Monday Discussions - Greedy Groups

Hey guys,
it's not Monday yet but who cares.. have a Monday discussion anyway


Yesterday I was mentioned in a comment on a journal for an Equine Secret Santa, which was pretty cool because I enjoy when people think of me enough to mention me in fun events relevant to my interests etc... Anyway, the point is that I was mentioned and naturally went to check out the journal.  (Yes, I check out everything I get mentioned in)
As already mentioned, the journal was about a Secret Santa for equine artists to participate in this year.  I'd already seen a few other Equine Secret Santa events come through my message center this year which I passed by because I wasn't certain I'd want to commit myself to something like that this season.  But when this mention came up I thought.. well.. maybe I should.. 

So.. I do what all the cool kids do (or should do) and read through the journal to figure out exactly what I needed to do in order to participate.  

This is where things made me cringe hard.  So, to me, secret santa events are intended to bring about positive interaction and contributions in the respective community.  It's about doing something nice for others while knowing that someone else will also do something nice for you.  
So can someone please explain to me why such an event needs to be bogged down with requirements that selfishly benefit the group running the event?  

Okay, let me explain.. the group was requiring that you become a member of the group in order to participate (I should probably clarify that the event is intended for equine artists as a whole, and not just some minor exclusion of people in a small niche area of the equine community.  And that the group is about as broad as can be as well... so in essence there is no real need or reason to have to become a member of the group in order to participate in such an event)
But not only do they require you to become a member, they also want you to promote their event either via poll or journal on top of tagging people as well.   


Let me just tell you guys that I frequently turn down things because I am not willing to spam you all with such unnecessary advertisements of groups that very clearly lack any reliable or reasonable leadership skills.  

That being said, the whole you MUST watch me/ you MUST advertise me/ you MUST mention x# of people/ you MUST shove your head up my ass/ you MUST annoy the fuck out of your watchers/ blah blah blah... is an instant turn off for me (and many others as well).  

If you want people to promote your shit make it an OPTION rather than mandatory.  If people feel it's worth promoting, they will.  
The whole concept of you MUST promote my shit just stinks of selfishness, which makes people like me side-eye the fuck out of you while keeping in mind not to get involved in your shit.  


Guys, this whole you MUST XYZ shit is an awful trend, and while you may see some gains from such promotions, you'll find much better results by gaining members in a more honest and meaningful way.  You know, like giving them an option to spam their watchers, or giving them an option to be a member in order to participate in an event, or you know.. giving the option to tag friends.  


Questions for you this week:

• How do you feel about participating in events that place unnecessary demands on you which are completely unrelated to the event?
  
• Do you ever place unnecessary demands on others to further your own self/group/projects etc..?
  
• Share any other relevant thoughts on this subject.
  

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