Spam

Are people noticing more spam lately? Especially from businesses? What amazes me is the number of times this spam comes from older players as well, not newer players as I'd expect (at least, that's what I'm seeing from the spam I get - notecards, landmarks etc. dropped on me). I guess as the world expands more spam is going to happen - it's just par for the course.

The poll's more concentrated on what you do when you get spam. Do you take any action at all, or just ignore it?

I generally IM the person back to tell them not to spam me again as I do not appreciate it. I did it again this morning to some spam, and got a message back about how I was the only one who complained and how that spoke volumes about my personality. Gave me quite a chuckle really. But do others IM the spammers or even AR them?

Hmmm. Needed a poll option for "Spam is on the rise?". I really hadn't noticed... I haven't got spam in ages.

Mostly I do nothing, just ignore it.

I left the Brits in SL though because of the spam, because I got fed up with the messages which started with an announcement, deteriorating into chat room gibberish. When those sorts of streaming messages interfere with keeping track of the conversations you actually want to have, that's the time to leave the group.

One very well-established person kept sending me teleports, which I did find fairly annoying.

If I was repeatedly spammed by someone, I would probably talk to them and ask them not to, but I am more likely to cancel the group or the calling card friendship, especially if I was in the minority being bothered about it. Some people seem to like Spam
bws
Cali

I don't get spam. I get invites to certain events and such all the time, but it is because I told the event hosts that I wanted to know of future events. I started a mailing list for a few different events I used to do. And would only notify those who had signed up. It always worked well and I never had any complaints. And I think others do this as well.

Group chat spam is pretty much non-existant for me as well.

He, the poll's about what you do when you get spam. The reason I say that spam is on the rise is that recently I've been getting it quite frequently (1-2 every few days) where as before I can't remember ever getting any apart from the odd one.

I occasionally get spam from mall owners who rent spaces to merchants. I do not mind as much when a mall owner IMs me and says, "Hey, Beryl, I have some great spaces available for rent at my mall; if you think you might be interested, let me know." What I consider to be true spam is when somebody I don't know drops a notecard on me that is basically the equivalent of a form letter advertising for his/her mall. I've AR-ed a couple of these, but have gotten no response on them from Lindens. There is an anti-spam portion in the TOS, so I'd love a clarification from Lindens about what they really consider to be spam.

I don't go around dropping ads on complete strangers (or friends, for that matter) for my products, and I wish others wouldn't do this to me. I've been debating posting a poll like this to forums myself, Moopf, I'm glad you did. I hate to come across as all bitchy and whiny about this... but it does bother me.

Haven't got spam in a while, but when I do I neg rate the perp, once only, and for behaviour only. I think that's fair.

You should have a poll option for neg-rate, AR's are kind of an over the top response on somethign like that IMO.

No, I can't say that I mind things like that - if people are approaching you directly through IM and are actually addressing you directly and want to talk about it. What's prompted this poll was a notecard spammed on me today, which I'm finding happening more and more lately.

I guess I didn't think about adding a neg rates option as I think ratings are a total waste of time, effort and money. Why do you feel AR'ing spammers is over the top? There's a part in the CS (or TOS, I can't remember which) that says "thou shalt not spam" and, in "the real world" more and more spammers are being taken to task legally for spamming. It's anti-social, it's a pain, it's supposedly not allowed. I'd say that made it ripe for an AR myself. I haven't AR'd over it, apart from once for repeat spamming.

I Abuse Report. This is not a practice I want to see continuing or increasing in SL. I have left all groups but those I absolutely need because of spam and chat-spam. I've gotten rid of computer programs because of it. I don't register for things on the net or go to certian sites because of it... I don't want to have SL too annoying to sign onto as well.

As Beryl said, if someone IM's me personally with some sort of offer, I don't really consider that spam. I get offers to rent or set-up places all the time, and I'm not abuse reporting them. It's the mass, faceless crap that I AR.

I've gotten so little so far than I've not reacted to it. An IMd invitation to a nekkid party this morning is the first spam I've every received from someone with whom I share no aquaintance, calling card or group.

Is it a growing trend that I've just now encountered?

I dunno, hmmm...

