Eng:What is advertising?

Advertising is when a Scratcher posts a link to something they have created (like a project or studio) on someone else's profile, projects, or studio.

What is Advertising on Scratch?
On Scratch, advertising is when a Scratcher posts a link to a project, studio, or forum on someone elses profile. Most of the time it causes spam, but it can also cause anger, irritation, and annoyingness. Sometimes it's fine when a Scratcher wants someone else to advertise on their profile, but if you can tell that they are going to get annoyed by the advertisement, you should not post it.

Sometimes it is good to keep you updated on a project, studio, or forum when you want to know what is going on in that certain thing. However, it is always good to ask for permission about whether or not the user wants to be advertised on or not. If the project, studio, or forum isn't necessary to the user, or isn't informative, you should not advertise, especially if you have advertised and they have told you to stop.

Good forms of advertising
However, there are forms of advertising which is not spam. Scratchers can post their advertisements in the Show and Tell forum. They can also place their advertisement in their signature.

Why is Advertising Bad?
Advertising is allowed on the Show and Tell forums, but is frowned upon everywhere else.

Advertising can annoy a lot of Scratchers when they don't want projects, studios, or forums advertised on their profile. Sometimes it can be informative when they need the advertisement, so they can be kept updated on a certain project, studio, or forum. However, many times the advertisement is irrelevant.

Scratchers' can advertise for many reasons, but they often do it because they think they can become popular by doing it. However, it does not often help to get more views on projects, studios, or forum threads. There are many other reasons why Scratchers advertise, but those are a few.

How to Prevent Advertising
On your "About me" or your "What I'm working on", you can politely ask people not to advertise. If someone posts something on your profile that is an advertisement, you can tell them that you don't like advertising in a kind way. Do not say anything that is against the Community Guidelines.

If someone keeps spamming after you have asked them to stop, you should report all of the spam.

What is Advertising Outside of Scratch?
In the real world, advertising is when people persuade others to buy a certain thing, such as convincing someone to watch a movie or buy a new product.

Advertising is mostly good outside of Scratch, because it doesn't create spam, nor does it do anything else spam-like.