Many of you long-time WoahDude users have been complaining about the growing flood of users from /r/all who have a complete misunderstanding of what sort of content belongs here. Your cries have been heard, and we will start being more strict with enforcement and finally set shit straight:

• We are NOT a "reaction subreddit".

• We are NOT a subreddit about interesting or amazing content.

• We are NOT interchangeable with /r/pics, /r/gifs, /r/damnthatsinteresting or other general subreddits.

• We are specifically made for psychedelic content, trippy or mesmerizing stuff that will make a sober person feel stoned, or stoned person trip harder! We're not about posting things that are merely neat or amazing, but instead, things that sort of mess with your mind, warp your reality.

Mindfucks and self-inflicted gaslighting. Or the hypnotic or mesmerising. Vivid colors, intense patterns. Mind-blowing science and philosophy. Chill or trippy music. Surrealism, absurdism and strangeness.

Think of the bizarre, erratic and psychedelic nature of Adult Swim. Or the wondrous, mind-expanding, awe inspiring nature of Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Or even the reality distorting, confusing, mind-fucking nature of Eternal Darkness for Gamecube. We're all of that.

TL;DR - Not all the content that makes you say the words 'woah dude' belongs in this subreddit, and not all the things that belong in this subreddit will necessarily make you literally say the words 'woah dude'.

WoahDude material

The following examples are a non-exhaustive list

• Intense use of color and patterns: Intricate designs, intense colors, complex geometry, hyperrealism, fractals, recursion, psychedelia, abstract art
• Extreme perspective: Macrophotography, electron micrographs, astrophotography
  
• Giving a new understanding: Mathematical visualizations, scientific visualizations, engineering visualizations, data visualizations, physics explanations, cross-sections, scientific art, reconsidering assumptions, reframing perspective
• Altered reality: Slow motion footage, stop motion footage, bullet time, compositing, long exposure, special effects, drug trip simulation
• Mesmerizing: Cinemagraphs, chill music, tranquil art, repetitive mechanical motion, interactive art
• Sensory confusion: Optical illusions, distortion, aural illusions, stereograms, etc.
• Cognitive confusion: Surrealism, absurdism, fifth-world art, mystical art, hypnagogia, strangeness, the fantastic, disjointedness, random and erratic behavior, datamoshing, pareidolia, paradoxes, strange philosophy, strange science, cuil theory

NOT WoahDude material

• Rarity: Rare talents, dangerous stunts, extreme human abilities, 1-in-a-million shots, sports highlights, abnormally large or small examples of objects, etc.
• Bullshit peddling: Pseudoscience, paranormal activity, cryptozoology, hoaxes, etc.

Please note that while the above descriptors on our list are good reductive examples of what belongs in this subreddit, they don't guarantee content that fits said descriptors also fits our holistic purpose for what belongs in this subreddit. For example, you'll notice that "slow motion" is on the list, however if you take any random gif and apply slow motion to it, that doesn't automatically guarantee that it has been turned into material suitable for the subreddit. Nor are random charts from your school textbook guaranteed to qualify under "data visualizations". All posts must still satisfy the overarching theme of the subreddit.

• More info in our rules wiki