I guess it's that I think of a negrate as kind of a "I didn't like that" kind of thing and an AR as a "I'm telling mum" kind of thing. How's that for a scientific response? The AR is an escalation that I don't feel happy doing right from the get-go sort of speak.

I guess I also have a kind of a chip on my shoulder about "finks," about people who tattletale on others. I know we all do it, but it bugs me so I try to do it as a last resort.

I have had Lindens tell me in world to make an AR against someone just for calling me a bitch and being a complete jerk. Probably this is the right thing to do, but until they take away the negrate, I will continue to use it as if it meant something. (it probably does not) I just like to fight, or not fight my own battles for the most part and I like to work things out peaceably if possible.

Hell, I have had W-Hat folks harrass me a few times and I dont think I ever AR'ed them. In many ways an AR is like saying that the person did something soooo bad you are "calling the cops." If W-Hat ever pulls a caper that actually *works* I might do the AR.



Edit: I just realised that the last sentence makes no sense unless you look at this:
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I guess I have a different view of AR's. I certainly don't AR very frequently, it's got to be over an issue I feel strongly about; and I certainly don't expect every AR I make to result in a warning or repercussions exacted by the Lindens. I do, however, think that using AR's as a way to indicate to the Lindens which behaviors players consider unacceptable is the way that Lindens intend us to use them.

In the misty, rose-colored SL past, it was easier to contact a Linden and discuss grievances and/or thoughts about player issues. These days, Lindens are just too busy. These days, if I have a problem or a grievance, I don't post about it on forums and start a flamewar, and I don't confront players directly because I don't want to come across to them as "Mom." I let the Lindens know how I feel, and then it's out of my hands and in theirs. That seems fair to me.

I don't consider invites / event notices from people who I REMEMBER spam. However, STOP WITH NONSENSE CONFERENCE IMs!

If I've met ya once and we exchanged cards, and you can't name my favorite catch phrase, don't send me stuff. I'll extend you the same courtesy.



-Flip

I quit all the groups I was in and that stopped all my spam. All the group IM's were driving me crazy. Its a pain when you are trying to build something and, ding-ding ding-ding chatter chatter chatter.

If someone I don't know drops an advertisement of some kind on me, I'd AR it.

Buster

I don't do anything, but I don't get spammed that much.

The most spam I get is from the Mentor group, if you can believe it (people telling other people to come to their event).

We just banned an anti-social user yesterday from our sims for rudely and obnoxiously complaining about "spam"... and actually creating more spam than the original message.

This user considered even official announcements as spam. Very rude and arrogant person. Insisted that there are "other ways to contact group members"... even when told that no, those other ways either don't go to people unless they're online... or they're broke and don't work at all. Very obnoxious person.

Group announcments, group event announcements, group news... such is not spam. No one forces anyone to join a group. This decidedly unbalanced user succeeded only in being banned from 2 sims and having a couple dozen people laughing at him/her/whatever, and wondering why said person ever joined a group in the first place. Sad.

We do have a policy in our group: before leaving a message on the group IM, ask yourself-- "IS THIS IMPORTANT?" If the answer is no, if it doesn't pertain to group interest, if it's "Hi! How is everyone doing???" ... don't do it. Group IM is for group business.

For those who enjoy chatting, we're initiating a sub group just to handle friendly chat. It's a pain and people do have to join two groups, but some people actually like chatter on the IMs and for them, it's an acceptable alternative to shutting down group IM chat altogether. A number of our members have told us that other groups are boring because no one ever talks.

But receiving invitations to "Come gamble at my casino and attend the naked butts contest afterward!" from somone I've met ONCE... gimme a break. They obviously don't know me very well. That is what I consider SPAM.

The trouble is, once someone has my CALLING CARD, I have no option (that I know of) to remove it from them if they don't do so voluntarily. Another serious oversight by LL. IMHO, the whole calling card / separate friendship system was just another way to make things more confusing... and has helped add to the spam problem. Before, if someone bugged you, you just wiped their card. Now.. you can't. Now I don't ever give my Calling Card to anyone.

What is the difference between calling cards and friendships?

On the dealie it just says, "offer friendship" and voila - calling cards are exchanged.

How do you separate the two, and how are they done differently?

And what do you do about those calling cards/friendships that you have no idea who that person even was months ago?

coco

When a group IM comes across as spam, I sigh, make a mental note of who started it, review its merit, and usually close the window.

