There You Go Again, myLot: Can You Ever Just Stop Being Mean to Members?

It pains me to continually have to write bad press about myLot, a social interaction community that pays its members to interact with each other. At the same time, there is an old saying about staying out of "the news."

If you don't want to be in the news, don't create the story.

I like myLot, and I want to be very clear about that. I would not have stuck around with the site as long as I have if that were not the case. And generally speaking, my experience there is mostly fun and rewarding, especially since it is a rather tightknit community of people who reside there. They almost become like family and friends, even if it is rather unlikely you will ever meet anyone there in person.

However, admin, and I would say even the ownership, is another story, and it wasn't always this way. But it has been this way over the past three or more years, and maybe a bit longer actually. Not good.

The way admin conducts themself, and I should point out that it has been different people during this time, is rude, condescending and quite disrespectful toward members, and blatantly so. And this has been true of at least the last three of them.

I often question why this is. Because as I have stated many times before, the members of myLot are the heart of the site. They are the only reason it even exists. What exactly is the point of driving a wedge between the people who moderate the site and the members who interact within it?

Most who have no ill intentions, mind you, who are operating within the site.

Sites such as myLot, as well as other social media platforms, all have rules, and there's no rocket science behind understanding why they are there, and even why they are important. It's the glue that keeps everything working smoothly so that everyone participating on the site can have a good experience and be free from certain people who may not have the best interests of the site or the community at hand.

And by the way, admin should have the capacity to know who those people are, and who those people aren't. You should also afford any good member at least some leeway when it comes to enforcing the rules since while we are all aware of them, we're not necessarily going to remember every single detail about them.

It happens. We're human. It's not to say that the rules are as complex as say, the tax code. But you're still not bound to remember every little detail. 

Granted, and I have said this many times before about myLot, I will admit some of the rules are a bit weird. But I'm not here to critique that, other than to simply say some of the rules are weird. It's my opinion. The site owners are well within their rights to disagree with me about that.

My issue is more about the manner in which admin interacts with the community and the lack of concern, it seems, from the owners regarding how members feel about that. I have expressed concerns in the past directly to them, and never received a response.

That is, by the way, a response. They simply don't care. Even if they don't say the words, the non-response speaks for itself.

What leads me to this current rant, if you want to call it that, was a post that was deleted by admin that was discussing a lapse in earnings updates at HubPages, a site where writers write articles or blogs and publish them.

There is no rule against writing about other earning platforms on myLot. But they do have a rule about adding a link to the site you are talking about. I am aware of the rule. However, I had simply forgotten about it. So, the reason the post was deleted was not because of the content, but rather because it did not link back to HubPages.

A very minor infraction, mind you. And not one that should, in any case, illicit a holier than thou response from admin.

As is my personal rule, I contacted admin to learn why the post was deleted and based on former interactions with admin that I have had before, I gave a response to it. I will grant, one might suggest my response could be construed as rather immediately "combative" in nature. But if you understand the full back story, the response to my post being deleted, and the reason I worded it the way I did, actually makes sense.

It's not like, when it comes to admin, that it has ever been unclear that I will not challenge them whenever I feel it is necessary. So, is it just to antagonize me in some way? They seem to dislike any member who doesn't bend to their power. And of course, I am not one of them.

I said, "If you decide to delete a post of mine, I do expect an advance notice and an explanation. It's called courtesy. Just letting you know."

Many members have posts deleted often with no explanation, and while it is clear that admin is not required to offer one, I am often perplexed what purpose it serves not to? Especially when most members are not out to break rules intentionally or are otherwise engaged in "nefarious" activities.

If the only problem with the post that was deleted was that it needed to have a link added, there is an edit function for our posts. Admin could have easily sent a friendly reminder for me to simply add a link, and all would have been good.

But instead of taking a practical approach, admin chooses to continually assert some form of "authority" over members that I think, serves no purpose other than to stroke the egos of a person who has been put in a position to be in charge of something that goes right to their head—and let's face it. The people the owners choose to do this are not necessarily at the top of the food chain. Hey, let's be real. It's myLot where, believe it or not, some people earn $5-$10 a month and refer to myLot as a job! 

The former admin was an elderly pot smoking dude who lived with his dad, living on the government teat.

