Any pointers for deciding whether or not a post is spam?

[Fergal]

Even though I have been moderating my own forums for years, I sometimes see a post and am not sure whether I should leave it on the forum or remove it as spam.

There are times when I am on support forums and someone provides a helpful reply to one of my questions and I will reply with a short post such as "Thanks John". I'm not trying to spam or increase my post count, I'm leaving a short note to thank someone who has helped me. Many Moderators would consider that to be spam and I have to admit that under some circumstances, I may even consider it spam if it was posted on my own forum.

So what about you, do you ever find it difficult to decide whether a post is spammy or not?

Do you have any suggestions to help forum Moderators improve their knowledge and expertise in this area?

Thanks!

 

[David]

I don't believe the quality of the forum would be reduced if someone replied with "Thanks John", but rather quite the opposite - it definitely shows dialogue which is essentially what a forum is for.

If the post is in clear violation of the rules then it should be removed or edited. Other than that, there's no real basis for removal - you want to be as fair as possible and not make rules up as you go.

 

[CM30]

If a post is meant to promote a service or site and that isn't the point of the thread, it's spam. If it's meaningless (like random gibberish or characters), it's also spam. If it's obviously written by a spambot (like 'buy x online at illegal website'), it's spam.

I wouldn't count someone saying thank you as spam.

 

[Ashley]

If a post is meant to promote a service or site and that isn't the point of the thread, it's spam. If it's meaningless (like random gibberish or characters), it's also spam. If it's obviously written by a spambot (like 'buy x online at illegal website'), it's spam.

I wouldn't count someone saying thank you as spam.

^^This. Also, obvious links that aren't citing anything in terms of a post could also be considered as spam.

 

[VirusZero]

To me a post is spam if:
- It is extremely short.
I'm not asking for like 3 paragraphs every post, but just more than a few words.

- It has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
Like if someone posted a topic about music and someone jumped in with "I love cheese... ". That'd be spam. Though if somehow the topic went from discussing music to cheese then I'd be ok with someone's post about cheese in the music topic.

- It is only gibberish (ex- asdfsdasadas) or random words strung together. (Like spambots or trolls are known to do.)

- It has no words at all (like only .gifs or emoticons).

- It contains only links or exists solely to advertise.
So like I just posted here in this topic, if their post is solely to advertise then I'd class it as spam.



When it comes to how I react, I weigh things like:
- How new is this person?
If they've literally just joined and their very first post is spam, I'm probably going to delete their message if it's really bad then PM them letting them know the problems with their post, linking them to the rules, etc... (Though if it's obvious they're a spambot then I won't bother PMing, but I'd probably just ban them.)

- How often does this person do this?
If they only post a really short message, that has no other issues, like once every 6 months... I can let it go it's not a big deal because 99% of the time they're posting much higher quality. But if most of the time they only post 1-4 word replies? No... that's not going to work.

But for other things, I admit I have much less tolerance for. (Especially if a new member does it. I mean if your first action on my forum is to spam it? Enjoy your ban. )

- How many problematic issues are with their posts?
Like if the post is really short but is on topic and add to the conversation then I would let it go. But if it has multiple issues (like it could be filled with gibberish and links) then I'll just delete.



A post like "Thanks <username>" I'd have a hard time with. It is relevant and on topic, but it's also extremely short. (I mean even if you're thanking someone you should probably thank them for whatever they've done/said exactly. This lets them know exactly what parts you've appreciated. ) And really doesn't add much to the conversation. (Not that conversations have to go on indefinitely, but it kind of doesn't look good for in the middle of one to see like: <post 1>, <post 2>, "thanks <username>", <post 4>, etc...) So I'd probably let it go if it didn't happen often. But if this started happening like every other topic, I'd just send them a message about it.
(Possibly encouraging them to use the like/reputation up feature if that forum had one installed instead. This way they could still say thanks and the user being thanked would know, but they wouldn't have to post a reply just to say thanks. )

 

[Ashley]

To me a post is spam if:
- It is extremely short.
I'm not asking for like 3 paragraphs every post, but just more than a few words.

- It has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
Like if someone posted a topic about music and someone jumped in with "I love cheese... ". That'd be spam. Though if somehow the topic went from discussing music to cheese then I'd be ok with someone's post about cheese in the music topic.

- It is only gibberish (ex- asdfsdasadas) or random words strung together. (Like spambots or trolls are known to do.)

- It has no words at all (like only .gifs or emoticons).

- It contains only links or exists solely to advertise.
So like I just posted here in this topic, if their post is solely to advertise then I'd class it as spam.



When it comes to how I react, I weigh things like:
- How new is this person?
If they've literally just joined and their very first post is spam, I'm probably going to delete their message if it's really bad then PM them letting them know the problems with their post, linking them to the rules, etc... (Though if it's obvious they're a spambot then I won't bother PMing, but I'd probably just ban them.)

- How often does this person do this?
If they only post a really short message, that has no other issues, like once every 6 months... I can let it go it's not a big deal because 99% of the time they're posting much higher quality. But if most of the time they only post 1-4 word replies? No... that's not going to work.

But for other things, I admit I have much less tolerance for. (Especially if a new member does it. I mean if your first action on my forum is to spam it? Enjoy your ban. )

- How many problematic issues are with their posts?
Like if the post is really short but is on topic and add to the conversation then I would let it go. But if it has multiple issues (like it could be filled with gibberish and links) then I'll just delete.



A post like "Thanks <username>" I'd have a hard time with. It is relevant and on topic, but it's also extremely short. (I mean even if you're thanking someone you should probably thank them for whatever they've done/said exactly. This lets them know exactly what parts you've appreciated. ) And really doesn't add much to the conversation. (Not that conversations have to go on indefinitely, but it kind of doesn't look good for in the middle of one to see like: <post 1>, <post 2>, "thanks <username>", <post 4>, etc...) So I'd probably let it go if it didn't happen often. But if this started happening like every other topic, I'd just send them a message about it.
(Possibly encouraging them to use the like/reputation up feature if that forum had one installed instead. This way they could still say thanks and the user being thanked would know, but they wouldn't have to post a reply just to say thanks. )

Those are the more common reasons to mark posts as spam, I know we stomped on this heavily on Chatting Time, and I vow to do the same thing with Marie 1988, despite both forums being general discussion.

 

[Moneyman]

I'd like to add something.

Something like that would be spam too.

 

[Ashley]

I'd like to add something.

Something like that would be spam too.

Are you talking like that oh-so-obvious Viagra crap that bots post? That type of thing? Or are you talking like spammy links in general?

 

[Fergal]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Some good points and lots to think about there.