50 ‘Cool Guides’ People Shared On This Group That Contain Information They Don’t Teach At School Interview

One of my secret pleasures (and feel free to chime in if you’re a geek like me) is looking through various colorful guides and infographics, from what plants are edible in forests to hypothetical explanations on how best to survive the zombie Apocalypse that 2020 promised but never delivered.

The multi-million-member ‘Cool Guides’ community on Reddit is the prime place to go to for (yup, you guessed it!) cool guides. From aesthetically pleasing and very informative ones to quirky and funny ones, you’ll find a bit of everything to keep those noggins of yours learning and yearning for more, dear Pandas.

Bored Panda had a lovely chat with redditor Dadschool, who founded the r/coolguides subreddit way back in 2014 and is still its head moderator to this very day. Having started the sub with no real expectations of forming a community around it, he filled a niche on Reddit that had been empty. “I had a bit of a compulsive habit of saving every guide I came across on Reddit with the idea that I’d somehow reference it when I needed it later. There weren’t really any subs for general guides so I made one and uploaded all my guides at once. I think a lot of people have a similar affection for bitesize trivia and hoarding generalist knowledge.” You’ll find the rest of our interview with the founder below.

Upvote your fave guides as you scroll on down, drop us a comment with your thoughts below, and go and join the r/coolguides subreddit if it’s right up your alley. But a quick note of warning before we begin: this is a community mostly for guides; infographics are in a bit of a grey area.#1

Inequality V. Equality V. Equity V. Justice

hannah15153 Report 295pointsPOST

Helen Haley13 hours ago

I want to print this and put it in my cubicle.54 Reply View More Replies…View more comments#2

Hand Sign Guide For Loud Bars

the_real_snurre Report 266pointsPOST

Birgit M13 hours ago

This is a good idea, but the fourth sign will be confusing in a Heavy Metal Club.64 Reply View More Replies…View more comments#3

A More Comprehensive Guide To Symptoms Of Depression

starbuilt Report 256pointsPOST

Joanne O’Brien14 hours ago

I’m also sad!30 Reply View more comments

The founder, Dadschool, was very humble about his role in expanding the community. “I can say it is only able to be this size because moderators like @etymologynerd and @robinsparkles18 are as active as they are, and the time they take out of their day to check in,” he praised his colleagues. With a leader so supportive, no wonder that the mod r/coolguides mod team stands shoulder to shoulder, come hell or high water.

“The unique thing about Reddit is that subreddits really are independent and are autonomously moderated communities. I think our subscriber ranking is something like 190 across all of Reddit and it’s not like there’s monetization options after you break 200 or conversations with Reddit corporate. We’re the same mod team we were a few years ago, excited that we broke 100k, and checking Reddit throughout the day to make sure no one uploaded the same damn apple guide uploaded 100 times that week,” the founder claimed that things are still pretty much as they’ve always been.#4

How To Get A Scientific Paper For Free

slickanglican Report 238pointsPOST

Helen Haley13 hours ago

Whole lotta people about to get emailed.53 Reply View more comments https://a9084c70e778f4703d7558c2e989a978.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html#5

Recognizing A Mentally Abused Brain

halfs2010 Report 235pointsPOST

Alex Bailey13 hours ago

Oh dear… I didn’t realise I was that bad. Thanks dad.102 Reply View More Replies…View more comments#6

How Paint Can Change A Room

dartmaster666 Report 230pointsPOST

Eva the Egg13 hours ago

OoOo I will consider this if I renovate my house39 Reply View More Replies…View more comments

Dadschool revealed that the biggest challenge that he and the other moderators face is reacting in time to remove hateful and troll guides as soon as humanly possible. However, that’s not always possible because they all have day jobs; moderating is something that they do during their spare time. “We all are working professionals so it’s easy for something to slip by and stay out there for way longer than it should and that’s always a total bummer—a total lose/lose for the community.”#7