Not exactly the cream of the crop, as you might say. It was often quite the ponderance, to try to figure out how many tokes of the bong he took before getting really nasty with some members, running myLot like a prison camp. "Do as I say or else!"

The response I got from admin was exactly of the sort I am always used to, and so it was no surprise. Nasty, rude, condescending, as well as demeaning. "I will refer you to the Terms you agreed to when joining which state I am not required to tell you when or why something gets deleted. However, if you want to know why, I will tell you. There is a 4-year old discussion by a previous Admin stating you must add a link to a site when discussing other earning sites. Yours was the third such discussion I have deleted in the past week for not adding links (all from members who should know better), and now I believe I am simply no longer going to allow discussions about other earning sites."

Besides the response being poorly written, it belittles members and is quite accusatory. But again, why is there so much animosity dealt toward members of the community, which seems constantly apparent when dealing with admin? I mean, I simply forgot to add a link. This requires swift and decisive action delivered with a commanding blow?

It's myLot remember, for crying out loud. A place where we talk about what we did that day and what we had for dinner. Sometimes there are deeper discussions. But that's pretty much the bulk of them. Menial and rather trivial things that even most people outside the site, if the posts came up in search, wouldn't even remotely be interested in reading about.

So, these are largely inside discussions. The site doesn't seem to care much if organic traffic waddles in. It makes its money by the ads members see. No one else. And I think the owners are realistic when it comes to knowing myLot will never be a multi-million-dollar enterprise. It's just a tiny site that lives on the Internet with a handful of people playing around on it that the owners might be able to make a car payment with.

I'll grant you, even my own response should be, it's just myLot. Who cares? A post got deleted. It wasn't important. It's not important. I might have lost two cents if I am lucky. But it's, of course, the principle of it. And I am big on principle.

I did write to the owners of the site on this one, simply asking the question, "I am curious why you continue to put admin in place that is rude and disrespectful, as well as rather condescending toward members here?"

I will await their response, but if past history is any indication of future results, I am pretty sure my concerns have once again fallen on deaf ears and admin will go about his or her business as usual, waving their iron fists over member's heads. 

I would very much like to give the owners an opportunity to share their thoughts on the issue. But I have no expectation that they will do that.

Either way, I have a platform outside of myLot to talk about it. And of course, that's exactly what I will do. That is exactly what I did here. myLot hates bad press enough that they don't allow any negative commentary regarding myLot within their walls. Yet, they always forget that some of us who are on that site have bigger audiences outside of it, and the commentary that gets put out here will be far more scathing than anything that might get put inside of it.

But hey, just in case Blogspot happens to have its own internal Gestapo lurking around the edges waiting to pounce on me, I'll be sure to leave a link below to myLot that you are welcome to peruse at your leisure.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page to keep up with the latest writings wherever I may write them. Want to check out myLot, you can click the link here to learn more.

© 2024 Jim Bauer

Why Can't myLot Ever Learn?

There is an old adage, and even if it is not an actual adage, it is rather sound advice. If you do not wish to be part of a story, don't provide the fodder for one.

Part of the message is also; I am a vocal guy. And I make no bones about that. I don't beat around the bush. And I am a staunch defender of my right to free speech and of course, in turn, the 1st Amendment. Now, why I am mentioning this? 

myLot.

It is a social media site where people share their thoughts and ideas, and post about just about anything their hearts desire. It's actually a great site with some great people and I have said that many times and cannot stress that enough.

It's the ownership I take issue with. And the admin most of the time.

There is one thing that is true of any social media site and that is that they are going to have some level of editorial control over their content. And I really don't take much issue with that. When it is reasonable. Do I understand that to some extent 1A will not fully be endorsed in certain places? Absolutely. Do they have the right to "censor" certain types of content? Sure they do.

At the same time, do I have the right to vocalize my discontent when they do it? You are damn right I do. And I will. 

See, the thing is, and I have mentioned this more than once—just type myLot into the search field and I am sure other content will show up that I have written before on the subject of the site—is that I find myLot's desire to keep any "bad talk" of their site or admin quiet to be rather weird.

In other words, it is disallowed. Or if not entirely against the rules, talking bad at all about the site, its pay system, its ownership, or its admin is strongly discouraged enough that if you do it, you could be banned from the site.

No one likes to be talked bad about, so to some extent I get it. The site says, "Take it up with us if you have an issue," which is fair. 

