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Originally Posted by ddallas
(Post 20824200)
+1
I think Daraius had been trying to position his blog as being more straightforward and transparent than the other blogs. If he would have introduced the guest blogger "And now here's an article about Lufthansa by Drew," people would have applauded and it would have been a non-issue. As it was, when readers mentioned Drew's byline in comments, if Drew wrote the article Daraius should have quickly acknowledged that Drew wrote the article. I believe that would have been the smarter thing to do. Removing Drew's name as author of the article and not responding to questions about it is what has created Authorgate and made it an issue. |
Originally Posted by FlyFasterFlyFarther
(Post 20820004)
It's deceitful. Usually it's done to make it appear as though multiple people share the same point of view, or at least more people do than otherwise care to comment. The goal then is to persuade readers based on frequency with which an opinion is hed.
It's used as a cover for spam. If you post the same message 20 times, I think it's reasonable to view doing so as spam meant to drown out productive conversation. But if 20 different people do it, that's not spam that's a whole bunch of people expressing an opinion in the same way. Ultimately if your concern is "deceiving the readers" (though I am always surprised by how many people here are concerned with these nameless, faceless 'other' readers that are clearly downtrodden and in need of sympathy and protection) then it seems like you should also not want deceipt by commenters. Just as you also wouldn't want deceit by forum community members who post misinformation on deal threads in order to prevent people from taking advantage of deals and keep those deals alive longer for themselves. The most outrageously "deceitful" action is posting content as if it was your own work, rather than admitting is was paid content - and it's even worse when you refuse to answer when called out about the fraud (which is what it is) while holding yourself out to be as clean as the driven snow. Sort of reminds me of Bernie Madoff in a way - an "upstanding" citizen by outward appearances, but a scumbag and a fraud in reality. |
MMS has now instituted an official censoring policy. It now has the honor of being the 2nd blog in the last 5 years that I've deleted from my RSS and reading rotation. Too bad; I used to give that guy some referrals.
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Originally Posted by hotelmotel
(Post 20829136)
MMS has now instituted an official censoring policy. It now has the honor of being the 2nd blog in the last 5 years that I've deleted from my RSS and reading rotation. Too bad; I used to give that guy some referrals.
MMS crunched the numbers. He saw how much dough he's pulling in from this 10 piece LH filler Mother in Law gets kicked to the curb As is usually the case with CC links, integrity can be bought |
This whole thread has been amusing to read. It's quite enjoyable to see you bloggers ripping each other apart. Enjoy hiding behind the accusations of censorship - the average reader can tell that this is internet drama to discredit each other so that you can each get more referral links. I agree that a noob may be awed by the Lufthansa post that MMS passed off as his own. However, I think that people like me, who are casual players at this points game, have quickly determined which blogs contain useful, well-researched information, and which ones are just credit card shills which promote the same cards over and over again with their affiliate links. You are all just making yourselves look bad. Just my two cents.
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Originally Posted by dgxoxo
(Post 20833989)
This whole thread has been amusing to read. It's quite enjoyable to see you bloggers ripping each other apart. Enjoy hiding behind the accusations of censorship - the average reader can tell that this is internet drama to discredit each other so that you can each get more referral links. I agree that a noob may be awed by the Lufthansa post that MMS passed off as his own. However, I think that people like me, who are casual players at this points game, have quickly determined which blogs contain useful, well-researched information, and which ones are just credit card shills which promote the same cards over and over again with their affiliate links. You are all just making yourselves look bad. Just my two cents.
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Originally Posted by yerffej201
(Post 20834041)
I'm fairly sure most of the posters here do not have blogs with affiliate links.
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Originally Posted by brooklynmatt
(Post 20834950)
Out of choice, or lack of readership?
You should do an Affiliate Links 101 post to educate us all;) |
Originally Posted by gpapadop
(Post 20835556)
To me, at least, it is mostly out of ignorance and lack of time to research this confusing area.
You should do an Affiliate Links 101 post to educate us all;) But someone told me that I should keep them shorter.... Ill see what I can do for you George. |
Recommended reading for those interested in the economics behind affiliate linking which seems to be the basis for increased censorship on blogs:
Loyalty Traveler - BAcon Bits about credit card affiliate marketing |
Originally Posted by bubb1
(Post 20836603)
Recommended reading for those interested in the economics behind affiliate linking which seems to be the basis for increased censorship on blogs:
The only example of new/increased comment filtering seems to be speculation about MMS, and that's driven by 'authorgate' (and while the posts in question contain affiliate links, the issue isn't the links as much as questions over who wrote the posts). An equally plausible explanation for comment censoring -- if it's on the increase and as I say I only know of speculation about one blog possibly changing its approach -- is all of the snarky comments about affiliate linking. It doesn't seem like censorship is on the rise, although it certainly exists (and has existed) on some blogs (for a long time). And it does seem like much of what's deleted (and has been on those blogs that censor) relates to affilaite credit card stuff. But whether that's a function of affiliate links per se or the increasing level of snark by some (including some that frequent this forum) is itself debatable. ;) |
Originally Posted by brooklynmatt
(Post 20834950)
Out of choice, or lack of readership?
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Originally Posted by FlyFasterFlyFarther
(Post 20836634)
The only example of new/increased comment filtering seems to be speculation about MMS, and that's driven by 'authorgate' (and while the posts in question contain affiliate links, the issue isn't the links as much as questions over who wrote the posts).
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Can we add FT to the list of places where comments are censored?
Or have we all forgotten that comments get censored here, any talk about mods gets summary dismissal and stern warnings? As is common in this new forum, I feel I see a pot and a black kettle |
Originally Posted by gpapadop
(Post 20835556)
To me, at least, it is mostly out of ignorance and lack of time to research this confusing area.
You should do an Affiliate Links 101 post to educate us all;) |
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