Harm reduction in the Steroid Underground subforum - this is NOT a source forum

[Millard]

It was a typo. Yes, the members criticizised the source but what about some poor bastard who possibly got a false sense of trust because of the highlighted sponsor tag and got hurt as a result of using that product? There's always some. It's not like taking a bit too much testosterone.

I thought it was relevant to point this out after seeing the fentanyl discussing. I don't see how dnp is that much different.

The advertiser-supported revenue model has been around forever with newspapers, magazines, journals, television, and the internet.

Advertisers know they are not buying endorsements. And readers know that advertisements are paid placements and not endorsements. There is a presumption and expectation of editorial independence especially for journalistic and news-based publications.

But I guess this common knowledge about the way things work everywhere else is thrown out the window for some people when it comes to AAS-related websites/forums.

Having said that, I understand where you are coming from since most such AAS-related sites are source forums where the "approved sources" just happen to be the ones that pay for banners. What a coincidence. In other words, the forums explicitly endorse the paid advertisers. Why anyone would trust paid endorsements - I don't know.

This is one of the reasons I created this thread. To make it clear that MESO is NOT like other forums. It is NOT a source forum.

 

[Millard]

Where is it the new meso promo rules written I have missed it! (Very angry)

This is very sad I don't understand the reason for it... But rules are rules, I guess.

I think you are in a very small minority of members (and even sources) who enjoy seeing source threads spammed full of marketing graphics and promotional banners.

You can't please everyone.

 

[Sampei]

I think you are in a very small minority of members (and even sources) who enjoy seeing source threads spammed full of marketing graphics and promotional banners.

You can't please everyone.

Actually I'm not pleased cuz now I can't see pussy on catcafe thread. Of course I don't give a fuck and I don't like marketing graphics and promotional banners.

But I fucking love catathlete

 

[Liska]

You can't please everyone.

I am confused what counts as promotional material,as you recently deleted this picture when there was nothing being promoted in the post at all:


Could you tell me which of the following pictures are within the new rules and which are not please?

1.


2.

3.

 

[Jet Labs]

I am confused what counts as promotional material,as you recently deleted this picture when there was nothing being promoted in the post at all:
View attachment 175660

Could you tell me which of the following pictures are within the new rules and which are not please?

1.
View attachment 175662

2. View attachment 175663

3. View attachment 175665

Awwwwwwwwwww

 

[Millard]

I am confused what counts as promotional material,as you recently deleted this picture when there was nothing being promoted in the post at all:
View attachment 175660

Could you tell me which of the following pictures are within the new rules and which are not please?

1.
View attachment 175662

2. View attachment 175663

3. View attachment 175665

None of these are permitted. All are clearly promoting your brand name.

 

[Millard]

Actually I'm not pleased cuz now I can't see pussy on catcafe thread. Of course I don't give a fuck and I don't like marketing graphics and promotional banners.

But I fucking love catathlete

Sorry. No one receives special treatment.

 

[Liska]

None of these are permitted. All are clearly promoting your brand name.

I don't have a brand name and none of my products have any brand name on them, which is intentional. Regardless, this rule has not stopped promo spamming, touchdown picture spam or incentivized reviews from littering source threads with shitty posts, so if you actually want the focus to be genuine discussion, please consider banning those too.

 

[Millard]

I don't have a brand name and none of my products have any brand name on them, which is intentional

Who are you kidding? Your thread is entitled "Cat Cafe".

 

[Liska]

Who are you kidding? Your thread is entitled "Cat Cafe".

I'm not interested in arguing this further, I don't mind conceding this and I don't mind banning all pictures that can be related to any brand because I don't want to take attention away from the point that going all in on this while allowing the other things I just mentioned to remain may not achieve the intended goal.

 

[Millard]

I'm not interested in arguing this further, I don't mind conceding this and I don't mind banning all pictures that can be related to any brand because I don't want to take attention away from the point that going all in on this while allowing the other things I just mentioned to remain may not achieve the intended goal.

It really doesn't matter what you mind doing or don't mind doing. You have no choice if you wish to comply with the prohibition against in-thread promotional banners and marketing graphics.

Your cat-themed marketing is clever but I found it shockingly disingenuous of you to suggest that your cat-related graphics have no connection to the promotion of your services/products.

