Regarding Spam: TCS Policy Change

Regarding Spam- Spam is unwelcomed here. TCS's definition of Spam on the forum boards is the following: Spam is when a member makes posts that consist of only a few words, have no relevance to the topic at hand, use only emoticons, or uses the thread for a 'chat' between 2 or more members. Spam is when someone runs the board posting one or two words on every thread, or the same words on multiple threads. A few heartfelt words left here or there, by busy people is NOT considered spam. It is not the Quality that defines Spam, but the Quantity. If you choose to chat, please use PM's, emails, or any one of the numbers of chat programs available such as MSN, ICQ, or Yahoo.

If you wish to spam to drive up your post count with meaningless threads there are countless boards created just for that reason. We ask you to go there and post to your heart's content. On this board please refrain from posting spam. Spam will be immediately deleted and if the poster continues to Spam, appropriate action will be taken up to and including banning. It is at the Moderators' discretion what is deemed to be Spam.

Messages requesting members to check PMâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s on the board are not allowed. Send the PM and watch your message tracking to see if it has been delivered. If possible send an email. The same goes for messages asking people to clean out PM boxes. The way the PMâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s are set up, when the box is clogged, the user gets an automatic email. Periodically take 5 minutes of your day and clean out your PMâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s to keep them clog free.

Thank you for helping us to make this a nice, pleasant place to spend cyber quality time.

Oops, broke one of those rules. Didn't mean to but I thought it would be better to take the conversation offline.

I'll know better next time.

thanks for the heads up Deb!

Thanks for the information. However, I do have a question, in the FurPictures Only forum, or on joke threads, sometimes very short responses or just an emoticon seem appropriate. Would these be considered spam now?

I thought it was funny when there was a thread that needed bumping and I bumped it the next day my post wasn't there but a whole lot of other "bumps" were.. Shouldn't we get told when someone deletes out post?

In the game threads, obviously a one word post is often the name of the game, Lorie.

Lorie, there are not very many spammers on this board, only a few. This rule has come about after a vigourous discussion between all the mods, and because of the spammers conduct on the board and how they have managed to abuse their time here. There is nothing wrong with posting an emoticion or one or two words, but when it is excessively done for no point other than it is to bump up post count then it is considered spam and will be deleted. The abuser will not be notified of the deletion, but because they are spammers, they will probably notice, and if it continues there will be action taken.

Just making sure everyone sees this. If you have any questions, please ask them.

Just to address a question asked by Wellington Cats.

If a mod deletes a post for any reason, normally we PM the member as soon as we can to explain the reasoning behind it. We are humans too, and perhaps sometimes something slips thru the cracks. But I can speak for all of us I think when I say that we try to notify the member when ANY changes are made to a post. Whether its an edit, or a deletion.

Also, we as mods do 'bump' threads occasionally because we want to be sure that all the members see it. This is not done to up our post count, its only done to keep the thread visible.
I hope this clears it up for you, Sam.

OK now I got a question . Every day I go to the thread make free donation to animals and click for more . I always place only a few worts in there to bump it up . But not for my count , I really don't care about that my count any way . So , Can I still do that or is this also consitered as a spam ? Just to make it clear , I do not want to spam and I don't like too . I just do that for the people to see that there is a way to make free donation with just one click for different rescue's .

Hedi-

That is clearly understood for the important threads. It is not considered Spam unless it (again becomes excessive) Generally bumping started out as what the moderators do to keep important topics at the top of the board until we are sure that almost everyone has read them. It was even discussed about making bumping a mod only action, but then we have threads that are important where members help us out by bumping them, so that idea was discarded.

As mentioned before, this whole topic has been an ongoing discussion for months. It is not something we take lightly in changing or making new policies. We do not want to be looked at as the Internet Police, but we also don't have the time to deal with the Spam issues without the members help. Spam creates a lot of extra work for the moderators, and from what we have heard from members, it is annoying to most of them as well and not what they want to come here to read. I believe that everyone here knows the difference between spamming and caring. There is a huge difference between the two. We just want this board to run clean and smooth and everyone to have a good time and not be known as the giant sandbox of the Internet. We have ALL worked hard to make this place what it is, and it deserves to keep the integrity it has earned.

