The pesky ToS #8

lichess.org/forum/off-topic-discussion/im-getting-sick-of-these-eitheror-forums?page=2

So these either/or forums are spam according to me, but everyone's definitions of spam varies.

On a previous forum, I had made something similar where I said that we need a definitive definition of advertisement and unsolicitedness and a mod came and said that reporting all advertising forums, especially bad ones, would be the best action:
lichess.org/forum/off-topic-discussion/i-have-noticed-this-somewhat-worrying-thing

However, this means that we can report forums based on our own definitions - but that doesn't make sense. The ToS applies to all the same way. They are a set group of rules. So of ToS #8 is so broad, it now proves to be a problem.

How do we come up with a definition to avoid misconceptions? Even if we ignore the spammers, our definitions of spam differ.

You can report what you think is spam, and lichess will then look at your report and see if they agree with you and/or should take action. Indeed, definitions/opinions on what is spam vary, so if you report posts of type X and see that they are not being removed, that's probably a sign that lichess does not consider them spam.

I don't think you can get a clearer definition than that - in the end it's a human judgment call based on lots of parameters (general attitude of the poster, past behavior, response from other users, etc.) and there's no simple formula which determines what exactly is the borderline between spam and not spam.

@MrBongcloud you've made so many of these... why is all of this bothering you so much? I just go to the advertising page, say it's spam, then go to another post! You keep on saying this making forum posts, at least stick to one! You're spamming yourself!

@AHappyCactus Someone suggested that I bring the forum to lichess feedback, so I took it to lichess feedback so that more people who know the ins and outs of lichess can answer. I also tried to bring two issues together into one.

@MrBongcloud I'm just saying your forum posts are getting more annoying then the advertisements because THEY KEEP ON COMING
have you ever made a post about anything GOOD on lichess?

@thijscom At least a somewhat narrower definition is needed. Otherwise, it has led to quite a bit of argument in the forums. Even if we just report all the spam forums, the mods will receive too many reports. So we are unable to ignore the spam forums as a whole because some people have conflicting opinions, and that encourages the spammers to continue (if people post), and we can't seem to find a narrow definition of spam, so we are stuck in quite the dilemma.

@AHappyCactus I am trying to help lichess here. This is a problem that could affect a significant part of the lichess community. Yet, you come and call my forums spam when I post 3 forums, not a billion, and this one is where I combine and put it in a better place.

See? My case has been proven. People have drastically different definitions of spam and it often leads to arguments like this!

Guys, be kind to one another.

While I do agree that it might be nice to have an official lichess definition of "spam" in order to clear up a lot of the disagreements, there is a very good reason to keep it that way. If the site tries to list all things that they consider "Spam," then one could find ways around the definitions and make the prohibition on spam useless anyways. As written, the administrators of the site are able to use their discretion in order to take action.

@clousems I'm trying avoid a situation where the administrators receive ridiculous amounts of reports every day as well. Because if people are unsure and if we are encouraged to report, that's what will happen.