Can anybody clear up 'bumping'/double posting

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07rogersg

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When I signed up to this site I read the AUP quite well and it did not mention 'bumping'.I did bump my own thread in the market place and I have received a warning for this, I am not disputing it as I agree its annoying and the mod that gave me the warning is a nice guy but I had to search the forum to find out more about the unspoken double posting rule. I am asking on behalf of new members to this board who have no intention to break any rules can you please make this rule more clear.
 
Hmmn, when I heard about this before it was because it is counted as spaming and a useless post.
 
It depends on how long it's been since the previous post as well as whether or not the info is relevant.

Basically if you are bumping a thread in the marketplace it has to have some relevance to the thread(like adding cars etc...), it can't just be for the sake of getting the thread on top again.

At least that's how I've interpreted what I've seen from mods/Jordan's posts relating to the matter.
 
07rogersg
When I signed up to this site I read the AUP quite well and it did not mention 'bumping'.I did bump my own thread in the market place and I have received a warning for this, I am not disputing it as I agree its annoying and the mod that gave me the warning is a nice guy but I had to search the forum to find out more about the unspoken double posting rule. I am asking on behalf of new members to this board who have no intention to break any rules can you please make this rule more clear.
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There is no official rule about bumping or double-posting - generally speaking it's not a problem. However, users can find themselves falling foul of the unwritten useless post rule - GTPlanet prides itself on being not the typical internet site and we value quality over quantity (yes, I appreciate the irony that I'm saying this as the top poster on this site). A post which has no specific purpose other than bringing the poster's thread back to the top of the forum - particularly if it's composed of one or two words (like "Bump!") - is a post that isn't welcome here.

Now, while it's not a problem generally speaking, we've noticed it's become quite a problem in the Marketplace forum. We can't quite put our finger on why people register accounts, migrate to the Marketplace and, thinking for some reason that we are a typical internet site, 4get da rulez wot dey az jus sined up 2 and post "Bump!" every half hour until someone gives them attention. For this reason, there is a sticky thread in that forum reminding users of the need to abide by our rules and a little morsel on bumping and double-posting.


So in summary, it's not specifically against the rules and generally we're quite ambivalent to it, but the worst form of it is just spam and because it happens a lot in the Marketplace there is a specific reminder not to do it in the Marketplace. That's not to say you can't elevate your thread - just do it... creatively and in a timely fashion, not "bump" every half hour.
 
Yeah I read that thread before but I had to search to find it, and I can see what Famine means about people posting 'bump' every half hour and I am not saying its a bad rule. Im saying if mods warn/infract because of it it should be in the AUP.
 
07rogersg
Yeah I read that thread before but I had to search to find it, and I can see what Famine means about people posting 'bump' every half hour and I am not saying its a bad rule. Im saying if mods warn/infract because of it it should be in the AUP.
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We're given quite a broad scope by the AUP. The second-last rule in particular is one to note:

AUP
GTPlanet ... may remove posts or withdraw membership at any time for any reason.
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Quite broad :lol: However, the fact that people and posts don't go missing just on whim is testament to the fact we don't abuse this rule - however much some might like to think we do.

Worth watching in this instance is:

AUP
You will, if asked by a representative of the forums, cease posting any content.
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Given that there is a specific sticky thread in the Marketplace forum that says "Please also note that "bump" posts are utterly without merit and will be classed as spam, as will multiple consecutive posts from the same user ("double-posting"). Posts and threads will be removed if they fall foul of this." from a member of staff, you can take that as a notification, from a representative of the forums, not to post that kind of content.


As we've said - and Jordan clarified before this thread (and I posted in it, but forgot all about it :lol: ) - bumping isn't a site wide issue and, as such, doesn't merit an additional footnote in the AUP (besides, simple rules work best), but we are within our limits to issue warnings and infractions for bumps anywhere on the site, particularly so in a forum with a sticky that says "don't bump".
 
07rogersg
Yeah I read that thread before but I had to search to find it, and I can see what Famine means about people posting 'bump' every half hour and I am not saying its a bad rule. Im saying if mods warn/infract because of it it should be in the AUP.
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If everything that the mods need to cater for was listed in the AUP, it would probably run into thousands of pages long.
Just be sensible, just put yourself in someone else's shoes, would you want to see their thread bumped repeatedly, needlessly or not.
 
