The official Spam FAQ

What qualifies as spam?
What doesn't qualify as spam?
Can I see some examples?
Why weren't the posts listed above as spam deleted?
Why are offsite (non gaga) contests spam but onsite (gaga) contests are ok?

What qualifies as spam?

Posts should only be reported as SPAM if they:

• link to other sites without contributing meaningfully to the thread or forum
• claim to offer online employment or chances to make money
• contain pornographic, commercial, or pharmaceutical drug-related content

If you need a breakdown of these three bullet points:

'link to other sites without contributing meaningfully to the thread or forum' means that the post contains a link that does not offer anything of any kind of meaningful value to anyone other than the person posting it. Value is a relative term, it could be information, a link to something on sale, funny pictures; essentially anything you think is worth sharing, that someone else might get some use out of. Offering to swap votes does not count as meaningful value, and does not negate the post being spam. Sorry.

'claim to offer online employment or chances to make money' means posts that offer bogus or dubious ways to make money. Organizations like Cashcrate are included in this category.

'contain pornographic, commercial, or pharmaceutical drug-related content' means the post contains porn (hopefully obvious, but if not anything you'd need to be 18+ to be able to legally view), sales for drugs like viagra, or websites attempting to sell things. The exception to this is personal business sites for regular active members, though bear in mind that repeated posting of the same thing is still spam, so go easy when advertising, or your posts will still end up deleted. If you're a regular member and you sell something members might be able to use (avon, scentsy, your boutique, etc.), that's acceptable, but people signing up just to sell things are unwelcome.

http://forum.baby-gaga.com/faq-7.html#spam

The “report spam” button

As we all know, busy forums with lots of traffic tend to be spam magnets. So any post made by a new member will contain the “report spam” button until the member is established as a genuine community member. By clicking on the “report spam” you are entering a vote to say you believe the post IS a spam posting. With enough votes the posting will be automatically deleted and the poster will receive negative trust points and be under observation as a potential spammer.

What doesn't qualify as spam?

Anything that isn't covered above. It it not to be used to remove posts that are abusive, dramatic or trolling - that's what moderation and/or TDC are for. It is not to be used to remove posts you simply don't like, that's what the ignore function is for. People's blogs, facebook profiles, etc. are all fine and are not spam; it is the use of gaga to do free business or otherwise exploit the members of the forum that we're trying to curtail.

Can I see some examples?

Below are two groups, examples of posts that are spam, and posts that are not spam.

These are examples of spam:

http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about772594.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1100229.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about588398.html
http://forum.p.baby-gaga.com/about1128809.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1222228.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about844957.html
http://forum.p.baby-gaga.com/about611321.html

These are examples of posts that are not spam:

http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1367191.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1993145.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1997939.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1955437.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1815116.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1925342.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about912011.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1877316.html
http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about1973807.html

Why weren't the posts listed as spam above deleted?

The process is manual, not automatic; that's why. They don't all get caught, and the flag as spam option expires after a certain period of time. They are examples of the types of posts you should flag as spam, though, so please mark any similar threads you encounter accordingly.

Why are offsite (non gaga) contests spam but onsite (gaga) contests are ok?

Essentially, one gives free advertising for another company or product, and the other does not. Baby-gaga relies largely on advertising revenue to exist and grow, and there is less incentive for businesses to pay advertising fees if everyone is being allowed to advertise for free on the forum. Directing 100 members away from the forum to enter or vote for a contest on <insert company here>'s website benefits that company, not gaga. Directing people to vote or enter a contest on gaga benefits gaga (and ultimately all of us).

This is also the distinction between posting commercial websites and member websites. Every link to or advertisement for some company's website or product that hasn't paid for the privilege of being linked or advertised is potential lost revenue for the site. This is not true of personal small home businesses of the type members usually advertise, which don't sell on large scale, don't make large amounts of revenue, and will likely never expand large enough to justify paying for advertising, so it's not a potential loss.

C.

Can I eat spam?  

Great post!

