Hijacking posts and threads

[Japan_Car_Exports]

Hello all,

Its starting to happen more frequently: someone posts a new thread or makes a comment, and other members hijack the thread by posting commercial replies and nothing useful. Or, a member asks a question and non-supporting members post persistant ads and don't contribute to the advancement of the forum.

I admit I had done a few in the past, but we're an exclusive sponsor and have only replied to non-supporting member's "ads". I know we're allowed some room to tell people who we are as a company, so I don't take our sponsorship to the limit. Non-supporting members just come and don't offer anything constructive. They even leave posts with lists of items for sale!!

Am I the only one who is getting annoyed by it? Sensible people will see the bad posts for what they are, but it still is annoying.

[swoop]

I'm with you on that.:mad: There is a place to advertise your business on this site.

When a company barges into a post and dumps their irrelevant ad in the middle of a discussion it reminds me of a pushy used car salesman. You know the kind you find on your local TV channels late at night that think they cen get you to buy a car by screaming at you for 45 seconds.

I take my money elsewhere.

[Acerguy]

Kevin and I have had some discussion on this subject and he posted this (http://www.minitrucktalk.com/announcement.php?f=18) which is at the top of each forum. It's a toughie as sometimes it seems like the original poster will be "fishing" for a dealer. Swoop, I like your point about "irrelevant" posts and perhaps that should be the guideline. And if there is someone you think is being particularly egregious, don't hesitate to let Kevin or me or JRinTX know.

Personally, what chaps me the most lately are the cross-post; someone posting the exact same question in three different forums. People like me who click on "New Posts" whenever they check in have to wade through these. :mad:

[Acerguy]

I want to tone down my above note about cross posting a notch as I know we have a lot of brand-spankin' new members. We're still small so some forums have more eyes on them than others but, in general, try to limit posting questions to one, or at most two, forums. This helps prevent a proliferation of repetitive questions. Also, make use of the "search" function as much as possible. Finally, check out the nifty "new posts" function right up there. Click it when you log in and see all the posts in all the forums that are new since your last visit. It's pretty handy. All in the name of minitrucktalk.com etiquette. ;)

OK...now I'm dragging this off topic. :sly: (thanks Kevin for adding my favorite smilie for little old suspicious me....and the headbanger too :frustration: )