Can someone explain the purpose of forum bots, please?

[Magellan]

What's the point of forum bots?

I'm talking about those that just spew random nonsense. They don't advertise anything, don't try to link you into dodgy files (viruses and other malware), don't try to get your account credentials, or anything... All they do is just post stupid crap.

Why would anyone bother writing software that just goes and posts crap in forums?? I fail to see the benefit.

Thanks for giving some insight!



As one wise man once said:

"To die, to suffer the pangs of office, and sweat under a weary life, but that we know not to be wish'd. To be, or to take, when he himself makes calamity of so long a life; for in that sleep of death, the proud man's consience doth make with this regard the mind to suffer the heart-ache and enterprises of thousand natural shocks that the flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation of might in his quietus, sicklied o'er with and from the pale cast of troubles, and 'tis nobler in its exhumed existence."

And as another one once said:

"My lawn needs mowing."

[Former-GM-Circe]

They do advertise. The link isn't always on their posts or signatures; a lot of the time it is the website field on their profiles.

[Magellan]

Oh, I must not have noticed it then.

Why anyone would go check the profile of someone who has 1-3 posts of which all are spewing nonsense, much less click on whatever link is there, beats me. :D

[Whispers]

http://pandoraonline.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=18753

I've since stopped this practice.??I feel it's simply a nuisance.??They never return onto that profile and don't make posts anyway.??Why bother the GM's with banning what is possibly 1/3rd the forum populace and editing their profiles???No one else seems to care anyway.??lol

Seriously, click the Member List button next to the Search button at the top of any forum page.??Go down to change where it says "ascending" to "descending" then hit the Go button.??These are the 20 most recently registered members.??I guarantee at least five of them - on this one page alone - are bots.??At this moment 9 of the 20 most recently registered members are bots.??That's almost half.??=\

Don't know what the point is, though.??I mean, do they actually see some kind of return on these ad bots?