Regarding Spam: TCS Policy Change

Let's see if I can clear this up a bit. Because the moderators and Anne have been discussing this issue for so long, Spam has been defined as someone who has one-on-one conversations with someone else that are not meant to be helpful or resourceful, but to chat or to waste time. Spam is when someone will go into a thread, ask a question, and if no one answers, ask it again, and again, and again. Spam is when someone goes into different threads over the periods of months I am talking here, and posts the exact same response over and over again to different threads. Spam is not considered to be Daily Threads, emoticions used in moderation, games started that actually go someplace, road trips are not considered Spam unless they rove far afield.

If you wonder who is a spammer, and you think it is you- then go look at your profile and see what your daily average of postings are-weigh that against how long you have been on the board and that is how you tell a spammer. They even have names for chronic spammers, they call them post whores. These are people who will routinely hop on boards and start mindless trivial posts, say things that are not even close to meaning anything and all for the sake of driving up their posts counts and becoming a big deal. I have been here for a very long time, as have Debbie and Sandie, Deb25 to name a few. None of us spam. I know everytime Sandie posts I read it. I am always aware of her vast knowledge and I appreciate that she posts. Those members we welcome, it the ones who think TCS is recess or a playground or a giant sandbox that this rule applies to. We know who they are and now this serves to notify them that their posts will be watched.

Those of you who have been here a long time, know that the admin and mods rarely get "tough" about anything. But on this issue, we have had enough. Most of the mods lead busy lives, they come here on their own free will and don't want to have to wade through a bunch of spam. It really taxes the patience.

I hope I have cleared this up for Everyone. We really just want this place to be fun, and informative, but we are growing rapidly so for that reason, the rules needed to be changed to adapt to that growth. Also I read an interesting study awhile back when I was doing some research. Some experts in spam study say that Spam is to some people like gambling is to gamblers.These people cannot help what they do, they do not think they are at fault and so they continue. That is why there are actually spam message boards set up where these people can get help. I don't know if that is true or not, what I do know is that Spam is a colossal waste of time to read and moderate.

Daily threads aren't considered spam

The Cat Lounge is the place for us to get together to get to know each other and our cats, play games (like the alphabet game, the word association game, the answer the last question, ask the next", etc.), share news (debate oriented stuff or "hot topics" that could get people emotional go in the IMO (In My Opinion) forum).

My only caution would be if someone starts a game where it's easy to increase your post count, and someone sits there and plays by themself for a period of time without any other interaction, that would probably be considered spamming. But the games themselves aren't.

Short replies in and of themselves aren't spam. Many of us are time-constrained, and we write short replies because we care. Some of us just aren't long winded! We don't want to penalize people for that. The problem is when people repeatedly do it for the purpose of "upping" their post counts.

Sometimes short replies, like in your question number one, are all that's required. Same goes in the New Cats on the block - there's nothing wrong with saying "Welcome to TCS!" As a matter of fact, this applies to all of your questions.

And.... I've replied to joke threads with just a laughing emoticon in the past.

We're working on rewording the new rule a little bit to make these things clearer. We don't want to ban short posts. What we do want is to avoid those who post simply to increase their post count. This can be difficult to determine, and is at times going to be a judgment call by the TCS moderators based on the behavior of the member(s) over time.

The point is the quality and intent of the post, not the actual length of the post.

When I'm time constrained, I still like to pop in sometimes - and if I've got a thread open, I post to it if I have something to say, or I want someone to feel better because they're having a bad day - I'll chime in with "Hope things pick up" and send hugs or whatever.

And to answer your last question, yes. If a moderator has a question about someone's post, it goes to the group of moderators for discussion. If we think you're spamming, we'll let you know. Or if another member thinks you're spamming, they'll report the post to us. And you have the ability to reply to the personal message (located in "Options"). We don't just take someone else's word for it. And if you weren't posting with the intent to spam, that discussion via PM will either help us to understand your perspective, or it'll help you learn what spam is.

But the bottom line is - if you're not posting with the intent of just increasing your post count, post what you want to (within our rules of respect, etc.)

Just remember - participation in a thread probably isn't spam. But if all you ever do is post one smiley face over and over and over in almost every thread no matter the subject - that's spamming.

And don't start a thread with the intent of having a conversation with just one or two members. That's something that should be done on an Instant Messaging service.

But ask for advice, or help others through their rough days. Laugh at jokes. That's all fine. That's part of what the Lounge is for.

I started my reply just before 5:00 when a conference in which I had to participate started. I should have figured someone would answer your questions by now!

MA - I think that is a GREAT job of explaining what spam is! But I think I should leave this up here, because I guess I tried to explain what spam "isn't."