You lobbied aggressively for this prohibition on this type of in-thread marketing but you seem to have forgotten that the rules apply to you just the same as your competitors.

Similarly, of the issues you've mentioned, you've already discovered first-hand that the posting of TD photos by a sources is prohibited. And be assured that this doesn't just apply to you - it applies to all sources.

Customer incentivization is a big problem that provides a challenge for websites like MESO.

At the core, is the fact that many people who post in source threads are not doing it primarily for the good of the community or harm reduction. They are doing so out of self-interest e.g. the source gives them a credit or a discount or freebies, etc if they post a review or post photos. Sometimes this is an explicit quid pro quo.

Other times it is not so obvious. For example, I don't think it is lost on anyone that if they say something positive about a source, there is a good chance they may receive special treatment or some "reward" from the source.

This can and does occur even when a member is motivated to post for the good of the community. What can be done? Does it just goes with the territory? Can members be blamed if a source unknowingly decides to send freebies in their next order? Similarly, could sources be blamed for what would be good business practice in any other business?

Along these lines, some members join the forum solely to participate in a particular source's thread promoting the source with positive reviews and repeatedly and regularly bumping the thread with banter or topical discussions that would be more appropriate in other subforums.

And this is not solely an issue in your competitors' threads. It's an issue in your thread just like any other.

When 9 out every 10 posts a member posts is in a single source thread, you have to wonder especially if they are positive and non-critical posts.

You have quite the influence among your customers. Maybe you can set an example and encourage them to post off-topic discussions in the appropriate subforum or to contribute to the forum in a more meaningful way than simply bumping your thread regularly.

I won't blame you if you don't because this isn't necessarily in your self-interest.

However, I think it is in the best interest of the forum and the community for sources' customers to contribute more broadly than simply hanging out in their favorite source's forum.

How's that for genuine discussion?

 

[Millard]

Can i ask what cat promo discounts mean and how to get them ? If I understand correctly, people who send a picture of a cat/cats with received product, they'll get a discount for next order?
If so, it's very sad that decent and honest people are out of luck of getting discount on promise because of this crooks and scammers

Maybe @Liska can explain when it is acceptable to incentivize customers for touchdown/marketing photos and when it is not?

 

[Liska]

It really doesn't matter what you mind doing or don't mind doing. You have no choice if you wish to comply with the prohibition against in-thread promotional banners and marketing graphics.

I have no choice but to accept this of course, but I do have the choice of pointing out that I consider you deeming a picture of cat themed socks on human feet as promotional material for my brand a bit far-fetched rather than "shockingly disingenous".

Your cat-themed marketing is clever but I found it shockingly disingenuous of you to suggest that your cat-related graphics have no connection to the promotion of your services/products.

You know very well that it's not a clever business decision in this industry, that would be naming my brand "Pharma pharmacopeia pharmaceuticals very GMP ft. Pfizer & Eli Lilly" and other copycattery.

You lobbied aggressively for this prohibition on this type of in-thread marketing but you seem to have forgotten that the rules apply to you just the same as your competitors.

I was not aware of your interpretation of these rules precisely (as very few rules are explained in detail or to be found easily at all), hence me presenting a bunch of pictures to you - now I know.

This can and does occur even when a member is motivated to post for the good of the community. What can be done? It's just goes with the territory and can members be blamed if a source decides to send freebies in their next order? Similarly, could sources be blamed for what would be good business practice in any other business?

Meso isn't a business board so sources can absolutely be blamed for what would be good business practices in any other business - such as promotional banners. It's your territory, so you decide what goes with it.

So many members join the forum solely to participate in a particular source's thread promoting the source with positive reviews and repeatedly and regularly bumping the thread with banter or topical discussions that would be more appropriate in other subforums.

And this is not solely an issue in your competitors' threads. It's as big an issue in your thread as any.

Yes, this makes longer threads very difficult if not useless for gathering information, though the search engine kind of fixes this entirely, but not everyone knows that unfortunately. Can you ban all off-topic posts and banter?

You have quite the influence among your customers. Maybe you can set an example and encourage them to post off-topic discussions in the appropriate subforum or to contribute to the forum in a more meaningful way than simply bumping your thread regularly.

I won't blame you if you don't because this isn't necessarily in your self-interest.

