Look into Piefed. It’s far superior and made by better people
this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2026
0 points (NaN% liked)
Lemmy.ca's Main Community
4212 readers
2 users here now
Welcome to the lemmy.ca/c/main community!
All new users on lemmy.ca are automatically subscribed to this community, so this is the place to read announcements, make suggestions, and chat about the goings-on of lemmy.ca.
For support requests specific to lemmy.ca, you can use !lemmy_ca_support@lemmy.ca.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
My opinion as somebody with no real skin in the game: Post where you want. Especially in communities like "BuyCanadian" or communities for your own product or whatever, as long as the community is okay with it and your post or comment makes sense there, and you're not posting so frequently that people are getting sick of it, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. And you don't have to take my word for it. If there is anything wrong with what you're doing, and even if you're not, the delightful thing about the internet is that there's never any shortage of people willing to tell you frequently and usually with exceptional levels of sarcasm or vitriol. If your posts are not welcome, people will have no problem making you feel very unwelcome. If that's not happening, you probably have very little to worry about.
The "no self promotion" rule on Reddit was, in my opinion, one of the worst rules in the way that it frequently victimized genuine responsible people who I'd actually like to hear from, without actually doing much of anything to stop the people or content it was presumably or allegedly intended to stop. I understand it might have actually made sense at some points or in some communities, but it never needed to be a site-wide rule (except that they wanted to sell ads instead of letting people advertise for free). Plus I think it was often selectively enforced in ways that were not actually reasonable or genuine and I don't think it made much of a useful impact on stopping spam or bots or dishonest people. They just found more ways to dishonest about it. It was the honest people who it punished. And to what end, aside from Reddit's bottom line?
I believe in supporting real independent businesses, and in order to do that, I need to know who they are, where they are, and what they're selling. That can be very difficult, especially when they are assumed to be obnoxious spammers by default and never given an opportunity to prove themselves. We have a voting system for a reason. We have moderators who can see people's histories for a reason. If you're abusing the site, you'll find out quickly. If you're a real person with genuine motivations, I doubt you are abusing the site. I doubt anything resembling abuse would even enter your mind to do. And if you do by accident, you'll quickly pull back when you're told you've gone too far (probably by too much, honestly, most people take grumpy trolls having a bad day way too seriously). Be reasonable, and don't be unreasonable.
Also, if your posts here bring in any business, be a responsible person and support the community by making at least some small donation to the site. It doesn't have to be pay-as-you-go. This is not a zero-sum game of profits and losses. This is a community. Be part of it, and we can support each other.
But here’s the thing. I was told the spirit of the no ad rule was to keep people from just dropping in and advertising.
But also, I really don’t want to mix a personal account and work account. So how can somebody else be certain that an account run by a business is legitimate?
Even still, am I wrong to assume that some sentiment of Reddit will still exist in some way? Like, if I post about my business and I am upfront that I charge money for the service - will I be called selfish or greedy or whatnot?
This is the conundrum. A business that I believe will help Canadians, but a community that is rightfully jaded and cautious from the past.
Like, I can do business to business sales, no problem at all.
Coming here was personal at first but then turned into a mixture of a test of a new market mixed with following the rules of lemmy.ca as well as trying to get to the point without being dismissed.
But then I feel like I have to walk on eggshells to avoid being called a grifter or whatever.
But it’s like, it’s easier to do business elsewhere because you can expect clients to want to pay. But here, it’s not so clear-cut. Believe it or not, doing business here is much harder than the old fashioned way. But the people here are also progressive and forward-thinking. So I want to do it, but I also don’t want people to feel alienated. My mind is spinning.
If I didn’t give a shit I wouldn’t have even tried in the slightest.
And this account is done anyway. After a post like this, that taints business and perception.
It is totally reasonable and sensible to not want to mix personal account and business account. I think that's a good move.
As for the rest, you are probably wrong to assume things and there are a LOT of things you assumed in that post. Don't make assumptions. Use data. Figure out what works and what doesn't. Facts, not feelings. Has anyone called you a grifter? Did you get downvotes and they get upvotes? Does it happen every time? Sites like these can work like random number generators sometimes. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Even having a small business is a risk. You can't avoid all risk. You have to accept some risk. Your reputation can get tainted, yes, but I don't actually think that's very likely, certainly not as likely as you seem to think it is, and even if it does it can also be repaired. Yes it might take some work, but running a business also takes work. If you are not willing to take risk or do work when those risks don't pay off, then I don't know what else to tell you.
I will say it again in case I wasn't clear the first time. In my own personal opinion, and my experience on this site so far, it is perfectly fine for you to advertise your business here. I do not run this site or moderate it and I cannot speak for the admins or for everyone else, I am only one person, but you will get my upvote and maybe my support in the comments. I hope that helps.
Personally, I'd advise against self-promotion. It's never been well perceived. But it depends for what and where.
If a local band or troupe or artist were to advertise a show or an exhibit in their city's community, I'd be fine with it. But if someone is trying to push a brand or product, I'd be against it unless it's in a community meant for that, like buycanadian or something like that. But it better be for a Canadian product or brand.
The problem though is this could open the door to other advertisers and things could get quickly out of control. So that's why I'd prefer that people refrain from advertising at all in communities.
Maybe just create your own community for your brand or product, which you could moderate yourself.