Suzy, Mary Anne gave you the long version (and a very good idea of what it is generally and why we are doing this). I'll do the short version:

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? No, this isn't Spam. It is support and sometimes that is really all there is to say, or all you have time to say

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? Not spam either.

Also showing support and appreciation of the gorgeous kitties we have here!

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? Fine here too.

4) What about the trivia-type threads - the 'Answer the last question, ask the next' type threads. Are those considered spam threads? Not spam either.

The trivia about you type threads help us get to know each other. And the Games like the Alphabet Game are just fun little things, but you do have to think a little. The word games in Paws & Reflect make you think a little harder.

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We still want this place to be fun and a good place to get to know each other. The thing with these Spam rules is that the rest of what you post will weigh more heavily than one or two posts. The big question to ask yourself is, "Do I contribute more than one or two words or sentences on the majority of my posts?" If the answer is Yes, then you don't have anything to worry about. (Obviously, all of us go through phases where we are busier than other times and can write more, so even just touching on the "Good Vibes/Prayer" threads because you don't have time to go in depth is OK.) Ask yourself these questions too: "Do I constantly watch my post count? Do I shoot for a target number every month? week? day?" "If a thread gets deleted for whatever reason, am I upset to lose those one, two, five posts?" If you answer yes to those questions, well.....

Thanks for clarifying, Heidi, Lauri, and Mary Anne!

No problem, sorry for the lengthy replies, I think we were pretty much all posting about the same time.

Thanks for the info, mods! We really appreciate everyone's hard work!!

Yeah, thank you, mods.

I love coming home from work and coming here... you all are so much nicer than any other boards I've visited because you actually take the time to explain your policies. Thanks a lot to all of you.

Thanks to all of you who do make this a really nice place to be.

I'm just glad this place is what it is. (If that makes sense!) It's the only board I've ever felt really comfortable with. And I'm grateful for all those who keep it this way!

I'm very glad this decision has been taken. I personally could never get the point of spam (maybe it's an age thing . . .)

I think this board is all about sharing information/experiences and building up relationships based on a mutual interest in cats, rather than a competition as to who could increase their post count the most.

Last bump.....

Originally posted by Coco Maui
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

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Thank you!!! That was so very well said!!!!!!

Originally posted by hissy
Let's see if I can clear this up a bit. Because the moderators and Anne have been discussing this issue for so long, Spam has been defined as someone who has one-on-one conversations with someone else that are not meant to be helpful or resourceful, but to chat or to waste time. Spam is when someone will go into a thread, ask a question, and if no one answers, ask it again, and again, and again. Spam is when someone goes into different threads over the periods of months I am talking here, and posts the exact same response over and over again to different threads. Spam is not considered to be Daily Threads, emoticions used in moderation, games started that actually go someplace, road trips are not considered Spam unless they rove far afield.

If you wonder who is a spammer, and you think it is you- then go look at your profile and see what your daily average of postings are-weigh that against how long you have been on the board and that is how you tell a spammer. They even have names for chronic spammers, they call them post whores. These are people who will routinely hop on boards and start mindless trivial posts, say things that are not even close to meaning anything and all for the sake of driving up their posts counts and becoming a big deal. I have been here for a very long time, as have Debby and Sandie, Deb25 to name a few. None of us spam. I know everytime Sandie posts I read it. I am always aware of her vast knowledge and I appreciate that she posts. Those members we welcome, it the ones who think TCS is recess or a playground or a giant sandbox that this rule applies to. We know who they are and now this serves to notify them that their posts will be watched.

Those of you who have been here a long time, know that the admin and mods rarely get "tough" about anything. But on this issue, we have had enough. Most of the mods lead busy lives, they come here on their own free will and don't want to have to wade through a bunch of spam. It really taxes the patience.

I hope I have cleared this up for Everyone. We really just want this place to be fun, and informative, but we are growing rapidly so for that reason, the rules needed to be changed to adapt to that growth. Also I read an interesting study awhile back when I was doing some research. Some experts in spam study say that Spam is to some people like gambling is to gamblers.These people cannot help what they do, they do not think they are at fault and so they continue. That is why there are actually spam message boards set up where these people can get help. I don't know if that is true or not, what I do know is that Spam is a colossal waste of time to read and moderate.

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Oh Hissy...that was worded so well!!!!!!!! I hope everyone will read this and realize we are not nit-picking (so to speak) we are just tired of the ones who try to "up" their post counts on purpose with mindless drivel...many of us have been here for several years...and have posted because we cared, not to up our post count, and to see people posting basically crap, over and over again just to better their post count in a matter of a few months is just very sad and should not be allowed. I think it is rather disrespectful to those of us who really earn our post count.

'Nuff said...let's have fun here.