In light of recent events/developments, and of the fact that newbies and other more senior members of this community may not be entirely familiar with even the most basic rules of Netiquette, I would suggest that you amend the part of the registration agreement so as to more explicitly include cross-posting under the (IMHO) all too general heading of ‘solicitation’. It would most probably simplify things for all concerned, and first and foremost the moderators. There are already way too many duplicitous persons in this world without adding to their numbers by the mere fact of cross-posting.
A definition of the term could also be given in the FAQ. Just a thought.
Good suggestion. Have you checked the “FAQ” thread to see if it’s in there already? It’s right here in ATMB.
No.
Must admit I hadn’t.
Dumb of me.
Good.
Whoa! Is that what cross-posting means?
I thought it was posting angry words while wearing both a bra and jockstrap!
Live and learn
You can’t post while wearing a bra and a jockstrap?!?
Oh crap, am I in trouble…
How narrowly is cross-posting actually defined?
I can understand that it is undesirable to have people doing this just to gratuitously promote a thread in another forum. However, is it permissible to post a reply to an OP along the lines of: “The answer to your question can be found here in Forum X”?
Does the rule only apply to the OP?
I can see this distinction becoming blurry.
the cross posting referred to in the OP involved posting new threads in several different forum with the sole intent to highlight a thread in another one. What happened was: Poster A has a thread in MPSIMS. Others posted new threads in GD, GQ, the PIT, with their topic being “check out this thread in MPSIMS”. that’s what got everybody all up in arms. (If I interpreted the events correctly).
What you seem to be talking about is something like Poster A has a topic in Great Debates, Poster B submits reply in that thread to suggest that somebody ‘meet them in the pit’. That kind of thing happens all the time and I’ve never seen it reprimanded.
Other possability would be: Poster A has thread in MPSIMS, poster B comes along and plantively posts link to their own thread “how come none of you came out for this?”, That I’ve seen as well, and don’t recall anyone getting too upset (though it can be seen as a hijacking of the thread).
In other cases, you may have 2 posters getting off onto a tangent and some one will open a new thread to explore the tangent and post a link. I’ve seen this happen, nobody seems to get upset.
The only other ‘cross posting’ that I’ve ever seen anyone getting riled about is when there’s a blatent hijack. Poster A has thread about Pink Bowling Balls being linked to social diseases, Poster B comes along adds nothing to the thread in question but posts a link to their own thread about malformed pine trees. that’s considered a rude hijack whenever I’ve seen it.
you should write the book on this:D.
“In light of recent events/developments,” I have a suggestion:
If you think something is “slight derogation to the rules”, Don’t do it. If you really want to do it, e-mail a mod or admin before doing it. If you do it anyway, expect a terse note from a mod and a to hear from an admin shortly.
Do we really need to state this in the FAQs? I’d like to think not, but “in light of recent events/developments”. . .
I’ve explained this in the Pit (or at least I tried) and I certainly don’t want to bring this up again, especially not in this forum. Suffice it to say (or remind) that the slight derogation, in my mind, in that instance meant that I did not have a specific question to ask or put to a debate. I had never even heard of cross-posting at that point.
Given the number of posts involved, I would assume that ‘slight derogations’ happen quite often if not every day. Not sure if posters e-mail moderators or administrators beforehand in every case, even though they probably should.
Question then becomes: What’s considered a ‘slight derogation’?
You aren’t the first one to notice that the rules can be confusing, and that’s what the FAQ update is all about.
I think the advice to pursue your suggestion there is a good one. This thread isn’t apt to get either a yes or no before they act on that thread.
By the way, did you notice you’ve hit 1000 posts?
Look in MPSIMS for a thread with your name on it.
(Be prepared though, that they don’t fill up like they once did.)