# What is spam?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-spam/28319>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [August 6, 2000, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-spam/28319 "2000-08-06T11:04:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2000, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-spam/28319/1 "2000-08-06T11:04:58Z")

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Saw a thread in IMHO that said “spam edited by Slythe”. What is it and why would itneed to be edited?

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2000, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-spam/28319/2 "2000-08-06T12:31:16Z")

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I didn’t see the thread in question, so I don’t know exactly what it is that Slythe saw that he would have termed “spam”. In an e-mail context, of course, “spam” refers to electronic junk mail, forwarded items from friends informing you that Bill Gates is really the Anti-Christ, or ads from Techno-Scout telling you all about their electronic bug zappers.

“Spam” on a MB, as used by a mod, usually means just junk, a useless and/or insulting post. The mods don’t usually edit out the plain insults, but especially in Slythe’s forum, it might have referred to a post that more properly belonged in the Pit.

Sometimes it can also mean posts or threads with advertising or solicitations, “go to my website and see how you can earn money by surfing the Net!”, both of which are prohibited in the SDMB rules.

Does any of this fit what you saw?

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2000, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-spam/28319/3 "2000-08-06T17:42:09Z")

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In this case it was the latter. “Go to such and such site, and I can earn (points, credits, cash, etc.)!” The OP himself realized that it was spam and apologized, so no harm, no foul.

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**Author:** ![Do\_Re\_Mi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e95f7d/32.png) [@Do\_Re\_Mi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Re_Mi)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-spam/28319/4 "2000-08-06T19:53:00Z")

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That answers the question I put there.  
No need to answer again. I’ll copy your answer over there.

**[What the](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=33534)**