Is it okay to beg for money on Mastodon?

[billyjoebowers@mastodon.online]

@randahl

I mute them. There is absolutely no way for me to know if they're legit, and it's obvious many of them aren't.

It's not even like giving money to random people on the street, these could be organized criminals.

[craignicol@glasgow.social]

@randahl not all the requests will be genuine, but there's enough mutual aid and verified accounts that I think banning then would have adverse real world consequences for people who have to let recourse.

That said, I prefer to put my money into changing the system, in addition to being the individual. And there are organisations who do both.

[randahl@mastodon.social]

@lydiaschoch they are hoping I will boost their posts, but obviously I would never boost monetary requests from something I cannot vouch for.

Ever.

[randahl@mastodon.social]

@leeloo if you read the last line again, you will see I am talking about individual servers.

[thedaemon@snac.9front.club]

I find it weird and just ignore them honestly.

[bsm@swiss.social]

@randahl I just block and report them.

[hiker@akk.fedcast.ch]

@randahl These accounts are practically all on "mastodon.social" and this monster instance don't have any functioning moderation, so reporting them will not help. The only option is to block them.

[groupnebula563@mastodon.social]

@randahl the Fediverse’s #MutualAid network is one of the strongest ones I have ever seen, and it is something to be proud about, not concerned about. remember that not everyone is a (probably quite rich) political journalist like you. there are programs like @aral’s Gaza Verified to ensure the people asking for this stuff are reputable. how about you sit this one out, my guy.

[leeloo@chaosfem.tw]

@randahl
My point is that you're talking about one policy. The idea is that there will be as many policies as there are servers.

[kathmandu@stranger.social]

@lydiaschoch @randahl

The messages that I've seen direct-messaging someone or replying to an un-related post were clearly spam.

If you start the 'report and block' process on a message, the software (on my server anyway) shows the account's other recent posts, and asks if they illustrate a pattern of spam. Usually all the account posts is begging messages, across every server it can reach.

If it's not a person you've known for some time, block and optionally report; assume they're scammers.

[depereo@mastodon.social]

@randahl a good resource for understanding mutual aid is the book 'mutual aid' by dean spade which is available in its entirety here:

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/dean-spade-mutual-aid

I don't know if you'll have a definitive answer to your question after reading but it might help. I don't have settled thoughts on direct individual requests from internationally distant strangers either.

[newsgroup@social.vir.group]

@randahl This is a difficult issue, and it really requires thoughtful measures to address it properly. Charity is important and valuable, but there also needs to be a level of responsibility and common sense in how it’s handled.

[shadsterling@mastodon.social]

@randahl some instances do have policies, and I think it’s good to have a policy. I think posts asking for help from whoever happens to see the post are fine, and most of the policies I’ve seen encourage that. I think asking specific accounts for money, especially without some kind of longstanding relationship, is too much, but I’m not sure what response a policy should call for

[randahl@mastodon.social]

@leeloo no, not at all. I hope there would be different policies. I am just asking, what should the policy be? Because I do not think that is a simple question at all.

[assaf@mas.to]

@randahl in timeline post or DM?

DM = scam - they focus on specific account to land the gullible that will pay

[iveyline@mastodon.nz]

@randahl I agree. There are a lot of people asking for money. Few are verifiable. I would prefer to see these eliminated unless totally verifiable.

[gra3432@mastodon.world]

@randahl your question and a lot of the answers make me shiver. Yes, there might be fakes. But most of them had to swallow their pride to come here and ask for help because they, worse, their children, are in dire need. Nobody forces you to give them anything. Showing up in your time line doesn't cost you a dime. So why do you want a 'policy'? To get them banned, as already some instances do? I only regret I can't help. It hurts bad enough.

[jabgoe2089@hub.netzgemeinde.eu]

@Randahl Fink of course people and organisations can ask for money here in the fediverse. but if that's all they do i will stop following them and when they show up in other followers' comments will mute them.

this is a very good point:

I support recognized aid organisations, but these direct requests make me concerned, because as a Mastodon user I have no way of verifying if the requests are legitimate, or some nefarious person is pretending to be a person in need.

so i mostly ignore such requests ...

[npars01@mstdn.social]

@Robo105 @randahl

Not comfortable having my account used to platform scam artists. Riding the coattails of someone else's effort.

Also not comfortable ignoring the heartfelt appeals for aid, when I can't help monetarily, only informationally with a boost.

If the account is new, has no posts, no followers, no profile information, decline the follow, mute & block. Sock puppets ditto.

If the account has posts that contain unwanted sales, disinformation, violence or nudity, block & report.

[leeloo@chaosfem.tw]

@randahl
"The policy" implies one.

Also, if you assume that there will be as many different policies as there are servers, asking what the policy should be doesn't make sense.

You might as well ask "if cars had colors, what should the color be".The answer would be that each car owner picks the color they prefer