Question (T&R query) How do you define "begging"?

[Pedeadstrian]

The reason why I ask the question in the title is because I've seen various signatures asking for donations through paypal, bitcoin, and the like. In the Advertising & Requests section of the Terms & Rules, it says linking is fine in signatures, but the very next paragraph says:

Begging in the forums for anything is not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to: asking users to visit a website for the member to gain points/etc, begging to become a staff member, torrent invite, translation, and dump requests, and especially pyramid schemes; where you are asking members to help you out by registering places, visiting certain websites, etc.

The way I think of it, posting "give me stuffz" only shows people that message when they view that exact post, but having "give me stuffz" in a signature shows people that message every time a user posts. I'm just curious what the discrepancy between the two is.

 

[loco365]

I'm not a staff member so take this with a grain of salt, but I think what they mean is when you make a post with those kinds of intentions. I see why doing it in signatures is fine (Since it's where you can express yourself), but posting in a thread or making a reply with the intent to have gain from it (Such as points or money as mentioned) is what they're going after.

 

[Pedeadstrian]

I'm not a staff member so take this with a grain of salt, but I think what they mean is when you make a post with those kinds of intentions. I see why doing it in signatures is fine (Since it's where you can express yourself), but posting in a thread or making a reply with the intent to have gain from it (Such as points or money as mentioned) is what they're going after.

I guess where I fail to see the difference is that, whether they're putting "give me money and/or points" in their post, thread, or signature, their intentions are the same. For example, you put links to your social media accounts in your signature with the intention of getting attention and/or sharing something you think is worthwhile, and that wouldn't suddenly change if you decided to make a thread about it instead. An agenda is an agenda, whether you want retweets or money (not trying to single you out, just using you as a convenient example).

 

[Issac]

A new thread, or a post, draws attention to it that a signature doesn't. I think that's the difference.

 

[Seriel]

I think begging is making posts going "Hey, gimme free stuff plzzzzzz"
Whereas if it's in a signature it's just.. there. You're not going "Gimme it!" it just happens to be there in case you feel nice.
So in a signature it shouldn't matter
(But i'm not a mod so don't take my word for it.)

 

[DinohScene]

Asking for free stuff without doing anything in return is begging.

 

[DarkFlare69]

Asking for free stuff without doing anything in return is begging.

But isn't that "asking"? I always see people making simple requests or asking a question, and everyone's always like no begging.

 

[p1ngpong]

People are allowed a certain degree of leniency in their signature to use it as an advertising space to "ebeg" promote their sites and so on. The no begging and no advertising rules apply primarily to the creation of threads and forum posts to that end.