What is SPAM?

snakepilsen

cagsd wrote: »

This example is a tricky one. The user genuinely believed it to be a decent comp so I think it would be unfair to press spam on them.
/QUOTE]

So it's just coincidence they disappear as soon as their post is removed .

fire**fly

Moneybot wrote: »

Because as we have clearly shown not everybody knows what the MSE definition of spam is and also sometimes people post things like "this is a spammy site" which is not the same as the post being spam.

so maybe it's not a good thing for peeps to post
''I think this is a spammy site etc
on the thread as it makes others think it's spammy & then the spam buttons get pressed which we're not sure whether we're supposed to press them or not

fire**fly

snakepilsen wrote: »

cagsd wrote: »

This example is a tricky one. The user genuinely believed it to be a decent comp so I think it would be unfair to press spam on them.
/QUOTE]

So it's just coincidence they disappear as soon as their post is removed .

or did some 'press' the spam button therefore the post/thread disappeared?

Moneybot

fire**fly wrote: »

so maybe it's not a good thing for peeps to post
''I think this is a spammy site etc
on the thread as it makes others think it's spammy & then the spam buttons get pressed which we're not sure whether we're supposed to press them or not

No posting the site is spammy is a good thing, I would then send a pm to a BG and let them decide what to do.

mclarkie

I think the best thing would be to remove the spam button, and perhaps replace it with a warn button. which would flag up spam or any other issue to the forum team.

Random thought! When is the new forum coming on line?

fire**fly

Moneybot wrote: »

No posting the site is spammy is a good thing, I would then send a pm to a BG and let them decide what to do.

good idea what you would do,
so if we all post on a post/thread we 'think' it might be spam then report the post/thread instead of just reporting/pressing quietly in the background to save 'bumping' the post/thread it would work better.

Moneybot

fire**fly wrote: »

good idea what you would do,
so if we all post on a post/thread we 'think' it might be spam then report the post/thread instead of just reporting/pressing quietly in the background to save 'bumping' the post/thread it would work better.

No you are mixing two different sorts of spam here.

A genuine spam post - press spam

Self promotion - report to MSE forum team with report button

A competition from a site which then generates spam emails - mention on thread it is a site which does this and pm bg.

Or were you misunderstanding me for comic effect?

Glad

If a comp is posted and entering that comp would generate a lot of spam emails, it's good to post on the thread and warn other compers about it, but the thread itself shouldn't be deleted by the spam button, it's up to each member to decide wether they enter or not

if the OP has repeatedly posted the same comp and the comp itself doesn't look genuine then that is spamming the board, if anyone is not sure wether to press the spam button, post on the thread to warn other members that there may be concerns, then report/pm a BG and move on

if an OP has repeatedly posted a link to a site where you can buy an iPad for $10, across multiple MSE boards, then that is genuine spam, so hit the button

Edited to add: cross posted with Moneybot

fire**fly

i'm hopefully not misunderstanding anyone,
just trying to figure out what exactly we're supposed to
reply/press/report if we 'think' it's spam,
so many peeps say we should/shouldn't do this/that/
bump/post reply/
no wonder it all gets confusing what the rulings are,

so i'm assuming hopefully rightly this time,
if we 'think' it's a spam post it's best to 'reply'
on the post/thread then report.

ETA..
cross posted while typing with last post,

so it's

reply/report/move on

& not go digging for other posts to put on the thread from previous ones

thank you.

Roger_Rampant

Moneybot wrote: »

No you are mixing two different sorts of spam here.

A genuine spam post - press spam

Self promotion - report to MSE forum team with report button

A competition from a site which then generates spam emails - mention on thread it is a site which does this and pm bg.

Or were you misunderstanding me for comic effect?

Yes.

1*. If it's spam, I press Spam.

2**. If it's self-promotion, I report it.

3***. If it's a competition that might lead to people being spammed I mention it, if nobody else has already.

*. To me, spam is uninvited and unwanted content. It might be somebody trying to convince you to go to a URL that they shouldn't be trying to convince you to go to, or sending you emails that you don't want, or posting promotional things to your home address that you don't want. It doesn't have to be offering iPads for £10.

If a new member is posting a link to a Carpetright comp (for example) then I won't be treating it as spam, even if it ends up being reported for self-promotion, because we have had loads of Carpetright comps posted in the past and they are a well-established organisation.

If it is a link to a website that was established the day before and is offering various competitions with prizes of £8,000 and £10,000 (which happened here recently) then as far as I am concerned it is spam, I will be pressing the Spam button even though I might well be reporting them for self-promotion as well. It is a matter of some urgency that more gullible forum members aren't heading to a website like that, and reporting tends to be a slower procedure.

**. I will point out that self-promotion is not allowed if it looks like self-promotion and nobody else has mentioned it. I try not to say too much otherwise, but sadly I often can't resist if somebody has pointed out that self-promotion is not allowed and the OP becomes arsey about it :rotfl:

***. Why would you PM a BG? I wouldn't do that, but if I should be then I would be interested to know why. Let's take this thread as an example, nobody AFAIK has sent a PM to a BG:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5044928

I do appreciate moderators giving advice on forum etiquette and how they feel that certain rules should be interpreted, and the work that they do for free on our behalf, but with all due respect I don't really appreciate anybody trying to enforce a blanket definition of when the Spam button should be pressed because, as far as I am concerned, spam is too complex a subject to be dealt with simply.