What Social Networking features should I add to my Website?

January 3, 2008 10:21 PM

HelpGlobe.com is a Question and Answer site that I developed. I'm planning on adding social networking features, that allow people to invite friends and non-members to answer questions. Now I have a few dilemmas: * Should I allow people to ask private / personal questions, that others can't even search for? * Should I allow anonymous questions, so that people don't know who asked it? * Should I allow people to answer without registering to the site, ie, as guest? What would you do? Thanks for any feedback.
posted by shshao to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Self linking is a no-no. Perhaps an admin will edit your question to remove the link.

You also might want to be more specific about what your overall goals for the site are if you want reasonable answers.
posted by chrisamiller at 10:41 PM on January 3, 2008

This is a job for Projects!
posted by The Deej at 11:01 PM on January 3, 2008

Sorry I'm new. What self-linking rule did I violate?

The overall goal would be to get people comfortable with posting questions, and get a community together to get return visits.
posted by shshao at 11:26 PM on January 3, 2008

From here:

Are self-links ever okay on any part of the site?
Sometimes, but rarely. It's against the rules to link to your own site, a site that you host or contribute to substantially or a site of someone who is a close friend or relative of yours. People who self-link in front page posts on MetaFilter will have their posts removed and their account banned. Transparency and honesty are important to the community and we rely on users to abide by the guidelines and participate honestly.

Including a link to your own site in a comment is okay provided that it has some relevance to the topic being discussed and is not your only form of site particpation. Random off-topic insertions of self-links into other posts are discouraged and such links may be removed.

Linking to your own site in an Ask MetaFilter question is only okay if it has something specific to do with the question being asked, for example "Can you look at my logo and tell me why everyone thinks it looks like a devil?" or "What else do I need to do to this website to make it ADA compliant?" Other self-links will be removed.

Ask MetaFilter questions that seem to be thinly veiled self-promotion will be removed. Do not use Ask MetaFilter to drive traffic to your site or your friend's site or sell a product or service. Questions that seem to be being asked with the intent to promote a poster's product or service or friend's product or service will be removed and the participating accounts banned. Feel free to include a link to your work in your profile and people can click through to it. If you are unsure about a specific example, please contact us.

Please use MetaFilter Projects for self-promotion and tooting your own horn.

So yeah, The Deej seems to be right on with telling you to go to Projects, and you seem to be pretty solidly out of spec here. Since you're a n00b, an email to Mathowie begging forgiveness might help.
posted by SlyBevel at 12:27 AM on January 4, 2008