"No one reads the site guidelines."
By megamatt
@megamatt (14292)
United States
January 2, 2011 8:26pm CST
Now let me stress that this is not something that I agree with but it was a point that someone brought up to me. In a conversation I had recently, someone brought up the fact that they got flagged for something on a website(which wasn't myLot I should note, but I think its safe to assume that this is relevant enough to fit) that they were not supposed to do. I asked them if they read the site guidelines and I can almost see them rolling their eyes over the computer, and they said that "well no one reads those." At first, I didn't agree, but I and many others read them, but the more I thought about it, the vast majority of the people on the Internet are more likely not to read site guidelines then not. Which is their loss, but still one would have to agree that the people who read the site guidelines all of the time are very much the minority. Not even skim over them, not even read them. I think that in my younger, stupider days, I just ignored the site guidelines a time or two myself for many websites or at the very least just given them a slight curiosity glance. Anyway, your thoughts.
3 people like this
10 responses
@choybel (5042)
• Philippines
6 Jan 11
That's probably because I just do simple things online. Even here in mylot, I am in it mostly for the learning I get from discussions, the earning became the bonus, although originally I'd say differently, plus I love to read (except maybe the TOS part
) and write. I never had problems in any site I'd registered into, and so far this is the only one that earns, the rest are just forums. I guess, I have yet to learn my lesson.
Well, it was a pleasure contributing to this topic.
) and write. I never had problems in any site I'd registered into, and so far this is the only one that earns, the rest are just forums. I guess, I have yet to learn my lesson.
Well, it was a pleasure contributing to this topic.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
6 Jan 11
hi megamatt Let me put it this way if you bought a complicated unassembled toy and had a large sheet telling you how to put it together would you throw the sheet in the waste basket? I do not think you would do that as you need to know how to put it togeter. if you sign on a website and the admins asks you to read the guidelines, , the rules of discussions, the dos and don'ts of discussions and the q's and a 's
do you just laugh and ignore it? then do not cry if you break rules as first you need to know the rules then you will not break them. simple
but so many think they can just do anything in here and get paid,it does not work that way.My thought is if you are given a tool like the mylot information 
to help you make discussios why on earth not use it?
to help you make discussios why on earth not use it?@megamatt (14292)
• United States
6 Jan 11
No I would not. However, some people would. Because...I don't even know why. They just think that the rules and the guidelines are beneath them. They learn quickly and then obviously when they do something wrong, then it must be the fault of someone else. That has got to be it. Yet, the information has never steered me wrong in the guidelines and if you use it wisely, you can in fact make payout every month if that is what you so desire. Thank you for your response, it is much appreciated and it contributed to the topic well. Have a nice day and thanks.
@tonyllenium (6252)
• Italy
4 Jan 11
i think in many cases people even they read the guidelines they can forget some rules and so they start different discussions violating the guidelines as well and so their discussions as responses will be deleted..
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
5 Jan 11
Indeed, we are only human. Of course, if you have the time, a refresher course every now and again is needed. Still, there are times where people can forget things like that. In the end, we are only human, and our minds are prone to forget things. Thank you for your response. It is much appreciated and it contributed to the topic well. Have a nice day and thanks.
1 person likes this
@aurorastorm (1131)
• United States
3 Jan 11
I always read the guidelines, but then sometimes I still get confused and then will re-read them to make sure I remember exactly what they said. I do think there is a great amount of people that do not read the guidelines and then complain that the site is unfair when their discussions get deleted.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
3 Jan 11
It is always good to take a refresher course. Yeah, there are an amount of people that do in fact complain when if they had just taken about three minutes to read it, then there would be no problems. It is amusing in a sense. Thank you for your response. It is much appreciated and it contributed to the topic well. Have a nice day and thanks
@craigy123456789 (1759)
•
3 Jan 11
i have only glanced over the guidelines. I should really fully read them, especially as a couple of times i have had my discussions cancelled, and i am curious as to why my rating has dropped by 4 points in less than 24hours. Now if i read the guidelines i would probably know the answers to this. But as you say, not many people really will fully read them. So if we are to have something happen like a drop in points or our discussions deleted then it is our own fault and we have to accept that.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
3 Jan 11
Indeed some people need to just come to terms with the fact that it was their mistake. Learn from your mistakes. Trust me, life will be far more easier a lot of the time. Plus you can grow as a member of a website such as myLot. So only good things will happen for yourself and the community. Thank you for your response. It is much appreciated and it contributed to the topic well. Have a nice day and thanks.
