Originally Posted by
Dane
Yes, I'm a dick... but I'm not trying to be a dick. I sincerely want to see this forum succeed, attract anyone interested in Gators. I mod a couple other forums. One is pretty large and it takes a fair bit of work to keep it on track and successful. It's never easy and spammers are always inventing new tricks.
Give new posts the smell test. A short phrase generated by a bot smells different than someone who needs help with their Gator or is really excited about their new toy. Some folks are one hit wonders but they at least go on about their new toy or the problem they're having.
Some folks treat a post count like a badge of honor or popularity contest. Does a farmer with a Gator want to see post after post of smiley faces? Will non-substantive posts make a Gator owner visit the forum more often? It's your forum. You can make it whatever you want. Just keep in mind that these are farmers, contractors and guys hell driving through the forest. Not teenagers making friends on FaceBook or living and dying by Twitter.
If someone jumps the snake river in a rocket powered Gator with Evil Kinevel's ashes in the glove box... Yes, that warrants about any reply you can muster. Smiley's and thumbs up all around. But, how frequently will a real Gator owner/user return to the forum after seeing page after page of bogus intros and replies? I see about three pages of intros today. Were there any "real" posts elsewhere in the forum? I don't know. I'm a bung hole and don't have the attention span to look. Will the "real" and valuable members pick through the pages to find the real posts and want to come back?
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If you think managing this forum is difficult. Try a home brewing forum where drunk posting is almost required.