Spam - all members please read

jbnbsn99

jbnbsn99

Well-Known Member
Over the past month or so, there has been an odd trend on ZooChat, particularly in the American forums. Many posts by a number of members are becoming spam. By spam I mean that they are useless posts that do not further the thread they are posted on or the forum itself. I will outline some of the sorts of posts that are considered spam.

  1. Lists of fantasy animals. Lists of animals you would like to keep at your own, personal, mythical zoo are perfectly fine to have, but please think about where you are posting them. If you are posting within the new Fantasy Zoo thread, then they are perfectly acceptable – within reason. List after list of animals with no thought into them except for how many stamps you can collect are rather pointless.
  2. Unsubstantiated speculation. This forum is open to the public. Everyone can see what you post. If you don't have the data to back it up, don't post it.
  3. Blurry photos. Take a look at every photo you are to upload on to the site. If the photo is blurry, chances are it should NOT be uploaded. There are a few rare exceptions to this. A professional photographer may use a blurry technique to give a photograph movement (look at some of the photos by ArizonaDocent for excellent examples of this technique). Photos of extremely rare species or behavior are also fine. By rare, I mean it is a once in a lifetime shot of an animal you will probably never see again. Also, make sure you clean you camera's lens.
  4. Multiple photos of the same animal in slightly different poses. If you have taken loads of photos of a particular species, find the best one or two for uploading. A photo of a tiger with its head slightly askew from the previous photo is really the same photo twice and takes up valuable space. Upload carefully.
  5. Photos that do not belong to you. Technically, this is not spam – it's illegal. It's called copyright infringement. Don't do it. Photos over 75 years old (or more depending on your country's laws) can fall under public domain. Public Domain photos are acceptable to upload.
  6. Photos of your pets. Self explanatory. This is a zoo and wildlife site.
  7. Are you selling something? This doesn't usually apply to our normal users, but I'm including it for completeness sake.

If you find yourself posting any of these items, be prepared to have them deleted by one of the moderators, or at the very worst you'll be made fun of by Chlidonias or nanoboy.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
jbnbsn99 said:
Multiple photos of the same animal in slightly different poses. If you have taken loads of photos of a particular species, find the best one or two for uploading. A photo of a tiger with its head slightly askew from the previous photo is really the same photo twice and takes up valuable space. Upload carefully.
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This is one that really annoys me. I understand that some members have a favourite animal (gorillas seem to be the main offender) at their home zoo but we don't need to see a new photo of him or her every few weeks.


p.s. Zoochat and Facebook have taken over all of my studying time recently.
 
I concur. The one quoted above (number four on the list) is the worst.

(And I am glad to see I made the "good blur" list! :D)
 
While we're on the subject of the same photo of the same animal - can I also suggest the same for animal exhibits? Taking a photo of the exhibit, walking six feet to the left and photographing it from that angle with the result that you've got the same photo twice, just angled slighty different. (I also find having the exhibit occupant in the photo is better because it gives a better perspective of size than an empty exhibit. If you can't get the animal in shot, then use a person looking into the exhibit).

Just my opinion.

:p

Hix
 
jbnbsn99 said:
Over the past month or so, there has been an odd trend on ZooChat, particularly in the American forums. Many posts by a number of members are becoming spam. By spam I mean that they are useless posts that do not further the thread they are posted on or the forum itself. I will outline some of the sorts of posts that are considered spam.

  1. Lists of fantasy animals. Lists of animals you would like to keep at your own, personal, mythical zoo are perfectly fine to have, but please think about where you are posting them. If you are posting within the new Fantasy Zoo thread, then they are perfectly acceptable – within reason. List after list of animals with no thought into them except for how many stamps you can collect are rather pointless.
  2. Unsubstantiated speculation. This forum is open to the public. Everyone can see what you post. If you don't have the data to back it up, don't post it.
  3. Blurry photos. Take a look at every photo you are to upload on to the site. If the photo is blurry, chances are it should NOT be uploaded. There are a few rare exceptions to this. A professional photographer may use a blurry technique to give a photograph movement (look at some of the photos by ArizonaDocent for excellent examples of this technique). Photos of extremely rare species or behavior are also fine. By rare, I mean it is a once in a lifetime shot of an animal you will probably never see again. Also, make sure you clean you camera's lens.
  4. Multiple photos of the same animal in slightly different poses. If you have taken loads of photos of a particular species, find the best one or two for uploading. A photo of a tiger with its head slightly askew from the previous photo is really the same photo twice and takes up valuable space. Upload carefully.
  5. Photos that do not belong to you. Technically, this is not spam – it's illegal. It's called copyright infringement. Don't do it. Photos over 75 years old (or more depending on your country's laws) can fall under public domain. Public Domain photos are acceptable to upload.
  6. Photos of your pets. Self explanatory. This is a zoo and wildlife site.
  7. Are you selling something? This doesn't usually apply to our normal users, but I'm including it for completeness sake.

