I found these rules on another forum. A boring one, I must say.
I think we need to be a little more clear about the subject of spam in light of some recent threads and posts.
Spam posts are generally posts which add nothing to the thread. If your post doesn't actually defend a viewpoint, introduce something new to the thread, or otherwise enrichen it, it's spamming.
"I agree" "I don't" and other monotone-posts are popular types of spamming. Sometimes these posts are designed purely to increase their post count on the forum.
Also, making threads tackling controversial subjects without adding your own opinion could be considered spamming (in some cases it could be considered trolling).
To make a point, users should try to make your posts have some content. Note that content doesn't mean length. A short, 3 sentence post might have more content than a 3 paragraph one. If you agree or disagree with something, then state why.
What counts as spam? *Posting a one line sentence that do not add to the topic at all. *Posting off topic *Posting a new topic that encourages spamming (such as "Do you like cheese? Yes or no?" type thread). *Writing "LOL" and ending the post. *Anything that does not CONTRIBUTE to a topic/thread is considered spam.
Why is spam such a problem? Spam can be like a disease on a message board. Not only does it degrade the overall quality of the boards but it also takes up more webspace. The more webspace spam takes up, the less webspace we have to use for other constructive things. Spam can also make reading of topics confusing, and discourages people from reading an interesting post.
The Dialogue was designed to filter out a lot of trivial posts and themes so the rules there will be a lot looser, but I think we'll need to tighten them up on the rest of the forums.
(KIDDING!)
