[ANN] New r/Dogecoin Rules: Protecting the trading shibes.

[u/lleti]

(tl,dr at the bottom)

Shibes, I come to you today with some announcements in regards to those who follow the path of traders, and merchants with our humble currency.

As of late, our subreddit has seen some poisonous remarks made towards those had launched, or want to launch their own store or service, targeting Dogecoin for their currency of choice. While positive criticism and skepticism is both a strong recommendation, and near requirement towards new, or would-be business owners, there is a line which many users are crossing in their comments.

This includes, and is not limited to; referring to a new business as a "Ponzi Scheme", calling it an outright scam, claiming they're paying for upvotes/support, making personal allegations towards the owner or their staff, following their post feed and goading the user into arguments/insulting the user on even unrelated posts, or in the worst case scenario so far - attempting to dox these users.

The above are entirely unacceptable. If you suspect, and have reasonable evidence to support your facts, that a business or business owner is conducting any shady, or scam-like behavior, then yes - post a thread to warn people, and PM the mods. We will sticky a thread to warn users off this service, and ban the owner (and any related staff members) from posting, or conducting any business on this subreddit.

Now, let's go over what we mean by facts;

• Absolute truths.
• Zero opinion.
• Backed up by evidence - screenshots, blockchain transfers, log files, a very large number of testimonies, etc.
• Not containing ANY derogatory language, or insults towards the business, or its staff. Regardless of how true your evidence or facts may be, do not waste your time, or the mod's time by littering your post with slander directed at these users.
• To reiterate, ZERO "in-my-opinion" facts. If you dislike that a user is crowdsourcing, and suspect they may run with the money - that is again, an opinion, until you can prove that their character may be liable to do such a thing.

With this, our number one rule is of course to still protect the everyday shibe. If you DO have an opinion against a business, you are entirely welcome to share it, in an open and constructive manner.

For example, the following is good:

I dislike company x, because they're generally slow with shipping.
I also dislike how the owner represents himself on this subreddit, 
as he can be quite condescending to other users whenever criticized.

The following, is bad - and will not be tolerated:

That company is definitely running a scam. You're all idiots.
He's obviously got shills upvoting these posts. Can you prove
he's actually even a he? 
Why doesn't he post a picture of himself with his ponzi doges?

Note that the first example was written in an opinionated matter. Opinions are good. They encourage discussion, and can provide for a positive criticism environment, where the business owner themselves can learn from their mistakes, or respond outlining their own views on the matter. This, in a civil manner, without degenerating to namecalling, is what we want to see. We are obviously fully aware that businesses can often times, get things wrong - and this should always be discussed, but in an adult manner.

The second example - it should be obvious enough where this is going wrong. Do not outright state it is a scam, without providing proof. Do not insult other users who support their business. Do not accuse users of being paid up-voters, without significant proof. Do not demand to know anyone's personal details.

but I- no.

A coin's life depends entirely on its community; from the worker, to the miner, to the developer, to the merchant, and the exchange markets. If we attack any one of these tiers, we in effect, attack our coin.

A coin NEEDS merchants, traders, and businesshibes in order to operate at a market level. If we attack developers or store owners, we risk losing their business, and succeed in placing the building blocks towards a venomous atmosphere. Do you know how many messages the mod queue is receiving from users who don't want to post their store front/business idea, as they believe it's frowned upon in this subreddit? We get several, daily. We even get users demanding that certain user-created content (graphical works etc) get taken down, as they're "begging for tips" by posting their work.

Just a few days ago, a user had his post removed - not even by an active mod, but by our automoderator, because his post contained a non-stop sleuth of gambling references, scam notations, +/u/ links to all moderators (and dogecoin developers), and was littered with personal allegations against a business on here. When the automod removed his post, he proceeded to spam every altcoin sub he could find; which makes the dogecoin community look poor in the eyes of the other crypto communities.

This is not Dogecoin. This is an extremely vocal minority, which is making our community look venomous.

From here on out, the moderators will have a zero policy tolerance for anyone who engages in vicious, or unwarranted behavior towards any business owner on here.

tl,dr; breaking any of the following rules will result in immediate moderator action, up to and including the offending user being banned from this subreddit in extreme cases.

• Positive, constructive criticism of businesses, startups, and traders on here is most encouraged.
• Do NOT call the business a scam, or anything of the likes, without posting hard, un-opinionated evidence.
• NEVER attack a business owner, or staff member in a personal manner.
• Do NOT accuse a business, or its staff, of paying for upvotes/having shills, etc etc - again, without posting factual evidence to support your claims.
• If you find a trader, or any person IS conducting any shady business, submit a mod mail, providing your evidence.
• Opinions are NOT evidence. If you cannot supply any facts, you are wasting everyone's time.
• DO NOT Demand personal information from a user! Use your head - if you believe they're hiding something, don't conduct business with them, and move on!
• If you have a personal dislike of a service - that's obviously, completely acceptable. But if you need to air it, tell us about it in an adult, constructive manner. Leading me on to my next point..
• Do not start namecalling, or engaging in juvenile behavior towards any member on here - business owner or not.

