15 replies to this topic

[Swad]

For as big as it is, the Web is a pretty small place - it's not uncommon to see an InsanelyMac member hanging out at Engadget or posting at Neowin.

However, we've had some problems with some of our forum members launching new forums and then actively recruiting people to that forum. While we're all about the growth of the community, any posts that don't do anything but recruit people for something (be it a forum, a referral contest, etc) won't be allowed - they take up too much space and distract from the purpose of what we do here. We don't like it when we're forced to create new rules here, but when the freedoms here (which are many) are abused, something needs to be done.

This is not just something we've come up with overnight. Here's how Neowin puts their longstanding rule:

Neowin is not a support forum for affiliates or related sites.
Comparing, judging the content/value or raising the opinion of other sites, recruiting members or staff, bad mouthing (or victimizing) & negative discussion about non/affiliate site issues on our forums is neither wanted or tolerated.

There's good logic behind this: if we allow one person to use our forum for the shameless promotion of another site, then everyone who has another site will want to use their signature and every forum post to do the same thing... which leads to a lot of unnecessary clutter.

As such, the new rule is that the promotion, comparison, or off-topic discussion of other sites will not be allowed. Helpful links are encouraged!

Thanks!

[Alessandro17]

I am wondering if I should delete the second part of my signature.
In fact my point isn't advertising Sabayon Linux, but rather the compassion I feel for a young man who has lost his father.
But I'll follow your directions in any case.

[Swad]

Alessandro17 - Your link is great! Assisting in the development of an open source project is fine. It's just that we've had several people blatantly using the forum to promote their own projects/purposes, and that's not good for anyone.

[Alessandro17]

Swad, on Mar 7 2007, 06:24 PM, said:

Alessandro17 - Your link is great! Assisting in the development of an open source project is fine. It's just that we've had several people blatantly using the forum to promote their own projects/purposes, and that's not good for anyone.

Oh thanks. You are a really nice person  

[U.C.]

Is my sig by anyway against rules?

[Dice7]

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While we're all about the growth of the community, any posts that don't do anything but recruit people for something (be it a forum, a referral contest, etc) won't be allowed - they take up too much space and distract from the purpose of what we do here.

One question for you, why have a referral thread, and why is it a Sticky?

This Theard

Swad said:

Use this thread to try and get free stuff with referral programs! All referrals should go here.

Is this considered different?  It is getting members of our forums to join some site, for the gain of the person posting.  So I would say that this should be closed or am I wrong.  ::Edit:: Or can a person put a referral to other sites in that thread only?

Some of your Mods also have info about referrals as well.

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get paid to surf the internet http://www.agloco.com/r/BBBG7168
Agloco: make your network now

So if you could explain this a bit more, it would make it easier for me and other to understand Exactly what you mean.  

I am not trying to be an ass about this but I am really trying to understand what is against the rules and what is not.

Thanks for your time

Dice

Edited by Dicenet, 07 March 2007 - 09:13 PM.

[SaberSHO]

oh come on...dont act like you have no idea what he is trying to say with that rule. The language might be a bit vague, but its quite obvious which new forum recruiting people he is talking about.

[Dice7]

SaberSHO, on Mar 7 2007, 04:18 PM, said:

oh come on...dont act like you have no idea what he is trying to say with that rule. The language might be a bit vague, but its quite obvious which new forum recruiting people he is talking about.

I am just saying that if it applies to one thing then it should apply to all.  Rules are rules, if you dont wanted it worded a certain way then dont word it that way.  Sorry that you dont like my questions, but if some one is going to make rules they need to enforce or clarify them.

Dice

Edited by Dicenet, 07 March 2007 - 10:50 PM.

[Metrogirl]

Alessandro17, on Mar 7 2007, 12:51 PM, said:

Oh thanks. You are a really nice person  

Thanks, Alessandro17!   Yes, Swad is a really nice person, and if you compare our style to the staff on any number of other sites you'll notice that we are generally 'nice people' and much more flexible about rules and content than they are.  Certainly we have rules and they are there for good reason, but we also apply common sense in the hope that our members will too.

