A piddling little matter

Any chance we can get some sort of rule stopping people from using the quote function and then putting absolutely nothing underneath. I know a lot of people are fond of using the quote and then putting 'QFT', or 'QFE' underneath, and that is meh in itself, but the no message thing is nothing but spam. It's like '+1'. Not in the message it's conveying, but in that it adds nothing to a discussion. It's no where near rampant, but a nip in the bud would be nice. And if needed, I can give links to examples. I'm just feeling rather lazy at the mo.

 

QFT.

 

See? It doesn't even have humour value.

 

No, i agree, and it happens all the time. What's even worse is that when it happens, about hald the time you see it happen like 5 times in a row.

It's basically spam, when done over and over.

 

I've seen this happen, and I usually am left feeling confused, thinking "Did they mean to say something and accidentally hit submit?"

I mean, what did it add?

I'm not sure there needs to be a rule or anything, but certainly social ostracism and ridicule.

 

*runs and cowers under rug once again*

 

yeah I'm all for merciless mockery.

It's just something that is a hard call, since a few occurrances are harmless, but many can be detrimental. If someone went into 15 threads and posted "Neat idea." and nothing more, they could easily get a ban for spamming.

So, you know... watch out!!!!

 

I'd much prefer the old days, when people would just say "I agree with [username]". It took up a lot less room than the quotes, and didn't seem quite as annoying. I'd prefer even more to have someone say "I agree with [username], I really think ... [expand on points]", but I realize that might be asking too much.

In conclusion, I agree with Ignant, the quoting has gotten a bit out of hand.

 

Yes, in a thread (like this one) where voicing support of one idea or another is important, I think an "I agree with [username]" post is perfectly fine, especially if that person said it best, and especially if that person is me (HA!).

But the posting of the quote with nothing more? Lazy posting at best, spamming at worst.

 

I agree with this as well. It's basically a +1 post and it's being overused.

 

It's a hard thing to moderate though. It only bothers me when used excessively or if there's a bunch of pictures in the quote, which happens all the time in say, the pictures thread in PT. I'll warn the entire thread for that. But beyond that, it's a bit difficult unless we see a user doing it over and over again without actually contributing anything to the discussion. Then that would be concrete spamming.

 

What I think is the worst (even when it's being used for comedic effect), is when the first post in a thread is really long (up to 2 "pg down"s), and then someone quotes the whole thing and adds a one-liner to the end.

 

I think it's a good point - like ObiWan said it's basically +1. It doesn't add anything to the discussion and just spams up the thread with the same quote. I'd say that the mods need to moderate it like other spammy posts and give warnings to contribute to the discussion or not post.

 

There's not much difference replacing "QFT" with "I agree." Just more letters.

 

But when you say "I agree with [user]", you don't have to quote their entire text, which ends up making the page look far less cluttered.

 

Well God forbid we'd have to scroll down another inch.

 

i agree

 

Always makes me think the person intended to say something but was too stupid to actully figure out how to type their own message in.

So I just pity the people who do it and avoid them. I think that's punishment enough.

Seriously, I don't mind QFT . . .

But what about that 'fixed' thing? That gets on my nerves and it's actually misleading and stuff.

 

It gets on my nerves, the quote with no text beneath it. In fact, the quote feature only has one thing going for it, that you know who posted what you're quoting...

However, I can see it being something that the JCC mods decided to crack down on or ask users to let up on, but I don't think I'd want to see a hard and fast rule on it. It's something worth watching and if a user does it frequently or if there are many in a thread, like AmazingB's thread in JCC, we should ask users to stop or edit as spam. Basically approach it on a case by case basis.

 

"It's a hard thing to moderate though"

No, it isn't. If there is quoted text with nothing below, tell users to cease.

Kate, I brought up '+1' first! You've always hated me!

Rhoneroo, why case by case? +1 and tl, dr are not case by case. They're naughties. I'm not saying immediately start banning people who do it, but ease into it. This doesn't need a case by case whatsoever. ANd the les case by cases, the less grey, the better it is for all.

 

I agree with Darth_Ignant. Really it's annoying. I don't mind the QFT's, at least they wrote something. The blank quotes have got to go.

 

I'm all fine with QFT as long as you add your .02 in as well and reaffirm an opinion of the previous poster or your own. But just having QFT alone I'd consider spam as you've all said.

 

Rhoneroo, why case by case? +1 and tl, dr are not case by case. They're naughties.

Yet I see many of them in JCC. If it's spam, treat it as spam and mod it that way, but making it a hard and fast rule means that you set it in concrete and you need to stick to it. If +1 and tl, dr are naughties and we have them set in stone, there's plenty of posts that could be edited in JCC. We don't seem to have been modding it as spam. This is where we loose consistency. If you make it a rule, make it and stick by it.

 

ha, did you post when tl,dr and +1 were truly epidemic?

 

I can see it as a nuiscance, no doubt. But is it worth a "policy" change or addition to the spamming rule? Or is it something that you can frown heavily on. Just like with "crapping threads" in Vert's thread, if it were in movies or Comms, it would be spam and the user would be warned. But you're talking about putting more boundaries in JCC, a forum that is more relaxed and casual. I don't necessarily have a problem with it, as it's spam, but I'd be hesitant to start putting a lot of things like this in black and white categories with JCC. It starts to set a precedent.