Why wasn't my Group request approved?

Ok. Clara and I have been in charge of approving/declining groups for awhile now. You may notice that the wait time for approval has been cut drastically as we try to do it at least once a day.

We get about 10+ requests a day and there are a number of reasons why I decline them. Clara seems to be a bit more open-minded so you can always roll the dice and hope she get to your request before I do.

The Black List (Moratorium on new group acceptance)

• Specific Band, Movie, Video Games, TV Shows or Books*


• Specific Person (i.e.; Courtney Love, Brad Pitt, Barrak Obama, et al)

* Note: Any existing group most likely pre-dates the moderator approval process or has proven exceptional worth via forum discussions.

Here are the top reason I decline groups.

Reason why this group should exist

• because it doesn't already exist is not a valid reason. I almost always decline requests that list this as the justification


• because 'a' has a group so 'b' should too is not a valid reason. I know this place can be juvenile at times, but this didn't even work when you were 6.


• I know a lot of people that are really into 'x' is not a valid reason.So we should just take your word for it? Please cite a thread or something so we know that your idea of 'a lot of people' is more than you and the three people on your friend's list.


• I couldn't get into this random group so I'm starting my own is not a valid reason. There was probably a reason you can't get in. For that reason, I will not approve you for a duplicate group. Plus, how annoying would it be to have duplicate groups? Pretty annoying, me thinks.

Regional Groups

• If you haven't been a member for more than six months, I usually will not approve you for Regional Group ownership. Regional Groups require an active member who has established trust within the online community.


• Duplicate Regional Groups will not be approved. End of story (see above).


• When starting a regional group, please do a little research and do a members in your area search on the hook up page to let us know how many people are in your particular area. Post this number in your request. We don't have time to do it.

Group Whores

• If you apply for 5 groups in one swoop. I will most likely deny all of them. A group is your baby. You have to cherish and nurture it or it will die. So keep a narrow focus.

Thanks.



[Edited on Aug 31, 2004 by lil_tuffy]

Addendum: if you do not have any journal entries and do not actively particpate on the site, I will usually decline your group even if I think the group is a good idea.

Question to members who want a group for an individual band or artist:

Why do you guys request these groups? They do get approved, so I'm not saying that you shouldn't, I just don't understand. It seems that mostly you want to have a place to say "_______ is very cool!" and have others agree with you. That's neat and all, but wouldn't a thread accomplish the same thing? Do you ask for the groups simply because you want to be in charge of something or do you have a broader vision for the group?

I admit that this is what I was thinking of. That doesn't mean it will happen, just that I was thinking it might be better that way.

I dunno how to answer this question without making our jobs harder. People occassionlaly reaply for a group like a week later and that pisses me off to no end. I don't want the forums overrun with threads trying to justify groups.

So... maybe but prolly not.

The reason that regular groups are not permitted to start with SG is because half the applicants want their group to be named, for example, "SG HotDog Lovers" and it makes it incredibly hard to find in alphabetical order.

Only location based groups are permitted to have SG in front of their names because they all already did anyway.

This just in!

Groups are not a safe haven to talk about things that you can't talk about in people's journals or on the boards. The same rules apply to groups whether they are public or private and any request for a group whose charter states an intent to circumvent site rules or terms of service will obviously be denied.



[Edited on Jun 23, 2005 by lil_tuffy]

That's a gray area. It's probably an appropriate place for it.

Overtly racist or hurtful language will not be tolerated. If someone reports it, action will be taken.

Groups that are regional versions of other groups will not be approved.

Examples:
1. The REAL New York Group - for people that can't get into SGNY becaue they're assholes
2. Pittsburgh Boobs! - a group for the best bobs in Pittsburgh
3. PSWUK - Plus sized women in the UK

All of these will be declined...

1. Because we're not going to duplicate any regional group
2. Regionalizing something like a physical feature seems kind of dumb... feel free to start a gallery though!
3. No matter how plus-sized the ladies of SG get, there will always be room for all of them in the PSW group!

Re-Submitting your group request every time it is declined just makes me want to decline it more.

Also, having an SG submit a group request that I just denied will also not help you.

Someone owes you $1mil

And we get requests for this kinda crap all the time.

Not gonna happen.

Nor will groups for people to 'vent' or talk about 'what they hate' or 'speak freely' or 'say things that aren't allowed on the rest of the site.'

Yes. As stated elsewhere... this is the worst thing you could have done. You've started discussions about it in four different places (not counting your blog) generating multiple places for us to try and follow a discussion (not to mention the slew of private messages) creating even more work for the moderators.

from the other thread:

It's not something to do AFTER you submit the group... it's something you do before. If there is a pre-existing thread (or threads) that show a vast interest in a particular subject by a large number of people then that should be cited in the reason for the group but in no way guarantees approval.

Furthermore, a thread about the subject that creates a discussion is of much more use than a thread that just asks "are you interested in x?" followed by a page or two of "yes/maybe/totally." The latter does not provide us with any indication of whether or not the subject warrants a group discussion.