I was thinking, since this is a place for discussion, what is the policy on submitting your own work (not that I have any)? Does certain self-generated content have more value than others? If a user posts a song they created and asked users to check out their album, would/should it be removed? What if the user post a link to their own paper and asked for reviews?
Maybe this is an issue that has to be handled on a case by case basis, but if the community increases in number, it would be increasingly difficult to monitor.
I don't want to speak for mk, but I can remember him encouraging this in the past. Hubski's "about" page says this on the subject:what is the policy on submitting your own work
Posts of personal content are fine, especially if you have something interesting or creative to share. Feel free to share personal insights and experiences with us. Of course, spamming won't be tolerated.
I don't think there's anything to monitor… If someone is spamming, it won't be tolerated and people will ignore then. However if someone wants to share something that they've created, I think this is fantastic! They should be celebrated and if it's good, you should share it. Now there is a difference between sharing content you created, participating in discussions about your content and sharing something you've created and never participating in the community. I think people will recognize the difference and if someone is just sharing stuff they've created without participating, they will be ignored. I'm not sure why someone wouldn't want the author, the artist, the creator to be the one to introduce them to their work...? Who better? This has always baffled me about other communities, it's insane. So all of you creative's out there, share away!
If we get bored or think it is spam we just stop following you and we certainly don't share it.
I can only speak from very limited experience but thenewgreen was quite supportive when I posted a link to my soundcloud profile to share my music with the user base. I don't make any kind of monetary gain from that type of self promotion though. (unless one of you decides to hire me for a show or something I guess...)
I used the bio field to disclose what domains are affiliated with me in some formal or semi-formal way, so people who don't want to see posts from someone affiliated with those websites can ignore or decline to follow me. Before there was a bio I used an affirmative disclosure statement in the text field in any link I have even a loose affiliation with. That's a personal choice, and mk said it wasn't necessary, but I prefer it.