Ok guys, time for another refresher from your friendly mods. We’ve noticed that as of late there has been a lot of chatting/spamming taking place in this forum. We’ve tried posting reminders in the threads where we’ve seen the chatting/spamming taking place, but it only seem to have a short term effect, so we’ve decided that we’re going to go over just what it means to chat or spam as well as offer some advice to hopefully promote more meaningful discussion in this forum. That being said, we are also going to take a much harder line regarding chatting/spamming in the Miami Forum in the future. If we feel that after giving a few friendly reminders that the chatting/spamming is not stopping, the next step will be issuing Official Warnings to the offenders. What exactly is spam? Spam is basically making posts that have no real content (short one word replies, for example) or posts that do not contribute to the discussion at hand. That being said, we do realize that sometimes a short reply is necessary and isn’t automatically spam. For example, if someone answered a question you asked and you replied to say “Thank you” and they replied to say “You’re welcome”, that wouldn’t be considered spamming. We will judge this on a case by case basis. And naturally threads like the ‘Name the Episode’ or the ‘Who Said It?’ threads only require short answers so those wouldn’t be considered spamming so long as the rules set up in those threads are followed. Consistently posting a ton of pics with virtually no discussion in your post could also be considered spamming. Again, this will be judged on a case by case basis. Examples of what does constitute spamming: Posting things like, “LOL!!”, “I agree!”, “That’s so funny!” could all be considered spamming as could posting a reply that is essentially nothing but emoticons. These tend to happen most often in threads like the “You Might Watch Too Much Miami When” or the “Quotes You Won’t Hear” threads. So, please try to add more content in your replies in the threads I just mentioned and those like them. If we feel the spamming is getting out of control in those threads, we will lock them. Our admin, TBonz has said in the past that she will bust down the post counts of those she feels are spamming just to get an avatar, so to all those who don’t yet have an avatar, we’d like to ask that you please keep this in mind. It takes no time at all to reach 100 posts with good, on topic discussion. You don’t have to get there in one day. How do I know if I’m being too chatty? I think our admin, TBonz said it best once before: Also, just because you are posting ‘on topic’ doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not chatting. Really guys…it’s a bit tiring, not to mention possibly intimidating to newer members to go into a thread expecting to read and participate in good discussion and instead find a page full of nothing but posts consisting of, “OMG! *random actor’s name here* is soooooo hot!” or off topic chatter. That’s not to say that you can’t squee over pics that are posted and discuss how hot the various actors are,--I think we all like to do that at times, I know I certainly do--but it shouldn’t take over the thread. We don’t want to limit anyone’s discussion at all, but this show is now in its 5th season now and surely we can come up with more to discuss about these characters/actors besides just their looks? What can I do to generate good discussion in the Miami Forum? One of the main things you can do is to put more thought and content into your replies. This isn’t a chat medium or an instant messenger service, so there’s no need to post short, chatty replies. Take your time, think about what you want to say and then post it. We’re not saying you have to write an essay each time you post, however. A well thought out reply doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be very wordy, we’re just wanting to get away from so much of the short chat like replies that have become far too prevalent in this forum and get some great discussion going again. If you’d like to start a new thread that you feel would generate good discussion, by all means please do—however, bear in mind that we have more than enough game threads at the current time, guys. If you’re going to post a bunch of pics in a particular thread, you could tell us a bit about why you chose the pics you did. Please try to refrain from just posting a bunch of links and saying something like, “Here! I hope you all like these!” On the flip side, if you’re replying to a post where someone has posted some pics, please try to add a bit more content to your post as opposed to just, “Great pics!” Tell us why you feel they’re so great. Something as simple as commenting on why a certain picture is a favorite of yours could spark a great discussion. Try to avoid using ‘netspeak’ if at all possible, as it can be quite hard to read at times and even harder to reply to. There’s one last thing that we feel needs to be said, and while it doesn’t necessarily have to do with chatting or spamming it's still very important. Guys, please don’t ‘backseat mod’. The mods of each particular forum decide which threads remain open and which ones should be locked. It could be a bit intimidating for a new member who opens a thread to have someone come along and say, “A mod will probably lock this.” It’s not at all helpful and could make the new member a bit hesitant about posting again in the future. The same goes for telling members about double posting and the like, that is for the mods of each forum to handle. We have no problem at all with members wanting to help other members out, but please try to do so as nicely as possible and bear in mind that we were all new members at one time and prone to make mistakes. Ok…I think that covers it for now, if anyone has any questions, please post them here or pm either speed_cochrane or myself and we’d be glad to help. To those that have been trying to generate good discussion, your efforts have not gone unnoticed and are greatly appreciated. Also, we’d like everyone to please let us know that you have read and understood this thread. Thanks guys!
I would have just answered "Okey Dokey", but that would have seemed too spammy. Instead, I concur with what was posted in the first message of this thread and comprehend the meaning of... Aw, forget all that. Okey Dokey.