If it is an advertisement I didnt ask for, I note the store name and make an effort to never shop there.

I dont get that much spam really. If it gets to a point that it is really annoying, depending on its nature, I may jump on the band wagon and start abuse reporting them.

Calling cards and friendships.

Friendship is mutual, if you make friends with someone, you both exchange cards at the same time.

A calling card is seperate. You can give your calling card to someone you may not need to have contact with again. For example, a potential customer drops in on my store and asks about me or my products. I can give them my calling card as a reminder that I am a potential source. I dont necessarily need their card and dont need to be friends.

Well - what I get when someone gives me their card is a thing that says, "This person is offering friendship." And I check ok.

Are you telling me that if I DON'T check ok - if I check cancel or whatever the other option is - then I will always have their card, but they won't have mine?

So that when you "give them your card," you do this same thing, except you tell them not to check "ok," since you just want them to have yours?

coco

Hi Coco,

When you right click on someone you see the choice to "Add Friend". This let's you exchange cards. But if you just want to give them a card, you can click on "More" and then you have the option "Give Card". So I guess if you just want to give someone your card without them appearing in your buddy list, you would use this option. They, in turn, could give you their card, if they desire. Once you have the card, it is in a folder in your inventory called Calling Cards, and you can then create subfolders. Once you have some cards in a subfolder, you can right click on that folder and send group IM's.

I hope that clears it up for you.

There are pluses/minuses in both systems.

One of the biggest problems with a FRIENDS listing is that person can MAP you and teleport in on you without your permission. Although this is considered "rude" on SL... people still do it (solution: ask them not to do that, then kill the friends card if they continue). I have no idea why LL thought it was a good idea to put the MAP function on a card without a "Is it OK for your friend to teleport to you?" option as well. IMHO the map button on the Friends listing should be eliminated altogether.

I never hand out calling cards-- mainly for the reason that once you give one, you can't cancel it short of totally MUTING an individual. While they cannot MAP to you with a calling card, that's about the only thing they can't do.

As for IMing a list of calling cards... it works-- and it doesn't work. You can IM any of the group that is online. But the other option (which allows you to message offline people as well if they have their email linked in to their account).. doesn't work at this time. I contacted Linden Labs about the bug... no response.

I don't really see the need for the separate calling cards/friends thing. To me it just confused a system that was already working pretty well when it was just "calling cards". Seems there were a lot more important things that needed attention and programming time than creating a separate "friends" system. Dunno. Not my call-- just my opinion.

A notecard drop from someone I did not know happened to me once in recent history, and it was for a general funding/help request. At the time my profile actually solicited such, and had not updated it recently now that I've got a bit busier, so I did not mind it per se at first.

However I was a bit surprised to find note creator as a Linden but contact info was someone else (person cleaned an existing note for this). At that point I deleted the card since if they want my help, I want the person to have their Creator mark on what they send. A small sign of trust, but an important one for me. I otherwise took no action towards the person, but that may change if things become as rampant as Moof describes (not sure to what extent until then, for me its case-by-case thing).

I've also updated profile so that it clearly states in About (right next to the 'drop inv here' area) that I'm not taking offers at this time. Which should stop things as they start (important when you're almost always on the top of the Find list).

I'm not in any groups these days that create any group chat. I did at first but later removed them as I settled down in one place.

I have to say, I really don't mind the spam. After 2 years in TSO where there was almost no form of in-game communication, I can put up with a few seconds of interference here and there. I admire anyone who takes the time to make up notecards are even hawk their "wares" via IM. It take some gumption, for lack of a better word, to stick your neck out there.

As for the IM chat chatter, I like that too. Especially if I'm at home working on something. It lets me feel connected to the big world of SL. I belong to one group associated with the area I live in. I do wish we had two separate channels, one for official stuff and one for casual talk. That way all those people who object could just be on the Official channel and the people who want to chit chat, reach out to the community, could still have a place. Of course, some people are so popular that 15 groups are not enough. Maybe the official person could collect all of the calling cards for official stuff only, and then the rest can have chatter IM's or vice versa.

I can understand why those people get annoyed sometimes. But honestly, I don't think it's that big of a deal.