Forum policies for teachers

[daal]

...
I would be opposed to people with undeclared or unverifiable ranks advertising...

I'm tentatively thinking that way too. But how do we verify? It seems like an unending headache for admins.

What's the problem with this? I'm Joe blow, I teach go! Nobody's forcing anybody to sign up for my services. Don't you think customers can decide for themselves who they want as a teacher?

[Uberdude]

...
I would be opposed to people with undeclared or unverifiable ranks advertising...

I'm tentatively thinking that way too. But how do we verify? It seems like an unending headache for admins.

What's the problem with this? I'm Joe blow, I teach go! Nobody's forcing anybody to sign up for my services. Don't you think customers can decide for themselves who they want as a teacher?

Quite, If the admins think it is their job to personally verify, vet and endorse every post made on these forums they are much mistaken. I basically agree with Bantari's post (except I don't want ads), particularly:

What do we do if somebody is giving bad advice when commenting a game here? Hopefully somebody will jump in and explain why the advice is bad. Maybe then his reasons are bad and somebody else will say something. Before we know, we might have a discussion, right? Well, this is what this forum is all about, so I see no problem.

[HermanHiddema]

IMO, the rules for commercial offers/advertisements in general, should be something like:

Posting a thread to announce a commercial go-related product or service (teaching, paid sites, books, equipment, etc) is fine. Threads are easy to ignore. Doing it every month is not. Do not post again unless you have something new.

Replying to go-related questions with a commercial offer ("Buy my service/product, which can teach you about this") is not OK. Also, do not give an incomplete answer with a commercial offer for more. Comments are less easy to ignore than threads, as they get mixed in with the relevant content.

Replying to someone who is specifically seeking teaching or advice on buying books/equipment with a relevant offer is ok (i.e: No offering dan-level books to DDKs just to get your product out there).

Advertising your go-related product or service in your signature is fine, as long as it is non-intrusive. Keep it as small as possible. Never post with the purpose of getting your signature into the thread.

Reviews of any product or service are always OK, except if they involve sock-puppetry (i.e. creating fake personas to review things and thereby attract attention to them).

[Boidhre]

...
I would be opposed to people with undeclared or unverifiable ranks advertising...

I'm tentatively thinking that way too. But how do we verify? It seems like an unending headache for admins.

I'm thinking of something as light as: this my KGS account or this is my EGF page or similar. I think it should very much be self-regulated by the community but that prospective teachers should identify themselves beyond their forum pseudo-name, even if it's only a KGS account.

[Boidhre]

What's the problem with this? I'm Joe blow, I teach go! Nobody's forcing anybody to sign up for my services. Don't you think customers can decide for themselves who they want as a teacher?

What's the issue with wanting someone to refer to their KGS account or EGF page or similar? Almost everyone that I've seen advertising go teaching does this already as part of their pitch.

[Uberdude]

...
I would be opposed to people with undeclared or unverifiable ranks advertising...

I'm tentatively thinking that way too. But how do we verify? It seems like an unending headache for admins.

I'm thinking of something as light as: this my KGS account or this is my EGF page or similar. I think it should very much be self-regulated by the community but that prospective teachers should identify themselves beyond their forum pseudo-name, even if it's only a KGS account.

Well yes that's a good idea if you are advertising teaching services, but I see no need for rules or admins to care about it. If someone doesn't include useful information in their post they won't get students. People can post a reply "What's your KGS/EGF/AGA/whatever username/rank?". They can answer if they wish. We can have a discussion on a forum. Whoop-de-doo! No red-text from admins stomping about is needed.

P.S. Has anyone ever advertised teaching services on L19 without giving such basic information? Those last 2 examples of Svetlana and the Hungarian chap gave it.

P.P.S Don't ban prices, I don't understand DrStraw on that.

[gowan]

It seems to me that allowing this kind of adverts, even on a dedicated thread or forum, is going to be a big headache for admins, who will have to pay relatively close attention to these things. It might become a place for spammers to post, disguised as go teachers. Are admins going to check every poster for bona fides?

[Boidhre]

Well yes that's a good idea if you are advertising teaching services, but I see no need for rules or admins to care about it. If someone doesn't include useful information in their post they won't get students. People can post a reply "What's your KGS/EGF/AGA/whatever username/rank?". They can answer if they wish. We can have a discussion on a forum. Whoop-de-doo! No red-text from admins stomping about is needed.

P.S. Has anyone ever advertised teaching services on L19 without giving such basic information? Those last 2 examples of Svetlana and the Hungarian chap gave it.

P.P.S Don't ban prices, I don't understand DrStraw on that.

I mean, said forum should have a short and simple sticky asking people wanting to advertise do a few simple things (e.g. how strong are you, what hours are you available to teach, useful things that really should be in the first post). Let the community rather than admins enforce it sure, I'd be fully behind that.

[daal]

It seems to me that allowing this kind of adverts, even on a dedicated thread or forum, is going to be a big headache for admins, who will have to pay relatively close attention to these things. It might become a place for spammers to post, disguised as go teachers. Are admins going to check every poster for bona fides?

Why should teacher's ads be any different from other posts? Sometimes spam appears, but not that often and it always gets noticed and removed quickly. There are lots of eyes on every post, and a "report" button too.

[foe]

There is a for sale style classifieds section. Why not a teacher section? How else would I be able to find out what is out there if everyone is forbidden from asking or talking about it? Before I learned of a group via a post which was later killed, I didn't even realize such a thing existed. To my knowledge, there are still only a few options, one of which I learned of in this very thread!

I think a teacher focused section would be ideal. Would also let me know by comparison if what I am receiving is of good value.

[xed_over]

there is a teacher section.
she posted in it.

[Joaz Banbeck]

The teachers / club leaders forum now has a sub forum for advertising teaching.

http://lifein19x19.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=68

I would have preferred to have it a bit more supervised, but, in deferrence to member's opinions, it is open to all with no vetting. ( I'm counting on you guys to keep an eye on it and report mis-use )

[HermanHiddema]

Overkill, IMO. The teachers forum is already a very low-traffic forum, just let teachers post there if they want to offer their services. I reckon our readers are smart enough to recognize advertisements when they see them and make their own decisions on whether to buy.

[Joaz Banbeck]

Overkill, IMO. The teachers forum is already a very low-traffic forum, just let teachers post there if they want to offer their services. I reckon our readers are smart enough to recognize advertisements when they see them and make their own decisions on whether to buy.

Sure, they can recognize them...if they scoll through to find them. By having a separate sub-forum with one thread per teacher, the potentail student should be able to find all of the teachers in one place.

[xed_over]

but Svetlana's thread/post is still locked?