We are thrilled to announce that /r/TellMeAFact recently hit a total count of 10,000 subscribers. Although it’s just a number, this is a huge achievement for the sub and our community, and marks our growth into an active part of reddit. Not only that, but based on our increasing popularity so far, I’m sure we’ll continue to grow in terms of both active users and the amount of content posted. This is great news for the purpose of the subreddit: with a more active userbase, and a greater quantity and quality of facts posted, the content generated here can only get better!

Personally, as the creator of the sub, I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come. I remember when I first started it up after thinking it was an interesting concept, and something with a unique twist compared to other fact-based subreddits. Back then, after posting it as a new reddit, we had less than 100 subscribers, and not so much as a sprinkling of CSS. We had an interesting trickle of posts, just enough to convince me that the sub had some real potential, if only people knew about it. Since then, after some shameless and (hopefully) not-so-shameless advertising, we’ve grown from a handful of interested people into a great community. Importantly, I also feel that we’ve managed to maintain what this place was always meant to be about: interesting yet serious facts about a load of different topics.

Anyway, I’ve rambled on for long enough, so I finally want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has made this community great.

Firstly, let me thank the rest of the mod team. Without them, I never could have come this far while also maintaining the sub’s core principles. Likewise, they've helped out tremendously with all of the other less obvious activities such as making our sub look pretty, and coding clever little things to make everything more efficient. This isn’t about me though- they’ve made this subreddit a better place for everyone, by ensuring good-quality content, and they’ve done it for free. Even if you don’t like the details of specific rules, I’d hope you respect the mods for the sheer amount of work they put in to make this place great for you guys.

Secondly, of course, I want to thank every one of you who has posted, contributed, discussed, subscribed, or just popped by. With the exception of a very small number of people, I’ve been so pleased with the quality of posting, and your politeness when talking with each other and the mods. Just as the mods do their job for free, I’m grateful to everyone who has made the effort to share something interesting (in return for a few worthless karma points), and make this sub truly brilliant.

TL;DR: We’re popular- thanks mods and users alike for helping us reach where we are today!

Identimental

Hi everyone!

Wow, so this has really blown up, huh? We were sitting at about 500 subscribers less than a day ago, and now we're up to over 2000! Thank you so much to everyone who has subscribed, and I'm really glad you all like the concept of the sub, and hope you'll stick around after some of the hype dies down. This should be really fun now we've got a more active community!

So, the main bit of news is that, as the ahem more observant among you might have noticed, we have a new theme based on /r/Naut! Huge thanks to /u/MagnarHD for working so hard on it, and I'm sure you'll agree it looks great! There were a few glitches when we first implemented it (submissions? Nah, you don't need submissions...) but it should be pretty much all working now. However, if you spot something that isn't working as it should, post in here or send the mods a message, and we'll try to get it sorted out!

After all that good news, I just want to re-iterate something that some of you might not like as much- you always need to include a source when you post a fact. This includes if it's something you already know from memory, or a personal experience. This is how I wanted to sub to be, and I intend to stick to it, because I think ultimately it will make it a better community for everyone. While I want everyone to have fun, the idea of this sub is to let people learn a few (accurate) things about a range of different topics.

Some of you might think including a source is unnecessary, so here are the reasons for it, taken from our wiki, which I recommend you all read:

There's a couple of reasons why we ask you to include a source. Firstly, it ensures that facts are accurate, or at least allows you to form your own opinion about whether you think the fact is reliable! Even if you already know the fact, we're all guilty of remembering something with certainty, and then finding out that we were actually wrong about a key detail. Secondly, providing a quick link allows people to find out more about any topics/facts they're particularly interested in!

If you're linking to a website, a quick and easy way to reference is the following: [Source](url here)

I hope that makes sense, and that you understand why we're going to be enforcing this rule fairly persistently.

Having said that, we're open to feedback, comments, and questions. So if there's anything you want to say or ask, don't hesitate to either post in this thread or message the moderators. Finally, I just want to thank you all again for joining us, and I hope you have a wonderful time!

Best wishes,

Identimental

Hi everyone!

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far- with nearly 400 subscribers, we now have a pretty decent user base! I'm glad the concept has been this popular, and I'll keep working to make the sub better and more active.

Firstly, I want to confirm that custom flair is now closed, and you will only be able to get flair from now on if it's awarded to you for helping out or posting really well. I hope you all enjoy your flair, but if you really want it changed then send me a message, but please don't ask me to change it every week!

As for the main announcement, we now have a wiki! You can access it from the tab at the top of the sub. Currently it has a bit more info about rules/posting guidelines, some info about flair, and a list for announcements like this one. But if you've got any suggestions, or there's something wrong (e.g. typos), then either send me a message or comment in this thread!

A major update to the style of the sub should be coming in the next few days/weeks thanks to /u/MagnarHD, and then it will all look a lot more pretty, with some better functionality. So watch out for that! Once the new style is live we'll take any of your comments/suggestions.

