GENIUS FORUMS

The topic has come up about members here who are posting a lot of spam, and meaningless drivel, or otherwise off-topic messages. I just wanted to ask the question of what exactly constitutes SPAM or trolling messages? What is the difference between SPAM'ing and Trolling? Is SPAM even an appropriate term for that sort of thing? Is this trolling? What is trolling? Very interesting topic in my mind, so I will just throw it up there 4 u.

.

(comments interspersed)


snow bunny - The topic has come up about members here who are posting a lot of spam, and meaningless drivel, or otherwise off-topic messages.

-tomas-
You know the deal.
I know the deal.
We know the deal.




-snow bunny-
I just wanted to ask the question of what exactly constitutes SPAM or trolling messages?

-tomas-
Stick around long enough, and then, when you least expect it, the idiots appear out of nowhere!




-snow bunny-
What is the difference between SPAM'ing and Trolling?

-tomas-
Whatever you do, DON'T bring up the topic of puppies. All the city-slickers depend on them for companionship.




-snow bunny-
Is SPAM even an appropriate term for that sort of thing?

-tomas-
Puppies and city-slickers eat spam (off the same plate).




-snow bunny-
Is this trolling?

-tomas-
Around these parts, some of the more-vocal whiners get their way with the admin's.




-snow bunny-
What is trolling?

-tomas-
Looking for Michael Vick.




-snow bunny-
Very interesting topic in my mind, so I will just throw it up there 4 u.

-tomas-
I know, it's pathetic. Those damn dogs puke everywhere. No manners.



Tomas




..
.

I've never really understood why people ask questions on message boards the answers to which only require 2 minutes of Googling.

Maybe it's more fun than two minutes of googling. Google has the limitation that it doesn't interact with you personally.

I get the feeling that most people who come to forums like personal interaction. Else, why bother?

Dan Rowden wrote:I've never really understood why people ask questions on message boards the answers to which only require 2 minutes of Googling.

It's simple. They are used to being fed pre-chewed, regurgitated answers by the pseudo nanny, i.e.: TV. They are docile, brain atrophied zombies with attention span not unlike cognitively undeveloped child, who can't stay interested or focused on a question long enough ("2min") to find the answers they seek, which includes searching, reading and comprehending the information available. Sound bites and short commands work best when trying to reach this demographic. :-)

confused rabbit wrote:what exactly constitutes SPAM or trolling messages? What is the difference between SPAM'ing and Trolling?

Just do it! Get animated! Click on the links now!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29

I knew what wikipedia said, already, so I was just thinking maybe I had missed something about the ideas behind trolling. Yeah, you are probably right that I didn't want to do the research, but maybe there would be some components to it that I was unaware that someone might know about. Like, I said, I was just, throwing it out there.