Post #39343 by hanford_lemoore on Sun, Jun 15, 2003 9:54 PM

Thanks everyone for the replies, keep them coming.

SCD, I understand your feelings on this. I’m not asking anyone to change their opinion on posts like this. I’m only asking that we stick more to the facts and be polite to any new visitor.

SCD wrote:

Perhaps we should give way to the thought that those that "left in a huff" were possibly/actually guilty of spamming.

It’s not spamming if it’s tiki-related. This is a Tiki Collecting forum. If they’re posting a Tiki collectable for sale, then it simply isn’t spamming. This is probably why most people leave in a huff: they’re confused as to why an informative, on-topic post is being rejected.

I tend to lean towards the fact that the 'accused' spammer was just trying to make a quick buck from an easy target = Tiki Central.

I don’t understand how this is bad. If the auction is a great value, then you’re going to welcome this ‘spammer’ – I don’t think anyone would have had a problem with the Shag seller if s/he were selling each print for 75 bucks. If it’s a bad value, experienced members should post and let others know, politely. Therefore, the only money this ‘spammer’ is going to make is a fair value … they’re not going to be able to rip anyone off. And everyone wins: Some Tiki Central member gets a cool tiki thing for a good price, and the seller is able to sell their item. Once the auction is over, they’ll either never post again, or they’ll post more (auctions or otherwise), therefore becoming a regular.

I believe it's just common courtesy for a proper introduction whether you meet someone in person or on-line.

I agree. And I think that it’s common courtesy that we’re polite to people even if they don’t introduce themselves to our satisfaction. Remember: introductions can be made by either party. Not everyone is going to view Tiki Central as a social setting at first. Newbies make mistakes – that’s a fact of life. Let’s go easy on them.

But I’m not sure I fully understand this aspect of the reaction to “spam”, because new members jump in all the time in other (non-auction) forums/posts without introducing themselves, and they don’t get the cold shoulder there. Is it simply the fact that they’re trying to sell something?

So what about those that cry "harassment" even if it's a seasoned member who exposes an auction for what it is? This may be a neverending circle.

All we can do it try. That’s all I’m asking. We can try to be polite and stick to the facts when critiquing an auction. If they cry harassment anyway (the hoity toity girl seemed pretty high-strung in the regard) then at least we tried. That’s all we can do.

I want to point out that I’m trying to fix both sides of the issues. Last night I made changes to the “New Topic” feature for Collecting Tiki (test it out by clicking the New Topic button and then seeing the new options). It asks you to read the rules, and it provides an easy way for people to flag their posts as eBay auctions. It’s my hope that more members (both new and longtime) will read and abide by the rules.

Thanks for reading,

~Hanford

[ Edited by: hanford_lemoore on 2003-06-16 02:09 ]