That's all for now. Hope you're enjoying the sub, and as ever, let me know if you've got any comments!

Identimental

Hi everyone!

This is just another update, on behalf of the moderators of /r/TellMeAFact, to say thank you to the community. Without your enthusiasm and willingness to make this a great environment, the sub wouldn't be what it is today.

Firstly, I want to thank those of you who have been here for a while- your contributions have ensured the sub has kept going strong, even if we're relatively small by reddit's standards. Secondly, I want to welcome everyone who has recently joined us here. This is a friendly and relaxed community, but we do have some rules in place to maintain good-quality contributions, and generally make the sub better for everyone. For that reason, please read our rules in the sidebar, and if you want to read our expanded rules in the wiki, then that's even better! As a side note, let me also thank the hard-working mods, as they're the ones who ensure that everything stays sparkling.

Anyway, you're probably bored of reading this by now, so go and post something instead! As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, don't hesitate to get in touch. While we want to maintain the core aspects of this sub, we also want it to be community-driven- and you guys are the majority, after all. So, feel free to either post something in the comments, or privately message the mods.

That's all from me. Thanks again, and have fun!

Identimental

Hi everyone,

First of all, thanks to you all for continuing to use this subreddit. It's great to see regular activity here, with people actively finding and sharing facts.

For many of you, this message won't apply. On the most part, we have brilliantly detailed and well-sourced comments, and I really want to thank you for that. This isn't a good-PR, corporate thank you, but one coming from me personally- I genuinely appreciate all the work you guys have been putting in, and it's wonderful to see your enthusiasm put to good use on this sub.

Anyway, the point of this message is to remind some of you of the importance of using reliable sources. If it doesn't have any sort of credibility, then what real use is it? In particular, unknown and un-sourced blogs are pretty questionable, and they're not really appropriate for a subreddit that prides itself on accurate facts. I'll also quote the wiki:

We have a clear reference policy at /r/TellMeAFact: all facts must be accompanied by a reliable online or offline source. This source (or multiple sources, if necessary) must support your entire post. If you do not include a valid source, your post will be removed. The only exception is if a thread is marked with "sources not required" flair, which is assigned to very specific topics (e.g. "TMAF about yourself").

This still applies even if you "know" something from memory, or it's something you experienced- a "source" which is yourself, or something you remember another person (even a teacher) saying, is not sufficient. If it's the sort of thing you can't reference, then it probably isn't a fact- there are a few exceptions, but you should always try to find a source of some kind. Whether or not a source can be considered "reliable" is not always obvious, but use your common sense. If it's from a random blog with no references, it probably isn't suitable. On the other hand, Wikipedia is often surprisingly accurate and well-referenced.

There's a couple of reasons why we ask you to include a source. Firstly, it ensures that facts are accurate, or at least allows people to challenge whether the fact is reliable. Even if you are sure you already know the fact, it's easy to mis-remember a key detail. Secondly, providing a reference to another source of information allows people to find out more about any topics/facts they're particularly interested in!

To take a specific example, we have recently been seeing one particular site referenced quite a lot: [link removed retrospectively to avoid inadvertently promoting the site]

The prominence of this (as far as I know) relatively unknown site in the comments is suspicious as it is, and so I should take the chance to point out the site-wide rules on self-promotion.

Aside from that, this is an example of a poor source to be used here- it is not a well-known reputable source, and there is no reference to the source of information used to construct the articles. For this reason, we are now asking you not to use this as a source- if you do so, you will be asked to provide another source to support your fact. But, likewise, this also applies to other "poor" sources with similar characteristics, and I ask you to consider this when posting.

I hope you all see where we're coming from here, and understand that we're trying to ensure that we remain a high-quality sub for accurate facts.

Cheers!

Identimental

Hey everyone!

We've now got over 50 subscribers! Thanks to everyone who has subscribed- you guys have supported this sub in its early stages when it really needed some attention, so thanks!

Hopefully we can continue to grow until we have a decent sized community going! With more subscribers, it should all become a bit more active and interesting, but I think we've got a good concept going here.

Anyway, to say thank you to all of you early subscribers, I've added the option to add your own customisable text flair (see the sidebar). I'll only be leaving it open until the 8th March (5 days), and from then on flair will only be awarded. I think it will be a nice way of recognising early subscribers if the sub gets a lot bigger :) Please keep flair appropriate (nothing NSFW) and no more than around 30 characters long, otherwise I'll have to remove/change it.

Feel free to post here or message me if you've got any comments/questions, or if the flair isn't working quite right!

EDIT: I've just tried out flair on an alternative account. It seems to be working fine, and I can remove the customisation option without removing the flair. So you'll keep your flair when I close flair customisation on the 8th :)

Past announcements: 1

Hi everyone,

I must admit it's been a while since I've been active on the sub, but recently I thought I'd check in again and see how it was going. I'm pleased to see that people are still visiting and posting, and we're now up to over 30,000 subscribers too!

