A serious look at SPAM!

[Arianne-3ad]

Hello all,
Time again for "Ari's weekly ponderings"

Today's topic is SPAM.

I've actually started this posting several times, only to delete it. I don't have a problem with SPAM, what I do have a problem with is people who hijack legitimate threads til they become nothing but a back and forth smilie contest.

That is not funny. It is annoying!

I figure some of you might take this personally. Well, perhaps that is good, because I do have a list of about 5 people who I hope and pray take this message to heart.

Now I realize that not all threads can stay on topic, but please have the decency to maintain the original tone. I give two examples.

First the 'Mexico' poll. This was a slightly serious question that was posted in the Spam Section. Just because it was posted in the Spam section, does not mean that you can say and do whatever you want. I assume that it was put there because it was not DF2 related. When someone puts forth a legitimate opinion, PLEASE do not mock them, roll your eyes ( ), post an "I’m with stupid" or anything like that. It's rude. And to say that you were just joking or it's just a spam thread is a cop out. When you start spamming a thread, you have in effect invalidated anything that has been said prior.

Which brings us to example two: 'Respect' which was in the general forum. This was the prior incantation of "Ari's weekly ponderings". Now this one is harder to analyze as it switches topic about 10 times. But if you read the whole thing through, several of the switches are not 'respectful' in any way. In fact, some of them bordered on rude.

In my opinion, SPAM is a childish and self serving thing. It has no purpose but to fill some sort of odd immediate gratification that the poster has.

So, enough with the critiques, you say? How about some solutions?

OK, here's my plan of action. All you spammers out there, limit your postings to 7 per forum, per day. It is exceedingly rare that someone would legitimately need to post more then 7 times in a day. Hellos in the recruitment section and in threads that are for that expressed purpose do not count. Neither do threads started just to increase post counts.

Do not quote someone if the only reason you are posting is to get a reponse out of them.

Have at least two purposes or points in every message.

Sorry this is so longwinded (again). These are all, just my opinion and they were brought about when I was reading through OPF's (other peoples forums) and I ran across some serious threads that were spam-jacked and it literally turned my stomache is some cases.

Ari
who completely expects someone to respond to this with some sort of smilie...

[Kul unknown]

<-- theres your smile

and i also noticed a few people seem to take over threads and post useless, and unneeded things.

[bubbles]

;D

yes sir ari sir.

[bubbles]

on a serious note. i believe that there are some people who are rude in the forum and spam excessively, mostly in the spam area. however, what you are also calling spam is when there is just a mere change in the subject. which is rather hard to avoid when what someone posts can easily bring something else to mind, hence the change in subject. in essence, i do not see what you see as spam. i see it as people enjoying others and coversing. thank you for your time.

mindy
who completely does not like boot camp

[Arianne-3ad]

bubbles said:

i do not see what you see as spam. i see it as people enjoying others and coversing. thank you for your time.

I understand and agree to a point. Like I said I realize not all threads stay on topic, that is why I was trying to talk about the respect one too, since there are several topic changes, some the are begign and make sense, some that are just plain out there, some are just plain rude. If a thread starts serious, keep it serious. If it starts as a joke, don't make it serious by posting some sort of complaint. Maintain the tone is all I'm asking.

And breaking my rules once in a while wouldn't bother me either, it's just that its WAY overdone by some (as in they feel the need to post to every open thread)

Ari
PS: I will not let you hijack THIS thread by commenting on you bootcamp statement

[bubbles]

im glad we agree with what i have stated. and on another note, i would not be thinking of bootcamp if you had not created spamming rules to be enforced Lt. ari. (solutes) thank you for your time.

mindy
p.s. still does not like boot camp

[jc]

ill give you 6 of my posts a day seagul since your gona need more then the allowed 7 per day maxium given. this gives seagul the privilage of having 13 posts per day rather then the 7. thank you for your time



jc



p.s. boot camp isnt that bad mind

[::§kýè::]

Perhaps a solution to this is an "anti spam" serious chat section...this way those who want to post a serious topic that isn't about delta force have a place to go and those who like spam can get their fill of this delicious addictive fun and nonsense in the spam section still.

just a suggestion...

