we need a spam forum

[TomD]

it's just getting stupid now, people come on and post events or spam, who don't ever bother to make any other contributions to the board.

 

and then they just go and repeat themselves and post the same details in random bollocks, with something like "hey all u mad clubberz!! is anyone going to CrapNight at CrapVenue???" or "join this competition, it's grreat!! i don't work for the company that runs it, honest!!!"

 

have a dedicated spam forum then all the event suggestions posts from non-members can go in there, then everyone's happy - people can still check the spam forum for ideas of places to go, and promoters can still post.

 

if you're needing someone to do it then i will happily volunteer.

[alasdairm]

2 Round trip airline tickets for Travel World Wide,

a $1,600 value. Yours now, when you join the Travel Values

Program for a one time cost of $189

 

1-800-2offer.biz/tickets

 

 

 

 

 

To stop future offer: www.1-800-2offer.biz/index.php?rd=15

 

"`You'd better be prepared for the jump into hyperspace. It's unpleasently like being drunk.'

[TomD]

VERY bizarre. i just got that e-mail.

 

mine ended with:

 

"`I think you ought to know that I'm feeling very depressed.'"

 

since when did spams end with quotes from H2G2 ???

[Mr_Happy]

TomD said:

it's just getting stupid now, people come on and post events or spam, who don't ever bother to make any other contributions to the board.

 

and then they just go and repeat themselves and post the same details in random bollocks, with something like "hey all u mad clubberz!! is anyone going to CrapNight at CrapVenue???" or "join this competition, it's grreat!! i don't work for the company that runs it, honest!!!"

 

have a dedicated spam forum then all the event suggestions posts from non-members can go in there, then everyone's happy - people can still check the spam forum for ideas of places to go, and promoters can still post.

 

if you're needing someone to do it then i will happily volunteer.

 

doesnt work tho. they will still post in random bollox and where ever else they c fit. james/kev/etc will only have to move it to the spam forums and no1 will bother chacking the spam forums as they know it will be full of [censored].

 

so basically we might as well contiue as we r now and just delete the crap

[alasdairm]

surely the obvious solution is a more appropriate level of moderation of the events forums?

 

with james away and sarah seeming to have a lower profile because of other CTW commitments, perhaps it's time to find a new moderator to help with the housekeeping. what do you think?

 

alasdair

[TomD]

Mr_Happy said:

doesnt work tho. they will still post in random bollox and where ever else they c fit. james/kev/etc will only have to move it to the spam forums and no1 will bother chacking the spam forums as they know it will be full of [censored].

but that's the whole point, though. people will always post in random (they still do on gurn, etc), but it's not the right place for it and it distracts from the rest of the banter. it needs to be moved.

 

unless you want it to end up being the other way round -- that is, people don't bother checking random bollocks or the events forums because they're so full of [censored] -- then you need to do something. there's too many posts about the same events from the same people all the time in the wrong place.

 

totally agree with you alasdair, find a new mod to do this.

 

spam forum would be best. people can continue planning their nights out in events suggestions made by other members, i.e. their mates, not some promoter they don't know and won't ever meet, promoters can continue to try and entice people to go to their events in a spam forum. if people don't want to choose to read a spam forum that's their prerogative; but nobody should be forced to wade through spam when they all they want to do is get some banter with their mates in random.

 

p.s. i know i'm exaggerating this problem but it will only get worse.

[Mr_Happy]

erm, i think u missed my point there tom. i was basically saying exactly what alasdair said in a more long winded way

[alasdairm]

if it's spam, why entertain it at all, let alone build a forum especially for it? just delete it.

 

i agree with tom that it may not be a huge problem now but as CTW grows, it will almost certainly grow too. if you get the culture and tools in place now, it will not become a problem in the future.

 

alasdair

[TomD]

alasdairm said:

if it's spam, why entertain it at all, let alone build a forum especially for it? just delete it.

i think some people find the spam useful in deciding where to go on their night out. since there's no specific reliable club listings facility on the site yet, the spam does kind of come in useful (although it is mostly focused on london and the south).

[jon_m]

i think the problem here wud be why would you ever post in a spam forum? no one likes spam so no one would look in it making it pointless to post in so the problem of spam in other forums would still be present

[TomD]

all spam posts would be moved there so that people don't have to sift through them in the other forums.

 

people shouldn't be forced to read through spam when they want to banter with their mates.

 

people who were genuinely interested in reading spam could still go and check the spam forum.

[jon_m]

i guess but that happens anyway does it not? they re moved to event suggestions innit ?

[TomD]

yeah sometimes they're moved.

 

but then sometimes there's other spam as well.

 

plus event suggestions should be from members, IMO. or else they're not really suggestions, are they?

[jon_m]

DUNNO! dont bother me to be honest! dont like dont read!

 

[alasdairm]

i think some of this confusion arises from different definitions of spam.

 

we're talking about event listings right? i need to put on my BL broken record again but how about this solution.

 

- decide what the events forum wants to be.

 

- write a specific set of guidelines about who can post what, a format the titles must conform to (extremely helpful for scanning just the message headers on the forum page). there coul dbe a particular style for 'official 'CTW'-affiliated events and another for non-affiliated events (which is the 'spam' about which we are talking, i think)

 

- publish the guidelines

 

- moderate the forum according to the guidelines - posts which don't conform are simply deleted.

 

the events forums at BL operate this way and they are extremely well focused, i believe, on being informative. check it out:

 

http://www.bluelight.nu/vb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=35&ts=3f5f8366

 

here are the guidelines for that forum.

 

thoughts?

 

alasdair

Edited September 10, 2003 by alasdairm