Must be "desperate times"

[JeAnne]

I can't imagine why else the spammers are getting increasingly lazy and not even trying to make it look like their contributions are nothing but ads. (Of course, chances are by the time most people read this post, the most recent spam posts will have been deleted, but for the moment they're there.)

This is completely my own opinion, she clarifies, as if it could possibly be anything else. If it ends up stirring up issues for the forum, my apologies.

Echoing back a few months to why "marketing" has such a bad reputation...those people are why. The very least they could do is to make some slight effort toward a vague indication they might have something of interest to the community (because that's what a forum is, regardless of how loose a community it forms) that is not complete and utter biased self-promotion. There's a fine line, but we all know when it's been crossed and the person talking with us is suddenly talking at us and they're not viewing us as another human being, but as a potential cash source.

Sure, spam is annoying, but if there's at least an interesting (which is decidedly not one-dimensional) story along with it, it might be at least good for a laugh or some thought. Come on, people! If you're going to go through the trouble of creating an account to log into, and then inundate us all with product promotions several of us will end up reporting to the moderator, at least make it interesting or amusing to read. Unimaginative advertising makes everyone who advertises look bad. Show some respect for your fellow spammers.

(And yes, this is rather tongue-in-cheek, as I'd rather they go back to spamming email addresses that have excellent spam filters so we never see their efforts. What can I say, it's been slow again lately.)

[Doug]

Forum spam killed our first forum community. Then there there was a lull, then it came back, then we had another lull ... and now it's back again.

And you're right, Jeanne ... these new spammers aren't even trying ... which makes me think they are just spam bots, not people.

In addition to this forum, I have a blog (not related to massage) and I must say, the blog spammers are much more thoughtful. Blog spammers actually do try to say something relevant to the blog topic, even to the point of being quite insightful at times, but then they stuff their signatures with links to malware sites. Awww! Nice try! Thanks for coming out. DELETE

My blog actually has automatic spam detection which I LOVE! I wish I could find forum software with the same spam detection. Maybe, one day.

[JeAnne]

It would be a pain for you as moderator, yet I know some forums require moderator approval before one can join in the conversation. Once approved, an account is in unless for some reason or another (usually spamming, trolling, or other commonly disruptive behavior) it's banned. Is that an option here?

There's also the group blog option, but that means replies end up under comments, which can be a challenge to read for those with eyesight reflecting a body over 40. It sounds like you have higher quality spammers to your blog than I have to my (also non-massage related) one...the spam I get there is mostly for online casinos and car insurance. The thoughtful ones only show up once in a great while.

Ah, the trials and tribulations of connection! The more ways we have to interact with others, the more likely we'll cross paths with those we'd just as soon avoid. Fortunately, the connections made that we want to keep, that wouldn't have been possible under other circumstances, are more than worth the aggravation!