NO REPEAT POSTS/SPAM
If no one answers your question, bump it rather than posting it again and please don’t post the same question in every forum, just the most appropriate one. Reading the same thing over and over again is the best way to annoy people and the worst way to get answers.
The mod team tried to come up with a comprehensive definition of the word spam, but we realized it would be easier to define what is not spam. So, a post is not considered spam as long as it:
- Conveys new information.
- Encourages interactive conversation
- Is significantly different from other active thread topics
These are important criteria to the health of the forum for the following reasons:
- If there are multiple threads open on the same topic, people interested in discussing that topic will have to choose which thread to reply in. There can be multiple good ideas in each thread, but the conversation will stagnate, because it has been divided.
- When threads are mainly links to dictionary definitions/wikipedia pages, there is not much for a person to reply to. This is information people generally know, and there is nothing new to add to the conversation. These threads are destined to get ignored or scrolled past. Having to scroll past multiple threads like this frustrates our user base, who are, by definition, suffering from a disease that affects attention span. It also frustrates the members who posted these threads, because they see their threads staying inactive, and feel rejected.
- A lot of our members get fixated on certain thoughts/concepts, and feel a compulsive need to talk about them over and over. This is called perseveration, and is a symptom commonly found in our demographic. The issue is that perseveration is, by nature, a compulsion. No responses will finally satisfy the need to discuss it, and no relief will be sustainable. Those who try to talk it through with the person grow frustrated after a while, because they feel like they aren’t being listened to. The pereseverator grows frustrated because, after a while, people stop replying. Everyone walks away from the interaction feeling rejected and ignored.