Its not just a hello thread, it's also an anything thread where people can discuss what they like. If you are calling that spam then you are calling every off topic forum spam.
Don't take what i said to be rude. But i've skimmed through it. and there are a bunch of spam posts. i know that's not what it's meant for ... but members with 30,000 posts in 6 months, they use that for that reason.
yes, there were many that simply said "hello" ... and a bunch by the same members
trust me, i like your forum ... and i post well-indept posts while i'm there. i just dodge the topics that require a quick reply.