Thread: Spam

400.

Do you guys think we've become a bit complacent to spam lately? I've seen (and made) some posts so short its scary. Stuff that would have earned a ban a year or two ago. Is it just us growing larger and less willing to bother with the little things like a two word answer here or there? Rarely, some posts have just flat out no point at all. Off topic-ness is commonplace now even when its not funny. Threads cross dozens of brief topics in their nonstop revolutions. Mind you very few things on this board get outright deleted (although I do know of a forum where nothing is deleted ever). Does no one mind? I've yet to form a strong position on this...phenomenon. Its nice to post in a relaxed manner without really feeling the need to write a dissertation in each topic but have we gone too far? Can we have meaningful discussions with such a trend in the manner we reply? The overall feel was that the board, Chit Chat as one of many in particular, have become rather stagnant. A symptom?

What say you?

I don't really see it as that big of a problem in CC yet; after all, it's meant to be a somewhat random place, right?

I'd much rather not have the x-number word reply rule that we had awhile ago; it takes the fun out of posting if you have to write a paragraph just to make a funny point.

What, you don't like spam?

Fried spam actually ain't half bad...

I HAS ARNED MY RIGHTS TO SPAM; LOLOL 8DDD


Actually, there's so much spam that it frightens even me, lol.

I think Steal is making a valid point. How many threads in Chit Chat (besides the debate threads) actually ever stay on topic, if they ever really had one in the first place? We see threads like Confess Your Mess that lost their purpose long ago yet are... like... epically long. We might as well just rename it the RST #11 (or whatever number it is). At the same time, most new topics are news posts that people don't ever really get into a discussion to, and often can't. I don't see as many really short posts that people would be banned for (although I do see spam)... in this subforum, anyway. Elsewhere there's plenty of "lol cool" or "I agree" or even short answers in spam threads like Who's Your Favourite Character? and stuff like that (as people don't usually like to give reasons). I know I delete posts in Download Requests if they're short and pointless, but that doesn't seem to be happening elsewhere.

...And guys, I know you think I'm a spammer, but there is a difference between short spam posts, off-topic spam posts, and just plain posting a lot. I've always done my best to keep the topic on D.Gray-Man in the DGM subforum and chew out people for being pointless (although thank god that almost never happens, unless there's some ad-spammer or whatever... you know them). So yeah, this isn't being hypocritical.

I'm aware that there was spam in the past, but it feels... different from then. Things were productive. We had long-lasting jokes like the Family Tree or clans or whatever. These days, we just have a lot of pointless, topicless posts that would probably fit more on IRC. They're tedious to read if you have nothing to say, and they don't advance a topic. In other subforums, n00bs are making pointless posts and not getting called on it at all (we have more important things to worry about? we don't want to alienate them?).

Oh, and I can't forget the Games subforum. With the exception of the games that it was intended to host (like Mafia), most of those games are made for one-word answers. It's annoying. Some of the spammers people are annoyed by tend to freqent that section - maybe that's also had something to do with it?

well I have a hard time trying to tell which post is a spam or not. (I think we even had a thread dedicated to identify them) but I don't think were in a critical position yet but it is good to start early in checking if we have started crossing the border line. I don't think we have but thats just my opinion :P

@DE: you don't have to worry about the game section. If a thread there reaches a certain amount of pages. Vol deletes them so spammers wouldn't be able to use it to increase their number of post.... err except for Survivor. Maybe we should ask Vol to delete the previous games before we make a new one.

Originally Posted by _Vincent_

@DE: you don't have to worry about the game section. If a thread there reaches a certain amount of pages. Vol deletes them so spammers wouldn't be able to use it to increase their number of post.... err except for Survivor. Maybe we should ask Vol to delete the previous games before we make a new one.

I'm not talking about post count; I'm thinking of the fact that many games require very short answers and were basically created to be spam threads. If we make it acceptable in one forum, then people become used to posting that way and migrate to other subforums and start posting that way with as little thought to their post content and to the thread. Sure, some of them may believe that a higher post count equals instant respect (it doesn't), but I think the habits that form are bad, too. We've made it acceptable to go off-topic by being that way ourselves and newer members haven't learned how to post properly.

I think we decided that it was allowed to go slightly off topic in CC. But I do agree, we are much more lax than we used to be (long gone are the days when people used to be banned for pretty much anything the mods didn't like).

Originally Posted by 98abaile

I think we decided that it was allowed to go slightly off topic in CC. But I do agree, we are much more lax than we used to be (long gone are the days when people used to be banned for pretty much anything the mods didn't like).

If the mods are too strict a lot of the new posters are afraid to post, for fear of offending someone (and subsequently getting banned). It's better the way now I think.

Originally Posted by DE

I think Steal is making a valid point. How many threads in Chit Chat (besides the debate threads) actually ever stay on topic, if they ever really had one in the first place? We see threads like Confess Your Mess that lost their purpose long ago yet are... like... epically long. We might as well just rename it the RST #11 (or whatever number it is). At the same time, most new topics are news posts that people don't ever really get into a discussion to, and often can't. I don't see as many really short posts that people would be banned for (although I do see spam)... in this subforum, anyway. Elsewhere there's plenty of "lol cool" or "I agree" or even short answers in spam threads like Who's Your Favourite Character? and stuff like that (as people don't usually like to give reasons). I know I delete posts in Download Requests if they're short and pointless, but that doesn't seem to be happening elsewhere.

One of the reasons (I think) threads in CC keep getting sidetracked is because most of the ST regulars only post in CC, and since most of the regulars know each other somewhat well the posts invariably turn towards "x is emo" or "give y cookies". I don't think the mods can really do anything other than lock the threads when they become too off-topic.

As for the short posts in the manga subforums, many of those deal with series that are already completed. Or, like Gantz, releases come far and few in between. So since there's not really any material for chapter discussion threads, spam threads like "which non-canon pairing is the hottest" spring up.

Originally Posted by DE

...And guys, I know you think I'm a spammer, but there is a difference between short spam posts, off-topic spam posts, and just plain posting a lot. I've always done my best to keep the topic on D.Gray-Man in the DGM subforum and chew out people for being pointless (although thank god that almost never happens, unless there's some ad-spammer or whatever... you know them). So yeah, this isn't being hypocritical.

Actually, we need more people like you in Misc. and certain other sub-forums. Many of them have been dead, or there's not really any discussions going on.