Let’s talk about forum spam

Posted by Sarah on July 30, 2009

I’m getting pretty frustrated at a spammer on the Northern Lights Aquatics Fish Keeper’s Forums.

I don’t think the spammer necessarily knows that what he’s doing is spam, but it’s still irritating.

Coming to my or any other forum, blog, or website and posting “We have another forum about this same subject here” is the same thing as coming to a dinner party at my house, and saying “My house is down the street, and I’ve got dinner ready too, we can go over there,” to all the other guests after you arrive.

It’s rude, and it’s unacceptable, and most forums don’t allow it at all, and will ban or suspend you the first time you do it.

Of course, there is enough room, and time for everyone to visit all the forums, just like there is enough time for people to go to more than one dinner party in their life – but you don’t invite strangers to a dinner party while you’re at another dinner party, unless it’s already been established that it’s a traveling dinner party, which takes place at one house first, then another house, and another house.

Part of it is my fault, because I let some people mention their forums before, because I thought they were unfamiliar with forum etiquette, and didn’t know any better.

Of course when it keeps happening, and the only posts people make is to say – “Hey, hey, look at my forum,” it gets annoying.

I don’t want to waste my time reading post after post that says the same thing, especially when it doesn’t add anything to the conversation going on, and I don’t think most of our members want to do that either.

If you want to advertise your forum/blog/website, on another site, check to see if they have a section that allows links, and if they don’t contact the site owner and ask if it’s ok, or ask about their advertising rates before you post.

In most forums you can send a private message to the site administrator with your question, or you can look for a “contact us” page on any website.

If you want people to visit your site, post useful, helpful content that’s relevant to the forums, and to what’s being discussed.

I don’t mind if you posts links to individual posts or articles which are related to the subject being discussed on the forum or the blog, but a link to the front page of a forum or blog isn’t helpful at all.

Our forum members are allowed to have a signature, and if people see that your posts are helpful, and they’re interested in visiting your site, they’ll visit the link in your signature.

If you’re not – they won’t.

If you keep spamming other sites, they definitely won’t, and they’ll tell others to stay away from you.

That kind of defeats the purpose of getting more visitors to your site, doesn’t it?

What do you think?

Does it bug you when people keep posting on a forum saying “Look at my site, look at my site?”

Have you ever done that?