Greetings
A week ago we announced our newest COMtest. Think of this post as a checkpoint of the halfway point where we evaluate how the COMtest has been so far. We will try to keep it short, but there are some things that you may need to be aware of ahead of the last 7 days of the COMtest as many of you still have some more entries you could try, therefore, it would be wise to reevaluate ahead of your next post.
The Rules
Now, many of you are aware of the contest rules and also the COMmunity overall. However, there have been people not following them properly. Here are the rules.
You need to have all the FUN tags in your post. The FUN tags are #fun, #funny, #lolz, #comedy, #jokes, and #play2earn. You will also need to the add the tag #comtest
You need to comment on at least three posts by others
You need to drop a link to your entry in the comment section of this post
Include a link to this post somewhere in your entry. So hopefully others can find it and participate.
You may have up to three entries only, but only one will be eligible for rewards.
Now, for some reason, certain people have been picking and choosing which rule to follow and which to ignore. There are reasons for every rule we put out. The first one is obvious as LOLZ's Fun House are our partner and sponsor at the same, so it is only normal that we want to spread their tags through our contest. It is also beneficial for participants as it would earn you more eyes and tokens.
The third one is there because we need one place so the judges can read the entries ahead of making a decision. The second reason is that in case the announcement post is visited by outsiders, or future sponsors maybe, it would be nice that they get to see the community's interactions and posts.
The fourth is for the opposite reason as it would help the community and COMtest reach new audiences when the link is included. The final rule is basically there because we know the feeling of making an entry and maybe thinking of a better one after posting, and we don't want our COMmunity members to feel that way. However, there's a limit because we have only three judges available for the COMtest. You may have noticed that we skipped the second rule, but that's only because we need to focus on it and save it for last.
For some odd reason, the second rule has been the most neglected among entrants. There are a few people who saw it fit to only drop their posts and leave, they barely even interact with their own posts in our COMmunity and whenever we check, we see them very active in other communities. That honestly leaves some bitter taste.
There are reasons why that rule was added. The first reason is a bit obvious as it would help with the COMmunity's interactions numbers as they have dipped very low lately. The second reason is that as judges, we would also like to see the COMmunity play a part in picking the winners as the comments would help us recognize the best entries.
Also, and this is an insight into what is going on inside the COMmunity's administration, there are certain people we really would rather not have in our COMmunity, simple as that. People who just drop a post and leave are simply not the people we want to welcome inside our COMmunity. They contribute very little while expecting to win and get curated in the process. That's not going to happen as our policy is simply not to reward such behaviour, and if it continues, we won't hesitate to mute such posts and users.
One more thing we need to talk about is the content of the posts.
A Reminder of Comedy Posts Are
Comedy posts aren't just posts of something that made you laugh or some story that had one funny instant but is 600-700 words long. The name of the COMmunity is Comedy Open Mic, named after something that comedy clubs do. While there will be a full explanation of what that is, you need to remember that your post is meant to mimic something that would be said at a comedy club or a stand-up special. Posts aren't meant to be this mute story that includes one funny instant.
Let's look at this from a statistical point of view, if your post is 700 words long and the only bit that makes people laugh is 7 words, then your post is 1% funny. You need to include more punchlines and jokes inside the post itself, otherwise, you might want to try out other communities.
As I said, there will be a post on Thursday focusing on this entire part, but for now, think of your post as a stand-up comedy set and ask yourself, would you get on stage, in front of a crowd and perform it? If the answer is no based on the content of the post, then you might want to either refine it or not post it.
The final point of this is important to the overall of the COMmunity as a whole.
Excessive Use of Images, GIFs, and Emojis
This has been addressed in the COMmunity many times before. The rule is simple: if there isn't a 100% needed reason to use a certain image or a GIF, then don't use it. If your picture or GIF doesn't describe something that your words haven't, then don't use it. We know how a person runs, cries, laughs, walks, falls, and everything that happens in between. If you create a meme, then you can post as many as you want as long as they are created by you, and that's the only exception in terms of images in posts.
The second part of this is concerned with emojis. There's zero place for them, simple as that. If your post contains any emoji, whatsoever, it is immediately disqualified from the COMtest and curation. The same thing applies to needless images and GIFS. We understand a picture or a GIF is always needed for the thumbnail so one is always fine.
If the instant is funny, then a GIF or picture isn't needed, and if it isn't then a GIF or a picture won't help it. If the GIFs or pictures are funny, then they're not yours, which makes the funny part isn't yours either.
We hope this clears up everything. Looking forward to the next 7 days of the COMtest.
Remember to drop links to your entries in the COMtest Announcement post only, not here.