Cross-posting
Many groups have a policy on restricting cross-posting. This is when a member sends an Offer or Wanted request to more than one group at the same time. Cross-posting is particularly common in built up areas where there are lots of Freegle groups that are very close together.
Problems with allowing cross posting:
- It drastically increases the number of messages in each group, pushing more local posts off the front page.
- Members who have joined more than one group see an unnecessary repetition of posts.
- It’s not fair to the poster’s home community & is against the spirit of local groups.
- It wastes fuel and increases pollution if items are given to members of non-local groups.
Problems with restricting cross posting:
- It is time consuming to monitor, although not if you use the moderation plug in: http://wiki.modplugin.org/index.php/Checking_for_crossposts
- Unless all surrounding groups have a similar policy it can be confusing to members where groups have different rules.
- It may lead to moderators having to deal with more complaints.
- Many mods feel that it is too restrictive.
How to handle cross-posting:
If you do decide to restrict cross-posting you need to decide on a period. Usually groups ask members to wait 24-48 hours between posts. You may reject posts outright that are too far away e.g. further than 5 miles from the group or beyond your neighbouring group's area (this can depend on the kind of area your group covers (urban or rural) and how many neighbouring groups you have). Explain to members why you have a 'no cross-posting' rule, they're usually quite understanding when they know the reasons
Admins on cross posting and keeping it local http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Crosspostingcross-posting