Except that if you air your concerns directly to admin or ownership...you are ignored.

The thing I always say is that it's up to you to encourage people to feel good about you and talk nice about you. If you do things that make people feel badly toward you, it's not the person with the opinion's fault. It's yours.

Besides, it matters. It should matter to myLot, who I am sure, wants to keep their site fun and successful. If an admin acts in a manner that causes people to want to leave the site, it should matter to ownership. It should matter to the new admin to understand what went wrong with the old admin.

Beyond that, and I have mentioned this before as well, the site needs the members more than the members need the site. And it seems to me that myLot forgets that more often than it should. The money that flows into their bank account comes directly from what we do ultimately. 

Therefore, our concerns should have quite a lot of weight. Not a single one of us who provides content and interactions on the site have any desire to see the site fail. We want very badly for the site to succeed and continue on.

Silencing the people who make the site go makes no sense. Pissing off the people who make the site go makes no sense. Running the people off who make the site go makes no sense.

Now, I will grant you. Many of the people on the site are not writers. They have only myLot as a platform. It's their only audience. But some people, such as me, have many platforms we write on. And a large audience. And opinions are my bread and butter. It's what I do. It's the entire basis of most of my writing. 

And I share those opinions in all the places where I write. And many more eyes will see my opinions in a place like this one than will ever see my opinions on myLot. myLot even knows this. So, let's say I left a comment as a response to someone else's post, and it just so happened the old admin came up and I said a harsh word or two about them?

How many people would likely see that comment? Five or six? Maybe ten? Based on how comments get read on the site, probably practically no one.

How many people will see any commentary about myLot outside of myLot. Thousands? Tens of thousands? 

myLot wants me to refrain from speaking bad about former admin whom I took issue with. And like I said, that's their prerogative. But it doesn't mean I won't air my concerns nor my opinions nonetheless in one forum or another. 

So, why is it important to me? Well, because I think the onus is on myLot to get it right. I think the onus for admin to be talked nicely about is on admin to do that. In some ways I suppose I could say, "I don't make the news. I simply report the news as it happens."

myLot is a product not unlike any other product when you think about it. And while I do not consider myself to be a customer of myLot, I still believe my opinions matters. And it should matter to them. McDonald's can say or think whatever it wants about its burgers. Ultimately, it's not their decision to determine what people think about them. It's the person who eats them. It's their opinion that matters. And regardless of if you like the commentary about your burgers or not, or think the commentary is true or not, or regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree with the commentary, the onus is on McDonald's to make a burger everyone will talk good about.

You can have your editorial control. You can take my opinions or leave them. But as I have said before, it would be better for them to take my opinions within their walls rather than force me to share them outside their walls.

Because I will do it. Every single time. Because I can. Because I have a right to. Because even if it does not matter to them, it matters to me. Because outside of their walls their rules do not apply. Their wishes and desires do not apply. Outside of their walls it's up to others to decide for themselves what the truth is and whether or not the opinion is right or wrong.

They say that how members of myLot feel about the site matters. They say their doors are open to discuss concerns or issues. But it is simply not true. It's a closed door. And if no one within the site can talk about the issues together, collectively, the issues in the minds of the owners and admin don't exist and therefore, need not be addressed.

Because no one is allowed to talk about it. Or be banned. And if you do, you receive open threats through the back door to be banned. 

I try to point it out all the time that although it may not always seem that way, I actually highly regard myLot. I am mostly a happy member there, and happy to be part of the community. But I am also not going to rest on my laurels just for fear of being banned. 

The fact that they don't understand that actually floors me. As a sign on my office wall read, "Sometimes the best person to have at your side is one who will not always be on your side." In other words, your best friend is often the one who will tell it like it is. Not how you prefer it to be. And the only way for your business to reach its full potential is to step back from your personal feelings sometimes and listen.

I will be on the site for as long as they allow me to be. I get it. It's their rodeo. They get to call the shots. At the same time, so long as I am there, I will push as hard as I can to not be censored, even when some of my commentary will not be positive.

If I can say, without repercussion, "I love admin," I can say, "I dislike admin" without repercussion as well. Your advice has been heard. I don't have to take your advice any more than you have to take mine, myLot.

