Pips or Posts? What makes noobs spam?

[MattKestrel]

Something squibbles said inspired me to make this poll.

On top of that, it's been known to cause mucho-spamo, with people thinking that the more pips they had, the more respect they got...not true.

I was just wondering which would be more motivational to disillusioned noobs. On the one hand, post count is more exact, whilst pips are harder to get and thus have a bigger sense of achievement for these users. Although there's not an accurate example seeing as the old system uses both and the new one only post counts, I thought it would be worth asking just out of merit value. And how do standard titles fare against these more obvious signs? Or is there some bigger reason which I've missed out?

And yes, I realise this is ironic considering my large post count, but then that leads onto what the definition of spam is.

[Rose]

What are pips?

[29403]

A pip is an image you get, or an image added on to your current pips, once you reach a certain number of posts.

[Rose]

A pip is an image you get, or an image added on to your current pips, once you reach a certain number of posts.

Well then I don't think that's the reason, especially since (to my knowledge) we don't have those anymore, right? I think it's either to boost their post count or because they don't even realize they're spamming (which I guess falls under lack of etiquette).

[Kablizzy]

Shockingly enough, I don't consider you as much of a spammer anymore. You're reasonably eloquent, and you know precisely what the borderline is, and when to cross it. With that said, the Spam topic that I put up wasn't so much a warning as it was a test - My plan was to put the topic up, fully expecting you guys to spam it up, reduce your post counts, and then see who noticed - Two of you did, so I know precisely who cares about post count, and who to keep an eye on in the future. It also lets me know who's simply ignorant of the fact, so I can better educate those peeps.

I think a lot of spam is just plain jackassery. It's one of those things that an eight year-old does because... Hell, I don't even know the 'why' of it. I guess it comes down to ignorance versus intent.

[MattKestrel]

The scenario was hypothetical, seeing as it's never happened and probably never would. I just wanted to bring up a discussion over which was more likely to cause spamming on it's own; instant or delayed gratification. Also, this should be moved to discussion, right? >_<

Edit: Also, thanks for the input Kablizzy. I'm glad I've moved up in your world :P

[squibbles]

oh, shit, its gotta be custom title...I hadn't even thought about that!

I wish I'd had a custom title when they still happened... :(

[Atilla]

I think newbies (as opposed to people who just don't care if they annoy others, or even enjoy it) spam because they post not because they have something to say, but because they want to be part of the group, and they don't have the maturity or the forum experience to understand how they should go about it.

For example, a lot of people spam because they don't understand the difference between quality and quantity, or the difference between making 5000 posts in a month, and making 5000 posts over three years. They see that the respected forum regulars have a lot of posts (because they've been active for a long time), and that posting a lot will therefore automatically make them a big manly man. In reality, of course, it makes them look like an annoying attention whore with a five-second attention span.

This brings us to the second point, which is that some people really do have a five-second attention span and a penchant for yelling "Look at me! Look at me!". This is particularly common among members who are young and immature. They often lack the patience to read the thread carefully, and even if they do they won't really get what people are talking about. This, of course, doesn't stop them posting. Hey, everyone else is saying stuff, I've gotta post something, or I'll feel ignored! Usually this results in posting the first thing that pops into their head, often without giving it any real thought or even bothering with basic grammar. People in this category often don't even understand what they're doing or why it's annoying. They're also frequently oblivious to subtlety, sarcasm, irony, and anything else which requires more than the most superficial understanding of what was said. In fact, the perfect example of this type of person is the guy who quotes something and posts "lol...?", because he has the vague sense that someone has made a joke, but no idea what it actually was.

[TribulatioN]

I'm agreeing with Atilla on this one, every thing I thought of somehow related back to feeling integrated into the community. They don't realise that posting meaningful posts would get them more respect than posting hundreds of meaningless comments. Some of our most respected have barely any posts, it's because of what's in their posts that really make the difference.
And if not, it's the thrive to pass you, GTM.

[blackbelmoral]

like arachnid.
atilla, you hit the nail on the head.
not to be hypocritical, i think its just people who have a day to waste and dont pay attention to the time they think about the previous comments in topic.

[Kablizzy]

I think newbies (as opposed to people who just don't care if they annoy others, or even enjoy it) spam because they post not because they have something to say, but because they want to be part of the group, and they don't have the maturity or the forum experience to understand how they should go about it.

For example, a lot of people spam because they don't understand the difference between quality and quantity, or the difference between making 5000 posts in a month, and making 5000 posts over three years. They see that the respected forum regulars have a lot of posts (because they've been active for a long time), and that posting a lot will therefore automatically make them a big manly man. In reality, of course, it makes them look like an annoying attention whore with a five-second attention span.

This brings us to the second point, which is that some people really do have a five-second attention span and a penchant for yelling "Look at me! Look at me!". This is particularly common among members who are young and immature. They often lack the patience to read the thread carefully, and even if they do they won't really get what people are talking about. This, of course, doesn't stop them posting. Hey, everyone else is saying stuff, I've gotta post something, or I'll feel ignored! Usually this results in posting the first thing that pops into their head, often without giving it any real thought or even bothering with basic grammar. People in this category often don't even understand what they're doing or why it's annoying. They're also frequently oblivious to subtlety, sarcasm, irony, and anything else which requires more than the most superficial understanding of what was said. In fact, the perfect example of this type of person is the guy who quotes something and posts "lol...?", because he has the vague sense that someone has made a joke, but no idea what it actually was.