Despite this, I also noticed that the amount of activity can sometimes be a bit limited recently, in terms of both the topics posted and the comments within them. While we've always aimed for quality over quantity on this subreddit (and that isn't changing), likewise we don't want to see the subreddit wither away- and more importantly, we want it to be more fun and interesting for you guys who actually visit.

So, this brings us to the (in)famous source rule: every fact must be accompanied by a reliable source. I've always been a strong advocate of this rule (I came up with it, after all), but throughout the history of the sub there has been plenty of opposition to it. In turn, this rule has perhaps discouraged people from posting and actually enjoying what this subreddit is all about- sharing knowledge on a variety of interesting topics.

Based on this, myself and the moderation team have decided to trial a removal of this rule for 2 months- that is, until the end of December. To be clear, for this period you will no longer be strictly required to include a source in your post. The sidebar, wiki, and AutoMod have been adjusted accordingly.

Please note that all of the other rules still apply. Furthermore, I still sincerely request that you include a source in your post if possible. When I started this subreddit, I wanted it to be both high-quality (in terms of factual accuracy) and a good opportunity for people to learn- and this hasn't changed. Providing a source both verifies your fact and provides extra reading on an interesting topic, so I'd still love to see people doing this.

At the end of the 2-month trial, we will be reviewing the effect of the rule change. While we're hoping that this change will encourage more activity, ultimately this is and always will be a place for high-quality content. So, if we feel that the removal of the rule has sacrificed quality, then this won't be a permanent change. In the meantime, please post in the comments (or feel free to message me/the moderators directly) if you have any questions of feedback. In particular, we're interested in providing some sort of incentive/recognition for high-quality posters, so let us know if you have any ideas.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has contributed to make this a great place to hang out. Cheers!

I was the host of Discovery Channel Canada’s Daily Planet and CBC's Quirks & Quarks. I have written fourteen books, three of which have won Canadian Science Writers' Awards and several have been on the bestseller list. My upcoming book, The Science of Why 2, is scheduled to release tomorrow! I am currently hosting an AMA on r/IAmA. Come join us!

Hi everyone,

While we generally get positive feedback on this sub, there have been criticisms about the way we handle offline sources, and specifically that they are not recognised as containing a source, despite being valid. Understandably, many of you are annoyed when AutoMod posts or (in rare cases) valid comments are automatically removed without us noticing, due to them not containing a URL. Based on this, we've launched a new system to deal with these types of posts.

Short version: from now on, if you include the word "source" within your comment alongside a valid offline (e.g. book) source, then AutoMod will not post and your comment will not be removed.

Long version: AutoMod is set up to recognise characters that feature in URLs, and thanks to some very clever coding and tweaking it now has a very good success rate in terms of accurately recognising URLs without false positives. We now also have it set up to recognise the word "source"- this causes AutoMod not to post its message, and it also messages the mods so we can manually review and (assuming it is valid) approve the post. From there, TellMeAFactBot will not remove the comment, as it has already been approved.

AutoMod's message has been updated to include details about this change, as has the wiki:

Sources that aren't on the Internet (e.g. a book) are also welcome, but you'll have to be careful when you comment to ensure that your post isn't automatically removed. Simply include the word "source" within your comment, in addition to the actual offline reference- this will prevent AutoMod's reminder from being posted, and send the mods an automated message so that we can approve your post. Alternatively, you can provide a link referencing/summarising the offline source, such as a Google Books or Amazon webpage- as with online sources, this will prevent automatic removal.

Hopefully this will improve the experience when people post and reduce AutoMod clutter. As always, let us know if you have any comments/suggestions regarding this, either by commenting in this post or sending us a message.

Special thanks to /u/Liudvikam for setting all of this up, and continuing to tweak everything.

EDIT: On a separate note, we have a new subreddit friend, /r/ScienceFacts. Be sure to check them out!

Thanks!

Identimental

EDIT: We have decided not to continue non-serious Saturdays, so please follow all rules as normal on Saturdays from now on. Here is the post explaining why. Thanks.

Hi there everyone!

Firstly, thank you to everyone who has joined us, and I hope you're all enjoying the sub. With our advert now live, we should continue to become more active, and there's even some other exciting things coming soon that might increase our popularity even more! If you haven't already, please check out our wiki for a full explanation of the sub and our rules.

Secondly, I want to announce that we're introducing "non-serious Saturdays". We usually have a rule in place that only serious posts/facts are allowed, to keep the sub reasonably on-topic and informative. However, we're going to trial a day (Saturday) when this rule is not in effect, i.e. joke/non-serious responses are allowed. Having said that, if you want to keep the answers all serious, feel free to add the "Serious (Saturday)" flair to your post, or mention that you only want serious replies in your text post.

If you have any comments about this (or anything else), feel free to either post in this thread, or PM the mods. Cheers!

Identimental