were yours. But it was spam. It was pure advertisement with no other content at all. That's what spam is. That's why people flagged it.

I find that the people who scream the loudest are often the ones who know they are going against the rules. And the rules are there to protect the rights of everyone on this site, not just yours. There's a rather well-known (in some circles) blogsite that is no longer rated by Technorati, among other things, because of rampant spam and plagiarism.

So, the next time you want to scream about your rights, remember that there are dozens of other bloggers on this site who are also concerned about their rights and about the future of their blogs.

I'm not screaming. How does one scream in text, anyways?

And no, it wasn't spam. Believe it or not, there are people who actually LIKE to be told about surveys and other ways they can earn freebies or win contests. I am one of them - I make it a huge part of my day to scan the 'net and find what I can, and enter what I can. I have a dedicated email for it, because when I join I may get ads - but even those ads aren't spam if I knowingly signed up for them.

Not to mention freebies are a HUGE paying adword - people search for freebies all the time, so it brings traffic to a site to offer them.

And I did include some content. And I did write it myself. And it was not spam.

it is spam-its advertising something. I am not against advertising anything especially if it is free, but there are sites specifically for that. This is not one of them. This site is for writing-plain and simple. If you read the posts from most here, you will find no advertising in any of them. Those that do-get flagged.
Like I said, I am not against any free stuff, but here isn't the place for it.

There is advertising an almost all the posts here. I can point it all out to you, if you like.

Some people take the flyers that get handed to their door and recycle them without looking. Others look carefully, clip coupons, and appreciate having them.

I wanted to write a freebie blog to appeal to the people who love deals. This is a blog site - it's called BloggerParter. It's not called 'writers corner' or anything like that (and there are lots of sites like that).

There was a post that had one line and a link - that's an ad. I didn't do that, I commented on the freebie I was posting and why I chose to share it. That's totally, completely different.

you will find it's only writing, not all, which is why they also get flagged. It's just that it becomes so overwhelming to have to weed thru the stuff that is just ads and the actual stuff people write that are true posts. It is great that you want to share the stuff you come across that is free. I suppose it's just a difference of opinion.

Why is it that it's ok to post an ad for Blogative (for instance), but not ok to post about a survey? As I see it, it's all the same. People trying to make money from their blog site. Does it make a difference to ad *this is a paid post* before the body of the article? Will that be less offensive to people?
Ask manodogs and he'll tell you that PPP and blogative won't accept community blog sites. So, why bother to be offended or irritated? I don't like ad posts of any kind, so I just don't read them.

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ads and would probably flag them (especially when people like Gracepub post 10 of them in a row), except they are allowed. Unfortunately, flooding is apparently also allowed on BloggerParty.

TheQueen, if you had written more than the bare minimum on your post, if you had included something besides just pure advertising, maybe something about how you go about finding freebies - anything that was informative - ANYTHING that wasn't just an advertisement - the people who flagged you would not have done so - and neither would I. You didn't. Your post was nothing but an ad. You can disput this all you like, your argument doesn't change the facts.

And let's also mention that the freebie you were advertising was a recognized scam. There have been so many writeups of these so-called freebies that it's just plain silly to have to point it out.

As for the screaming, maybe that was a poor choice of words. But the tone of this post and your comment to Admin was most certainly shouting.

I do accept paid opportunities on my sites, and I can understand not wanting to read them. Truly. Hell, I blog about them and I don't want to read them. That's WHY I mark it up top. It's a warning that this is a paid ad and if you want to ignore it, that's fine with me.

BUT..... (knew it was coming, didn't you?)

A) I try to make it interesting. Some are harder than others, but I try. If I really can't think of any way to tie it in to my life or tell a story about it, I'll almost always skip it. And I don't blog here much anymore, but I try to put a good ratio of actual writing to ads.

B) Blogitive and PayPerPost won't let you place their ads here. Know why? Because it's devolved into such a crap-hole in the eyes of their advertisers that they won't run them. A link is a link is a link, right? No. Not if it comes from a "bad neighborhood" of the web, which is what Google or Payperpost or Blogitive has deemed this to be. Whether it's a fair assessment or not, this place ranks right alongside porn. So the idea that there's REAL writing (whatever the hell that's supposed to be) makes me laugh just a little. Certainly there is, but it's not like anyone's going to discover it with this domain name attached.

C) For the last four years, my husband had to live apart from our family due to work. See, he could live with my mom, STILL drive an hour to and from work each day, and see us all on the weekend. FOUR YEARS. My daughter is five. You do the math. We are living together now, and the main thing that helped achieve this was doing paid ads. It was just enough of a bump to make it possible. So I'm not about to apologize to anybody, because the only other way to do it involves selling illegal substances or me on my back. I am saying anything I want about these companies (and trying to tie it in to my own life as I said above), including some very unfavorable reviews. They get the link, which is all they want anyway. I've made my peace with how I earn my money.

I understand not wanting to read them. I REALLY understand not wanting to write them. I also understand that I'm the only one who has to answer for my actions, and when I balance the occasional paid link with my kids needing a father- there's not even a contest.