But keep in mind, a lot of the hands that feed you have already left. There may well come a time when all of them are gone, and at that point, none of your rules will have eyes to read them and heed them. Why did many of them leave? Your former admin you don't want to be badly spoken of. Your approach to the site. Your quiet push to take the fun out of the site and allow members to openly and actively talk amongst each other about our site.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page to keep up with the latest writings wherever I may write them. Want to check out myLot? Visit the site by clicking here. It's a social media platform that pays people to talk about everyday things and is worth a look despite my commentary here.

Other commentary on myLot:

An Examination of the Writer and Platform Relationship
One of the joys of writing is simply being able to do it—and these days having multiple places that we can share it. In this still rather new Internet age, the opportunities for many people who can smith words on a page abound.

More Trouble With myLot
There was a time when I spent a considerable amount of time on a site called myLot, a site I have written about here before more than once. What was once a great community with great people and one where the owners and admin had a great sense of admiration and appreciation for the members, has now turned into a bit of a nightmare.

myLot Admin Has Stepped Out of Bounds
Should I write so much about another site on this site? Of course, it's myLot I am talking about. And besides, I am quite an opinionated guy, and I enjoy having places to share them.

Writers Are the Reason for a Writing Site
All of the sites that we have the pleasure of writing on of course have rules we all must follow. As I say all the time, it's their site. They get to make the rules that we must abide by. Like it or leave it.

myLot Is Run By Weird People

I want to be clear here, a site called myLot, which is a social media site where people talk about their everyday lives, what they ate for dinner, or just pretty much anything at all, is a pretty fun site. I am not going to dismiss that aspect of it. And it is certainly worth a look if you want to talk about anything and nothing and also make a few bucks while you do it.

But what makes the site fun and interesting are the people who are part of the community. Not the owners of the site. And not the admin.

Honestly, they are quite weird. And I have talked about this aspect of the site many times. And like this time, from time to time I feel the need to remind people of the abnormality that exists as part of myLot's existence.

You know, anywhere on the Internet, anywhere in social media, on the very platforms I am using, I can say whatever I want about those platforms. I can air my opinions freely. Those platforms may not like what I have to say. But they at least acknowledge it is not my job to say good things about them.

It is their job to encourage me to say nice things about them through what they do to make me happy about using their site.

I could, for example, write a blog, right here on Blogspot, saying things about Blogspot that won't put Blogspot into a good light. So be it. And that would be perfectly acceptable.

But myLot? They're different. You can't say a single negative thing about the site. It's against their rules. And well, it's a public site just like any other site on the Internet and anyone can find the posts that are written there. 

It's all front and center, searchable, and the posts will and do come up in searches. 

As such, they are scared of any bad publicity, even if it isn't direct, but simply implied. It is them saying, under no uncertain terms, "You will not say bad things about us that others might see outside of the site."

I mean, it's a thing with them. They are scared of it, and I just find it to be rather peculiar. I said it's weird. And that's exactly what I meant. It's weird. They are weird for it.

Take a post I wrote there earlier today. It really was a benign post. It was not making fun of myLot. It was not being disparaging of myLot. It was not scolding myLot, or even complaining about myLot. It was simply a tongue in cheek post about activity being a bit slow in myLot for the day.

That's a no-no, you see. Because God forbid someone out there, the five or so people who might see it, see that post and think there might be something wrong with myLot.

That's why they took it down. Because in their eyes it potentially communicates something about their site they may have reason to be embarrassed about. Why? Who the hell knows? But it's why they took down my post.

The problem there is this; some of us are writers outside of myLot with bigger platforms and louder voices than others. People like me who happen to have a very large audience and the potential for many more eyes to see what I will say here than they might ever have found on their actual site.

And worse, the words I post here are far less tongue in cheek, far less careful, far less friendly, far more scathing, much more critical, and perhaps in some ways, more dangerous to their reputation than anything I might post within the confines of their iron fists.

Like I said, myLot is still a site that can be fun and earn some money. But just know that when you step within their doors, you're locked inside, and they will command you to behave their way or else. Make sure you praise them to the High Heavens. They like praise. They can't handle scorn. They can't handle ridicule. And frankly they fear the truth. 

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page. If you want to check out myLot as a place to write about anything and get paid without having to be a writer? You can find them at mylot.com. You can find me there as well. My name is Porwest. If you sign up and write an introductory post, let them know Porwest sent you there from The Springboard.