Ok, so if someone links asking for donations for something, is that spam? And, on the last examples of spam, would that have been not spam since she was just asking for opinions of it? Had she not put her link in the reply post? Like this for example, not spam? Or, was it spam? http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about2012641.html She linked, but wasn't asking for referrals, so not spam, or spam?

<blockquote><b>Quoting CallMeMoses:</b>" Ok, so if someone links asking for donations for something, is that spam? And, on the last examples of ... [snip!] ... was it spam? http://forum.baby-gaga.com/about2012641.html She linked, but wasn't asking for referrals, so not spam, or spam?"</blockquote>




Spam, claims to offer opportunity to make money, so that should have been spammed. C thanks for getting this up.  

Quoting Amy {30+}:" <blockquote><b>Quoting CallMeMoses:</b>" Ok, so if someone links asking for donations ... [snip!] ... Spam, claims to offer opportunity to make money, so that should have been spammed. C thanks for getting this up.  "

But I am not understanding, so if I were to post a thread "Hey, have you guys ever worked at wal mart? Is it good money?" would that be spam? I have a really hard time understanding when it is simply asking if someone else has done this, and what their experience was like.

Quoting CallMeMoses:" But I am not understanding, so if I were to post a thread "Hey, have you guys ever worked at wal mart? ... [snip!] ... a really hard time understanding when it is simply asking if someone else has done this, and what their experience was like. "

No, spam would be a link that you start your thread with of like an at home money making site.
Example: Hey Ladies, want to make some money while at home? Well click here and you'll find out how and I'll get more points when you click!

Quoting Ninja Shahinda:" No, spam would be a link that you start your thread with of like an at home money making site. Example: ... [snip!] ... Ladies, want to make some money while at home? Well click here and you'll find out how and I'll get more points when you click!"

Ok, so that link I posted wouldn't be spam? But Amy said it was   I don't know, it's confusing, some people will say yes, others will say no. Glad people usually get the spam threads before I do  

Quoting CallMeMoses:" But I am not understanding, so if I were to post a thread "Hey, have you guys ever worked at wal mart? ... [snip!] ... a really hard time understanding when it is simply asking if someone else has done this, and what their experience was like. "

The cashcrate one? She links her profile on the second post saying "hey, here's my referral".

That's why it's spam.

C.

Quoting God:" The cashcrate one? She links her profile on the second post saying "hey, here's my referral". That's why it's spam. C."

No, the one I linked for reference   I figured that was why the cashcrate one was spam, because she linked the referral in the reply   Otherwise it wouldn't have been, like the one I posted, she was just asking for opinions on it if anyone had done it, she didn't link anything, but to what it actually was when I asked what it was exactly   BUT it wasn't a referral link to get her more money, does that make sense?

Quoting CallMeMoses:" No, the one I linked for reference   I figured that was why the cashcrate one was spam, because she ... [snip!] ... it actually was when I asked what it was exactly   BUT it wasn't a referral link to get her more money, does that make sense?"

Ah, yeah sorry I didn't read your link since I saw it'd been replied to.

Asking questions isn't spam, yeah, as long as you're not advertising for them by giving out links like to your profile, heh.

C.

Quoting God:" Ah, yeah sorry I didn't read your link since I saw it'd been replied to. Asking questions isn't spam, ... [snip!] ... questions isn't spam, yeah, as long as you're not advertising for them by giving out links like to your profile, heh. C."

Perfect, exactly what I was asking   So what about donations? Like, go to this facebook page and help little Timmy's family by giving donations, doing an auction or buying this stuff or something? OK? Or, not so much?

Quoting CallMeMoses:" Perfect, exactly what I was asking   So what about donations? Like, go to this facebook page and help ... [snip!] ... and help little Timmy's family by giving donations, doing an auction or buying this stuff or something? OK? Or, not so much?"

I think if it's for charity, Mara and Nick won't mind, but I don't know what the policy is.

C.

Quoting God:" I think if it's for charity, Mara and Nick won't mind, but I don't know what the policy is. C."

Gotcha.