I think it's a blurry line when you're using a community in both a personal and professional capacity. Ideally you should have two different accounts to signal whether you're representing yourself or the company though there will be some overlap.
But mentioning your kid's college fund? Most companies exist to support people's livelihoods - likely every other company that post on steamfashion will use the money for something important like food or rent or study or even a college fund. They just don't mention it because it's unprofessional, and it's not selling the product on its merits, it's selling yourself. Which is fine if you're asking for emergency donations (some of which I have gladly contributed to) but 99% of running a business should NOT be charity work.
And slightly OT - steamfashion is becoming EVEN MORE of a case of who can be the better sycophant. Having a supportive community is one thing, but these days the mods aren't even trying to maintain the illusion of impartiality.
And slightly OT - steamfashion is becoming EVEN MORE of a case of who can be the better sycophant. Having a supportive community is one thing, but these days the mods aren't even trying to maintain the illusion of impartiality.
Good god. Doesn't it just make you sick? Sometimes I feel that it's not so much a steampunk fashion community so much as it is a "promote the mods' friends" community.
I'm kind of over steampunk because that community annoys me so much. The punk thing is about DIY and individuality, and while I can respect your expensive outfit as art, it's not punk in any way! Plus that particular group of people seems to think steampunk is exclusively Victorian. Blah.
At least that's what I took the first part to be, the reason why they're in business is to take advantage of the steampunk craze, something that said moderator has been critical of people doing over on brassgoggles.
Ooh, I misinterpreted what you meant with your above comment. I thought you meant that a moderator had become part of someone's business, i.e. they were collaborators or had invested money in it or were getting kickbacks. But, blah, jaborwhalky. That's enough for me.
I really think a no advertising rule is the way to go, a little like what craftgrrl has set up. You can show off your pics, just don't link to your shop. If people really want to know where they can buy stuff they can look on your LJ profile.
As for the steamjunk (great word btw) it'd be kind of difficult to implement a rule for *only* good items, but I think the above rule would cut down on a lot of junk.
Of course I'm living in fantasy-land to believe that any of this will ever happen.
There comes a point where over-exposure crosses that extremely thin line into being spam.
It would be one thing if people kept mentioning this one designer's clothing over and over again, and people got pointed in that direction {like Kambriel or Brute Force Leather} but it's something completely different to wish people a happy holiday, {just that nothing else} and then put the link to your website underneath it.
I mean a few days ago said person posted *3* times in the span of 24 hours. That's a little much for most people's OWN journals, let alone on a community that you're not moderating {unless they ARE moderating it...?}
I think it's a blurry line when you're using a community in both a personal and professional capacity. Ideally you should have two different accounts to signal whether you're representing yourself or the company though there will be some overlap.
But mentioning your kid's college fund? Most companies exist to support people's livelihoods - likely every other company that post on steamfashion will use the money for something important like food or rent or study or even a college fund. They just don't mention it because it's unprofessional, and it's not selling the product on its merits, it's selling yourself. Which is fine if you're asking for emergency donations (some of which I have gladly contributed to) but 99% of running a business should NOT be charity work.
And slightly OT - steamfashion is becoming EVEN MORE of a case of who can be the better sycophant. Having a supportive community is one thing, but these days the mods aren't even trying to maintain the illusion of impartiality.
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Good god. Doesn't it just make you sick? Sometimes I feel that it's not so much a steampunk fashion community so much as it is a "promote the mods' friends" community.
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Apparently it works doubly for the internet as it's spread over to BrassGoggles:
http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,20376.0.html
Thankfully they have far LESS power over there than they do in steamfashion.
Logan
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Logan
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At least that's what I took the first part to be, the reason why they're in business is to take advantage of the steampunk craze, something that said moderator has been critical of people doing over on brassgoggles.
Logan
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(The comment has been removed)
As for the steamjunk (great word btw) it'd be kind of difficult to implement a rule for *only* good items, but I think the above rule would cut down on a lot of junk.
Of course I'm living in fantasy-land to believe that any of this will ever happen.
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It would be one thing if people kept mentioning this one designer's clothing over and over again, and people got pointed in that direction {like Kambriel or Brute Force Leather} but it's something completely different to wish people a happy holiday, {just that nothing else} and then put the link to your website underneath it.
I mean a few days ago said person posted *3* times in the span of 24 hours. That's a little much for most people's OWN journals, let alone on a community that you're not moderating {unless they ARE moderating it...?}
Logan
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