Don’t know if you remember but, we launched Adblabla in december last year as a platform that gives free ads to websites and blog owners…see that post here see that post here
Now, we just released the beta version of our Content Marketing Module and I need feedback on the following areas
User Experience from widget setup to blog post configuration
Language: Do you think the average blogger will full understand the terminology we used?
Analytics: Do you think we are reporting enough data. Would you need more ?
Visual appeal… Does the recommended posts /trending posts appear the way you will like it?
So please visit adblabla.com, signup and perform a test.
I wanted to ignore your comments, but I figure that others seeing your post may assume you are right and subsequently be distracted from my real intention.
Now, if I really want to artificially bump any thread to the top of Radar and keep it there for as long as it takes, its extremely easy to do. For as low as $100, i could get indians or possibly some Nigerians to just come here and start typing whatever they feel may be remotely related to the subject. However that is not my case.
I have seen several people come here to ask for feedback and they got very good ones.
I personally have benefitted from the feedback in the past. For example, I think it was @xolubi that suggested I go https… Also it was actually someone else that I first met on radar that suggested the idea of a content marketing module… My point is my desire for good feedback as against being artificially at the top is what brings me here. If being at the top doesnt bring value to me, what do I stand to gain???
@xolubi concerning your point… You are right about contacting my users… we do that regularly from time to time…we have called quite a number over the phone already. However, the audience here on radar is different… there is a technical perspective to the feed back provided …and i also believe a lot of startups are here and feedback from this people cannot be found on nairaland…
Don’t take the lack of feedback personal, no one is paid to do product reviews here. Users contribute while and when they can, on topicals of interest.
@lordbanks ultra sensitive today? A bit harsh to close the thread. Or better still, harsh and heavy handed.
BTW, even on reflection it’s subjective to say he’s ‘artificially bumping the thread’. It’s obvious no one clicked on his link, so why not give him the benefit of doubt that he was asking for feedback?
The OP replied himself two days after the original post because he was ostensibly surprised that nobody engaged with his post. Anyone who has been on Radar for has long as he has knows that a new post bumps a thread back to the top. In the history of Radar’s moderation, we haven’t let this manner of forum-gaming slide.
At least 80 percent of the OPs contributions to Radar have either been self-promotional and/or in response to threads they created themselves. That would suggest that they use the forum mostly to suit their own promotional purposes, rather than to be part of the larger conversation that Radar is.
This thread has since ceased to be about the OP’s product, and has become a discussion about Radar etiquette. Thus, I have moved the thread to meta and edited he title. OP is free to create another thread. It goes without saying that they should not reply themselves on that one.
In other words, OP appears to have history and you made a call to close the thread. That’s fine. And like you say ‘it’s your job’ and definitely a part of it is to exercise judgement (made in good faith).
Which leads to the actual closing of the the thread. In this case, we need to stop repeating history. As there’s been instances of closing in similar fashion with little or no explanation.
It’s bad optics to close a thread and think no explanation is owed. It’s not about the OP but speaks to the Mod’s ‘Radar etiquette’. Or lack of it. If one is too busy to provide an explanation, then don’t close a thread. If a thread has to be urgently closed (e.g threats of violence etc), then close with a TBC.
You’ve made a claim that more than 80% of my posts have promotional in nature. So lets look at all the posts I have initiated on Radar as seen below.
Content Marketing [moved to meta by mod for etiquette issues]
Is Facebook Advertising the Biggest Scam Ever?
Free Online Advertising in Nigeria - The Adblabla Way
Ever Tried Letsencrypt, the FREE SSL Provider?
Is PayPAL Finally Opening up to Naija?
Adblabla = AdSense + Adwords - Cost
Justfrom5k.com: A Nigerian Freelance Platform Gaining Traction
No.1 This is this post being discussed.
No2. Talks about my personal experience with facebook charging me for more clicks than I actually generated. This post ended with snapshots of my own measurements, numbers and comparison across multiple platforms. If it was promotional we would focused on my site instead of the statistics being shown.
