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I answered this on-topic and clear question on Mar. 25, 2023: Can I permanently hide the YouTube chat window?

However, a mod unilaterally marked my answer as spam, which resulted in its deletion, and a 100-reputation deduction from my account. (Normally, it would take six non-mod users’ flags to mark an answer as spam and trigger these consequences, to prevent any misjudgements with regards to answer deletion and user rep deduction.) The mod also left this comment:

This post is solely product promotion, which is not allowed. Ref. How to not be a spammer. P.S. Software recommendations belongs to Software Recommendations.

Screenshot of my deleted answer:
screenshot of answer

I was accused of spamming, which is untrue. The answer I posted contains a link to a free, open-source, and non-profit browser extension that is a solution to the problem OP is asking about. I am NOT AFFILIATED with the browser extension in any way. The answer was made in good faith and included steps and a screenshot on how to configure the extension to solve what OP is asking about. It was not intended as spam or “solely product promotion”. I have been using my SE account for more than 10 years and I have never engaged in spam or “product promotion” of any kind. The post is also locked so I can't edit it.

According to the Meta SE FAQ post, What are the “spam” and “rude or abusive” (offensive) flags, and how do they work?

A post should be marked as spam only if it promotes a product, service, or similar; and is unsolicited or lacks disclosure of affiliation.

[…]

  • Unsolicited means that mentioning the product serves no purpose other than promotion. For example, if an answer mentions software that may solve the asker’s problem or a question about web programming references a website as an example, this is not unsolicited (it may still be spam if there is an undisclosed affiliation).
  • Lacks disclosure of affiliation means that the author is clearly affiliated with the product but does not disclose their affiliation. Note that a simple “my” may suffice. However, the disclosure must happen in the post itself; the author’s username and profile do not count. […]

Notice that it says "and is unsolicited…", but my answer isn’t unsolicited. It is a direct response to OP’s question. I wasn't going around posting links in random questions. "Disclosure of affiliation" does not apply to the answer since I am in no way affiliated with the browser extension I linked to. It is only an answer to OP’s question.

I would like to request that my answer please be undeleted, unmarked as spam, and the 100 rep be restored. I made the answer in good faith to answer the question and not to spam. I am willing to make the necessary edits to ensure that it does not sound promotional or spammy.

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  • The questions has meanwhile been closed as off-topic. It is no longer supposed to receive answers.
    – Mast
    Mar 27 at 16:46
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    I have not flagged your post as spam, but if I had come across it, I would definitely have regarded it as promotional at first glance. The exclamation mark in the plugin's name doesn't exactly help. Removing the big title and abstaining from using the exclamation mark where it's not crucial just might help improve this post to the point where it could be undeleted.
    – tripleee
    Mar 27 at 17:11
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    @tripleee "Removing the big title…" It's locked, and can't be edited. "The exclamation mark in the plugin's name" The exclamation mark is part of the plugin's name, kind of like Yahoo! (I'm not affiliated with Yahoo!)
    – galacticninja
    Mar 28 at 0:58
  • I'm sure both you and me understand what I mean if I type Yahoo without the punctuation they want as part of their brand identity, and the reading experience will be calmer for both of us.
    – tripleee
    Mar 28 at 4:42
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    @tripleee My point is: I didn’t add that exclamation mark to “spam” or “promote” since it’s part of the official name. I can’t edit the answer to remove the exclamation point and the big title because it’s locked. I think that marking my question as spam and deleting it is an overreaction when a comment would suffice. If the mod had commented something similar to what you said instead of marking it as spam, I could have edited my answer. I made my answer in good faith to answer the OP’s question and would have appreciated the opportunity to respond to the accusation of spamming in an answer.
    – galacticninja
    Mar 28 at 4:58
  • I can't help with that, but I imagine the mod in question will eventually notice this post and respond. Perhaps you can't expect the answer to be undeleted, what with the question now being closed, but getting the spam penalties lifted would be reasonable.
    – tripleee
    Mar 28 at 5:11

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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From How does deleting work? What can cause a post to be deleted, and what does that actually mean? What are the criteria for deletion?

If your post was deleted by a moderator, you can flag that post, writing a note in the "in need of moderator intervention" section explaining the situation and requesting undeletion. Be sure to clearly indicate in your flag why the post does not meet the criteria for deletion outlined above. If your request is declined, or as an alternative, you can make a request on the per-site meta per the above paragraph.

Related

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    Thank you for your response. I am writing to appeal the decision to mark my answer as spam, which resulted in a 100 reputation deduction from my account. As I explained above, I did not intend to spam or promote anything. I am not affiliated with the browser extension that I mentioned in my answer. I was trying to help the original poster by providing a relevant and useful solution. I kindly request that you reconsider your judgment and restore my lost 100 reputation. I appreciate your attention and understanding.
    – galacticninja
    Mar 29 at 0:13
  • @galacticninja Added a link to a related proposed-faq.
    – Rubén Mod
    Mar 29 at 21:20
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    "or as an alternative, you can make a request on the per-site meta per the above paragraph." That's exactly what OP did, so I don't see the point in posting that as an answer. This is just dodging OP's question.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Apr 9 at 18:58

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