Re:Selfish vs. selfless: self-promotion in communities
by nicbou on Sunday June 20, 2021 @03:33AM
(#27567957)
When I was a moderator, my razor was "is this for the benefit of the community?"
You can benefit from self-promotion, but not at the expense of the community. There should be a benefit for the other members: useful information, an interesting discussion, etc. In other words, be a genuine participant.
I've also been on the other side of this. My monetised content often got a pass because it was genuinely useful, and often posted as an answer to another user's question. I can honestly say that it was the best qualified answer, despite the occasional affiliate link in my content.
It also helps that I participate in those communities with and without self-promotion. For every link to a website I run, there are a dozen regular comments, helpful ones.
However, some members and moderators are not having it. Their razor is "does this benefit the submitter?" Anything that does is spam. Anything that does repeatedly - even with the blessing of the mods and a very favourable reception - is an attack on the community. Some users got so nasty about it that they turned to harassment.
I just ask the mods, then look at votes and comments. If either isn't receptive, I do not self-promote there. If they are, I ignore the haters and stay in the discussion.
You can benefit from self-promotion, but not at the expense of the community. There should be a benefit for the other members: useful information, an interesting discussion, etc. In other words, be a genuine participant.
I've also been on the other side of this. My monetised content often got a pass because it was genuinely useful, and often posted as an answer to another user's question. I can honestly say that it was the best qualified answer, despite the occasional affiliate link in my content.
It also helps that I participate in those communities with and without self-promotion. For every link to a website I run, there are a dozen regular comments, helpful ones.
However, some members and moderators are not having it. Their razor is "does this benefit the submitter?" Anything that does is spam. Anything that does repeatedly - even with the blessing of the mods and a very favourable reception - is an attack on the community. Some users got so nasty about it that they turned to harassment.
I just ask the mods, then look at votes and comments. If either isn't receptive, I do not self-promote there. If they are, I ignore the haters and stay in the discussion.