Thank you M.A. for your quick answer , I did worry a little about that . I do understand the reasons why you all want to be spam free . And I agree too , I like to read the important things in here too .The fun stuff and how can we forget the wonderfull picture thread . To learn and may give my 2 cents worth too . And I sure don't want to be a moderator and read all that stuff , that would be to much for me to read .You guys doing a great job Thank you all for making TCS

I would like to thank you for cracking down on spam on this board. I have been posting on The Cat Site for over a year now and I only have a little over 1000 posts, because I read alot and try not to spam. I find that the post count here means alot pertaining to the knowledge of the poster. I know alot more about cats and this community than I did when I first joined. I have been well educated by members who post with care and concern for the well being of cats and the enjoyment of the community here.
Thank you and keep up the good work mods. Spamming is for other recreational boards, not this board that is informative and educational, and fun


Coco Maui

Thank you Cocoa for speaking out as you did. The crackdown begins now and some members are going to find that their posts will be vanishing. It is entirely possible that the moderators will not take the time to inform the poster everytime a thread vanishes, but again, only those who are spammers will be noticing because they put so much stock in running the board by posting so many times.

I believe I am speaking for all the mods when I say we have tolerated it to the point where we can no longer tolerate it at all. The board is growing, and for the new members who arrive here, we would rather they saw the real focus of the boards, information/fun (not foolishness)caring and knowledge. That is why this has come to this point now.

Those who are reading this and feel like they want to argue in defense of spam we suggest you move on and find one of the many boards that embrace you to spam. The Spam welcome mat is being withdrawn.

Originally posted by hissy
Lorie, there are not very many spammers on this board, only a few. This rule has come about after a vigourous discussion between all the mods, and because of the spammers conduct on the board and how they have managed to abuse their time here. There is nothing wrong with posting an emoticion or one or two words, but when it is excessively done for no point other than it is to bump up post count then it is considered spam and will be deleted. The abuser will not be notified of the deletion, but because they are spammers, they will probably notice, and if it continues there will be action taken.

Click to expand...

This makes me very sad. I have seen about five of my posts vanish recently and I wasn't notified! I'm obviousely thought of as a spammer.. I only EVER spammed in the spam thread because it was allowed, Please don't feel I'm trying to spam the board.

Thanks for the answer Daniella!

Bumping this to be sure everyone has read it-

The only time that I meant to Spam was on that very long thread we use to have. I didn't know I was really spamming when I asked Sam to check her PM's because I noticed that some others have done that before. I did get an EMAIL, not a PM about it. Since, I know NOW that it is Spam. I will not do it again. I try to post to thoughts and daily threads because I feel like this is like a family here, and we all need each other's support in hard times and then again...the great times! I hope I am not considered ONE of the few. I have really enjoyed being on here because I have met a lot of new friends and people that have helped me with my own personal problems. I also think that the thread with all of everyone thanking each other, is very much needed! We as people need this sometimes!

Candie, please don't beat yourself up about things in the past.These are new guidelines which is why they are posted here instead of merged into the rules at the top of the board. And about the pm messages, it is understood that in times of crisis or need it is important to get ahold of someone. If all the active members would take just one moment and go to their profile and edit where it says Edit Options to yes send me an email when I get a PM the problem would take care of itself. Again it is because a few abuse the rules here that these changes are being made.

Quick question: Does that mean we shouldn't do Daily Threads? I don't want to start one if we aren't allowed to do it

Can I ask a couple of clarifying questions? I am new to forums in general (this is my first), so I apologize if these are really dense questions.

1) There are often threads on the forum asking for good vibes and prayers, sometimes several in a day. I often go through and add in a basic 'Good vibes your way' type of a message in all of them. Is that considered spam?

2) Same sort of question regarding pictures in the photo gallery. Often my response is a pretty general 's/he's adorable' or 'cute pictures' - something like that. I guess my thinking is that people who go to the trouble of posting pictures would like to know that people are looking at them, even if they don't have a very insightful comment to make. Is that considered spam?

3) Same question about when someone posts a joke in a thread - often the only response I would have is 'LOL - very funny' - something like that. Is it better to not post a reply, or is that OK?

4) What about the trivia-type threads - the 'Answer the last question, ask the next' type threads. Are those considered spam threads?

I've never done any of these to up my post count - I really don't care what it is. But I try to respond to a lot of threads because I have been trying to get involved in the community here. (I also have posted a lot of much more in-depth posts.) If any of that is considered spam I will stop writing those types of posts.

Also, if any of us newbies to forums are inadvertently posting a bunch of spam, will a moderator contact us privately to let us know? Like I wrote above, maybe I have been and not realized it??