comment

★★ signal-medium   r/smallbusiness  ·  ↑ 139  ·  💬 122  ·  2025-05-24  ·  kw: any tool that  ·  open on reddit ↗
your rating:
Tool
none
Issue
Low-value posts (market research questions, 'what business with $X', tool solicitation) clogging r/smallbusiness queues at high frequency, driven by AI-generated content and marketing spam campaigns farming comments for lead generation.
Cost
unstated
Recommendation
Moderator removal of posts with negative vote totals + overbroad/repeated question content; minimum karma threshold for posting (disputed); community voting discipline (disputed)
Date context
2025-05-24; rise in AI-generated content flagged as recent driver
extracted with
anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 · 2026-05-08

Body

We've stuck to the same rules here for a very long time. They've served us well but with the rise in AI we may need to make a few adjustments. One I'd like to implement is to enable mods to remove posts that do not add value to the sub but fill the queues and block out honest questions. Removals would be subject to strict rules to maintain subscriber control over content. Under the new rule mods could remove posts even if they didn't violate other rules if they had both: 1) A negative vote total 2) Content focused on an overbroad question that has been asked before and doesn't benefit from updating or a question that does not seem to benefit small businesses Examples would be: what are your pain points, what small business do I do with $x, market research of the small business marketplace, would you use x tool, etc. As a mod I am very careful about imposing my view of "good content" because opinions vary. I feel this rule is necessary to remove posts where the sub has designated low value (by voting them down) because they are still visible even at negative vote totals and AI or marketing practices have increased the frequency. Obviously it is reasonable to wait some time before removing any post so early voting doesn't sink something good. We will also probably see attempts at vote/reporting manipulation - and we will respond to those with restorations, removals, bans, or stickies spending on what is attempted. I've suffered those both attacks myself so I know they are an issue. (I had bunches of comments reported 180 times each in a few minutes after I challenged a Reddit post removal company while defending one post). We'd welcome your comments and criticism. Feel free to comment, we need the honest feedback and don't retailiate. *Edit: Sounds like voting is really going to matter even more going forward. If everyone votes post up or down as they see value I think we'll be in a good place. Personally I upvote every comment that adds value made in one of my posts whether I agree with them or not. You might want to think about how you vote because a small number can decide what you will see.

Top comments (6)

[score=1] AutoModerator
This is a friendly reminder that r/smallbusiness is a question and answer subreddit. You ask a question about starting, owning, and growing a small business and the community answers. Posts that violate the rules listed in the sidebar will be removed. A permanent or temporary ban may also be issued if you do not remove the offending post. Seeing this message does not mean your post was automatically removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/smallbusiness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[score=95] lucerndia
I agree with both 1 and 2. >what are your pain points Posts are always some SAAs guy just trying to farm comments and send unsolicited DMs.
[score=53] Various-Maybe
I’m relatively new on here but from what I’ve seen more moderation would be really helpful. I think there’s a big line between people actually running small businesses and the wantrepreneures. (“I want to start a free hangout space for k-pop fans in my small town, how can I get the $500k for free”).
[score=61] SeaTurtleLionBird
A high minimum karma count would help on top of this. This sub is now 95% advertising for some shit software or ploy.
[score=15] LakeRat
I agree with these. Something needs to be done. This sub is becoming less and less useful as the slop piles up. My only suggestion is to be a little lenient with authentic questions that are frequently asked as people are often looking for updated information or a fresh take.  The overly broad questions and obvious spam funnel setups definitely need to go.
[score=12] datawazo
I'm all in, as long as #1 isn't, like, two down votes and no upvotes I assume there's some sample size threshold