Hey, you post a lot. Want an Admin spot? =D =D =D

[aids]

for the record, GTM has the best title ever.

the main reason for spam posts is the lack of etiquette, mostly because as of yet I haven't seen a thread (not the FAQ, because nobody reads that) on how a proper Metanet community member should behave. should someone make one?

on a related note, I respect Atilla more than GTM (even though GTM has over four times as many posts as Atilla) simply because he was here before me.

[GamingWolf]

I think newbies (as opposed to people who just don't care if they annoy others, or even enjoy it) spam because they post not because they have something to say, but because they want to be part of the group, and they don't have the maturity or the forum experience to understand how they should go about it.

For example, a lot of people spam because they don't understand the difference between quality and quantity, or the difference between making 5000 posts in a month, and making 5000 posts over three years. They see that the respected forum regulars have a lot of posts (because they've been active for a long time), and that posting a lot will therefore automatically make them a big manly man. In reality, of course, it makes them look like an annoying attention whore with a five-second attention span.

This brings us to the second point, which is that some people really do have a five-second attention span and a penchant for yelling "Look at me! Look at me!". This is particularly common among members who are young and immature. They often lack the patience to read the thread carefully, and even if they do they won't really get what people are talking about. This, of course, doesn't stop them posting. Hey, everyone else is saying stuff, I've gotta post something, or I'll feel ignored! Usually this results in posting the first thing that pops into their head, often without giving it any real thought or even bothering with basic grammar. People in this category often don't even understand what they're doing or why it's annoying. They're also frequently oblivious to subtlety, sarcasm, irony, and anything else which requires more than the most superficial understanding of what was said. In fact, the perfect example of this type of person is the guy who quotes something and posts "lol...?", because he has the vague sense that someone has made a joke, but no idea what it actually was.

Hey, you post a lot. Want an Admin spot? =D =D =D

The irony is that he DID post a lot.
The other irony is that I DID NOT post a lot.
Another irony is that somehow upon intially posting this.... none of the sentences I added showed up in my submitted message thereby encouraging me to edit it.

[SlappyMcGee]

The true sign of a spammer is their avatar. Did McP3000 ever have a good avatar? No. But this GTM kid, he's movin' on up.

[George]

not to be hypocritical, i think its just people who have a day to waste and dont pay attention to the time they think about the previous comments in topic.

You would think that if people had a 'day' to waste on the forums, they'd read each thread a little more carefully prior to posting. Hmmm...

[otters~1]

Shockingly enough, I don't consider you as much of a spammer anymore. You're reasonably eloquent, and you know precisely what the borderline is, and when to cross it. With that said, the Spam topic that I put up wasn't so much a warning as it was a test - My plan was to put the topic up, fully expecting you guys to spam it up, reduce your post counts, and then see who noticed - Two of you did, so I know precisely who cares about post count, and who to keep an eye on in the future. It also lets me know who's simply ignorant of the fact, so I can better educate those peeps.

I think a lot of spam is just plain jackassery. It's one of those things that an eight year-old does because... Hell, I don't even know the 'why' of it. I guess it comes down to ignorance versus intent.

I noticed. :)
And now my post count is back up to the good old 160's! Yes!

[blue_tetris]

Most spamming isn't deliberate, or anywhere close to deliberate. It's just people who don't know about out expectations of post quality.

Posting a lot is good. If you're a talkative dude and have a lot of useful stuff to say, cool. It's just important to remember the format that we like to see for posts. I don't really care about rapid-fire posting unless it's someone's deliberate attempt to be a douchebag.

Lastly, if you sort the members' list by post count, the people at the top aren't spammers. The people at the top are frequent posters. Somewhere along the line, we may have gotten the two confused. Posting is good and I think everyone who tops in post count follows not only the rules but the etiquette of this forum just like they're supposed to.

About post count: If you care about it, cool, whatever. It's mostly there for fun Ranks and for statistics and upkeep. We generally like to know how many posts are among forums and forumers. If you figure it's worth something more, intrinsically, that's cool too. Know that it's not going to be used for anything like mod promotions.

[ska]

Since '05, I made an effort to ensure my average posts per day was at or below one post per day.

[Eiturlyf]

Post count.

[Animator]

The moral of the story is just to keep your posts with some quality, and not to post just for the hell of it. Hell, you don't even have to worry about spelling (though it's smiled upon if you do it well), if you got something awesome, share it with us.

[blackbelmoral]

The moral of the story is just to keep your posts with some quality, and not to post just for the hell of it. Hell, you don't even have to worry about spelling (though it's smiled upon if you do it well), if you got something awesome, share it with us.

and not post something extremely obvious, like "animator's avvie is a smoking man in an overcoat".
complex and subtle works.

[seven_two]

I was motivated by post count and titles when I first came to this forum. That's pretty juvenile.

That being said, give me a custom title /now////.

[George]

Actions speak louder than words.

It is the contributions you make that reveal your value and position in this community, not the quantity of posts.

[Yoshimo]

I have to agree with most of the posts here, but as someone said, the 'fun Ranks' are actually what encouraged me to post as much as I did at first. I've seen most of them now, due to some mega posters, *coughgtmcough* and feel thatt most topics don't nedd my input, becaause I ussually jost post a little blurb now and then, so I try to post if I can really gets some good material in my post. While some think 'quantity over quality' posting a lot (quantity) in one post will produce a lot of quality. Most people just sort of spread it out, resulting in about five regular, run of the mill posts.


EDIT: just got a new 'fun Rank'. Sweet. =D

[大見解]

well, it sorta depends on the person.

I know people who spam forums just to get their post count up. By getting their post count up, they get new titles. They also think that they get respected if they have both. So that's all three. And the fourth, that's just the same. Lack of etiquette is like an "all of the above" choice in my opinion.

200th post. yay. Very slight irony towards post.