KirstyJay
02-08-2012, 18:28
I've accepted membership of a group for businesses on a social networking site with all good intentions to share, try and help and be helped by networking with fellow business people, but I am quickly becoming really disenfranchised with it all, as all people seem to do on it is advertise.
Am I the only one that thinks that business groups should be there for the exchange of experiences and information? However I find that these adverts are continually invading my space.
On the forum we walk a fine line regarding advertising. We have a strict policy that commercial adverts are not allowed on the forum unless in reply to genuine enquiries... so if someone asks for recommendations for a plumber, and you're a plumber, then it's ok to reply, but it's not ok to start a new thread promoting yourself. This rule applies to everyone on the main boards... including paid advertisers.
All promotion is kept in one area only, Sponsors' Announcements, so members can easily distinguish between ads and information, and logged-in members get less adsense banners than guests.
I think this makes the forum a nice place to be and promotes a comfortable community. Some ads, to fund the overheads, but not shoved down your throat all the time. I think if moderated correctly with some basic rules, these business groups could be really useful, but at present I'm seriously not interested in being advertised to all the time... regardless of whether I'd be interested in the product.
How do others feel out it?
Am I the only one that thinks that business groups should be there for the exchange of experiences and information? However I find that these adverts are continually invading my space.
On the forum we walk a fine line regarding advertising. We have a strict policy that commercial adverts are not allowed on the forum unless in reply to genuine enquiries... so if someone asks for recommendations for a plumber, and you're a plumber, then it's ok to reply, but it's not ok to start a new thread promoting yourself. This rule applies to everyone on the main boards... including paid advertisers.
All promotion is kept in one area only, Sponsors' Announcements, so members can easily distinguish between ads and information, and logged-in members get less adsense banners than guests.
I think this makes the forum a nice place to be and promotes a comfortable community. Some ads, to fund the overheads, but not shoved down your throat all the time. I think if moderated correctly with some basic rules, these business groups could be really useful, but at present I'm seriously not interested in being advertised to all the time... regardless of whether I'd be interested in the product.
How do others feel out it?