If you find yourself posting any of these items, be prepared to have them deleted by one of the moderators, or at the very worst you'll be made fun of by Chlidonias or nanoboy.
Click to expand...

Two points I'd like to bring up here.

1) To your first point, where do threads go if we're discussing what we would do with a collection that already exists? Would this go in the fantasy zoo forum, or into the zoo's own subforum? For example, the 'Twycross Zoo - What would you do?' thread?

2) As for photos of pets I don't think is self explanatory, so long as they are in the right place [Country - Other]. I personally don't mind seeing these, I don't think many do from my experience. I've posted pictures of my species, and visitors to my house from this forum have also uploaded pictures of my pets. I believe that these may be of interest to people, as I find photos from member's collections to be interesting and worth seeing (maybe have a gallery for the Private Collections forum)? Just my view though :)
 
For point one, that was just referring to the needless lists people were posting on here of fantasy animals with no collection in mind. If you are focusing on a particular zoo, I would say put it in that zoo's thread/sub-forum.

As for the pets, that's just to prevent stuff like "here's a picture of my dog fluffy." As I recall, you have some interesting exotics, no problem there in posting them.
 
jbnbsn99 said:
For point one, that was just referring to the needless lists people were posting on here of fantasy animals with no collection in mind. If you are focusing on a particular zoo, I would say put it in that zoo's thread/sub-forum.

As for the pets, that's just to prevent stuff like "here's a picture of my dog fluffy." As I recall, you have some interesting exotics, no problem there in posting them.
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Thanks for clearing that up Jbnbsn :)

I think I keep a couple of nice bits, mostly exotics. Hopefully now I'm working I can start thinking about branching out into small mammals, fish and some more reptiles/amphibians and inverts.
 
Wow. I had no idea this site was so strict. I'm almost afraid to post photos now! Is there anything that ISN'T considered spam?
 
ostrich said:
Wow. I had no idea this site was so strict. I'm almost afraid to post photos now! Is there anything that ISN'T considered spam?
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There isn't anything strict about it. If you want to post photos on here, just make sure they are worthy for the whole world to view.
 
ostrich said:
Wow. I had no idea this site was so strict. I'm almost afraid to post photos now! Is there anything that ISN'T considered spam?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say it's strict. It's just a matter of common sense. With regards to zoo photos they are all fine so long as they aren't blurry/out-of-focus because what's the point, that it isn't just a series of photos of the same thing in slightly different poses because (again) what's the point, and that they belong to you rather than being taken off the internet and used without the actual photographer's permission. That seems fairly straight forward to me.
 
A particular gallery was recently updated with lots (many many pages worth) of photos of exhibit signage. Whilst I understand that this is valid zoo content, surely every sign at the zoo doesn't need to be uploaded?

With this in mind, I was just curious as to whether there's a gallery for zoo signage, or any "rules" regarding the matter? Thanks :)
 
ThomasNotTom said:
A particular gallery was recently updated with lots (many many pages worth) of photos of exhibit signage. Whilst I understand that this is valid zoo content, surely every sign at the zoo doesn't need to be uploaded?

With this in mind, I was just curious as to whether there's a gallery for zoo signage, or any "rules" regarding the matter? Thanks :)
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Our policy is that zoo signage is permitted - but only where it adds value to the discussion or understanding about the zoo.

So including a couple of photos showing examples of signage used around the facility is good - it gives viewers and understanding about how they convey information to visitors.

However, including photos of every sign you come across is unneccessary and adds no value.

Including photos of every screen of an interactive display is pointless and is going to get you banned from uploading photos to the gallery if you persist :rolleyes:

Like most things on ZooChat - the first question I ask myself when making decisions about moderation issues is "does this add value to the community?". Excessive uploads of pointless signage definitely does not add value.
 
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