Sometimes we get spam on this forum. It sucks, but it happens. When we do get spammy posts, our members are great at reporting the content or the member, so that mods can take the appropriate action and deal with the spam.
However, we do also see people getting a bit carried away and posting repeatedly about the fact that they've reported the spam, and even quoting the original offending post in their replies.
@Nonilol brought this up recently, so we thought we'd clarify best practice when spam appears on the forum.
If you see spam anywhere on BHW:
- Report it, using the yellow 'Report' button directly beneath the post.
- You can post in the original thread saying that it's been reported, but only if no-one else has done so already. If someone beat you to the punch, you can just be quietly-smug about your report. Replying to this thread before the spam has been removed will keep bumping it, giving the OP the exposure they wanted.
- Wait for the moderators to deal with it. We will deal with it, but remember that mods are based all over the world, in all different time zones, and many are also volunteers, so we might not see it the very second you report it. Please don't keep reporting the same thread until it's dealt with, that's not helpful - the mods will get to it as soon as they can.
- Don't quote the original spam in subsequent replies to the thread. If you do so, you're only giving the OP even more of that exposure they wanted and making more work for the mods to have to clear up.
And that really is it.
So keep up the good work, reporting the spam that you find, just be mindful not to unintentionally spread it around more in the process.