Aaron Deacon wrote:If you link to another site without providing content outside the link, you're likely to be deleted. If you provide content in your post, and link at the bottom for additional information, I think they're fine with that.
I think you're right, that's what they've said in the past when people complain about egullet posts being removed. That lot strikes me as a pretty smarmy bunch anyway, from what I've seen they are really out to build up their site and don't have any qualms about aggressively marketing themselves. The posts I saw from them with just a link to their site seemed like a total waste of time to me. If you have something useful to say, well, then say it. That encourages discussion. And fine, add a link if you think I'll benefit from reading more on another site. But the point is, I came HERE for discussion, and I want to discuss it with the people here, not with a bunch of strangers I don't know on another site.
I think it's a pretty good policy- if you are contributing to the site you're posting on, and adding value to the discussion, who cares where else you link to? On the other hand, if you're just posting no content with a link elsewhere, I feel like it wastes my time and disrespects the people whose site you're using to promote your own site.
This isn't just a food site thing, I've seen it on other forums I've participated in.