I’ve gotten through (I believe) all the comments in the meta thread. So I want to establish a few things, first being a better definition on spam.

Spam is not “I don’t like this and its a paid product” or “I don’t like this and they used AI/LLMs”.

Spam would generally be considered:

  • Mass-posting - Posting the exact same post across a bunch of of different communities, rapidly.
  • Repetitive Content (aka karma farming) - repeatedly submitting old popular content. I’ll note that this is completely irrelevant on lemmy, this was more of a reddit issue due to karma.
  • Bot Activity / AI Abuse - Using scripts/bots/gen AI to automate posts and comments.
  • Unsolicited DMs - Mass private messages or chats to users, completely unsolicited

I’d say anything other than that deserves a followup rule, and this definition should go in the sidebar.

Regarding the promotional posts themselves, I think something like the 10% rule makes sense - no more than 10% of the account should be self-promotional material or comments within the community.

I do think it makes sense to include an exception for 100% free/libre open source projects. Partially open projects with a closed (paid) component should be subject to the 10% rule. So what I propose as the rule would be:

Promotional posts require community participation or they will be removed. No more than 10% of your posts or comments may be self-promotional, or your post will be removed. F/LOSS Exception: If your post is about a project that is completely open source & without any paywalls, it will be exempt from this rule.

Questions, comments, clarifications, and harsh criticisms are welcomed in the comments. As a reminder from my intro post, and because of some comments in the other thread, I will mention:

There are people on both sides of the keyboards, so please be respectful of others.

  • curbstickle@anarchist.nexusOPMEnglish
    0·
    7 days ago

    I feel that when I post about my project, I am contributing.

    This is specifically the reason why the exemption would exist - because it is a contribution to the community. You don’t have a paywall impacting use, the whole thing is just something being shared to others.

    • SuspiciousCarrot78@aussie.zoneEnglish
      0·
      7 days ago

      Many, many years ago, I worked for a company that would do leaflet drops (junk mail). People would complain. I pointed out that they were essentially spamming people with unsolicited junk. Their retort was “We don’t see it as junk; we’re informing potential customers”.

      Dunno. Pretty sure it was just wasting a lot of paper and generating some ill will. ICBW

      I guess it depends on what this space is. Is it a (virtual) wood worker’s get together, where journeymen pool knowledge and help each other out? Or is it something else? Is there a needle to thread here?

      Whatever it is, if we never get another “I made X…here’s the problem this solves…curious if anyone else…” AI ghost written “pick me, pick me”, I will be very greatful.