I’m just confused… I’m pretty new to both communities. Here’s what happened: I submitted a post, giving an overview of an excel budgeting workbook I’ve been working on for a while, and asking for some input from the community on how I could make it better. It was taken down and I was instantly permanently banned. I asked the moderators why because Reddit was cutting off their message. Only for them to reply to me: “Rule 2”, which is the advertising/self-promotion rule. However, with me not going to sell the workbook, the only part of that rule I seemingly broke was “no soliciting market feedback.” Which is fine, I understand if they want to crack down on me for that; however, when I asked if that was the case I got no reply. Then I asked if I had attached my workbook (so it would clearly be free) if that still would have broken the rule, and they muted me for the next month… without saying anything again… I’ve never had someone be so unwilling to be reasoned with, or to at least show me some grace since I was new. Am I able to ask for feedback on my Excel budgeting workbook here? If so, are there any requirements I should be aware of so that it’s not seen as self-promotion?
When you enter a community, it’s a good idea to read the rules before you post. This community also has a rule against advertising and self-promotion. Something being ‘free’ doesn’t mean you aren’t offering/selling a product, and when you are the author/creator of that product, it’s self-promotion. If you think differently, message the mods and get clarity or approval for what you want to do before you do something contrary to the rules. Mods are willing to help guide new users but don’t have much patience for people spamming their product wherever they can.
Thanks for giving useful advice. And I understand what you’re saying about something being free not disqualifying something from self-promotion. But then, is there not a way for me to ask for feedback on my idea? I genuinely just want to make it the best that it can be and then give it out to anyone who would want it to help people.
@Hartley
Write to the mods and get their opinion/permission.
Ask your friends or add it to Facebook. I’m sure these subs get dozens of people trying to do market research per day. They don’t have time to sort through which ones are honest mistakes. You’re free to make a new user, rejoin, and follow the rules.
I’m unsure about the rules for posting I only give comments. Though I have been banned for giving my opinion on another sub, and when I responded. No response. I can see being permanently banned for hate speech or attacking someone, but getting banned for an opinion just seems odd.
I also got banned for leaning in a little bit on someone for making stupid financial decisions.
Hale said:
I also got banned for leaning in a little bit on someone for making stupid financial decisions.
What do you mean?
Hale said:
I also got banned for leaning in a little bit on someone for making stupid financial decisions.
What do you mean?
I mean I was telling them to stop spending $1000 a month on Starbucks or something and they banned me for harassment or something.
I got banned for including part of my personal budget being $250 a month for a case of 9mm. No worries. It happens to probably most of us here.
Welcome to Reddit.
I got banned from a subreddit for making a playlist on Spotify of every song mentioned in a ‘what song makes you happy’ thread then sharing it in a comment. I did that before on another subreddit and it was the highest voted comment with tons of replies thanking me. It happens. Mods aren’t exactly known for being consistent.
The mods on Reddit are power hungry losers who get off on the mute button. Don’t take it personally.
The r/personalfinance channel is well known as serial banner, just forget it and use other channels (like this one).
You look to be collecting information by your polls here. Not saying you couldn’t just be trying to have community and conversation, but it looks like you’re collecting information for product development.
It’s a little of both. I tried to make them such that people would enjoy them regardless of what I’m working on, because I thought the sub would enjoy seeing them too. It’s also been a cool way for me to engage with people and learn about systems I hadn’t heard of before. I can’t deny that I’m working on my Excel workbook and input is always useful. But I was mostly just looking for fun ways to engage the community quickly. It’s impossible to divorce my actions from my motives, but I wouldn’t necessarily say my motive is data collection. I’m not recording or reanalyzing the results closely, I’m just trying to get a pulse on the community. Do you have any suggestions here?