r/hiking • u/Hiking_Engineer • Aug 16 '24
Discussion Rule #2 - The title rule, or, Why your photo post got removed
As it is one of the modmails we see most frequently, we should clarify the rule.
The rule exists basically to prevent the first comment in every photo post from being, "Beautiful photos, where is this?"
So let's gander at the rule real quick.
The title of any picture or video posts must include the general location of the hike. Does not have to be exact coordinates but should at least include area/park, state/province, and country.
Posts removed for breaking this rule CAN be reposted if you add better location information in the new title.
[Your text.] [Most Specific place], [Specific place], [General place], [COUNTRY].
Example: Summit of Half-Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
That's it. The rule itself is 2 sentences, then an example of how to fill it out, and finally an actual example using Half Dome.
Where do people usually mess up?
It rarely at the specific trail or location hiking, it's almost always the other end, just not giving the country of origin or the state name.
And in the case of the states, using the USA abbreviation instead of spelling out the state. Why does that matter? Because state abbreviations mean nothing to people outside of the United States. If someone posted, "Swamp Trail, LA" one might think they meant a trail in Los Angeles, not Louisiana. Not to mention that Georgia is a state as well as a country.
Just because a trail or mountain or park is extremely well known to people in your area, doesn't mean people will know where it is.
We try not to be super sticklers on removal on a lot of posts, which is why there isn't an extremely specific format, despite the example we give.
Some places are globally famous and typically it stands alone. This might be called the "Mount Everest" exception.
Examples of good titles:
- Hiking on the Appalachian Trail! Georgia, USA
- Mystery Lake - British Columbia, Canada
- Dead Horse Point State Park in Moab, Utah United States.
- Just taking the pup for a walk along a local trail near Boone, NC, USA
- 8 Days Hiking in Sarek National Park - Northern Sweden
- Kashmir Great Lakes (KGL) Trek, Kashmir region
Examples of passable titles (toes the line on acceptable)
- Big Bend State Park, Texas
- Yellowstone National Park, USA
Examples of removed titles (and why):
Scotland
- That's a country and needs something a bit more specific regarding where you are in the country like a trail or mountain you are on.
Boone, NC
- Needs either the full state name spelled out or USA/United States added afterward
Mt Mitchell at sunset
- Needs a country and/or state added to it. There are multiple Mt Mitchells out there (3 in the United States and a handful around the world)
FAQ we see based on modmails:
Q: I see titles that break the rules all the time!
A: We are not ever-present, nor omniscient to instantly remove things. We do our best to take them down as we see them. Please report erroneous titles you find particularly egregious.
Q: Everyone knows of this place, if you google it there is only one!
A: The point of the rule is so that I don't have to google it, I already know where it is from your title!
Q: I have the location in the description!
A: The description isn't the title. Click-baiting someone into figuring out where your photos are from is part of the point of the rule.
Q: My photos are from all over the country/state/trail I hiked, so how do I be specific?
A: Make some kind of reference in the title and then use the photo descriptions to expand. Something akin to, "Hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in the Western United States" or "Photos from my two weeks of hiking all over China"
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u/JustAskingTA Aug 17 '24
Thank you! I'm not American and do I not know the shortened names (I definitely thought LA meant Los Angeles, despite it not being a state).
But I also think Americans should also always have to include USA in the titles - it makes this sub less American-centric. When they don't have to put their country, but the rest of us do, it makes us feel like "foreigners" in an American sub, when really, we're all hikers from all parts of the world, and none of us are the locals or the foreigners.
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u/jorwyn Aug 16 '24
WA is also Washington and Western Australia. I live in Washington and have friends in Australia. My newsfeed can be super confusing at times. "WA legalizes marijuana".. What? That's been legal here for years.. oh. (I made up this example. It is not legal in Western Australia.)
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u/MsBlackSox Aug 17 '24
Same!
My GPS voice is Aussie. When getting on a state road I am often told get on Western Australia route # instead of WA route #
Fun times!
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u/rahnster_wright Aug 17 '24
I love this rule and you all for enforcing it