Sponsored experts

[vikkib]

Announcements - Soil Expert

Out of curiosity where are the announcement threads/posts in terms of navigation? The path for that says 'Forum' -> 'Announcements -> It's finally here, the Grow Your Own Experts forum!' but when I look on the main forum page I can't see an 'Announcements' section.

Ah - I see it's at the top of the new section.

[vikkib]

And peeps - it's not like we've never seen an ad before.

Absolutely but the ads on the Vine, up 'til now, have been very clearly demarcated. It's just quite a big change of style and tone to have ads worked into the actual text of the threads.

But as has been said we'll have to give it a chance and see how it goes.

[rustylady]

Absolutely but the ads on the Vine, up 'til now, have been very clearly demarcated. It's just quite a big change of style and tone to have ads worked into the actual text of the threads.

But as has been said we'll have to give it a chance and see how it goes.

Vikki, it's hard to miss the advertising on Carbon Gold's posts.

[zazen999]

Absolutely but the ads on the Vine, up 'til now, have been very clearly demarcated. It's just quite a big change of style and tone to have ads worked into the actual text of the threads.

But as has been said we'll have to give it a chance and see how it goes.

The writer is very clearly demarcated and I meant we have all seen ads in all sorts of places before. TV, films, magazines, internet, billboards - they are everywhere.

[zazen999]

Vikki, it's hard to miss the advertising on Carbon Gold's posts.

And the huge banner that goes with it.

[bearded bloke]

Vikki, it's hard to miss the advertising on Carbon Gold's posts.

Indeed it is RL,but as I said in another thread,rather than making a simple negative comment,balance it with a bit of constructive criticism.

Personally I find that amount of text a bit overwhelming & would prefer it if it was just his company banner & any Admin approved titled hyperlinks,that said at the end of the day we get this marvelous resource free of charge but someone somewhere pays the bills & if a bit of text helps keep the books balanced then so be it

[Alison]

Vikki, it's hard to miss the advertising on Carbon Gold's posts.

I'm obviously the only person that's not seen it then. Will go and have a look.

[cptncrackoff]

I didnt comment on the new soil expert post, It did seem to me a bit ' whats the best thing to put your seeds in?...... our stuff is!'

I did however click the link and have a look, TBH i think i'll stick to cheap and chearfull seed compost for small seeds and sifted general purpose for larger ones.

I do think had the expert took the oppurtunity to use the 'introduce yourself' section with just a brief... hi, this is me, this is what i do, this is who i represent, this is what i'm going to be doing here.

It may have been better received.

Hopefully the advertising/advice balance will work, I hope so, - I need all the help I can get!

[Alison]

I'm obviously the only person that's not seen it then. Will go and have a look.

OK, have seen the thread now. It's not something I'd buy as I get perfectly good results with normal multi purpose which is nice and cheap so it's not really a thread in which I have any interest. Some people like buying stuff like that and that's great, the original post is clearly flagged as a commercial poster so don't really see the problem - but as I say, I'm still not buying the stuff

[rustylady]

Indeed it is RL,but as I said in another thread,rather than making a simple negative comment,balance it with a bit of constructive criticism.

It wasn't intended as a negative comment BB. I was merely pointing out to Vikki that the advertising was obvious as she seemed to think that the advertisements would be wording within the posts or replies.

[vikkib]

I was merely pointing out to Vikki that the advertising was obvious as she seemed to think that the advertisements would be wording within the posts or replies.

Yes, sorry, I didn't make it very clear . You're right, the advertising in Carbon Gold's post is clear.

I think it was a bit of a shock to see the initial post from Carbon Gold (which, as people have already said, did come across as an advert and the sort of post we're encouraged to report to the mods) without any introductions or warning.

I didn't see the announcement about the new boards when I went to have a look, I thought I saw a post from a someone yesterday which said there had been a mistake and the announcement should have been posted first but I can't find that now, probably just my inept searching abilities!

I meant more that it is quite a big shift to have people that have been awarded expert status as a result of paying for advertising participating in the forums and who will be allowed to promote their products in their posts.

I'm not saying they aren't experts in their field and I'm sure they will fully and actively participate in the discussions on the forum and offer lots of helpful advice and respond to people's queries and questions like the one's that have already been posted on the Soil Expert board.

We all have people on the Vine that we consider to be experts, people with no commercial interests and some with, who put in a lot of time and energy to try and help others and whose input feels genuine and heartfelt. Hopefully, given time, the new 'sponsored experts' will come to feel more like a part of the vibrant Vine community and they will build up their credibility by offering genuine advice, answering questions and engaging with us.

[Potstubsdustbins]

As posted else where I know not who wrote the experts opening blurb. But to poor little me it just sounded like 'you poor amateurs will be OK now the cavalry has arrived'. Just Bl**dy big headed.

Colin

[Nicos]

To be honest I think you acted 'spot on' for responding to a spammer or troll- and we really appreciate your back up with any potential troublemakers!
..so don't worry- this has already been explained to the Experts!

Unfortunately- as Chris mentioned, it would have been nice if we'd all been forewarned about this- we too were taken by surprise..and we're still busy making sure things go more smoothly in future.

We all come here for a bit of company, advice, a bit of a laugh from time to time...and we still intend the Vine to be a homely place to visit....so...enjoy!

[Bigmallly]

Maybe an introduction from the next expert would be nice Nic............

[Nicos]

Maybe an introduction from the next expert would be nice Nic............

Already suggested!