Finally, I'm not looking for a debate or anything. I suspect I won't even check this thread again. I know your viewpoints already, but I wanted to make sure you at least have the opportunity to know mine.

First - I never shout, even offline, even when I am angry. And to say I am angry is actually extreme, because I'm not. I was expressing frustration. And I was not shouting in any way. And how you can make definitive statements on the tone of my text is beyond me.

Second - I have no knowledge of that freebie being a scam. If it's true, I'd like to know more.

Third - I'll take your comment to hear about adding more content. Personally, I prefer short posts that get to the point, which is why I usually write that way, and not just on my freebie blog - I write for other blogs too. So again, it's a personal preference. I like short posts, you like long ones and think short ones are spam. As for your claim of 'the facts' of my post, and how I can't dispute them, I can. I posted that I thought the situation was crazy and that I wondered what the 'mystery illness' was. I did not just posts a link – THAT would have been an ad.

Fourth - I, personally, am bothered by the bloggers on this site who posts several articles in a row, that are clearly chosen just because they are high traffic keywords, and will bring search engine traffic and clicks to Adsense. These bother me ad they are so contrived, and you don't even get to see the people's personality. At least with me, I chose which freebies I like and share those (believe me I don't share all that i find - that would be flooding the site). But, I don't go flagging those posts because if I don't want to red them, I can simply skip them. this whole business of flagging for removal seems to be based a lot on personal opinion.

Fifth - regarding my post to admin: there doesn't seem to be a lot of admin involvement on the site, which is frustrating. I am frustrated that people who don't like freebies will flag my posts as 'spam' and they get deleted ... and that there is no interaction with admin about it. Again, I don't see how you can say I was 'yelling', since text is so hard to interpret, and I think that I am the only one who really knows my tone, so if I say I am not yelling, I'm not.

You want to insist that you know my intentions and know my tone, and the truth is you know neither. I did not just drop a spam bomb on the site, I shared a freebie that I chose from several that I could have shared, because I seriously think that the Paris Hilton situation is beyond bizarre, and is worth commenting on. Then, when I felt that it was wrongly removed as 'spam', I calmly expressed frustration. I do think that the flagging is out of hand here these days. There seems to be an active elite-like group who think they should control content of the site, and the way the flagging is set up allows that. I think that is a serious issue, which is why I posted about it.

So, my turn to comment, if I may.

I think both sides have hit upon one very important thing, that being preferences. It's hard to write so that everyone likes what's being said. Some people have a very short spam meter; others have a very short adult content meter. And some people are very content to let bygones be bygones, no matter what.

The only spam I flag is those folks who post multiples at a time, and I'm talking at least 5 or more. Most of the time, you find that stuff is plagiarized, and it's just got to go. I hate when it messes things up for everyone else who's posted something that may never get read by the masses because it's disappeared from the top ten almost immediately.

If I see one or two line posts, and they look somewhat spammy, I'll usually make a sarcastic response rather than just blast it away. But I also think I'm a pretty good judge of what's spam and what's not. I will admit, though, that there are times when the line is so close that I'm not sure; I'll usually leave it alone, but with a comment of some type; that is, if I'm interested enough in it to care.

I believe that as most of us get to know each other, we'll get to know the writing styles and all will be good. For awhile, it seemed like there were only 4 or 5 regular posters for a few months (some of us came here after BlogFeast crashed just one time too many), and we already knew each other's styles. Then other people started coming, either new people or folks who had been here, then disappeared. This is pretty much how communities work in the real world also. Sometimes the introductions are bumpy, but people get used to each other and move on.

At this point, I feel pretty good about Queen, and, though I understand you being upset, the way you've handled this last thing has been graceful, and in my mind, you've shown that you're not a fly-by-night spammer, no matter how you write. So, at least from me, you'll never see me flag your posts.

One last thing; as it pertains to Admin, she is attentive, as she's the one who deletes posts after being alerted to them by more than one person. So, though PW flagged it, someone else had to flag it also for her to decide to take a look at it. She has written me whenever I've asked a question, though I've only asked maybe two questions, so she's around. And I like that, so I'll support her as being active also. Course, you have to either put her name in the title of the thread, or write her directly, as I'm betting she won't see every message without it.

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Thanks Catfish, I appreciate the comments. I am glad to hear from you that the admin is more active than it seems. I understand that a lot of it is behind the scenes, so I apologize for the comment that she seemed absent from the site.

I almost missed your post, since it went up the same time my last response did. I completely appreciate where you are coming from, and I can relate. My online income makes the difference between eating and not eating sometimes, so I know how important it is. I do some paid posts where I try to work the link in, and like you I try to tie it in to my real life – which has worked since we really do need plastic surgery in our family, and so many of those links are plastic surgery sites hehe. The freebies I post in an effort to attract other people like me – the ones who are looking for freebies and ways to earn or win money. I'd like to gain a following of them and then eventually earn some Adsense from it (currently there is very little earnings from Adsense, but I know it takes time). With a site that has shared Adsense earning, I thought this would be a great place to start, and am a bit shocked at the response I have gotten from some people. Though, to be fair, I also get good responses, so I know that there are people who appreciate having a freebie blog to check.