@NoWayRo (1061)
• Romania
3 Jan 11
Sometimes the companies themselves don't expect the users to read the TOS. Where I work, we were localizing the web site of a big company into our language (I can't give their name here without breaching the contract, but really big, and into retail). So we asked them if they wanted somebody specialized, like a lawyer, to localize their TOS, to make sure the local laws were covered, and they said "What? Nobody reads those anyway. We weren't even sure we wanted them translated, just do what you can with them, nobody cares."
And it got me thinking, some companies (not talking about myLot here, obviously) make it really difficult to read their rules, guidelines and TOS, as it they don't want their users to. So often it's a huge block of text full of legal jargon without any explanation in simple words what rules you might breach and what would be the consequences to that. And when it comes to our rights, as users, especially from the point of view of data privacy, it's even worse, they don't explain anything.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
3 Jan 11
An excellent point and it does show you why people have tarred all terms of services, guidelines, and such. My literature teacher in Freshman year said that those big blocks of text that are never ending are called tombstones as in they kill anyone's interest in reading. Therefore, they are not going to read it. Seems like some companies are. Those that aren't however, are not getting their guidelines read I think in part because of this and that is a problem. Thank you for your response. It is much appreciated and it contributed to the topic well. Have a nice day and thanks.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
3 Jan 11
myLot has made me appreciate the importance of reading guidelines, TOS and FAQ on all sites I frequent. I can begin to tell you that I have reminded members here to do so and their response is "I do not have the time to do that!"
Well their loss as if each and every member actually took the time to read the guidelines on all sites before they plunge in then they would understand what they are actually getting into before not during and or after.
These are the majority of people who later post not only on here but in other sites that the site s@cks! I find that it is not that it is a bad site it is because the person did not take the time to READ!. LOL..
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
3 Jan 11
Reading comprehension can be a problem in life in general. I know that people complained in school about getting marked down. Had they read the instructions which took approximately thirty seconds to read, they would have gotten a better grade. Not reading can be costly in many forms of life. Thank you for your response. It is much appreciated and it contributed to the topic well. Have a nice day and thanks
@kolsti87 (521)
• United States
3 Jan 11
But this is a paying website. That would be like going up to your boss and saying rolling your eyes at him when he asked if you read the protocol. If this were facebook or yahoo answers I wouldn't read the guidelines because the point of being on that site is to have fun. Not that I don't have fun here, but the money adds another goal.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
3 Jan 11
I would imagine some people would do that to their boss in real life. It might seem insane, but some people I've met, oh boy. Granted, you won't get very far and you might find yourself not having a job, but there will people doing that. Still that situation may happen more often in the real world. I would never do it but I know some who would. Thank you for your response. It is much appreciated and it contributed to the topic well. Have a nice day and thanks.
@phoenix3423 (135)
• United States
3 Jan 11
I always read the guidelines just so I understand what is up. It only takes a few minutes most of them are not very long and most are common sense like no dirty pictures or what not but some are site specific and important. Like I can not believe how many people make discusions about how much can they make on here. We all know or should know that is in violation and will be deleted.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
3 Jan 11
Some people just refuse to do the most obvious thing in the world. At least it is obvious to me. However, I really think it might not be as obvious to some people. I guess the number of discussions breaking the guidelines, especially the most obvious ones, proves this. I mean everyone makes mistakes but there is a difference between making mistakes and pure ignorance. Thank you for your response. It is much appreciated and it contributed to the topic well. Have a nice day and thanks
