Who are these odd people...

[Eden]

Who come on and post a whole bunch of somewhat inane comments (it appears that they read only the thread titles) to threads that are sometimes years old.....

I get it when they have some sort of ad tag in the post somewhere, but the latest "Jolie", doesn't appear to have overt ulterior motives - no ads or links in the posts....

So what exactly are you doing Jolie? Practicing English? Looking for pen pals? Just bored?

[lph]

I was wondering about the same thing. My first thought is that it was a spammer trying to establish a "genuine" profile before spamming, but I dunno.

Makes for some bizarre posts, that's for sure.

[arielmoon]

Very odd indeed.

[OakLeaf]

I always assumed that there was spam in the sig line that the forum software stripped automatically. Am I wrong?

[Irulan]

Really now. Aren't there worse things to complain about?

Practicing English? Looking for pen pals? Just bored?

Maybe someone wants to participate, is new to forums, perhaps lacks biking experience or adventures, or feels like they don't have anything profound to contribute but wants to be a part of things. I can think of a whole lot worse kind of posts.

[Eden]

Maybe? but how would the software distinguish between spam and legit links? I have a link in my sig line to my team's web site and its not stripped out. I have seen, in the past (but not for a while now), similar weird posts with links to buy purses and other junk...

Really now, yourself... I'm not calling to toss them off, and I don't think they are breaking any forum rules. I just think its strange. I've seen other user names do this and often their replies have little to nothing to do with cycling, are so broad and general that they don't really say much, don't match the threads or otherwise make much sense.... I'm genuinely curious. Though the cynical side of me thinks its more likely to be an attempt at spamming. I can see doing it to practice English skills - he/she might be somewhere that access to English speakers is limited and joining a board would be an opportunity to converse. I think that if that were the aim, the people here would likely embrace it and be more than willing to start a thread talking about any topic to help a person practice...

[lph]

I would have found these posts just as bizarre if they had been presented in flawless English. It's not the language skills.

[OakLeaf]

Maybe? but how would the software distinguish between spam and legit links?

Same way your email client does? (known database plus red flag words)

[jobob]

My first thought is that it was a spammer trying to establish a "genuine" profile before spamming

In some instances, that is what's happening.

[Veronica]

Thanks! Happy belated birthday to you too!

Veronica

[tangentgirl]

I have sorry, make better post time next.


***

I suspect that, when I try to speak Spanish, this is exactly how I sound.

[OakLeaf]

It's not (only) the marginal English - which you're right, is at least as good as my Spanish, French or Italian, and WAY better than I can write in any other language with or without a dictionary. (I gave up trying to participate in a French sportbikers' forum several years ago. )

It's that those people post statements of marginal relevance to 15-20 threads at once, often digging up threads that are months or years old.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I just read all the posts in question, and I don't find anything that 'odd' about them. Obviously someone struggling with English, but the posts all make sense and they all contribute a little something to the discussion.
I could point out a whole lot of way 'odder' posts by regular longterm members...including myself! lol!

[Catrin]

I just pictured myself trying to post on a French-speaking forum, and shivered. There is little doubt that I would be worse - at least we can get the gist of what she/he means.

If she or he is not a spammer and really trying to connect to a cycling forum in a language that they are, perhaps, learning, I wonder if she or he actually realizes just how old the threads are? They may simply be focusing so much on the content that they do not realize that some are so old. Of course, they had to do some digging to FIND those old posts, and the odds of a newbie finding so many old threads all at the same time considering the forum lists the newest threads first even in searches certainly does make me wonder.

Outside of the large number of old threads they respond to there is certainly nothing in their posts to say that they are either trolls or spammers, and hopefully that won't change.

I certainly have "odder" posts myself, especially when I start over-thinking things

[channlluv]

I have sorry, make better post time next.


***

I suspect that, when I try to speak Spanish, this is exactly how I sound.

Ha! Me, too. The last time I tried to speak real Spanish for the purpose of conveying a message (I was trying to explain the rules of a game to a father and son and the mom at an arcade-type thing at Universal Studios), the woman was literally grimacing at my hatchet job on her native tongue. I apologized to her.

I read the subject line as "old people," too! Go figure. Who you callin' "old"? Oh, wait. It's "odd." Okay, then. <g>

Roxy