Spam in the Group Chat

Why does the group chat become spam? Because the IM chatting strings appear on your screen. So Suez want to have the feature, mute. This makes sense.
But I thoguht that unless they appeared except your daring to open the IM chatting window, you would be able to ignore them easily.
And if I could have already done such things in preferences, please tell me how to do that.

As I understand it you can set it in preferences to decide whether or not you want IMs to appear in your chat history when you open the history window. But no matter what, IMs still appear scrolling up the screen if you don't open the IM window. So you're in the middle of hosting a group discussion with 20 or 30 people (like has happened to me several times) in which you need to pay attention to everyone's chats and comments and suddenly you have a screen full of IM spam coming through distracting you. You then have to open the IM, close it off to leave it and you've missed a huge chunk of conversation and have to open history and scroll to catch up.

So I hope for three things... 1) the ability to mute all group IMs during times when I don't want to be disturbed.
2) OR the ability to simply mute ALL Ims when I don't want to be disturbed but do want to carry on in main chat (not on busy)
3) That people would simply understand that group IMs are annoying and should be limited to neccessary things only... its really not a complicated thing for people to grasp.

Maybe we can begin gently pointing the people with all the basic questions to a group like Yadni's newbie helping group, or New Citizens Inc for two examples. Those are channels just for the type of questions I see come up in Instructors channel.

Hmmm... maybe I will teach a class on that. hehe

When I think what the group chat, especially aimed at education is, I believe the mute option is against it at the root. It is equal to leaving the group. The #3 has been the only preference. It would be the best option if it worked well. But now we are seeking another better option, aren't we?

Opening the history window is good. Although it depends on how your circumstance at the time is, you may be building something. I don't like cutting off the view. And I can't tell everybody to open the histrory window all the time.

Showing the scrolling up the screen should be just conversaiton around you.
IM and the group chat should just serve notice on the main screen and go ahead on each channel's window.

On this I agree, that would be nice. I wouldn't object at all to group IMs if I didn't have to deal with that sudden scrolling chatter across my screen.

I *do* object even if its not scrolling across my window. Because even if I can mute it, in the case of the Instructor's group what is going to happen is that we will get used to ignoring the group and then when someone DOES need help related to a class, they won't get it.

Who is the Linden responsible for these groups? Can we AR people for asking for help on the Instructor list unrelated to being an instructor? What, exactly, is the group for? Are their guidelines for the group anywhere?

Anyone know this?

Nice, trying to have a conversation and this is the crap that just scrolled across my screen from the instructor group IM. Of course I've removed the names and given each person a number instead.

person1: hi
person2: pie
person3:hello
person4: hello
person5: low
person6: hola
person7hi
person8 hi
person1: does anyone no what i use 2 give a inventory object by name
person1: in a script
so and so has left this session
so and so has left this session
so and so has left this session
person6: ?
so and so has left this session
person9: i believe it's called give contents
person6: Is that a trick question?
person10: llGiveInventory(llDetectedKey(0), "name of object";
person9: or give all contents
person1: im useing voice camands
so and so has left this session
so and so has left this session
so and so has left this session
person1: ill try that thnk
person1: you
person9: yw
so and so has left this session
so and so has left this session
so and so has left this session
person11: there you go
person1: thnx very much
person11: that should cover all the bases
so and so has left this session
so and so has left this session
so and so has left this session

Seriously!? Are you people kidding me?! Why is it a difficult concept to understand... group IM is for important things only and given that all of us are supposed to be capable of teaching a class, capable of being reasonably able to either figure things out or know how to locate information... this particular group SHOULD be almost silent.

Person1 (you know who you are) do you even teach a class? Did you look anywhere else for this very simple and commonly used script? Ask your friends, try live help, check the scripting forum? Anything before jumping to the easiest option?

Thats it, I'm leaving this group and teaching without the support of it on my own instead. Done with it.

Wow.. must have been synchronized eye rolling. I was doing the same.

Sadly the people that post those likely will never read this section of the forum.

Tonight I quit all but 3 groups due to spam.. events, TP me, etc etc etc.

What is it gonna take to make that channel professional and see it used for it's intended purpose?

Jamie and a few other people complaining i would like to point out not all the instructors at teazers are experienced some of the time they learn from other instructors or are learning how to teach a class. I mean likely they want to learn from someone experienced. I always find people that claim spam in chat to be kind of funny because quite simply that isnt spam. The person isnt sitting there repeating what they are saying over and over or asking a question repeatadly. Alot of people jump the gun or get aggrivated to quickly. Quite simply why are you this frustrated considering your an instructor isnt it safe to say that you should be used to dealing with questions. Mabye they are asking questions to you for a class they plan to teach. Why not check with your managers over at teazers about this?

Also mabye they teach a different class then what they are asking questions about and are curious about other things and mabye want to expand their knowledge base to mabye teach a future class. What is wrong with them asking questions. You say group chat is for important things and yet the word important is subjective in the fact that what you and i find important is going to differ immensly. What may not seem important to you might be important to the person asking the question.

Why not just help them out instead of complaining. I have helped newer players many times and as instructors your used to dealing with newer players wanting to learn and yet you get mad when someone asks a question in a group area where there are people with the knowledge to help them. I'd rather know i helped someone out and be happy about it then get upset. Really just look how you react to simple questions. I havent seen one hint of spam here really. There is a difference between chat spam and email spam folks. Email spam is simply unwarrented emails while chat spam is continually repeating yourself over and over asking the same thing or tossing out ad's for yourself or some company in chat.

