We'd be the first to tell you that /r/AskHistorians is, in some ways, an odd fit for reddit, both due to the technological limitations of what we can do with the site, and also, as you allude to, the more unsavory elements present, the impact of which we have discussed publicly in the past. But whatever the shortcomings of reddit, being part of the site also provides us with a platform that can reach a far bigger audience than we could possibly hope for on our own, with an average of at least 40,000 unique visitors to the subreddit every day (As I have been informed, the /about/traffic stats only show desktop numbers, not mobile numbers, so that could be marginally, or significantly, higher....).

Our goal with the subreddit is to provide a space where both the layman and the historian can interact, and someone wondering about the past can be connected with someone who has studied that topic and knows the answer. Not that it would be impossible to carve out such a space as an independent site, but it in attempting to do so, it would be a decided step back in terms of our ability to reach the audience we want to. So to answer your question, sure, we've wondered if it were possible, but as of now we have no plans to do so. Were reddit to implode tomorrow though, either literally or figuratively, we most assuredly promise you that we would do everything in our power to ensure that AskHistorians would continue on from the ashes!

I don't know that I would seek out askhistorians that often if it were its own site, but by being integrated into my reddit feed, I get these wonderful doses of information. I for one would be very sad to see it leave the site, it's quite prominent and easy to find. At the AHA meeting where Askhistorians had a panel, it became clear to me that the strengths of Askhistorians lie in its extreme accessibility. Traditional historical discussions can be intimidating and secluded, which is why I am such a strong proponent of this sub. The stereotypical elitist perception of academic/professional historians can lead to them being ignored and instead, people turn to teenagers who sound authoritative on the subject in random Internet comments. Keeping askhistorians on reddit not only elevates the entire site, it helps people understand the distinction between trained, well informed research and analysis, and off the cuff "my dad's friend told me" type answers.

Sorry for any errors I'm typing on my phone.

Please stay :)

What is the objective of the AskHistorians sub-reddit? What is the work "Askhistorians is trying to do"?

If it is to inform laypersons on History then I think it's a natural benefit to be connected to Reddit.

If it is for discussion between Historians or more technical folks then I think it's an absolute disaster to be connected to Reddit. I am a layperson, but have to imagine that technical forums for that kind of discussion already exist, and a splinter group born of Reddit seems like it would be really out of place competing in that space.

I feel like the Mod teams here do a great job of keeping the content informative and interesting by actively deleting non-quality posts.

This is all coming from a consumer, I'm not qualified to answer any questions in this sub-reddit but have come to view this as my favorite sub-reddit. The answers are so great for someone with my level of understanding. Technical restrictions on visual aids, post length, etc... don't significantly impair my experience.

Without clear and defined reasons to make a change and a path towards an environment to support those reasons, I personally don't support a change. I'd love to hear from active posters in this forum that could expand on the limitations they experience and how that impacts their ability to meet the objective of AH.

an appropriate popular reputation, nor a well-suited technical system for the sort of work AskHistorians seems to be trying to do

If you are suggesting that AH is, or is trying to be, an academic outlet, I'm afraid you are very wrong.

One thing that could be cool is making a new site thats a mix of articles and what we have here on r/AskHistorians with a strictly moderated forum where people ask questions. Then you could have certified users and invite more high profile people. Another cool thought would be a wiki but written by people who knows their shit and strictly moderated. I think both could become flourishing sites. However engagement and fundung are obvious issues

As someone who visits like every ten minutes (from both mobile and desktop) just to see if there is a new post, I would be horrified if AskHistorians were no longer around.

This is my all-time favorite subreddit and I am glad to hear they would consider standing alone if the need arose.

/r/askHistorians is better than the Library of Congress + Google + a time machine. Reddit should be and probably is proud beyond description to hold the privilege of hosting it.

The technical requirements of Ask Historians have helped me be a better educated on my own as well! I have started to ask a question, only to do a quick Google so as to not ask something obvious, only to spend the next few hours learning something new.

As a layman and dull twit, I love that this subreddit pushes me to be a better person!

Hiding in some corner in Internet to avoid some aspects of reddit or otherwise does not seem to be a good answer at all. Good info should be easily available.

As a layperson who has struggled with history classes, this sub is one of my favorites. I find this much easier to read and engage with than any other platform or method of learning. Thank you AH.

Actually, it might not be a bad idea to setup a web page that mirrors this subreddit; a page that copies the best answers and questions into it. It could be non-interactive, but if you ever decided to leave reddit, you would have an already established library of good questions and answers to work from.

Reddit's userbase also has it's limitations - being primarily young, Western males, an astonishing number of questions here are about military history and not much else (and repeats, too, at that). A different side with a more diverse userbase could make AskHistorians more useful than being a repository of repetitive combat arcana. I suppose I would support a Hexit vote.

Edit: someone already said this earlier, my bad.

Please don't leave! I've still got sooo much more school before I can be a flared user.....