I'm pretty sure you all get what Swad is saying with this rule.   We're not going to jump on someone having a sensible and worthy non-controversial link in their sig, nor are we going to make a fuss about someone saying that some other site is great once in a while.   What we don't want is shameless or repeated plugging of other Mac-related sites or attempts to recruit and subvert our membership.  But hey, we're not too worried about the competition - after all, we are the best!  

[DiaboliK]

i love insanely mac, i will not leave for another fourm....
also if you have a mac and dont like white use this key sequence : apple key+option key+control+8
now everything is negative

and i agree with kiko.    ouchies!

[Swad]

First, this thread went more than a little off-topic, so I've cleaned it up. Now, let me respond to some of the things said:

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Is my sig by anyway against rules?

Nope, it's great Unstable. Here's the standard - if someone is advertising a site that talks about the same things InsanelyMac talks about (Macs, Apple, OSx86) then please, no promotion, whether it be through links in a sig or anywhere else. InsanelyMac is a big community - anything that can be said anywhere else can be said here (within the law, of couse). If there's a legitimate need to refer someone to another site for help (ie, "Check out this thread and follow the steps mentioned here") and the link is to a thread that wasn't created just to send someone to that other website, please go ahead and link us!

If you're just trying to drive traffic and raise your Google page rank, I'd hope you'd show the rest of us a little more respect than to use our community in such a way.

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One question for you, why have a referral thread, and why is it a Sticky?

Great question, Dice. We've got one stickied - and only one - because some people want help with referrals. As long as it's in one thread, and the sigs meet our sig rules, it's fine. Posting a referral link once and pumping up your own site are two totally different things, however.

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It is quite obvious which Forum that is being referring to. InsanelyMac is going to have some tough competition in the future. I look forward to the challenge. I was going to try to stay out of the OSx86 area and let InsanelyMac be the main front for this area. I hate to say that with this announcement all bets are off. Nothing on my site will be off limits for Mac and OSx86 users. Furthermore, suppressing my site sounds like censorship to me. May the best forum win.

Goodtime, we're not competing here - it's just that it seems like your sole purpose at this site these days is to drive traffic to your site. All of your recent posts are nothing but an excuse for a link - that's called spam my friend. Now, it's a fine site, and it's great to see the community grow, but to use our forum for the sole purpose of "informing" people about your site does a disservice to all the members who are here for true information, not advertising.

If you feel the need to compete with this site, that's fine. If your site is good enough, it'll draw a following on its own merit... link spam won't be necessary.

As far as censorship goes, you'll find that the staff here is incredibly lenient as to what we allow to be posted (within the law). You'd be hard pressed to find a forum of this size that allowed as many freedoms as we do. However, when one member's actions start lessening the quality of the community experience for someone else (ie link spam) we have to draw the line. Blatant advertising for another site does that. There's nothing that can be said there that can't be said here. For that reason, the links do nothing but detract.

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If I have to refrain from mentioning my site then would I have to say that this violates my 1st amendment rights.

First, you might want to study up on the First Amendment before you go brandishing it about like that. Secondly, though, I'm not asking you to refrain from mentioning it - if the mention can help someone, please do so! There's big difference between a mention and a blatant commercial.

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I will not post anymore threads with NiceMac.com in them. However, I refuse to change my sig. for I still believe that doing so would conflict with my rights to free speech and freedom of the press. You could say that I am handcuffing Nice Mac to my sig.

See above comments (and a copy of the First Amendment).

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If you have a job and have two weeks vacation, you would not want someone to tell you when to take your vacation would you? Do you want someone to tell you what you can or cannot put in your avatar, sig.line or profile? I have to draw the line somewhere.

It might be wise for you to read up on the "Slippery Slope Fallacy" before making claims like this - there's absolutely no similarity between asking you not to advertise your site here and someone mandating the rest of your life. If you can draw me a link between the two, I'd be happy to entertain a discussion... but there's no link between these things.

Finally, let me say that you'll notice I didn't even mention anything about the promotion of your site until you began abusing your membership here. We don't make rules unless someone abuses their privileges - not rights, but privileges - to post here. By thinking only of yourself, you've hurt the experience for everyone.