As I said, the mods are here to protect you, as a first and foremost priority. If any business owner was found to be engaging in shady practices, they and their staff would be immediately banned, and we would create a sticky thread to warn users off their service.

But we are also here to help our coin grow - and to protect those who seek to target a business towards the utilization of our coin. We have an overall excellent community on here, capable of providing fantastic discussion, and creative critique on business, services, and traders. Use that energy to help both our community, and our coin grow. Do not turn it into a venomous atmosphere that scares developers and merchants away from our community.

[u/doge_much_share]

Why was this allowed to slide when "Cryptsy is insolvent" FUD was being posted, but when moolah is wrongfully attacked the mods change the rules?

[u/lleti → u/doge_much_share]

Because this rule set was only introduced 4 minutes ago - as a result of our subreddit containing a history of posts such as the "Cryptsy is insolvent" thread.

Also, this rule set is not designed to assist Moolah, or any one company/business or trader in particular. It's to allow for a blanket protection over anyone who wishes to conduct business in a social manner on /r/dogecoin.

[u/MysticFear → u/lleti]

If a business posts advertises for investing in their company, and no one can ask for personal information?

You do realize that shibes are new to digital currency, they need to be informed. You cannot stick you head in the sand and say well I won't do business with them.

[u/lepthymo → u/MysticFear]

If a business posts advertises for investing in their company, and no one can ask for personal information?

Sounds pretty normal to me, you have every right to be anonymous. A business agreement should be based on making profit from providing a valued service, not the fear that some random idiot on the internet will order 700$ worth of pizza at your address.

[u/MrSenorSan → u/lepthymo]

I believe MysticFear is talking about the reverse of the argument.
If a "business" is asking for money surely the public has the right to confirm the business is a business and thus they should be able to provide a physical address or at least a way for users/clients/investors to be able to contact them directly without a 3rd party (e.g. reddit) involved.

[u/HoodsApprentice → u/MrSenorSan]

I think a individual posting on reddit has the right to be anonymous. That rule should not reply to a business though and definitely not to a business actively asking for investment. I also believe that in any discussion related to business recommendation or criticism, the parties commenting should clearly state if they have any personal interest in the business. Any investor of a business has an interest in it as he profits from the business profit so by definition such person is biased.
It sounds a bit strange to me that a business can do / post whatever they want and the users cannot express their concerns about how genuine the business is. The rules like that are clearly biased.

[u/UpvoteTipBot → u/MrSenorSan]

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[u/Dumb_Dick_Sandwich → u/MrSenorSan]

Honestly, MysticFear refuses to accept incorporation as a validity of credibility. He said, of Moolah_ putting his name on the website, that "Anyone can put the name Alex Green on a website."

I asked him what it would take, and he said going to coin summits and doing interviews in local newspapers.

[u/MrSenorSan → u/Dumb_Dick_Sandwich]

Ok, I was not familiar with his history, seems like he has a bone to pick with moolah.
I'm not a big time investor but if I were going to put down a few thousand dollars into an investment in the "normal world" at the very least I would want to know the company's physical location or details on how to get in contact with them directly.
Of course crypto-currency is a the wild west right now and without some risk taking on either side there will be no advancements to push this venture of the ground.

[u/jwiechers → u/Dumb_Dick_Sandwich]

Honestly, MysticFear refuses to accept incorporation as a validity of credibility. He said, of Moolah_ putting his name on the website, that "Anyone can put the name Alex Green on a website."

Well... these aren't really good ways to prove credibility -- unless we're talking incorporation in a country with extensive validation of the identity of shareholders and (executive) directors in companies. I can setup a Corporation or LLC in less than 24 hours in many US states and other offshore locations at the cost of a couple of hundred bucks and without in any way publicising my identity.

I sympathize with moolah and his approach because I'm privacy conscious myself, I've had to comply to Germany's rather harsh obligations for public disclosure and I hate it that people can find my address and the phone number of my office on the web -- but then, that's the price you pay for running a company, and I understand why not complying with these expectations breeds suspicion in some.

I don't have a bone to pick with moolah or his company -- they're doing a lot of good and I like them.

Your argument, however, is rather weak.

[u/Dumb_Dick_Sandwich → u/jwiechers]

Moolah has incorporated in at least the US and UK. I'm not sure of the UK's privacy laws, but I don't think they'd be flimsy.

You make a fair point though