Ok what if you made a thread and it got closed for being a duplicate of one from a year ago. Wouldn't it be frowned upon if you then posted in the thread that was copied.
 
If you posted the contents of your original, closed thread into the old thread that was referenced as the reason for closing?

As long as it's bringing up some valid bit of info pertaining to the subject (or adds the users opinion to the discussion, depending on thread), I don't see why not. If it's a literal re-hashing of old news, or just a "+1" post, then maybe just not do it.
 
I'm glad I found this because I tend to find this annoying. I reported on newer user for bumping his own thread, it was either on Questions & Answers or the Tuning Forum, I can't remember exactly. All I know is that it was a topic with a great deal of information available already, and he clearly hadn't searched for it (or else he would've found it quite easily).

It was pretty much like:

Hi I need a tune for XXX car on XXX track! Please Help!

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Bump... I still need help!
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Bump... Help me please :(
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BUMP! I really need help! :nervous:


The posts were about 20-30 minutes apart. For some reason I assumed that Bumping was not allowed in the AUP, but I guess I read it from a thread sticky and pretty much thought it was a no-no.

Was I correct in reporting that thread, or would I have been better off to just send him to the search function myself? I don't want to give you guys too much work by reporting relatively harmless (yet very immature/annoying) things like that.

Sometimes I feel like it's not my place to correct posters like that, but the with the waves of new posters (including myself), I can't help but stick my neck out and try to make your jobs easier.
 
The forum typically has about a thousand members online at any given time. If when your thread was initially posted it got no interest, and further down the line when it drops off the new post list it gets no more attention from search queries it's a fair bet it didn't have anything that perked peoples interest. To make it relevant again it's going to need some new information not just a bump 👍
 
ViLLaiN
Was I correct in reporting that thread, or would I have been better off to just send him to the search function myself? I don't want to give you guys too much work by reporting relatively harmless (yet very immature/annoying) things like that.
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Yes, you were correct in reporting the thread. We have no objections to multiple posts provided that a) a substantial period of time has passed since the last post and b) you are actually contributing to the discussion rather than reviving it for the sake of reviving it. It's when people repeatedly post for the sake of drawing attention to a thread that it becomes a problem. Right now, our main concern is bumping in high-traffic subforums like the Q&A and Marketplace. Particularly the latter; if we were to allow bumping, the Marketpalce would degenerate into a race between people trying to keep their thread at the top of the active post queue to get attention. Anarchy would reign.

I can't really speak for the otehr moderators on this one, but I myself would much rather you put the Batsignal up by reporting a post, only for me to come along and find it is nothing rather than you ignoring a post and it having consequences later on, like starting a flamewar.
 
ViLLaiN
Was I correct in reporting that thread, or would I have been better off to just send him to the search function myself? I don't want to give you guys too much work by reporting relatively harmless (yet very immature/annoying) things like that.

Sometimes I feel like it's not my place to correct posters like that, but the with the waves of new posters (including myself), I can't help but stick my neck out and try to make your jobs easier.
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I agree with interludes - if you see something that shouldn't be there, by all means report it. Some members take suggestions from fellow members as helpful while others will just laugh you off as "trying to be a Mod." If it's reported and the staff handles it, they have no choice but to listen. It's not your job to try and make that distinction, but, depending on the circumstances, I'm sure the staff wouldn't mind you giving friendly suggestions to your fellow members provided your don't try to overstep your bounds. :)
 
On that note, people trying to be moderators is certainly not something we approve of. I think I speak for all the moderators when I say that. I had to close a thread earlier today when people started bickering over what non-moderators could and could not say or do. If you see a questionable post, don't call someone out on it - report it. Especially in the case of trolls; you're just giving them what they want. If you're afraid that a questionable thread or post will fall off the main page of the subforum, don't worry about it. The system automatically logs a URL to the post being reported, so we'll be able to find it even if it's buried on page 143 of the Marketplace.
 

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