Magura said:
Im sorry Peter, but I didnt imply that you were right, just that it has nothing to do with the discussion.
Its though nice to see another personal attac from you Peter.....a great move from a moderator.
Magura
It is funny how often people use a word "moderator" to show their dislikes. Whould you like to say that as a moderator, I can't say that you are constantly complaining without providing any ( and I stress: any) useful input to the forum?
If I can't say that, how can I effectively boost my sales, or for that matter make others to even listen to me? Don't you think that moderators have no powers here at all?
"quote:
'Without the commercial DIY sellers, the possabilities would be much more sparse.'
"Sure, they're all welcome as members...but how would you react if they'd start plugging their kit in the middle of a thread?
"I'm not saying this is actually what happens but what if?
"And how about if that person was a mod?
See?"
If it was mentioned as low key as the example just given re: N.Pass, it wouldn't bother me at all. It might just be what I was looking for. Perhaps if as a rule it were limited to something like "Please take a look my website." (Presumably it would have to be a DIY product - a fully assembled commercial product would be off topic. ) If it were a full-blown sales pitch that would be going too far. Personally, I think I have enough self control to avoid buying everything someonw says I should. In fact, I suspect a hard sell would be counter productive - I get real suspicious when the sales puffery passes a (relatively low) threshold.
So what if it's a moderator? That's not going to influence my thoughts about the merits of product. PerAnders is, I'm sure, a swell fellow but being a moderator doesn't make me think he can walk on water. (In the summer months, that is!) Actually I don't even notice, or care much who is a moderator and who isn't. But if we are concerned about who is what, perhaps any formum member with a commercial interest could have a big blinking "$" over on the left, or Euro, or whatever.
'Without the commercial DIY sellers, the possabilities would be much more sparse.'
"Sure, they're all welcome as members...but how would you react if they'd start plugging their kit in the middle of a thread?
"I'm not saying this is actually what happens but what if?
"And how about if that person was a mod?
See?"
If it was mentioned as low key as the example just given re: N.Pass, it wouldn't bother me at all. It might just be what I was looking for. Perhaps if as a rule it were limited to something like "Please take a look my website." (Presumably it would have to be a DIY product - a fully assembled commercial product would be off topic. ) If it were a full-blown sales pitch that would be going too far. Personally, I think I have enough self control to avoid buying everything someonw says I should. In fact, I suspect a hard sell would be counter productive - I get real suspicious when the sales puffery passes a (relatively low) threshold.
So what if it's a moderator? That's not going to influence my thoughts about the merits of product. PerAnders is, I'm sure, a swell fellow but being a moderator doesn't make me think he can walk on water. (In the summer months, that is!) Actually I don't even notice, or care much who is a moderator and who isn't. But if we are concerned about who is what, perhaps any formum member with a commercial interest could have a big blinking "$" over on the left, or Euro, or whatever.
To show an example, how defensive people can get and to what lengths they go, here is a string of replies from Magura, triggered only by my simple comment: "Well Magura, I think you are not right". (and BTW, it seems I was right):
Magura said:
Can anybody tell me what this have to do with the topic????
Magura
Magura said:
Im sorry Peter, but I didnt imply that you were right, just that it has nothing to do with the discussion.
Its though nice to see another personal attac from you Peter.....a great move from a moderator.
Magura
Magura said:The edit of the quote was to shorten the quote to a minimum as im sure anybody have seen the original post. Its quite common to do so, but obviously not when pointing out that you have crossed the line by far???????
Magura
Hi,
Certainly.
The thing is though, we have been members for quite a while and are probably old and wise enough to recognise sales pitch when we see it.
Unfortunately this isn't the case for everybody so the line has to be drawn somewhere.
Knowing from past experience that things never tend to get better when left alone I'd rather opt for a too severe set of rules than a too liberal one.
There are a considerable number of members actively involved in the audio business, either directly or indirectly.
They have to adhere to forum rules just the same as anybody else has to.
However, as a moderator you need to set an example of conduct for the rest of the membership and that's where the problem starts IMHO.
Cheers,
Certainly.
The thing is though, we have been members for quite a while and are probably old and wise enough to recognise sales pitch when we see it.
Unfortunately this isn't the case for everybody so the line has to be drawn somewhere.
Knowing from past experience that things never tend to get better when left alone I'd rather opt for a too severe set of rules than a too liberal one.
There are a considerable number of members actively involved in the audio business, either directly or indirectly.
They have to adhere to forum rules just the same as anybody else has to.
However, as a moderator you need to set an example of conduct for the rest of the membership and that's where the problem starts IMHO.
Cheers,
jam said:
Jam,
I agree with you. I also preferred the previous forum appeal, when no group buys were popping up, and only sales you came across were in Trading Post section, for a used gear.
It's hard to say what is causing the current situation, when everybody is up to something and trying to make a buck. Maybe it is a transitional thing and eventually we somehow get better control over it, but you should also know that the current forum is not exactly like it's used to be, where there was no maintenance costs involved.
The commerce is slowly finding it's way here as we had to find sponsors to support the whole operation. This inevitably changes our perception of what is acceptable and what isn't. When everytime you log on and see a banner: Proudly Supported By ....... you quickly realise that it's a different reality we deal with now.
Not that all those group buys are completely useless and geared towards making quick cash. Most of them are genuine attempt to allow members to stock on parts and resources, they wouldn't otherwise have access to.
Magura said:
So I cant see how it would be hard to solve. As proposed previously: moderator= no commercial buisness on the forum.
Magura
I still don't understand how it will change anything. If I cease to be a moderator, I will be selling even more, as I don't have to show any example anymore.
So what kind of solution is it? Do you care about the forum or about who is the moderator?
Hi,
Peter,
I think we all understand that...The banner's there and no one's complaining about that as far as I know.
You're probably right in that the recent economical crisis is quite likely making people resort to things they'd probably not even consider under more "normal" circumstances.
However, I also was under the impression that the whole idea of accepting commercial sponsorship was to keep the forum area itself free of commerciality.
I also had this crazy idea that moderators should at least try to avoid their commercial interests from participating in purely technical threads...
Maybe I did get the wrong impression after all...??
Ask yourself, has your job as a moderator changed since you've launched your business?
Has members' behaviour changed towards you since than?
Cheers,
Peter,
I think we all understand that...The banner's there and no one's complaining about that as far as I know.
You're probably right in that the recent economical crisis is quite likely making people resort to things they'd probably not even consider under more "normal" circumstances.
However, I also was under the impression that the whole idea of accepting commercial sponsorship was to keep the forum area itself free of commerciality.
I also had this crazy idea that moderators should at least try to avoid their commercial interests from participating in purely technical threads...
Maybe I did get the wrong impression after all...??
Ask yourself, has your job as a moderator changed since you've launched your business?
Has members' behaviour changed towards you since than?
Cheers,
Peter Daniel said:
If you care about the forum, show me reasonable suggestion how to control sales and offerings on this forum, and I don't see a reason why this wouldn't be implemented.
Maybe the title of this thread should be different: "Forum and the Commerce"?
As whatever I do as a member, has nothing to do with moderating. Present one example that shows otherwise.
fdegrove said:
I'd like you to show me, if my approach changed. I think it didn't.
As to the second question, some members behaviour changed definitely, but I don't see a reason why I would be concerned with it. Those people were always like that.
Actually, I don't even remember when was a last time I acted as a moderator.
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