It would be nice if the myLot guidelines were clearer
By kelly60
@kelly60 (4547)
United States
May 14, 2007 7:25am CST
Although myLot has posted some general guidelines, there are many grey areas, and I wonder how many users are still not sure what is expected of them. I report abusers on a daily basis, and in many cases, it is obvious that they have deliberately tried to cheat the system. In other cases, I wonder if it is intentional abuse, or if some sort of clarification of the myLot guidelines could avoid some of these violations.
For instance, I see tons of jokes posted here on a daily basis. I have read most of these already in emails that have been forwarded to me. This leaves me two questions: First, since they obviously did not write the joke, but instead copied it from another source, is it plagiarism? Secondly, is this considered spam? Since it is a joke category, many users assume that it is acceptable to post whatever jokes they would like to share there, and then can't understand why they are deleted.
The same goes for the make money online category. Members see this category and the first thing they think is that they can post links to their programs to help them make money online. Although it does state in the guidelines that they can't post links to other affiliate programs, I don't think that a lot of users think about this when they see this category. Maybe it is just me, but I think that there are those who may honestly be confused.
Anyway, for those who need a refresher on the guidelines, you can find them by following this link:
http://www.mylot.com/o/topguidelines.aspx
I wonder though, how many of you think that we could use some further clarification on a few of the guidelines, such as the ones I have mentioned. In addition, I have only mentioned a couple of examples that were annoying me from some posts I have read lately, so feel free to mention others that I have not mentioned here.
2 people like this
5 responses
@callarse1 (4783)
• United States
19 May 07
Yes, you are right about what you said: the guidelines are not clear in some areas. In fact, the guidelines are "hidden" so much so that most users don't realize that they are there.
Suggestions:
1) Answer the question if copy and pasting is bad for joke sections, recipes, etc.
2) Is it okay to post referral links in making money section?
3) Could it be a little more clearer where the rules were? Maybe a button somewhere on the top: "myLot posting rules", "myLot rules", "myLot posting guidelines" or something like that.
Pablo
1 person likes this
@callarse1 (4783)
• United States
20 May 07
Yes, you basically summed up what I thought, these areas are not clear and I am not really reporting these types of discussions at all, are you? It would be nice if myLot sent alerts out or something to tell us and if they could update. Perhaps I will send them a suggestion
Pablo
1 person likes this
@kelly60 (4547)
• United States
21 May 07
Even if it is sent in an alert, it still needs to be added to the guidelines for those who become members in the future... I recently found this post from myLot, which was apparently an alert from before I joined:
Why do discussions, responses and comments sometimes get deleted?
http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/457762.aspx
Some of these things are not listed in the guidelines, and new users are unlikely to find this discussion on their own. I stumbled on it through another discussion that I was reading earlier.
As far as reporting violations go, I concentrate on those who are doing it deliberately. I report all cases of plagiarism that I see. I will determine some other violations on a case-by-case basis, but if I am sure it was done deliberately, I will definitely report it. I generally will not respond in either case, because even if I don't report it, someone else will and it will probably be deleted. I do not want to bother responding to discussions that are going to be deleted.
@callarse1 (4783)
• United States
29 Jun 07
Thanks for best response. It is so confusing sometimes about those rules. You are very friendly on here in this community. Have a nice day.
Pablo
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
14 May 07
Personally, yes I think the guidelines could be a little bit clearer but at the same time figure the worst offenders on myLot are the ones who ignore any guidelines at all - or maybe that should be worded 'ignore all guidelines'.
I do believe that copying someone else's work, whether it be jokes, recipes, poetry, or other text would be concider plagerizim - someone wrote it other than the person posting they should provide that information.
1 person likes this
@kelly60 (4547)
• United States
19 May 07
I agree that there are those who deliberately break the rules, and for those members myLot should take the appropriate action. I report plagiarizers when I come across them, and I hope everyone else does too.
There are other guidelines though where members may not be certain if they are breaking the rules or not. Personally, I would say that if you are not sure, you probably should not post it without checking with someone who would know. If you decide to post it, you are taking your chances. It would be nice though if myLot would clear up a couple of the guidelines though so that they do not leave you wondering.
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
19 May 07
Agree totally - I've read the guidelines a hundred times and am pretty sure I messed up with a discussion I posted today :( Actually made the comment I should report myself after thinking about it and seeing in through someone else's eyes - guess what, you can't report yourself :(
@Karmalina (647)
• Australia
14 May 07
I think that copying a joke is far worse than asking the same question again. Perhaps someone wants a different view of it from new mylotters. As long as they're not directly copied questions and they were thought out to apply to the person why are these worse than jokes? People should be able to say that they made their first $10. It's different for everyone and the congratulations for doing it are different. I've had a discussion deleted because it's too similar to another one I assume, but meh. I think if someone uses the make extra money category they should try to at least write something helpful before they just paste a referral link and say "This will make you money" unless of course the discussion is asking for help with it then this is acceptable if it's not missing points that could help the user with the program.
@kelly60 (4547)
• United States
20 May 07
A discussion I read a little bit ago says that myLot is no longer accepting jokes, and has told them to stop posting them or they will have their account closed. The discussion is here if you want to read it.
http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/1082569.aspx
The referral links are against the guidelines. Under the list of don'ts it says, "Post any links promoting other affiliate programs..."
I agree that there are some topics where similar topics could be taken in entirely different directions, and should not be deleted without at least careful consideration of the contents. For instance, if you posted a topic and I wanted more information on a similar topic that was not covered in your post, I should still be allowed to ask about it, even though our topics may seem similar.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
14 May 07
You can't cover all angles. And probably, myLot wouldn't want them all covered either. As in real laws, there are grey areas that are deliberately (not officially of course) left deliberate. Why else do you need lawyers to fight it out if everything is crystal clear? :P
@kelly60 (4547)
• United States
19 May 07
I do not really expect all angles to be covered perfectly, although there are a few places where they could reword things to clear up any questions members might have. I guess that if they leave things open for interpretation, they can expect members to interpret them in all sorts of various ways. In addition, I have seen several posts stating that a member wrote to myLot and was told this or that... but what about the rest of us? If they have members emailing them for clarification of the rules, shouldn't they think about clarifying them in the guidelines?
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
19 May 07
I don't know really, and I am not really inclined to defend people I don't even know. :P
@golfproo (1839)
• Canada
19 May 07
I think you are right about this. As a new user to MyLot I myself am unclear about some of the guidelines. There is still stuff I do not understand. For instance, what is the star with the number over my name? What is the significance of the number in the star? Thank you for your post as I am interested in reading your responses.
cheers,
@kelly60 (4547)
• United States
20 May 07
The answers to most of the questions you may have are in either the guidelines or the FAQ:
http://www.mylot.com/o/topguidelines.aspx
http://www.mylot.com/o/faq.aspx
For future reference, these links are at the bottom of the page. This is the first place you should look to see what the rules are. It would be good idea as a new member to look over the rules, then go over them again from time to time to refresh your memory.
As for the star, this is your reputation, the higher the number, the higher the rating. The best way to increase your rating is to write quality discussions and responses. You should also rate others, and make comments where appropriate on the responses to your discussions. Make sure all pictures and posts you make are on topic, and that you do not violate the guidelines.
