Dave mentioned in another thread (”Weird Spam”):

“(Note: if you want to comment on spam, start a new thread in the meta discussion. If you comment on the spam thread itself, the comment will disappear when I delete the original spam post.)”

I am wondering if posting a comment to a thread after a spammer spams in the thread will result in the comment being deleted when the spam is deleted, whether or not the comment has anything to do with the spam.  Is this so?

Yes, but only if the spam is the original post in the thread. If I delete the original post the entire thread disappears.

I can delete spam (or any post, for that matter) that is added to an existing thread without affecting any other messages.

But if you comment on the spam and I subsequently delete it, you comment will be hanging there with no referent. It’s better to start a new thread and provide context if you have something to say about the spam message that’s really worthwhile.

Thanks, Dave.  It was unclear to me if one should refrain from posting after injection of spam into a thread.

Dave:

Maybe we should alter the title of this thread… (remove the word “spam")

from “Posting in a Thread After Spam?” to “Posting in a Thread After S***?”

[Spam from thread deleted]

That won’t help anything. The spam is utterly random. There is nothing in the content of posts that will either attract or repel spambots. A particular keyword might cause the bot to post in one thread rather than another, but overall nothing we do will deter them. And “spam” certainly isn’t a keyword that spambots look for.

Then why not restore the title?  “Posting in a Thread After S***” makes one think of something else entirely.

languagehat - 09 July 2011 11:36 AM

Then why not restore the title?  “Posting in a Thread After S***” makes one think of something else entirely.

Good idea.  Done.  (I think too much...)*

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*(or not enough...)