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I was checking the edit queue and found a suggested edit to remove a link to the answers own blog. It wasn't declared, and looking at the profile it is obvious it belongs to him, however it appears that the answer might contain decent information to the question. Should we accept/edit these links out, or downvote them and flag them for self promotion? This answer in question is here: https://serverfault.com/a/496819/60820

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It depends. Overt self promotion is frowned upon and generally treated as spam. Is one link in (what appears to be) an otherwise valuable answer overt self promotion? I don't think so.

The links in the answer aren't provided because the answer is a précis and the linked documents add additional information, they are there because credit goes to...

The question now becomes Should an OP need to give give credit to themselves?

For me the answer to that question is no. They already have credit for the answer because their name is on it and it's linked to their profile.

For me it's a valid edit. The answer appears valuable so shouldn't be downvoted/flagged for self promotional reasons. If the OP reverts the edit or posts more in a similar style then it's probably a good idea to bring it to the attention of the mod team so we can review their activity and take appropriate action.

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  • Seems a bit overboard to call that one "overt self promotion". The link was quite relevant to the post and added additional information. I believe it was wrong of the community to edit out the second link. It's like we're on a witch hunt for someone who might be self-promoting instead of looking at the content and asking if it's relevant to the post. In my experience, spammers usually don't put time into writing good quality, relevant answers. Maybe it would have been better to edit it and say "see X for more information". That way the question of credit isn't even an issue.
    – jmort253
    Commented Apr 13, 2013 at 19:49
  • @jmort253: I quite clearly say that I don't think it is overt self promotion.
    – user9517 Mod
    Commented Apr 13, 2013 at 19:55
  • I see that hiding in there now. :) But, still, the answer was edited to remove the link. I feel like that should be used for cases where someone demonstrates a pattern of abuse or wrote a really low quality answer and then slaps their link in the post. I don't know this user too well and haven't investigated myself, but I wanted to bring this up because I believe it's important to tell the difference between people trying to promote themselves and people who legitimately want to help others and just happen to have relevant content they've posted elsewhere that they want to add as a reference.
    – jmort253
    Commented Apr 13, 2013 at 22:02
  • @jmort253: Personally I just try to accept that what people say is what they mean and not read too much into it. He's giving credit to himself, it's not required.
    – user9517 Mod
    Commented Apr 14, 2013 at 5:44

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