1 In my view- acceptable self promotion is writing good content and leaving good comments.
2 As a newbie you might try different things and if you push it too far that is what flagging is for.
3 Well in your case i think it educated you and warned you, so it had the desired effect.
I mean I can spam 180 comments an hour so its not exactly harmless. And in your case I dont think the flags hut you so much , I mean its a sight ding on your reputation , but its not taking money away from you. And, I would rather one flagged once and have a follower for life the be unfollowed, dont you agree?
There is just so much spam coming up now, some of it harmless, but in your case I would probably flag or say something about it. I can almost be sure that the flags didnt come from the ones you left a relevant comment about their post, also your comment is kind of like a billboard... I mean its one thing to say ' hey thanks blah blah' but another to totally dominate the real estate on someones page, you know? I also think linking ANY of your posts to a comment that is not directly about the subject matter is spam of the highest nature. If I want to read your posts I will, you know? The whole thing is just spammy, and not a very nice way to say thank you IMO. A similar idea would be receiving an email that says: Dear user, we want to thank you for an incredible anniversary and give you this incredible offer to give us money! Most of the time those emails go unopened. But sometimes I block them, but if i had a flag button on my email server, I would use it :)
Let me not be too long-winded with my response.
Although, I don't fully agree that self-promotion should strictly be in the domain of "writing good content and leaving good comments", simply because I see so much of that going unrewarded. I could concede that including comments and being more subtle, could possibly work as you have suggested. For me personally, I can possibly revert to your suggestion as I've sufficiently raise my profile (hopefully).
I'm not so sure that is what flagging is for, as much as what flagging has become...
The flags really, enraged me. Two kind gentlemen who took the time to advise me caused me to write this post.
Some clarity on the 180 spams per hour. I was more working on your suggestion of personalizing responses for each post I reckon 30-40 per hour.
I agree fully, it's sad to loose a fellow steemian, but I wouldn't flinch to let go a trigger happy maniac...lol
Excuse me if I skip the (me) abuse. I still feel the pain of you using your premium lightning bolts.
I am quietly amused at the image of someone obliterating spam with a push of a button, particularly since ignoring them is pretty normal, by your own admission. I'm quite relieved that you are not the gentleman in the White House with a certain briefcase, that contains a red button...lol Tell me who is that country that spammed us today...hahahaha....obliterate them!
I've truly enjoyed this engagement... we probably won't agree on everything or on anything, but that's also OK. I've enjoyed your views as in a context it makes sense anyway...
Cheers and thanks for the chat.
From the Steemit Faq: (condensed)
What is considered spam or abuse?
Asking for money, views, upvotes, follows, or resteems.
Leaving nearly identical or materially similar comments on multiple posts.
Comments that are unrelated to the topic of discussion.
Sending users a link to your blog or a post if it is not relevant to the conversation.
Posts or comments that include little or nothing more than an offer to trade follows or upvotes.
From the flag pop up:
Some common reasons to flag:
... Spam
Sorry I dont mean to disagree or give you a hard time, I am just trying to illustrate that getting flagged on this cause is really no big deal. But - you were breaching many ideas that cross very firmly into spam territory. I hope youre not angry with me, like I said its a small nick on your reputation, the only thing that is damaged is your ego, right? It's a bit different than nuking a country lol!
Not angry at all, on the contrary quite enjoying the engagement around this topic.
Apologies for the delay in completing my response, my bandwidth vanishes for hours daily, which was the case again today. I hope it's not something that I'm doing to cause it. It's weird because I'm posting less. I'm going to have to look into it.
I agree with the guidelines as posted, but they remain guidelines. For example this is the supposed "rule" for down voting. In my book it's a guideline.
In the end it boils down to individual personalities. Use the guidelines OR use them for innovation. I don't think it's important that we necessarily have to agree. You have a view and I have one too. I think it's more important that we are able to remain tolerant of all steemit "species"...lol!.
So where, do I stand in all of this. As I said I will probably tone down my approach in future.
I've enjoyed your views and I have taken them into account. Hopefully, you not angry either, and we could engage further on other topics in future. I have elected to follow you as to observe some of your work, perhaps there is more to see and learn.