Hello. Now, no doubt many of you have heard of the word, spam. Although not an acronym originally, a good description of it would be Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages. Now, this can vary from far and few, so now we must ask the question: What is truly considered spam?
What is it?
Now, for all you that don't know what spam is, spam is known as messages, posts, any form of text on the internet that is either:
1. Unrelated to any topic at all. There are many exceptions, but we will delve into that later.
2. Only for the purpose of advertising a product or service.
3. Words repeated over and over.
4. Pointless, unneeded comments.
Spamming Terms
Phishing - Phishing is when a message or website wants personal information. This can range from your location, your password, your real life details, or even credit card numbers. Phishing websites and people will usually pose as a higher authority and ask for personal information because you have "viruses" or they will give you "rewards." These are very dangerous types of spam because they could steal your identity or money.
Trolling - Trolling is when a person goes to a site and starts spewing words that are usually off-topic and offensive. They do this purely for the purpose that they want another person to become angry and respond in a very emotional way.
Flaming - Flamers are usually people who will become extremely angry and start "internet fights." Flamers usually get angry because someone else disagrees completely, and Flamers will start spewing out insults and threats to the person.
Bumping - Bumping can be a bit controversial because not many people know exactly what kind of Bumping is considered "spam." Bumping is when a person takes an old topic and posts on it, bringing a dead topic back to the top of a Topic list.
Detecting Spam
Well, these descriptions are still very vague. How many times does a word have to be repeated to be considered spam? What if someone is just showing a site for special purposes? What if there is some hidden meaning to the seemingly unrelated topic? A regular person could easily be mistaken for a spammer, and a spammer could easily be mistaken for a regular user.
Unrelated Spam
Spam can be when a person will just suddenly type random things into a topic, chatroom, anything. I.E.
MessengerOfYahweh wrote:Is it just me, or are teenagers negatively stereotyped? On commercials and media, and we always end up on news, 99% of the time as bad guys. Is it just me though?
marioiscool254 wrote:You're right, but based on my first-hand experience in my high school, teenagers are often negative in their behavior, their actions, so on and so forth, so I believe the stereotype to actually be fairly accurate.
Spammer wrote:I remember one time when I ate lunch at school. I had a ham sandwich with some orange juice. It was good.
Now, although the Spammer does talk about school, they did not talk about anything related to the topic, which is Teenage Stereotypes. Even this subtle spam is still spam. A more extreme spam would be if the Spammer were to say:
Spammer wrote:Monkeys.
Short, pointless, and way off topic.
Advertising Spam
Advertising spam will be people who want to you to use their service or buy their product. This is also how Phishing is spread, since they will pretend to sell or give fake information. To avoid Phishing, always be sure that your URL is completely right, for anybody can make a site that looks exactly like a replica to a site you usually go to. Usually, a advertising spammer will give a link to their website which will be where they sell their products or services. I.E.
Seemingly harmless, this post wants you to go to another site. Now, the link given send you to http://www.lolcats.com/ which is less then harmless. Words from an advertiser will usually be off-topic. To tell the difference, one must read before and after, and see if the person who gives the link or talks about the product is not attempting to make anyone buy the product, go the site, and is on topic.
Words Repeated
The most commonly known type of spam is when someone repeats one word over and over. Even on-topic, it's very noticeable. Double-posting, making multiple topics is also considered spamming.
nin10mode wrote:5. Q: How many blonde jokes are there?
A: One. The rest are all true stories.
Repeating Spammer wrote:lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
Yes, the spammer is laughing at a joke, but one lol, or describing how funny it was, would be better then repeating it. It's just not necessary. Some people don't even notice when they do a repeated spamming.
Unneeded Comments
Some people will do this just to get a few posts in their post counts. Usually it involves agreeing with someone else, and not really saying anything constructive or helpful.
User wrote:Help! I don't know how to do *Insert activity.*
Uneeded Comments wrote:Too bad. You're screwed.
Usually chatrooms don't have these, and is usually for posts.
Foreign Language Topics
Although majority of the topics posted in a foreign language will be spam topics, still be careful as to what is being reported. You don't have to be able to read the language to know if it's an advertising spammer or not, because if it is you will be able to see some sort of link somewhere on the posts. There are rare chances that people who just can not speak English or translate to English get on a site. In those cases, it would be best to find someone who can communicate with said person.
The Controversy of Bumps
Some people think that any type of bump is considered spam, which is not true. The only type of bump that is spam is when bumping a topic where a problem is resolved, bumping a topic about something old that happened a while ago, or bumping just for the purpose of bumping. If someone double-posts to bump their topic, it is really up to the Administrators and Moderators to decide whether or not that is spamming. If an old problem has not been resolved, then bumping it for an answer, or to question even more about it would not be considered spam. If an old topic was a topic game or an open-ended discussion, that would not be considered spam to want to contribute your two-cents.
What to do when Spam is Identified
When you notice spam, here are the steps to take:
If it's a Chat Spammer:
1. First warn the spammer to stop. Usually they do not know that they are spamming and a simple warning should do.
2. If they do not stop after several warnings, be prepared to do a screen shot. This means, getting a picture as evidence of the spam. Chat's don't usually have a saved log, so having evidence is always good.
3. Report to the nearest Moderator or Administrator. They will deal with the spammer properly.
If it's a Forum Spammer:
1. If it is an advertising post, immediately report it to a Moderator or Administrator to handle it.
2. If it is a trolling, flaming, or pointless topic, report it to a Moderator or Administrator to handle it.
3. If it is a spamming bump, report it to a Moderator or Administrator to handle it.
4. If it is just a small off-topic spam, simply ignore it. It's not doing any harm to you or anyone else.
Nin10mode Writes: When you see a spam topic, do not reply to it. If you see someone reply to it:
Don't:
Sonicfan253 replying to spam wrote:SPAM ALERT SPAM ALERT!
*rings Suyo alarm*
marioiscool254 replying to the topic wrote:Don't respond to spam, Sonicfan. Report it instead by clicking the triangle button at the top right corner of the post. Though in this case I got it.
DO:
Sonicfan253 replying to spam wrote:SPAM ALERT SPAM ALERT!
*rings Suyo alarm*
Marioiscool254 sending a Private message wrote:Don't respond to spam, Sonicfan. Report it instead by clicking the triangle button at the top right corner of the post.
Avoid Spamming
Now that you have read everything above, you should know what is spam, and what isn't spam. So, to be sure that you are not spamming always:
1. Read previous posts before your post, not just the first post.
2. Never randomly type letters.
3. Read the Rules!
Nothing personal against/for anyone's name who is mentioned in this topic.
