Can’t we all just get along?

So you have a small running group in San Francisco and want a community where you can motivate each other by posting personal running times, routes, and progress. You think /c/health/running would be a great place to be a sub-community (e.g., /c/health/running/SFO_runaround). You’ve contacted the owner of /c/health/running and he said his community doesn’t allow the posting of personal information (while your community will allow it). But you really want to be a part of his community.

Try to work it out with the owner is the best advice we can offer. We respect that owners and moderators want to build the type of communities they want to build. Just like you, they have their own criteria and rules for whom they want to associate. Far be it from us to get in their way. We fully support the free market. Granted, we will take action if it goes against our user agreement. (That’s not to suggest we agree with the laws that require us to take action – just that we don’t have enough money to fight them.)

We get it, and we empathize. Ask any marketing professional: brand is important. No doubt. So being part of a particular community creates an association with their brand. You might want that association. They may not. As we don’t sanction force, we won't force them to agree. We won’t intervene in the dispute. It’s not our business. As our parents taught us when we were kids, “work it out on your own.”

Or take your toys and go build your own playground. If they can do it, so can you. Brand is important. But it isn’t everything.