[bubbles]

some spelling errors were found in these post and are being corrected for the better of others so they do not make the same errors. it is not to degrade nor humiliate any one person. the corrections are as follows:

Arianne-3ad said:

In my opinion, SPAM is a childish and self serving thing.

self-serving

Arianne-3ad said:

Do not quote someone if the only reason you are posting is to get a reponse out of them.

response

Arianne-3ad said:

I don't have a problem with SPAM, what I do have a problem with is people who hijack legitimate threads til they become nothing but a back and forth smilie contest.

Arianne-3ad said:

Ari
who completely expects someone to respond to this with some sort of smilie...

smiley

Arianne-3ad said:

Like I said I realize not all threads stay on topic, that is why I was trying to talk about the respect one too, since there are several topic changes, some the are begign and make sense, some that are just plain out there, some are just plain rude.

i do not know what was trying to be said there

Arianne-3ad said:

Ari
PS: I will not let you hijack THIS thread by commenting on you bootcamp statement

your

bubbles said:

im glad we agree with what i have stated. and on another note, i would not be thinking of bootcamp if you had not created spamming rules to be enforced Lt. ari. (solutes) thank you for your time.

salutes


thank you for your time.

[bubbles]

skye, dont you think if its really serious then it should be kept in a private surrounding that can be controlled? because in all honesty, keeping a topic serious and on topic is practically impossible when everyones interest is different. the occasional rolling eyes thing and smiling thing ;D does not bug me, however, it bugs ari. so, i think it would be rather difficult to please everyone, especially if small things like that get under peoples skin

[bubbles]

thank you for your time

[::§kýè::]

In general, I think there is bigger issue here than the and the smilies it has to do with a certain level of seriousness. Yes I definately agree it is impossible to please everyone but at least this way if u wanted to post somethin' serious in a public setting you can have somewhere to go. Perhaps a private setting is too limited? Also if you have a public forum it allows u to get feedback from other people even when you're not online or from people you do not know. Besides whats small to one person may not be small to another...Not everyone wants to spam all the time. This just gives those who dont want to spam somewhere to go in a public setting....I think sometimes people want to get feedback from the Public.

Bubbs, personally I'll admit to enjoying spam and Serious chatting as I know you've probably noticed...sometimes I want to be serious and give my opinion( Like on Revenge's inappropriate banter in our forum, and those pics by bish) and other times all I can do is "roll my eyes" or want to make you picture the jester so I like the idea having both places to go.

[bubbles]

i didnt want to have to do this, but heres the cold truth. i hope your sitting down.

1. making rules for people to abide by in a public forum is, well, dumb
2. trying to mold people to your standards is also, well, dumb
3. if you want a serious conversation where no one can respond and ruin the topic for you then talk to yourself, but that would be, uh, dumb
4. next time a topic gets off course, close your eyes and think happy thoughts
5. those 5 people who were left nameless may very well feel the same about you and your "weekly ponderings"
6. if im not on that list feel free to add me
7. dont diss spam because even though its not very good it has feelings to
8. your posts are too long
9. halloween is tomorrow and so is j's birthday
10. and the big ten is, if you dont have something nice to say, dont say anything at all

*this post was edited by bubbles due to the fact that tomorrow is not only halloween but also j's birthday. thank you for your time

[Arianne-3ad]

bubbles said:

the occasional rolling eyes thing and smiling thing ;D does not bug me, however, it bugs ari. so, i think it would be rather difficult to please everyone, especially if small things like that get under peoples skin

that's not a true statement.

I tried to make clear in the second post that occasional silliness doesn't bug me at all. I expect it; it can be a pleasant diversion from seriousness, blah blah, blah.

But many people are masking rudeness under the guise of spam. How is that acceptable?

I wasn't making rules, they were suggestions. I am sorry if I worded it in a way that would have you interpret it as such. I just get tired of saying "in my opinion" and "this is just my opinion" after ever paragraph. I have no ability to enforce anything I said, nor would I encourage such enforcement.

I just thought that it was time to remind people that *sometimes* it's not appropriate.

Ari

[jc]