Commercial links

[oliver90owner]

.. if that above wasn't a direct accusation, whith only one moderator what is?

JBM,

I too, read that post - very carefully - and was unable to put any other slant on it than as was your conclusion above.

Whether meant as a direct accusation, I did not know - it may have been a poorly worded/composed post (and there are a lot of those), but the subsequent postings have unfortunately not shown the latter options to have been the case.

However, at this present time, there seems a great dearth of sustantiation. just accusations towards a very well-respected member of the forum.

I don't think discussions from three years ago, (around the infancy of the forum?) are particularly pertinent to the forum at this time. I have not looked back, so cannot comment further than that, as nothing else to go on. As far as I am concerned the accusation appears to be of a scurrilous nature.

 

[Brosville]

Like many threads, this one has meandered up hill and down dale, and many of those posting now seem to be forgetting the sheer impracticability of implementing some of the suggestions being made without greatly increasing the workload for admin/moderators. To demand that they act as judge jury and executioner on the allowability of links places an enormous burden upon them, and will tend to make them as popular as pork chops at a bat mitzvah! (Whatever you do will be deemed wrong by somebody!)

Most forums of my acquaintance have a blanket ban on commercial links because it is far simpler to implement, raises less ill-feeling, and makes for a lighter load on those administering it. I am also totally at a loss to understand any "benefit" by allowing them, except to the companies spamming their goods and services.

 

[alanf]

I would not like to see those sort of posts increase and the moderator/admin collapse under the strain thus causing the forum to implode.

For what it's worth, I voted for 'yes, but...' assuming that admin would not have included the option if they didn't think it worth investigating or at least discussing.

Practically, I don't see how it could work except as a retrospective deletion with all the arguments that inevitably follow about where the borders lie. That can work either as a regular patrol or waiting for complaints, but whatever is adopted it's a high maintenance choice. That level of input may be acceptable for a high profile site that has paid admin such as newspapers or other media. Without some external motive, it's hard to see how that level of maintenance could be justified or sustained.

So we're left with the current position, what should be some simple rules backed by basic automation that heads off the most blatant abuse. It may warrant some tinkering, but as I see how the rules actually work we are already somewhere between 'yes, but...' and 'no commercial links'.

What it comes down to is that linking to your own business is forbidden whatever the size. Mentions and links to the largest non bee commercial orgaisations in the country such as supermarkets and DIY suppliers have appeared but they are not self promotion. We are in the rather odd position that the *** automation catches only the largest bee related suppliers when they would be least likely to abuse the self promotion rules because they trade on reputation. First mention of any business will always get through, however blatant. Foreign businesses generally sail under the barrier because fewer mentions mean they don't become prominent enough to attract attention.

Perhaps the rules would be clearer if it was more explicit. That posts are not allowed to promote or link to any business that the poster is connected to. References or links elsewhere, whether commercial, charity, book or individual are permitted for information purposes but should not be overtly commercial in nature.

That does imply moderation effort to catch abuse, but that is effectively the situation now.

 

[Brosville]

"are not allowed to promote or link to any business that the poster is connected to" - and how precisely is that going to be implemented? How do the admin team know what's kosher or not? They're pretty red hot, but I didn't notice that they have clairvoyance on their skills list
- perhaps it may be a source of employment for a large firm of private detectives...........