With the permission of the mods I'd like to take a second to formally recognize all the expertise and effort that the quality contributors pour in to this sub every single day. Every time I come here I learn something new and interesting with excellent historical context provided.
These people pour hours into their posts merely out of their own altruistic tendencies. From controversial topics such as whether racism was brought about to justify slavery or whether racial theories were the cause of slavery in which u/sunagainstgold provides an excellent and in depth analysis. Then we have the lighthearted posts on whether Donatello really deserves to be a Ninja Turtle where u/AlviseFalier references an older post that has a really great history on the life and works of Donatello and why he should most definitely be a Ninja Turtle (and u/Yulong follows up with an extremely interesting and informative series of comments on why there should have been five Turtles). All these questions are handled with the same level of expertise and quality every single time.
I could go on with example after example but I feel that would detract from the overall message of this post. So I'll just say this. From all the readers here at r/AskHistorians we sincerely thank you all.
A special shout out to the people writing answers every bit as detailed as top posts on niche subjects that will only get 3 or 4 upvotes.
Have been thinking of a similat META: I know that I sometimes become too accustomed to good posts to think to upvote them. Good questions, good answers, let's remember to show our love. We see a LOT of very good answers that don't get many upvotes. If you read something with a good AH response, doesn't it derserve one?
I know I've been complacent at times, expecting such superb responses, but that's not really right, ya know? But we do see more than a few excellent posts with fewer than XX upvotes. Sure, some of that has to do with peoples interests, but some of it is on regular readers as well I expect.
After recognizing my own "complacency" have tried to give upvotes to good questions and answers. Hoping that it will only encourage them to more of the same.
I 100% agree! I don't really post on here, but I always lurk; it's definitely one of my favorite subs. I gotta say thank you all for the awesome work you put into your posts. Very well done, historians! Don't ever think your efforts go unappreciated.
On top of this sub being such a treat and a wonderful reference, I've personally enjoyed the challenge of very occasionally contributing approved content to an AH topic. In fact, that's helped my writing and my comments in general become more humble, honest and factual. These are excellent, useful skills to have available in life, IMO.
I'd like to make another shout out to the mods. This sub has some of the strictest modding in all of Reddit, but you're always fair, friendly, and consistent. You always take care to patiently explaining exactly why a post is removed both to the poster and the community. That is a truly impressive touch to keep the rules strict but the community engaged.