Oh spam. It’s a word burned into our internet-loving minds. But what, WHAT is it? The problem with ‘spam’ is that it’s a subjective term. Like the word ‘tall’. How tall does someone have to be before you call them ‘tall’? Sure, we can tell the giants from the midgets; extreme cases are generally agreed upon.
It’s hard to find an Operational Definition for spam. In this thread, I’ll attempt to classify different types of the bugger.
all typical ban lengths are my own opinions. Different mods will have different feelings towards these issues.
For starters, let’s begin with the extreme cases.
Blatant spam: most of us can agree that
Sdfjswty32o44 nt3pt3tn l34i5u3opu 3
or
fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you! fuck you!
is spam. No questions? Good. [Typical ban length: one to four weeks]
Blatant NON-spam
Right then. Check out this guy's posts. Great examples of what is very unspammy. (In case this link ever dies, non-spam is grammatically (and by grammatically, I mean basic English. If you botch a semicolon no one’s going to hurt you) correct, has good spelling, is constructed in a way that’s not an eyesore to read and relates to the topic on hand).
Now that those two are covered, we move inwards.
Basic Spam
I consider basic spam to be posts that do not exceed one line AND contribute nothing to the topic AND are unfunny AND have little thought put into them. Notice the capped “and” operators. To express myself to those who have never worked with operational logic: posts can be under two lines and not be spam; posts can be unfunny and not be spam; posts can have little thought put into them and not be spam. It’s when you get all four factors when it becomes an obvious bannable offence.
Examples:
“pwned” --- while we understand that you think X has bested and defeated Y, posting “pwned” or “owned” or any close variant (with any combination of lol, lmao, rofl, etc) shows that you’re too lazy to express it intelligently. Don’t waste our time. People who make topics like to see that you’ve invested some thought into their topic.
“so”; “shut up”; “noob” --- simple blurbs and jabs are usually not allowed. There exceptions. If you can use it cleverly it often can pass. Here we run into the issue of what defines “clever.” Your best bet is to avoid these sorts of posts unless you’re very confident in its relevance or wit. [Typical ban length: three to seven days]
On the flip side, what about all those happy little bolded “can”s you saw up there? What? A post CAN have little thought put into it and NOT be spam? How in God’s name?! Well, it’s very circumstantial. Perhaps the post in question is short and was posted sort of flippantly but raises a very good point. Generally, seasoned users will know the limits when it comes to this sort of posting. The best way to acquire such knowledge is to lurk along with post regularly.
Basic NON-spam
These are just your day to day posts. They may not be all together huge, and they will vary in quality. But they do not break any obvious rules and will almost always be quite relevant to the topic on hand. I think most regular’s posts will be comprised of this category. Simple enough.
Borderline spam and borderline NON-spam
This is perhaps the most important part of the topic; the no man’s land where spam and non-spam meet. The area of posting where the justice or complacency wrought upon you can be swayed simply by the mood of the mod who reviews you post. Borderline posts occur all the time. A “basic post” in a very spammy thread. Near-basic spam posts in topic where there’s large paragraph conversation being held. These borderline posts are hybrids of the basic posts and the basic spam posts, really.
Since these posts are highly dependant on moderator discretion, remember that you CAN appeal your bans via PM. If the ban is unsigned, it’s likely because your offence was blatant enough to not deserve an appeal. However, if you feel a ban was unfair because of an interpretation of “spam” then feel free to PM the mod. Refrain from being an asshole in your PM. A polite, professional (without overdoing and sounding like a twit) approach will increase your chances of cooperation tenfold. Ask the mod why they thought it was a spam post; state your case. I’ve reversed several bans simply because the user had enough decency to politely inquire as to what was wrong with their post. [Typical ban length: one to three days]
Helpful Hints
PUNCUTATION can often save you from being banned. “ohi see” is MUCH more likely to get you nailed than “Oh, I see.”
DON’T USE ACRONYMS
This is a BBS, not an IM chat box. There’s no exclusive need for speed. “lol nice” is much more likely to get you banned than “Hahaha, nice!” Same goes for “stfu noob” versus “Shut the fuck UP, gah.”
LURK
This is good general advice, not just for being able to detect spam.
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Hopefully this post will help define spam for you a little better. Again, this is just my opinion. Other mods are welcome to add/question the ideas presented within.
=)
