- Navweb3620
- |
- Elder Mythic Member
What is spam? That, my good sir, is a mighty fine question. I know in previous posts, you have said to back it up, or to expand on the idea. So, for the sake of clarity, I will create two versions of my opinion of spam.
The short version: anything that is either
irrelevant to the OP or posts directly related to the OP
visually unappealing or irksome
content that is posted with the intent to "derail" a thread
content that is considered offensive to the group (in this case Bungie.net)
Content that is considered "NSFW"
The long version:
irrelevant to the OP or posts directly related to the OP
The way I see it, everything should flow from the OP's topic. If the OP's topic is post A, then the following posts should relate to A, so that post
B ----> A
Now, we all know the value of threads. Some discussions within topics can lead to some interesting subtopics. I think we should warrant these ideas and not shoot them down for failing to immediately pertain to the topic at hand. In this way, it does not force the conversation to become awkward just to avoid breaking the rules. So, as long as subpost
C ----> B
Then it should be allowed. In this way, C indirectly, with little confusion, relates to the topic at hand, while at the same time shedding some light on some new ideas that the community has.
Here's where it is not ok.
The moment you get a D, something that sort of extends to C,
D ----> C
The thread becomes too drawn out. This recursive relationship could go on forever, and then you end up with threads like these. It goes on for far too long and its main purpose gets far too stretched. There are incidences where subcategories can be brought to the forum as a discussion of their own. When it reaches this point, all chatter for the subtopic should be moved to a new thread as to prevent what I call "thread distortion".
Visually unappealing or irksome
I think we all know what these look like. Posts intended to take up a large portion of the screen, with text, space, punctuation, or even images (especially if they do not relate to the main topic and derail a thread... yes I'm looking at you, bungie emps :D) should be classified as spam. They waste space and break the flow of conversation within a thread.
content that is posted with the intent to "derail" a thread
I know we've had a long discussion about this before, but I feel it needs to be reiterated for the sake of completeness. Most of the time, this comes from employees, but it can happen to common members as well. I understand some of this is just for a bit of fun, but the majority of it is unnecessary.
Content that is considered offensive to the group
This is pretty well covered in the rules already, and many discussions have taken place regarding the boundaries of "offensive". The discussion of religion, politics, and many more topics has all been debated through and through on these forums. If you want me to link specific examples, I will, but I think they shouldn't be too hard to find :D
Content that is considered "NSFW"
I think this is one of those things that goes without saying. It's like hitting someone and getting charged for assault and battery. One wrongdoing and you get tagged for two crimes. In this case, one wrong post and you get tagged for posting NSFW items as defined by the rules as well as a spam post. But hey, that's like, totally my opinion.
If you guys find good (or better) threads to back up this discussion, or to counter it, feel free to PM me and I'll update this post!