Check with my managers at Teazers? I don't teach at Teazers, I don't have managers. While I do see the value of a place like Teazers, not all of us choose to use it. And if someone does work for Teazers and has a question about their classes then perhaps they are the ones who should go to their managers first?

I help new players all the time, but teachers aren't supposed to be new, they're supposed to be capable of finding information on their own by now. I'm not saying they need to know everything but they should know where to find it by now.

Why am I frustrated considering I'm an instructor? Because I'm not an instructor 24/7, I'm an instructor when I'm actually instructing a class.

Thats my point... SIMPLE questions. Ridiculously simple questions, quite often things one could figure out on their own or ask their own friends about rather than going straight for the group IM. Not to mention event invitations, simple hellos for the hell of it, announcements of classes.

And yes you're right, there is a difference between chat spam and email spam. You have the option of not opening the email spam while chat spam scrolls across your screen whether you want it or not.

Anyway, I'm usually a helpful person, I like people and I like offering a hand when I can. I'm not complaining about having to help anyone, I'm complaining here about never ending useless chatter. And thats why I left, it simply wasn't worth the annoyance any more.

Well, thanks for the input. I think you are confused though as this has nothing at all to do with teazers .
Are you an instructor as well for SL? We are talking about people who are constantly spamming the channel that is supposed to be intended for fellow instructors who may need help in a class. Also maybe they would like to announce a class. I have helped many people when I can. I have no problem helping at all. This has been an ongoing thread and concern maybe you just walked in on the thread. The big concern is that when relative questions do come in people are going to be so used to the spam that they may not see them.
There are plenty of channels like Yadni's and NCI that are just for these questions. Instructors that jump on and say do you know how I can make my car be red instead of blue are not using the channel for it's purpose.
I hope you can see what the complaints are about. If you are an instructor surely you have seen the constant flow of new player questions?

I don't think the 'easy and obvious' questions in the Instructor Group chat is the problem. *I* view the problem as being the group chat being used to say hi or make comments that don't help the person. There's no guideline from LL about what the use of the instructor chat is for, and if there is, they haven't sent me an updated notecard about it. So when an instructor has a legitimate, albeit sometimes 'obviously easy' question, I see nothing wrong with it. Linden Lab doesn't have any requirements for people to become an instructor other than being 60 days old and having a clean record, so those new to the instructor group, if they aren't at a place like TeaZer U or NCI, have little to no guidance on what to do, so they look to the group chat for help and information.

I think it'd help if the 'asker' didn't start off the chat with 'hi'. That'd (hopefully) limit the number of 'hellow''s that follow, and people who can and are willing to help that person will. If I see a question asked, I'll answer it if I know it and no one else has said anything, or I'll IM the person directly. Otherwise I'm one of those "so and so left the chat" people after the 'asker' has been helped.

Hmmmm yeah technicaly that is true. I suppose the assumption is that a channel called "Live Help" would be utilized for um, live help. Instructor sounds like a channel that would be utilized for issues involving class or instructions. Guess it comes down to assumptions that people would not use a live help channel to announce they have a class coming up. Or an Instructor channel to seek a script for a personal project that is not going to be used for instructing.

It is not fun to be in the middle of building with windows open etc and have a ton of chat fly up distracting you. The bonus is when you take the time to see if it is something important or relating to an instructor needing help and seeing it is just a question that could be asked in other avenues.
Whatever side of the fence you are on in this matter.. I think at the heart of it, all some of us are saying is try to find out other ways first. The channel is not the first resort.. it should be down the list a ways when others fail. Wouldnt that make more sense?

Most of you would like to help people. But it depends on what you are doing at the time. You should have the right to choose if you dare to help the person who is asking for.
That said, I believe that you should know at least weather there is a person who is asking for help then. It is not just the time when you are available. You must think that you help him/her when you are available and find that nobody has not answered him/her yet. If someone tried to answer it (but couldn't solve), it would be also convenient that you could follow the flow of conversation packed in a window later.
And the questions of someone else might be helpful for other new comers. Everybody should also have an option to be able to see some helpful conversaitons when he/she is available.

Well, my opinion is that we all should help each other. I never ask in group chat ANYTHING, because how do I know if my maybe complicated question is not acceptable and I will be accused of spamming? That is why I never ask. What is not consider a "spam" knowledgable question?

But I can't denied, I have learned with some of the questions I see in group that were considered "spam questions". Sometimes not knowing what to use for something without knowing is available.

When I dont want to see the "spam", there is a button on the IM window, quick to the right "CLOSE". I hit that quick, just a simple click and my group IM stops quick. Why can't people do that?

I never let it go as far if I dont want to read it and deal with it, but I close it very quick!! it just takes me a sec to do that.

I wouldn't want to mute because then I wouldn't known of news, ect...

I have never seen in instructors spamming any events announcements, or marketing... That kind of spam I can't stand at all and I express that in my groups too. Not everyone is in the same level of knowledge. Even if is an instructor. We all have our areas. Some of the questions might be a bit too easy and you see when is lazyness and those are the ones that we can warn the ones doing it. Like, "I am a new instructor, what do I teach?" Now, see that is "spam" for me. DUH! If you are a new instructor, you should know what to teach, right?

I guess, I like to share with others whatever I can provide. I actually wish I know more about scripting. Sometimes the "spam" helps know what is available.

I know I am being the contrary to anyone in this post. But it is just my opinion.

Well I am done. The SPAM and twits are too much. So rejoice and be merry and spam the Instructors group all you like with "How do I....." I quit.

Jamie Instructor no more.