Question

Is mass tagging like this against the code of conduct?
http://prntscr.com/5eb4s6

Answer 1

@Compassionate @Hero

Answer 2

Yes. For two reasons.

i. It can be an unethical way to raise your SmartScore
ii. It is annoying and abusive.

Answer 3

But there is no mention of that in code of conduct here
http://openstudy.com/code-of-conduct

Answer 4

Because you're looking in the wrong place. View the Terms and Conditions.

Answer 5

Can you help me in finding out wr it is mentioned....?

Answer 6

I remember seeing it in the Terms, but I don't remember where... Give me a sec

Answer 7

I didn't see it there when I scanned the Terms. I remember seeing it somewhere else I guess. I will keep a look out for it

Answer 8

Thank you very much Miss @sammixboo

Answer 9

"upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available content that, in the sole judgment of Company, is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Site, or which may expose Company or its Users to any harm or liability of any type."

If you do something that encourages a user dispute , or have becoming an annoyance: "You are solely responsible for your interactions with other OpenStudy Users. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Users."

As well, Admins have the right to suspend you, delete, edit, remove, warn, or change any content in any way, shape or form, with or without reason, at anytime, and you may or may not be notified. It has been outlined that cheating; or gaming the system (e.g., medal parties), are against the rules. Mass-tagging is another way to game the system.

When your tagging goes beyond gaming, it becomes abusive to users, and Admins and moderators alike reserve the right to suspend you without notice.


Source: Code of Conduct

Don't game the system! Keep medals and achievements valuable, so please avoid:
Participating in "Medal Parties", which are questions specifically designed to inflate the medal count of the users who are participating.
Creating multiple accounts, or colluding with friends to gain unearned medals or achievements.
Artificially inflating your stats in any other way.

Answer 10

Okay, that seems conditional. What if nobody gets annoyed and the tagging is for seeking help and not medal parties?

Answer 11

In some minute cases it maybe overlooked, however, repeated abuse [such as tagging 30 people in everyone question for 20 questions] will almost always be seen as abusive, especially when that person is not responding to your tags.

Answer 12

Yes that makes much more sense.

Answer 13

Thank you for the help sir :)

Answer 14

Also if you need help and you have tagged a few people already but no one is coming, then post the link to your question in the chat with a short sentence like,
"Hey, I have a question in math and I need help.
http://openstudy.com/study#/updates/5484be1ae4b01e7eabcbee47 "

Answer 15

And they do mass tag a lot in the music section...

Answer 16

I see so many people tagging more than 20 people. Should I report it.

Answer 17

I mean, let's not make this bigger than it is. No need to crack out the TOU just yet, some users honestly don't know it's wrong (mind you I never said it's not wrong, it's very poor etiquette, but not that big) so I think the best thing to do is to simply message them privately and ask nicely if they can not do it and just put a short reason why, (Distracting, against the rules, etc..) just as long as it's in a reasonable manner and not aggressive. Now if we're talking about a repeat offender, someone who doesn't care about warnings and keeps doing it, then that's something you should report to the mods, simply hit the report button and copy/paste the link in the box and say what's going on. Simple as, sometimes however these turn into fights because someone gets angry about it (and while it's understandable it's just an unnecessary escalation).

Answer 18

I don't see how mass tagging gives you tons of medals, mass tagging often occurs when someone needs desperate help, so he just tags a lot of people.

Answer 19

I don't see how that raises your smartscore, and I'm guessing you just said that because that person in the image got 27 medals.

Answer 20

@Compassionate

Answer 21

Everything you do on this site raises your SmartScore. Mass tagging is just another way to game the system. People do this more often than you think - however, they never get away with it. Don't try it. You will get caught and you will be punished.

Answer 22

So if you type 1 word, your smartscore raises?

Answer 23

I don't think people expect their smartscore to raise when they mass tag people to get help.

Answer 24

Ah, but that's where you're wrong. We've had people tag +50 users then close their question immediately. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. I believe Thomaster went over this awhile ago. Basically, SmartScore is calculated by certain points you can gain doing certain actions. Some points, like getting a medal for your own question, are worth 700 points, then others, like tagging a user, are worth 50.

So take 50 points; multiply it by 50 users; and do it 100x times, and your SmartScore can go up quite high.

Answer 25

I'd say there's a higher population of people that just mass tag people because they need help with a rarer population of gaming the system...

Answer 26

And I'd agree - however, like aforementioned, several Admins have outlined that mass-tagging is a nuisance. You should only tag 2 - 3 people, not the entire community over and over. This is ultimately abusive. When does the simple act of seeking for help turn into an abusive action, or cheating? Things get murky; to solve this, we've said, "Hey, don't tag 50+ users over and over and over and over."

The problem is: the majority of people doing mass-tags are often told to stop by members, moderators and Ambassadors more than once, however, they persist to continue their behavior. This is usually when they are punished based on a moderator's discretion.

Answer 27

The problem with the example screenshot given is that although this user tagged so many people, he had chosen all the people he tagged in a way that they don't mind being tagged due to the topic of the post, and instead have medaled him
I believe that that situation would be considered medal partying as well.

Answer 28

yes its acttlay crosied spamming

Answer 29

It's really annoying when people tag a bunch of users then you respond to that post, and then there's like 20 other people who respond multiple times to that one post. You get so many unwanted notifications and people just tell you to ignore them :/

Answer 30

it can be....but i wouldn't consider it