In your opinion, What is spam?
What is the line between Spam and legitimate post? and how thin is that line? How much spam should a thread meet before it qualifies for lockability?

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from what i understood, after reading the mods locking posts, they are the ones who decide what spam is...

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the best security guard, EVER.

Spam is repeatedly making one word posts, trailing too far off topic, or posting random things that do not contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way.

Also saying things to piss off the mods is sometimes spam ---- and this thread will be full of that soon. I give this thread a life expectancy of about 3 more hours.... if we're lucky.

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Life is tough......but it's tougher if you're stupid.

We'll let it live for now as "positive criticism"

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

The rules say: "No spamming (including ads etc, but recruiting is okay! But please keep it in your sig or the recruiting forum)"

Also, spam used to be an acronym for "Stupid or Pointless, Annoying Messages".

Spam is generally anything considered to be off topic. The forums have a private message system, which for some reason people refuse to use. Conversations that go back and forth in a topic are a example of this. Going off topic temporarily is generally ok, as long as it goes back on topic.

Also, topics that are based around certain subjects can be considered Spam. Such as Word games. Thats one of the reasons Word Association got locked and deleted.

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After reading the title of this thread... and before even clicking on it. I had already a reply in mind, it was simple yet effective:
"I define spam"
But then I saw moritana's reply... And thought... "Am I really that predictable?"
And when I saw vinceasuma's reply, I felt totally bad. Someone actually thought about posting a meaningful reply... and it wasn't me. So sad.
But on the other hand, don't worry vince, seems like lamb won't lock this, and I won't either.
And to be really serious, It's not that hard to tell what's spam and what is not. Just read the rules, you'll see it's quite obvious too. And if for some reason it wasn't, well we usually leave it be. Well the rules don't really say what is spam exactly. But common sense was supposed to kick in there...

And if you reaaaally still don't get it:

• Don't go tooooo much off topic
• No private conversations on the forum, the PM system was made for that reason
• Posts that obviously add absolutely nothing to the current discussion (like posting just a smiley...)
• Don't get the conversation into the 18+ area when it wasn't supposed to be there to begin with
• What else?... not sure... but I think most of this is quite obvious if you think before you click on that "Submit Reply" button. And the rest should also be quite obvious.

I'd like to add that on a case by case basis, we will use our own judgement to determine whether something alls into the spam category.

We don't delete or lock topics for a little spam, but if something gets out of hand like before, don't expect to keep posting in the topic.

Alot of us work hard on this site, of our own free time. We take pride in doing our jobs properly. When people spam, it's like an insult. Especially since it's against the rules. How many people honestly do not read the rules?

Do we need to make reading them prior to joining the site a stipulation?

Either way, the only people who enjoy spam are those that take pleasure in making other angry or annoyed. That won't be accepted by anyone here.

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Instead of just locking this later, why don't you guys make this a sticky? You know for reference.

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Mad people either have no sense or too many extra senses...
On the net, men are men, women are men and children are the FBI. =D

I think spam can't exactly be defined because a lot of it has to do with personal opinion.. what one person may consider spam, another might not.

Things I would definitely consider spam:
- One word posts
- Only smileys/emoticons
- Completely unrelated to the topic (as in, everyone's discussing one thing and you're totally off the mark)
- Conversations within a topic

Obviously though, it's up to the big guys what's spam and what isn't.

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If it weren't for the gutter, my mind would be homeless.

Because, we know nobody is going to read it.

The rules thread is globally stickied, its the top thread on every subject, and nobody reads it.



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Well, most of the things I think of as spam have been stated except one that I personally find the most annoying, E-peen battles. The posts where two or more people are seemingly staying in topic but are basically just arguing the same point over and over and over. I REALLY dislike that kind of childish posting.

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about the pms- i still dont see a way for more then 2 ppl to exchange pm's.
what if you would like to talk to MORE then just one other person? when a discussion goes off topic, its not necessarily only two ppl who are discussing it. it can be three, or four as well.
so if you want to continue the discussion, that for some reason it would be useless to open a special thread for it, you have to pick only one person, while the others left out?
also, pm's are private. the reason something wasnt a pm from the begging is also that maybe we dont want to keep our opinions private to ourselves. for a simple, personal, exchange of thoughts we can easily use pm or email, but then that thought wont be heard.

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the best security guard, EVER.

well...you could just pm the people you wanna discuss with to go to the chat(IRC)
well...other than what is already stated...i would consider it spam when say a topic someone is asking a question with a definite answer and not a personal opinion and people keep posting in it over and over again with the same answers

Exactly, we have a chat room. Nobody uses that, either. Seriously, with all our members, we have very few in the chat at any given time.

It's absurd to complain about something, when theres an option avaliable. The PM system is for person messages, the chat room is for chatting. Topics and posts are for either general discussion or specific discussion.

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Yes, well, considering we work for the site, our opinions do matter, whether you care or not.


Read the rules, especially the ones we spelled out clearly in this topic.

See those?

Break those and you're spamming. I don't care if you don't think its spamming, we classify it as such. Break the rules, and we punish accordingly.


If you were gonna end with this, why bother posting?

You stated your opinions clearly, but this ending line seems kind of like a cop out.

You clearly have something to say, but it also seems you do not want to be held responsible for saying those opinions.

Which brings me to the question that I pose to you.

If you were just gonna cop out on what you stated, why even bother stating it in the first place, if you hadn't intended to own up to it?

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