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WRITING, NOT INCITING

Can a Helium producer mention his or her own website on Helium?

The answer is twofold: "Yes" and "No." Basically, it all depends on where and how that information appears.

WRITING AND PUBLISHING ARTICLES

The Helium User Guide offers a wealth of practical information for writers. Every Helium writer should read this guide before publishing a single item on Helium. This online resource includes a section, titled "What's Not Allowed on Helium."

Basically, plagiarism and self-promotion are taboo. The plagiarism rules are obvious. At least, they should be.

The self-promotion rules are strategic. Because Helium aims to provide a large body of constructive content for readers, while fostering a thriving and cooperative community of writers, the company expressly bans self-promotion in published articles.

Helium articles are ranked by a peer rating system. This system is based on anonymity. That means a writer simply cannot mention his or her name, address, email, company, website, published titles or other self-identifying information. Writers also must not list their online profile pages (such as Digg, MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, StumbleUpon, Yahoo, Yuwie, or other online networking sites).

When a writer publishes an article on Helium, that article is supposed to stand on its own merits. It will be rated for its own value against other articles in the same category. This offers both new and seasoned writers equal footing in the rating process. The writing speaks for itself, and quality tends to rise to the top!

On the other hand, Helium writers have published website reviews. A Helium writer may certainly publish a review of his or her own site. At the same time, however, other contributors may write conflicting reviews on the same site. This can be a two-edged sword!

Website addresses have been listed as sources for well-researched articles. And company names or web addresses have been mentioned as potential sources for products and services mentioned in various articles. However, this must be done delicately, to avoid self-promotion. Writers must be careful to maintain a professional distance from sites they mention, so that article rates will not be able to identify them with the sites their articles may cite.

THE "ABOUT ME" PAGE

Each member of the Helium community has a personal "About Me" page. This offers each writer an opportunity to showcase his or her interests, professional capabilities and favorite articles. Each member can post a photograph, icon or graphic. He or she can list favorite Helium writers.

The "About Me" page has been likened to a store window, a brief resume, a professional capabilities flyer or even a promotional mailing. Writers can list favorite websites (even their own) and answer intriguing personal questions as well.

This page also offers a messaging link, so that Helium members may contact one another, if they desire to do so.

HELIUM FORUM

The Helium community also includes an active forum, where members may post and answer questions and issues. In this forum, individuals occasionally do mention websites or specific titles and addresses of online materials.

Sometimes, folks will post active links to other sites or even to certain Helium articles they wish to share. If this information pertains to the question or discussion at hand, it seems to be generally accepted. However, outright spamming or self-promotions tends to be discouraged in the forums. Posts are intended to be helpful and informative, not just blatant publicity.

Learn more about this author, Linda Ann Nickerson.
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