I won't blame you for not reading every thread either but I've always been doing this to an extent and asking people to make separate threads with appropiate titles so they can be found via the search engine. I have no power over those that I would consider trolls that just spam trash all over the board as that's not forbidden by your rules, and those make up the vast majority of off-topic posts as they bait others into responding to them. When people bump my thread (usually with the same old questions) I always tell them that there is no secret information to gain by doing that/asking me, and to stop doing that.

Maybe @Liska can explain when it is acceptable to incentivize customers for touchdown/marketing photos and when it is not?

Correct me if I'm wrong: This is always acceptable by your rules. It doesn't seem like any member or source fully understands your rules based on the amount of posts you've flagged for offending this latest one since its inception, but you seem to be slightly mad at me for trying to figure it out.

 

[Millard]

I have no choice but to accept this of course, but I do have the choice of pointing out that I consider you deeming a picture of cat themed socks on human feet as promotional material for my brand a bit far-fetched rather than "shockingly disingenous".

Far-fetched? Wow.

It's blatant and obvious marketing to promote your brand.

Are you really going to argue that your posting of anything cat-related isn't self-promotional in nature?

Go for it.

 

[Millard]

It doesn't seem like any member or source fully understands your rules based on the amount of posts you've flagged for offending this latest one since its inception, but you seem to be slightly mad at me for trying to figure it out.

I was not aware of your interpretation of these rules precisely (as very few rules are explained in detail or to be found easily at all), hence me presenting a bunch of pictures to you - now I know.

In case you have forgotten, it was literally spelled out:

EFFECTIVELY IMMEDIATELY:

--> In-thread promotional banners and marketing graphics are NOT permitted in the "Steroid Underground" subforum. (Examples include JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, TIFF, and BMP file extensions. Note that this list is not inclusive.)

--> In-thread contests are NOT permitted in the "Steroid Underground" subforum.

If in doubt, avoid the use of all graphics and images.

The only explicit exceptions involve the posting of:

--> screen shots or scans of product lab testing reports

--> original products photos within reason

If you are really as confused as you claim to be, then pay attention to the part below. It's all you really need to know when it comes to this new rule:

If in doubt, avoid the use of all graphics and images.

The only explicit exceptions involve the posting of:

--> screen shots or scans of product lab testing reports

--> original products photos within reason

 

[Liska]

Far-fetched? Wow.

It's blatant and obvious marketing to promote your brand.

Are you really going to argue that your posting of anything cat-related isn't self-promotional in nature?

Go for it.

You've also removed a picture of a dog as promotional material, so I'm definitely in doubt now about all animals as well as humans dressed up as animals. I tried to concede this point already to avoid having this argument with you, so if you could take me up on that already we can move on.

 

[Millard]

You've also removed a picture of a dog as promotional material, so I'm definitely in doubt now about all animals as well as humans dressed up as animals. I tried to concede this point already to avoid having this argument with you, so if you could take me up on that already we can move on.

No. I'd rather you make your case.

I'm open-minded.

I don't think it is possible to argue that your posting of anything cat-related isn't self-promotional in nature.

Prove me wrong.

 

[Liska]

No. I'd rather you make your case.

I'm open-minded.

I don't think it is possible to argue that your posting of anything cat-related isn't self-promotional in nature.

Prove me wrong.

Do you really need me to post what comes up searching for "cat adrenal glands" on Google because if you consider that promotional material it says more about you than me

 

[Millard]

Can you ban all off-topic posts and banter?

This would require heavy censorship across the forum. There are more negatives to this approach than positive. This is not a real solution. Encouraging best forum practices (as you've mentioned) seems to be a much better approach.

 

[Millard]

Do you really need me to post what comes up searching for "cat adrenal glands" on Google because if you consider that promotional material it says more about you than me

Is your argument that cat images are not promotional on MESO because they don't influence Google result pages? Seriously.

I didn't realize think you were posting on MESO in order to influence SERPs. Or are you comparing yourself to other sources who do?

You've created a brand on MESO such that anything cat-related is connected to you by most regular members. That's clever marketing.

I'm not sure why you are trying to argue otherwise. It's pretty obvious to everyone and most customers who end up finding you here.

Cat images may not benefit you on Google. But they certainly do on MESO.

Keep trying. I expect better.