Is this self-promotion?

So, I started a thread over in the women's subforum just to get some input on what kind of prizes ladies actually want to win, but they shut me down immediately. Apparently, asking for an opinion counts as self-promotion now. I guess my luck is just terrible lately.

Does anyone honestly think asking for feedback is the same thing as promoting yourself? Like, look at this:
I didn't even drop a link or mention anything about a specific giveaway or why I was asking. I literally just wanted to know what kind of gifts women prefer when they enter contests like this. It’s not that complicated, I guess.

Man, if I were still moderating, I would've shut that thread down too.
If you had just framed the opening post like this:
"I'm working on a little project and wanted to get your thoughts—what kind of prizes do you ladies actually love winning at contests? Or what would be your dream gift?" —that's a totally neutral question! It doesn't immediately scream "hey, look at my brand" in the very first sentence, which is what they did.

That’s actually one of the reasons I decided to lock the thread—it’s pretty much what Gregory Ramirez2 was pointing out earlier.

I mean, if you already have an Instagram following and this is supposed to be some kind of giveaway for them, shouldn't you just ask them what they actually want?

At the end of the day, this forum isn't exactly a free market research tool for gauging audience preferences—well, at least not this specific community, and it's pretty obvious why. Besides, we already have a dedicated thread for giveaways and various gift exchanges, so honestly, we don't really need another thread covering the same ground.

Even if you didn't explicitly spell out exactly what the deal is, the way you mentioned the prize amount feels a bit provocative—almost like a subtle way of running an ad (you know, like when people start asking for links in their DMs).

hahaha, alright then. It’s a lose-lose situation, I guess. You say nothing, you're wrong; you say something, you're also wrong. Honestly, even if I had phrased it differently, they probably would've just shut the whole thread down anyway. It feels like every single word we type here is treated like we're standing trial in a federal courtroom. Welcome to the USA, I suppose.

I mean, worst case scenario, you could have just given me a heads-up that I should edit my post, right? Instead, it's just an immediate guilty verdict, like some heavy-handed judge handed down a sentence without even listening to the defense. I don't see what the big deal is about asking women what they're into—it's not like I'm going to make millions of dollars off a few casual questions. I was just asking to find out, you know?

Whatever. I'm out of this forum. Clearly, it isn't as liberal as I thought it might be. Peace out.

Farewell!