You have my permission. I speak on behalf of everyone.

I like this idea tbh! 👍

seems great i hope it works out!

Love this idea!

I like this, but geez was that a lot to read

Hello everyone!

As roughly half of you are now aware, /r/AskHistorians is enrolled in the testing of a Beta feature which allows us to send a periodic message to the subreddit subscribers. The inaugural test links to the above post, which is the initial format we are testing out to use this for.

Currently as it is being tested out, it is in an A/B phase, so not everyone will be getting it just yet. As this is still a new feature, and we are trying to get a sense of how to best use it, this META thread, and the survey linked above, is intended to be a space for discussion with the readership to solicit feedback on how we can get the best use out of this feature and use it to provide maximum value to subscribers.

###Current Design

At this time, our intention is to use the mass mailer and the associated post to highlight three things each week:

• A selection of responses from the most popular threads of the past week: This is intended to highlight the answers to questions which the readership was particularly interested in. There will be some curation (more on this below), but for the most part it will simply reflect what was popular and highly upvoted over that time span. At this time, we are intending to include 5 selections each week.
• A selection of responses which didn't get much attention: This is intended to highlight either answers to questions which didn't get many upvotes, but nevertheless were interesting. Popular threads hog a lot of the attention, but dozens of incredible answers are written every day on the subreddit. While we can't highlight them all, we do want to show off a selection of responses which most users likely missed. At this time, we are intending to include 5 selections each week.
• Notice of Events and Other Important Things: This would include links to any AMAs, Floating Features, Podcast releases, or similar events that were held in the past week. We also would include reminders of anything that is slated to be happening within the next week.

###Subject to Change

We are very conscious that there is a balance to be struck both as regards size and frequency, and that without ways to tailor this to specific users, we need to find what is closest to a one-size fits all as possible. So as much as /u/gankom would love to send everything he saved for the Digest on a daily basis, we are currently being guided by two things.

The first is that once a week is almost certainly the closest we'll get for balance. Some people probably want more, some may want less, but our expectation is that if you are subscribed here, you are interested, broadly at least, in the kind of content produced, and a once-a-week update shouldn't be too intrusive for most users, and for those who really hate it, opting out is very easy.

Second is that there is definitely such a thing as too long. No one wants a 40,000 word opus. Well, a few of you do, but for the most part, that would be a turn off for users we suspect. The Sunday Digest routinely includes several hundred answers being linked, and the people who want that probably already know to jump over that way. For the more general reader, an easy to scan selection of a few highlights is more their speed. We're starting things out with 10 highlights, split between what was popular and what we wish had gotten popular, but this is definitely something that can be subject to some change. It is unlikely to get much smaller, but we would definitely consider some expansion if we find feedback is overwhelmingly in support of that. It is doubtful it would grow too much larger, beyond 20 is not only unwieldy as a Weekly Summary for the reader, but also for those preparing it, but in any case, we really want to know how much content you think is the right amount to include.

###Internal Guidelines

Getting things right is really important here. We believe that this feature is one that brings immense value to the readership of the subreddit, as we are quite conscious of how the structure of the site can be at odds with how content is created and presented here, so ensuring its success, and that this becomes a permanent fixture is something we care a lot about. Ensuring that we present the Summary in a way that users enjoy and value is a big part of that, but so to is ensuring that the Newsletter itself is constructed and run in a way that is fair and equitable. To that end, we have some internal guidelines on how the Newsletter itself is built. Just as with the format, these are still a work in progress, but we want to hear your thoughts on this too.

The biggest issue we expect to face with the Newsletter is that, even if unintentional, it has the prospect of appearing to play favorites and cause hurt feelings. Someone can spend a lot of time on a great answer, but if it doesn't get featured and someone else's does, resentment can be an understandable reaction. It is something that plays into a number of potential changes and projects we consider from time to time, and in this case, we believe that it is one we can accept, but need to work hard to minimize best that we can. To that effect, there are several internal rules about what goes into the Newsletter:

• No one is featured twice in the same Newsletter. Ever. You could have answered literally the 15 most popular questions that week, but we're only highlighting one. We want to ensure maximum representation of a diversity of contributors.
• Likewise, no one is featured in back-to-back Newsletters. Same reason as before. Doesn't matter if you thought the second one was more awesome than the first. We want to ensure a maximum diversity possible. This is something we will be paying attention closely to. Depending on voluminous frequent faces start seeming, we may increase that to once a month.
• At least one non-flair in both categories. Flaired contributors write a lot of the content here. That is how they got flair after all, but users who don't have flair (yet!) are a vital part of the subreddit too, and we want to make sure that we are highlighting the work they do as well. It would be a rare week there isn't an overabundance of non-flaired answers to highlight anyways, but we want to be clear that it is something we are conscious of, and not looking to simply make this a flairs only deal.
• Maximum of one moderator in either category. Moderators exist as users too, and the reason they are elected as mods usually comes down to the fact that they are frequent and high-quality contributors to the sub. In the end, the fact content was written by a mod doesn't make it any less interesting for the users, especially if it was a popular question, but we do want to balance this fact with the obvious necessity for oversight to ensure mods aren't hogging the limelight, so at maximum, only one answer written by a moderator would get featured in a category each newsletter, and there may very well be none, anyways.

###Food for Thought

So that is the sum of it all. Again though, this is a work in progress, and it is a project that we want to hear community feedback on. What we hear from you may very well shape future changes! If you skipped to the bottom for the TL;DR, then here are a few questions for you to ponder, and offer your thoughts on either here or in the survey:

• What is a good frequency for this Newsletter?
• Is it better as a notification, or a newsletter directly to the inbox?
• What day is best to receive it?
• What is a good number of answers to be included?
• What internal guidelines should mods be following to ensure fair and equitable representation?
• Would you want to see other selection categories included?
• Would you want to see a 'interesting but unanswered' selection?
• Would you want to see content beyond answers and questions? If so, what?
• Would there be other forms of newsletter you would be interested in, such as monthly or yearly roundups?

If I'm in the control group at present but I really want to be in on this historical magic, is there any say I have in the matter?

This is wonderful. I frequent this sub because I have a huge interest in history, but never post because I don’t even know what to ask sometimes, since I kinda want to learn it all.

This is a super convenient way to help me find great topics that I might miss throughout the work day!

butt we welcome feedback from everyone!

lmbo