Limitting new threads

Originally posted by wolfgang59
I think most would agree that some forums - particularly the GF and
Spirituality - are from time to time dominated by one individual's threads.

Would it not be a good idea to limit new threads per user to (say) 5/month?
Perhaps more for subscribers.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
"Would it not be a good idea to limit new threads per user to (say) 5/month?"
____________

Sounds reasonable, though I doubt there's anyone posting to either of these two forums
who has created more than "5/month" on average in the course of a year.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
I think most would agree that some forums - particularly the GF and
Spirituality - are from time to time dominated by one individual's threads.

Would it not be a good idea to limit new threads per user to (say) 5/month?
Perhaps more for subscribers.

I don't think the identity of the thread creator has much to do with the problem. I think it's due to a small number of individuals who believe their right to spam outranks the right of all others to find readable threads. Of course, that means others visit, discover the huge pile of spam, and decide that this is no place for them.

Originally posted by Kewpie
I don't think the identity of the thread creator has much to do with the problem. I think it's due to a small number of individuals who believe their right to spam outranks the right of all others to find readable threads. Of course, that means others visit, discover the huge pile of spam, and decide that this is no place for them.

Yet the question remains:

How could or should this unfortunate situation be prevented without preventing these individual perpetrators themselves from creating it?

Originally posted by Kewpie
Not possible. The same right of free speech that allows the spammers to post spam, allows readers to object to the spam. Any attempt to block one also blocks the other. It's feasible to place some restrictions on content but just being tedious and boring and repetitive could never qualify as something to be prohibited. Unfortunately.

How would we reconcile that rationale with this prohibition in FAQ: Forum Guidelines?
"•Repeated posting of the same material (spamming) is not acceptable." Help : forumguide

Originally posted by Kewpie
They're just that, guidelines, not enforceable. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to keep doing it with impunity.

Then why does Russ have Forum Moderators?

Originally posted by Kewpie
You really don't have any idea, do you?

Does Red Hot Pawn have Forum Moderators?
Presumably, yes.
What then is their purpose
if not to enforce RHP Terms of Service and Forum Guidelines?

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Does Red Hot Pawn have Forum Moderators?
Presumably, yes.
What then is their purpose
if not to enforce RHP Terms of Service and Forum Guidelines?

How does one enforce a guideline?

Originally posted by divegeester
How does one enforce a guideline?

Red Hot Pawn "FAQ: Forum Guidelines:

Overview

The forum moderators' objective is to enable enjoyable forum usage. We want an environment where newcomers feel free to post to the forums without fear of being unfairly attacked and where posters don't feel overly-policed.

We want the Red Hot Pawn forums to be as open as possible. All moderation will be made using best-judgment and will never be used to stifle opinion, so long as such posts remain within the boundaries set out here.

Moderators have the ability to hide posts, hide threads, move threads to other forums, and place forum bans for varying periods of time on posters continually breaching the posting guidelines.

Please note that members of the community are encouraged to use the Alert Moderator link below any post which they believe breaches the guidelines set out here. This will place the post on the moderators' list of posts to review.

The Guidelines

The following twelve points are the guidelines that should be followed when posting to the forums.

•Discussions in forums can often get heated, but while you may take issue with another poster's viewpoint, you must not resort to personal attacks or abuse. Do not post offensive or inflammatory remarks that stray beyond the bounds of reasoned debate. Calling another poster an "idiot" will leave a post subject to immediate removal.

•Do not post profanity. There may be occasions where the context of certain words may be acceptable, and this will be at the moderators' discretion, however posts containing profanity will often be removed automatically by the "robomod". There will be situations where it removes inoffensive posts, but this is unavoidable.

•Do not post material which is obscene, indecent or pornographic.

•Please stay on topic. There is clearly a subjective judgment to be made as to whether a post strays off topic and in the majority of cases the post will not be deleted unless it is considered to be disruptive to the thread and its participants.

•While it is acceptable to post links to external articles and information, you may not use these forums for advertising or promotion of products or services or canvassing support for political parties or movements. You may post links to personal home pages, but repeated spamming of such links is not permitted.

•Do not make defamatory posts. While reasonable criticism of an individual or organization is not in itself libellous, any post that adversely affects the reputation of a clearly identifiable person or company is likely to be removed.

•Do not harass other members of the community. Harassment is any unwanted conduct including insults, jokes and any remarks affecting the dignity of another. Such conduct could relate to gender, race, nationality, sexuality, religion, disability or other similarly sensitive issues.

•Do not post information which invades the privacy of another individual, or the disclosure of which would breach an individual's reasonable expectation of confidentiality.

•Any posts which are deemed to be incitements to commit criminal offenses, or any post which seeks to influence another to commit an offense will be removed.

•Repeated posting of the same material (spamming) is not acceptable.

•Overly trivial posts may be removed at the discretion of the forum moderators if they are deemed to be disruptive or distracting to the thread and its participants.

•Do not rant. Ranting is defined here as a style of post that comes across as a political broadcast or an angry protest that does little to progress the discussion or to involve other posters. Such postings often feel like an intrusion into the general debate, regardless of the validity of the points being made." Help : forumguide

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Yet the question remains:

How could or should this unfortunate situation be prevented without preventing these individual perpetrators themselves from creating it?

The answer is: don't feed trolls.

Originally posted by moonbus
The answer is: don't feed trolls.

An oft quoted advice. Effective today, January 1, 2016, I'll stop doing so immediately on all of these public forums.

Thanks for your topic tenacity.