No3. Yes, I agree this most is kinda promotional in nature
No4. This talks about SSL , I DID NOT even mention any of my sites.
No5 Another Posts that talks about Paypal. No mention of any of my sites either
No6. This talks about a new product, the need to be met, and the solution being proffered. I ended with asking for feedback and I got the feedback.
No 7. Another product I launched…where I asked for feedback. Again this product talks about what we offer.
Now Some Analysis.
First from the titles, one 1 out of 7 can be considered as being promotional… and 1/7 is NOT greater than 80%
If you say the two product launches are promotional in nature, then why do we have the product section on RADAR? There is no way you can introduce a new product to an audience without talking about what the product does or will do and the advantages. Is it this product description that you call promotional? If yes, then every new product placed on radar is promotional
In the 2 posts where I introduced the project, the conversation quickly leaves the subject of the product and goes somewhere, and I never drive the main attention back to the initial discussion. For example, the first one ended up talking about advertising in general and a ranking of several sites that i compared against each other. I believe this is research information that will be beneficial to everyone.
SO @lordbanks please dont go making statements that are not correct to backup your action. To say that 80% of my posts are promotional in nature, is entirely false.
Obviously, unless the rule is that if you initiate a post, DO NOT RESPOND to any comment or question asked, Even if you want to share data , give feedback or provide an update as earlier promised. Also, never mention the name of any product that you are trying to talk about. Is this the rule on radar?
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Read this again, maybe that will influence your perception, and make you reevaluate all that you said up till the last paragraph.
As to your last paragraph, that is obviously another red herring. I called you out for replying yourself to try and stimulate engagement on a thread that no one was apparently interested in. Two of your own posts in a row on a thread that you started and that has had zero engagement. Ade’s comment about no one clicking the link actually reinforces that presumption.
There is no rule against asking for feedback or putting your ideas, ventures and products in front of the community. As long as it is done with respect for said community. Like I said, you are free to start another thread and do the right thing.
But what’s your thought process before closing a thread? It’s good to remove ambiguity and shed some light on how you decide a thread needs to be shut down.
Or is it a case by case basis of ‘mehn, can’t be bothered, I go shut this down!’?
These are the non-exhaustive list questions I ask myself before I elect to shut down a thread. Which, if I might add, happens very rarely.
Does the thread violate community guidelines?
Has the thread outlived its usefulness, to the point that further posts serve no purpose other than to degrade the experiences for users
Is the OP trying to game the forum?
The OP’s posting history
Do the contents of a thread constitute a security risk to any person(s)?
If any of these conditions are satisfied, it is grounds for closing a thread.
In this case, I will actually reopen the thread since the conversation has changed, and the thread has been appropriately categorized. Moments like these are critical, because they define the culture going forward. If you would like to debate and have direct influence on community guidelines, please volunteer to be a mod. That would personally make me happy. Of course, you don’t have to be a mod to question what a mod does, but as it is in any community, some people have to be responsible for making and enforcing the rules.
I wanted to point out that that the OP is not the first to reply to his post after not receiving any comments. The OP of this post was not called out, no fuss was made, nor did any have to be. Likewise, this post should have just been left to the community to decide whether or not to respond.
Thanks for spotting that. Let me draw your attention to the message that was sent to that user on the day the violation occurred. They immediately apologized and desisted.
A similarly worded private message to @easibor may have had the same effect, but you publicly asked a question which he chose to publicly defend. (Now I don’t know if you sent him a private message before asking him your question).
A relevant short statement on the previous OP’s post (after your correspondence with him) may also have helped prevent this.
And reasonably good answer as well. At least other members of the community have an idea of why a thread might be closed. Way better than everyone thinking ‘what happened…why close this?’. The next crucial thing is providing the reasons (like earlier mentioned) why a thread is been closed then and there. It just provides the right level of transparency that creates trust.
Also I’m always happy to help. So yeah let me know.
