Scratch

Hello,anybody here?

NegaB wrote:

SPAM stands for stupid pointless annoying messages.

Cool!  I've learnt something new!

HelenWonky wrote:

NegaB wrote:

SPAM stands for stupid pointless annoying messages.

Cool!  I've learnt something new!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym I love those. 

Recently, the question was raised about how we handle ordinary spam posts in a topic (not commercial or SEO spam).  Often, the Moderators will simply remove the posts from the topic so that the discussion remains on topic. 

If the person doing the spamming seems to be doing it a lot, the Scratch Team will send them a warning to their message box to let them know that spamming is disruptive and against the Terms of Use since it is disrespectful to the people trying to converse about the topic.

If a Scratcher continues to  spam after getting warned, their account could be temporarily blocked until they have had a discussion with the Scratch Team about their forum behavior and some agreement about stopping the spamming has been reached.

I hope this helps clear up any confusion 

Blade-Edge wrote:

Paddle2See wrote:

Recently, the question was raised about how we handle ordinary spam posts in a topic (not commercial or SEO spam).  Often, the Moderators will simply remove the posts from the topic so that the discussion remains on topic. 

If the person doing the spamming seems to be doing it a lot, the Scratch Team will send them a warning to their message box to let them know that spamming is disruptive and against the Terms of Use since it is disrespectful to the people trying to converse about the topic.

If a Scratcher continues to  spam after getting warned, their account could be temporarily blocked until they have had a discussion with the Scratch Team about their forum behavior and some agreement about stopping the spamming has been reached.

I hope this helps clear up any confusion 

I still have one more question. Let's say someone spammed. Another person says "You shouldn't spam" then says something off topic. Why do you guys delete the whole post, even the parts that contribute, and if not you specifically, maybe make some guidlines for the not so experienced spammer handlers?

If there is something on-topic in the post, I usually edit the post to just remove the part about spamming.  But that does take more time and that may not be done consistently by all moderators.  That's something we can probably improve on.

Maybe, in a case like that, it would be better if you double post.  The first post could be the "don't spam" and the second post could be your on-topic remarks.  That would make it less likely that your useful addition to the conversation doesn't get accidentally deleted.

I think it's okay if the two posts are completely different... example:

Please don't spam.

I would really like that implemented! People could use Mesh without hacking the System Browser!

I think it would be okay. 

And since Paddle said it's okay, it is okay! 

We desperately need more names for Spam. It's way overloaded. Somebody says: Stop spamming!

Do they mean?
1. Stop posting meaningless noise?
2. Stop posting links to commercial sites to try and make money?
3. Stop trolling?

We should have different names, at least to differentiate between the first two.

Thanks for posting this! It's really helpful. I've always wondered exactly what Scratch considers spam, and now I know.

Lightnin wrote:

We desperately need more names for Spam. It's way overloaded. Somebody says: Stop spamming!

Do they mean?
1. Stop posting meaningless noise?
2. Stop posting links to commercial sites to try and make money?
3. Stop trolling?

We should have different names, at least to differentiate between the first two.

Maybe instead of saying "spam", we could say the exact thing - for example, if someone posts meaningless noise, we could say "please stop that meaningless noise"? There should be no problems. 

Chrischb wrote:

I suppose that could be called "making posts unrelevant to the current topic". 

"Unrelevant," eh? 

I think Spam is essentially a post that serves little or no purpose. Playing around with the blocks on the forums, doesn't serve a purpose. Advertising thing "x" serves no purpose. And telling people they failed more than the failboat, really doesn't serve a purpose 

HelenWonky wrote:

coolstuff wrote:

And telling people they failed more than the failboat, really doesn't serve a purpose 

Okay, 2 things:

1. What is a "failboat"?

2. We should spam.  And by "spam" I mean:

Stop
Posting
Annoying
Messages!

Somebody - I forget who - kept posting these irksome messages about "failboats," which were not in the least bit informative.

bigreader wrote:

HelenWonky wrote:

NegaB wrote:

SPAM stands for stupid pointless annoying messages.

Cool!  I've learnt something new!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym I love those. 

Can a mod please remove bigreader's post that I just quoted?

Spam means Stupid Pointless Annoying Messages, and spam lives up to its name.
Types of SPAM:

1. Commercial - A link or advertisement telling you to buy something or go to a site or just for the sake of a link. (As explained in the first post)
ex: Please go here -> (link)

2. Gibberish (As I like to call it) - Posting random letters or symbols (It's really pointless)
ex: XD lol fjsiof £§º1 haha
ex2: I like pie XD

3.  Off-topic - Saying something that has no relevance to the topic or whatever it is the message is replying to.
ex: I just went to the grocery store and I saw... [pointless story]


Difference between Off-topic and Gibberish:

Gibberish has no meaning and is just a bunch of random stuff posted. Off-topic usually has a reason that compels the poster to post it, although not a good enough reason to spam.


How to deal with it:

Report it or flag it. Don't reply, as that would be further spam. This is the best way (In my opinion) to take care of it. That's basically all you can do. If someone is spamming your project, delete the comment that has spam in it.


Why it is bad:

It is Stupid, Pointless, and Annoying. That's how it got its name. No one likes spam, it's very annoying to deal with.


This is my view of SPAM and some of it is arguable, and you may disagree with some of it.


This in the first post would be appreciated, for information for Scratchers, but I don't really care if it is or not.