Can the TB revisit the Commercial links in Signatures issue?

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Quote: And mods can tell those who wish to be commercial in their sigs or posts or profiles or anywhere else that such activity is welcome on FT, but only in the proper forum.
Is it possible to limit sigs to appear in just one forum?
Quote: What is the benefit in banning commercial links in posts?
I explained that in the post I gave some moments ago:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/19029066-post155.html

See the third or fourth paragraph and also further down where i highlight the differences between someone making commericial posts and someone with a commericial sig making posts that add value.

Now I've answered your question, can you answer mine?

What is the benefit of banning commercial sigs?

I've never asked a question of a TB, some of which members seem SOOO determined to act, but who cannot actually identify a benefit for the course of action they seem determined to pursue. This is just not logical that some members seem determined on a course for something they cannot actually describe a benefit for Surely it's not much to ask that you can describe the benefit to us, the members you represent, before you actually make a change which negatively impacts on members using commericial links and on the mods you expect to enforce the change you make.
Quote: Is it possible to limit sigs to appear in just one forum?
No, which is why I believe they ought to be in full conformance with the TOS.

It is ok to talk about abortion in O/PR, but it does not serve the community well to allow abortion talk in sigs, which also appear in airline forums, hotel forums, etc. It's distracts from the core function of FT, the altruistic sharing of points, travel and miles knowledge.

By the same token, it should be ok to promote your commercial venture in a commercial forum but not in sigs, which also appear in airline forums, hotel forums, etc. It distracts from the core function of FT, the altruistic sharing of points, travel and miles knowledge..


Quote:
What is the benefit of banning commercial sigs?

I've never asked a question of a TB, some of which members seem SOOO determined to act, but who cannot actually identify a benefit for the course of action they seem determined to pursue. This is just not logical that some members seem determined on a course for something they cannot actually describe a benefit for Surely it's not much to ask that you can describe the benefit to us, the members you represent, before you actually make a change which negatively impacts on members using commericial links and on the mods you expect to enforce the change you make.
I have answered that question twice now (including once in the post that you selectively quote in your post!):
Quote: And to me, best practices are typically simple and consistent. I would think that any moderator would agree with that notion, as simple and consistent practices are the easiest to enforce.

As you say, FT is primarily about sharing travel information altruistically, so keeping sigs on-topic related to travel or personal (like a quote, etc), non-commercial, non-political and in conformance with the TOS seems like a simple and consistent best practice.

Giving posters a forum to flog their books or plumbing skillz or their drop shipping web site seems to me like a good way to build community. Yes, rules to keep spam out will be required. But with post minimum to play, that is easily overcome.

There is no reason that FTers cannot have their cake (tos enforcement applied consistently) and eat it too (have a proper and well defined place to be commercial with each other, provide commercial links, etc).

And mods can tell those who wish to be commercial in their sigs or posts or profiles or anywhere else that such activity is welcome on FT, but only in the proper forum.
Quote:
FT's core function is points, miles and travel.

We keep it that way by letting folks go off topic (and somewhat off-TOS) in specific forums. This proposal (creating a commercial forum but enforcing the TOS in sigs) follows that model.
I'd like to see examples of signatures that are (or were) a problem. Can someone point me to some of those?
Quote: I'd like to see examples of signatures that are (or were) a problem. Can someone point me to some of those?
Being that the two Talk Board members that have posted the number of complaints they received were zero and one, maybe some of the other Talk Board members that are getting all the complaints can post a dozen or so here to better explain the problem. Excellent idea.
I wish I could find the problem signatures, but the last I reported, for being an ad for a personal business, apparently was OK because the TOS had been changed to allow it and I was unaware.

However, I had reported a few when I'm certain it was against the TOS and never received a reply and the signature remained.
Quote: I wish I could find the problem signatures, but the last I reported, for being an ad for a personal business, apparently was OK because the TOS had been changed to allow it and I was unaware.

However, I had reported a few when I'm certain it was against the TOS and never received a reply and the signature remained.
Who did you report it to?

If you reported it to the forum moderator, perhaps the moderator wasn't aware of the proper channel to then pass the information along to the appropriate parties. (Regular moderators don't have any direct oversight of signatures.)
Also, before there was the sig com it would be up to the mod who it was reported to to review it. Perhaps they reviewed it and their view of it differed from yours?

I know I spent a fair amount of time killing signature spam before the rules were changed.
Sorry, I can't remember. It was a while ago.

If someone is advertising a personal business, and it clearly says so, well, that was a violation of the TOS at the time. If their view differed, well, then they weren't abiding by the rules. At a minimum, I would have expected a response from the mod, such as I got when I was told the TOS were changed.