Since r/Awwducational suggests avoiding sharing trivial animal facts with the community, I was curious to learn more about where the line between something trivial and, well, rarer lies, and whether it's all subjective. However, moderator u/AGreatWind told Bored Panda that things aren't quite as subjective as they might seem at first glance.

"This rule applies to posts that are a better fit for /r/Aww such as 'this cat and dog are friends' or 'tigers have beautiful stripes.' Those are facts, but they are trivial and a better fit for the pure cuteness subreddits. Such posts would be removed under the trivial fact rule," the mod explained.

"The rule is to cull very low effort posts rather than differentiate between common and lesser-known facts/posts. After modding here for 7+ years, a lot of animal facts begin to feel like common knowledge to me, but it would be unfair to remove posts solely on that basis! So the trivial post rule is limited to removing posts that are objectively trivial (Deer eat plants) rather than subjectively so."

Meanwhile, u/AGreatWind also went into detail about the need to add sources to back up your awwducational animal facts. "Sources and Removals: Our removal trends go through waves of frequency. For the last several months I would say that we have not removed many posts for poorly cited sources," they shared with Bored Panda.

Post removals are more common on r/Awwducational than on most other subreddits because posting a fact the right way takes more effort. However, new users aren't penalized if they make a mistake: it's all part of the learning curve. "We understand that it takes more effort on the part of the users to post on this sub, so with new users, we try to err on the side of encouragement. If a new user makes a post with dubious sources we will try to provide a verifiable source along with a warning to be mindful of source material rather than a straight removal. Like a science classroom, we aim to be difficult but fair. It usually only takes one warning before new users grasp the format, which is always encouraging to us!"

The moderator confirmed to me that they have some actual real-life scientists among the redditors who help manage the community. "I am a researcher in Infectious Disease, for example. We have ecologists, biologists, and grad students on the team as well as enthusiasts and animal lovers from other backgrounds. Reddit is a platform with anonymous users, as such, we try to keep our real lives and identities separate from our Reddit modding activities," they said. "It is certainly plausible that members of the modteam are producing or contributing to research that could be used as a source on /r/Awwducational, but I cannot say for sure. None of my stuff would be a good fit, that's for sure."

Learning all about rare and elusive animal facts is all very well and good, but sometimes it’s good to have a refresher about the basics. That’s why I reached out to the PDSA, the UK’s leading vet charity, to have a chat with them about dogs. A whopping 33 percent of British households keep dogs as pets. That number is slightly higher (38.4 percent) in the US. Naturally, with so many dogs going on walkies all the time, it’s important to know a bit more about them as animals and when to know if we can approach and pet them. (They might look cute but they’re not always in the mood for a stranger to ruffle their fur and scratch their bellies!) PDSA Vet Anna Ewers Clark told Bored Panda that dogs often show early signs that they don’t feel comfortable.

“Looking away, crouching down, creeping towards their owner, staring, nose licking, and even yawning are all key signs of stress and anxiety, meaning it’s probably best to leave them be,” vet Anna explained to Bored Panda what signs we should all look out for that indicate that it’s best to leave the pooch be instead of introducing yourself and snuggling it in the middle of the street.

“If you ignore these signs, the dog may have no choice but to progress to more obvious signals like growling, lifting their lip, snarling, or snapping,” she warned.

Anna also noted the opposite signs we should keep an eye for that indicate a dog most likely wants our attention and to play with us. “If you’re approaching a playful furry friend with a relaxed body and a wagging tail, they are much more likely to invite a good stroke and you might just end up with a friend for life!” You can find some more great tips on how to tell if a dog is happy right over here.

According to PDSA Vet Anna, knowing how to read dog body language is vital if you have children with you because they might accidentally get hurt or make the dogs that you meet nervous.

“Dogs can find them [children] noisy and unpredictable, so it’s always safest to keep your kids away from dogs until you’ve spoken to the owner,” Anna cautioned. “You’ll also need to monitor the whole interaction from start to end to make sure the dog stays happy and relaxed. It’s also a good idea to teach your children about canine body language and how to safely interact with dogs, so they can keep themselves safe and know what to do if they’re approached by a dog when you’re not with them.”

If you’re planning on joining r/Awwducational and posting some incredibly wholesome content, the community has some rules that you ought to be aware of. First of all, you should have your animal-specific fact in the title of the post. Also, as mentioned before, you should also avoid any obvious or common facts that absolutely everyone knows and try to go for something educational.

The mods also ask that you include a source for your title in the comments beneath your post. They’re very serious about this part and require you to use scientific news sites with proper citations and references. To help you with everything, the moderators even have a list of respectable and trustworthy sources for you to check.

Previously, my colleague spoke to two of r/Awwducational’s moderators, u/IchTanze and u/AGreatWind, about the community. Redditor u/IchTanze, a moderator-veteran with 6 years of experience now (5 at the time of the interview), told Bored Panda that the ‘aww’ part of the subreddit refers to how people react to baby animals, flowers, endangered species, and other subjectively cute things. “‘Aww is in the eye of the beholder,’ as we say.”

The moderators and the entire community want everyone who joins the online group to learn something new about the animal world. That’s why they insist on everyone backing up their facts with proper sources.

“The educational component is what gets added in the comment section, where the user must provide a source for their fact in the title that is either peer-reviewed, from a highly reputable source, or has citations from one of the above to back it up,” the mod explained.

Meanwhile, moderator u/AGreatWind pointed out that r/Awwducational allows content about natural history, alongside “animals and plants of all kinds, even if their cuteness may be… subjective.” In short, it doesn’t have to be super cute to get on the subreddit (though it helps!).

The moderator team approves all the posts and knows what they’re doing when it comes to animal facts. And their background proves it. “Our mod team is a diverse group of animal lovers, enthusiasts, and scientists from a range of backgrounds spanning ecology, biophysics, and infectious disease,” u/AGreatWind explained, adding that the mod team has its hands full with work. However, in the end, it’s all worth it.

“We are rather large by subscriber count, but the community still feels small because of the interaction and cooperation we have with them. We try to engage with and listen to our subscribers rather than try to herd them, much as we did when there were only a few thousand,” u/AGreatWind told Bored Panda, calling r/Awwducational “a big little sub.”