What in the world is wrong with forum spammers anyway?
If you are a frequent visitor to any forum you have surely seen them. They join an existing forum simply to promote themselves, drop a link or two, post an article or fill a post with a bunch of gibberish. The irony of the whole thing is that their posts never stay up long. Hardly anyone sees them and even if they do, I cannot imagine they are well received.
Most active forums consist of a team of moderators that are spread out across the globe.
I myself moderate on three forums – Search Engine Watch, High Rankings and Small Business Ideas. On each of these forums I am part of a team of individuals that live around the world. So in other words, there can be a moderator online anytime of the day watching and waiting for the forum spammer.
Forum spammers typically hit on weekends or late at night but it makes no difference because someone with the power to zap their post is not far away. This is why I think of them as a clueless bunch.
Hey forum spammer – don’t you get it? We have the power to not only edit or delete your post but to ban you from ever accessing the forum again. We are always online, yes even weekends for many. That is why we were selected as forum moderators. Even if your posts do stand for awhile, do you think a regular forum member is going to take kindly to your post? Do you think they are going to buy your product or hire you out for your services? Gimme a break!
Even as a forum member they have the ability to report your post as spam which then sends an email to all forum moderators. So why don’t you go away? In fact why don’t you ride a three legged mule down the Grand Canyon? You are even dumber then email spammers because at least with email, many will see your message. They won’t in a forum.
Yes I am ranting. What can one do? Invasive people pushing their products or services on the unaware and the uninviting are everywhere – in our mail boxes, on our phones, in our email inboxes…. so why not forums?
At least with forums, there is power to get rid of them once and for all. So forum spammer – get a clue and find a more productive way to invade people’s space and time.
David Wallace, co-founder and CEO of SearchRank, is a recognized expert in the industry of search and social media marketing. Since 1997, David has been involved in developing successful search engine and social media marketing campaigns for large and small businesses.
