I regret to inform you that if you commented on one of my articles: "Why I want the cash option" that it has to be deleted. I recieved an email from Maryanne stating that it was solicitation. I, personally, do not see how it is. I just simply said why I want the cash option instead of spamming every article that I comment on, on why I'm trying for the cash option. I did NOT beg for comments nor did I send out an email stating "ohhhh please come & comment on my article" or anything like that! I guess I've really make someone eat lots of "cranky flakes" to say that my article is solicitation. I did not ask for other comments, I asked the following questions & nothing more!::::"So, my question for others trying for the cash option.....Why are you trying? To help pay bills? To get yourself something nice? To buy something for someone else?" Those are the questions that I asked. I don't feel that I "encouraged spam comments", either. Not that you are going to be able to view the article, because apparently, I have to remove it or be banned from Gather.
So, I'm sorry to all of my connections. I am going to print the article off, so that way I know who commented on it & I'll respond to each & every single one of you in an email, then again, that is considered "Spam" also, according to the email I recieved.
I didn't say that I was trying to "raise" money. I just wrote an article on the questions that I get asked.
So, from now on, please don't comment on anything of mine about points or cash, that is considered spam & will be removed. I'll not do it anyone elses things.
I just want all of my connections to know that posting about your points or trying to get the cash option articles is SPAM & could get you banned!
Thank you to all of you that are my connections. I'll stop in & see you!
Have a GREAT day!
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Comments: 55
Someone must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and decided to flag your article, otherwise no one from the Gather team would have sent you a message about it.
That's unfortunate. I don't think you were soliciting comments or anything, just stating what you're working for. Aren't we allowed to use Gather for blogging purposes as well?
I was going to write a Why I Don't Want the Cash Option article just to balance things out.
Seriously, if I had the cash option the money would be sucked into the bottomless pit of bills. With gift cards I get something once a month or so that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
(I had to rewrite my answer twice - the first two times weren't nice enough to print. Whoever's cornflakes got peed in needs to get a grip.)
According to the letter, I encouraged people to "spam comment" on my article. People did so by writing one word at a time & submitting it. That is part of the reason I had to remove it. Odd to me, though, I only asked 3 questions, which are in this article, & nothing about oooooooohhhhhhhh please comment, give me one word comments! I'll copy the letters & post them in my comments so you all can tell me what you think!
Thanks for writing back and I can appreciate your confusion. No members should be soliciting for points through their postings, private messages or through comments. We reach out to many members informing them of this on a regular basis.
In conjunction with your article, another member sent messages to his connections pointing them to your article and asking them to comment there so you would earn more points. I'm confident this member's intentions were good, but he has also received a similar message from me, because he was encouraging comment spamming.
The single word comments left on your article are examples of comment spamming, where the commenters have stretched their reply out, word by word, in multiple comments as an attempt to inflate your earnings. Again, I'm sure everyone's intentions are good, but the results can become a site full of gaming, which we are all trying to prevent.
As the author of the article, I ask you to remove your article. In the future, when you see single word comments like you have on your article, I ask you to educate other members that comment spamming is against the tos, and remove them from your article. In the future, if you post an article where you are asking members about earnings, please be mindful that a discussion about this can easily cross the line from a legitimate discussion, which I think you intended, to gaming the point system. Helping members understand the difference between legitmate point earnings and inflated point earnings benefits all of us by keeping the site content informative and of high quality.
Thanks for writing back. Again, please let me know if you have any follow-on questions.
Best regards,
MaryAnne
> Thank you for emailing me Maryanne. I guess I'm confused. There are hundreds of articles out there for points & they make it blatently clear. I was just asking simple questions on why others want the cash option. I have recieved hundreds of emails(a day) asking me to come & help them reach their point goal so that they can get the cash option. How is that any different? According to what you are telling me below, it is ALL against TOS. Why does Gather, then, let others create so many groups that are all geared towards points & nothing can be submitted unless it is reguarding your points. THere are also 1,000's of comments of people begging others to come to their pages & view/rate/comment! Do they get emails like the one below? I don't see how it incourages spam comments! I simply asked: ".....Why are you trying? To help pay bills? To get yourself something nice? To buy something for someone else?" Are those not real questions that said anything about spamming? I did NOT send out any type of letter begging or even telling anyone to stop by my page & comment.
>
> Please respond
> Elizabeth
>
>
>
> > Dear Elizabeth,
> >
> > I am writing you to discuss your article "Why I want the Cash Option". I can see you are going through a challenging time, and I can completely empathize with your situation. However, solicitations of any kind are not permitted on Gather; not in private messages and not in articles.
> >
> > There are so many worth while causes to raise money for; however, our policies cannot permit solicitations of members for any reason unless prior approval has been obtained from Gather. Otherwise the site will be overrun with solicitations. Additionally, your article encourages spam comments, which are against the Terms of Service.
> >
> > If you have any questions, please feel free to write back and I'll do my best to address them.
> >
> >
> > Best regards,
> > MaryAnne Flynn
> > Director of Member Services
> > Gather
> >
I think our messages crossed in the mail. I'd be happy to review the links you have sent me. Let me know if you have further questions when you have chance to review my earlier response to you.
Have a good day at work.
Best regards,
MaryAnne
> I will await your response. Right now, I have to go to my job, but I'll be back to see if you have responded at 4. So, I guess I'll leave everything as is until I hear otherwise from you. Below are links to others articles about the cash option.
> I'm really not trying to be a pain, but if others can do it, I don't see why I can not also. I would hope that EVERYONE else that has posted anything about the cash option would have to remove their articles/comments, also.
> Elizabeth
>
>
> http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977305725
>
> http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977298955
> http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977297050
> http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977184811
> http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977251680
> http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977306394
> Above is just a few. I could give you more if you want them.
>
I would like to know when/if anyone else gets an article about what they have posted.
Thank you!
Those games that are supposed to be one word answers? Are they okay I wonder? They're fun, but obviously have another purpose as well. (Don't worry, I won't mention why lest it be considered soliciting.)
And you're right. There are groups just about this very thing. In fact, that's actually what brought me here today. One of those groups. :-)
Guess that had to do something to someone before the upgrade! LOL
I think I really made someone upset asking why others was trying & that's all it consisted of. Never really recieved a specific letter stating anything, at least that's my opinion. But, I'm sure that they are watching me & seeing what I say/do!
I'm not going to put up any games, but I'll participate in some. I will put up contests, unless they tell me otherwise. So, that I can give others my Pepsi codes.
If not, it's still okay.
It honestly makes no sense to me, can not comment one word at a time, but can play games that request one word at a time. Contradictory to me!