I noticed this Wealthsimple Community pop up in my “active” list today.
Clicked in and noticed its empty, but the sidebar contains a sneaky affiliate link for the moderator of that community.
Same thing with the Wealthsimple Trade Community.
I think this sort of activity should be banned from here tbh, definitely at the mod level.
I think there must be a happy medium somewhere. I hate surveillance ads as much as the next person and blatant, “pure” self-promotion is a pretty close second, but there are forms of advertising and self-promotion that are useful.
There was a magazine I subscribed to called “Small Craft Advisor” that covered the small boat market, frequently homebuilt, mostly sailing, mostly cruising (like camping, but from or on a boat). The main reason I maintained the subscription was for the ads and the articles written by various suppliers describing how to use their products and showcasing their offerings in detail. Now that they’ve gone Substack, those ads and most of the “vendor articles” are gone and I’m dropping the subscription. It just doesn’t provide my window into the hobby, its supplies and techniques, and suppliers that it used to.
I also remember when there was such a thing as computer magazines that were similar in format and similarly valuable.
Yeah I am not against people making money. In this case if just felt distasteful and not properly disclosed.
Most people will probably know that that affiliate link benefits the mod of that community, but many won’t. People might just think “Oh wow that’s cool, thanks for sending me in the right direction you charitable mod”.
The problem is the lack of disclosure and the overall disingenuous feeling, not that someone is making cash.
Then I guess that’s at least 2 of us on the same page :)
I would hate to see it filled with commercial interests, but I think there is room for some that is relevant within specific communities.