So posting anywhere else on the internet equals banning now

I’ve never understood the dopes mentality that the dope is so sacred that once one posts on this board they can only ever post on this board or if you posted elsewhere on the internet then your’re not allowed to post here or else it’s a banning.

Thread in question.

OP asks a relationship question, gets some answers, then Vinyl Turnip does some internet stalking,

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18344596&postcount=43

OP responds to the internet stalking:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18344837&postcount=44

Then mod comes in and says,

Then OP is banned and thread closed.

What, is posting in more than one place on the internet now considered being a troll? If so then you better ban me because I’m a troll because several times I have asked car repair questions on more than one car repair board. I didn’t ask here because I knew I’d get posts telling me how stupid I am, in such a way that would not draw a warning, for not already knowing.

Like these posts:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18331466&postcount=52

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18331539&postcount=57

in this thread about opening a car hood.

And after seeing what just happened I’m glad I didn’t ask here because then some dopers would probably internet stalk me and find out I asked the question somewhere than just the dope and I’d have gotten banned.

But what about the case of Barnes66, where she posted a situation that happened earlier in the week, yet it was revealed that she’d posted the exact same scenario months ago on a slew of other boards?

I would have suggested just closing the thread. I don’t see it as a bannable offense. But, I’m not in charge (yet).

If someone chooses to ask a question on several boards no one cares. If we are just one pellet in your spam shotgun blast over the internet then you are spamming.

I have already banned at least one other poster for the same thing. Since that one had few responses it went away. In order to not cause too much confusion with those that posted I did not delete this thread.

FYI the OP reported her thread twice with a request for closure and also followed it up with a PM. I probably would not have even noticed the thread if not for that. I’m sure she has moved on to her next target by now. Maybe the next board will give her the attention or answer she wants.

so that makes a difference

Smurf - you really think googling a wall o’ text = stalking?

When someone is banned after only a few posts, it is almost always a sock puppet.

Well it’s not like we’ve had attention seeking first time posters eager to share details of their personal life before. If we did, I’m sure their story would add up if inspected closely. And if it didn’t, I trust they wouldn’t visit here again under another name.

What have you heard? :dubious:

Posting the exact same message on multiple boards has always been seen here as spamming. I’ve seen multiple people banned when some poster pointed out that their text was word for word the same as a post on another couple of boards.

That’s not the same thing as asking the same question to get multiple viewpoints. It won’t be word for word if that’s what you are doing, however. And the number of message boards will be reasonable, and it won’t be the same exact question asked over long periods of time. And the person will likely be an active participant in those forum communities.

In other words, there are a lot of small tells that may seem somewhat reasonable at first, but, when added together, mean spammer.

I actually only googled the first sentence, and that was enough to get dozens of hits.

I’m kind of impressed that someone has enough free time to do that crap. I’m only on two message boards, and feel like I waste way too much time on that.

Well, if you’re just C&Ping the same thing to all of the message boards, it doesn’t really take much time at all.

How dumb. You aren’t the moderators of the world, all that should matter is what they post here, not what they may or may not post anywhere else. Shouldn’t even be something worth complaining about, some people just have too much time on their hands, I guess.

But that’s the point. If they are spamming a bunch of other boards with the same post, they should be able to act as moderators of this board, so as not to flood the forums with inane posts.

The Barnes66 post was posted on a series of boards over the course of months, and in each post, she was referring to an event that had allegedly happened that day.

That doesn’t seem spammy or fake to you?

Still, you’ve got to create all those accounts, and then keep checking to see if people have responded, and participate in multiple parallel threads in which you’re typing out all of your long, (presumably) non-boilerplate responses. It seems like a lot of work, even for someone who’s actually seeking advice about a real situation.

If they’re making shit up and spamming it everywhere— for the lulz, or because their life is a void of boredom and loneliness, or it’s just some sort of bizarre compulsion, like that weird lady who keeps getting arrested for sneaking on planes— it makes the return on investment seem even more dismal.

I couldn’t have said it better.

Baby steps. I’ve only been a moderator here since November.

Just for the record: does this mean you’re against snarky posts?

With a wimpy attitude like that you aren’t likely to be!

weren’t most of the sites she double posted on dating and relationship sites?

Another new, yet retroactive rule. I’ve posted stuff here and on the Unaboard and here and on Giraffeboard and (gasp) sometimes, back when, I’ve posted it on all three.

For a while there, Tuckerfan was making a mild hobby of posting the same op on multiple forums (they were good OPs)

I’m fairly certain Una Persson has crossposted a few times.

This has never been an issue unless the person is doing commerical stuff or clearly trolling. And perhaps there was more going on behind the scenes than we know. But the mod-note itself specifically singles out the idea that it’s wrong to post on multiple message boards. And that’s never been against the rules that I’ve seen.

It is neither new nor retroactive. I have only been here a few months as a mod and this is not the first poster I have banned for cross posting the same crap verbatim across dozens of sites. And it certainly isn’t the first time I have seen it done since I’ve been a poster.

The banned poster has done dozens of drive bys all over the Internet. Always contained to one identical thread. And never gets the answer they are looking for apparently. She didn’t here either since she requested the thread be closed. Sure I could have closed it and she probably wouldn’t have come back. Instead I banned her for posting the same spam she is posting on every MB she can sign up for. That is really who you want to defend?

No one cares if you post on other boards. No one cares what you do elsewhere. Unlike the other poster you are an active member and not a drive by thread dumper. If you are trying to make it more than it is I am going to assume it’s to get a reaction.