All is not happy in OMNI-land. Despite having been given back OMNI after losing it once, it would appear that people are once again engaging in annoying, anti-social behaviour. While this behaviour is not currently against the TOS, most people would agree that it doesn't contribute a great deal to the board.

So why not change the rules? One of the most noticable anti-social behaviours taking place in OMNI right now is needless bumping of posts. A quick, easy way to deal with this is an anti-bumping rule. I suspect that an anti-bumping rule would be welcomed by most FTers, in the same way as the 'no cross-posting' rule.

In my mind, 'bumping' is the act of moving an old thread to the top of the pile without adding any meaningful or relevant contribution. On FT, bumping has taken a number of forms:

- the throw-away one-liner
- the "see also" link to another thread (which should be handled by moderators only, IMO)
- the news article with no original content added
- the smilie

I'm sure I've missed some, but these are the worst culprits.

It should be stressed to all posters that posts should only be 'bumped' if you have something important and meaningful to contribute, like a couple paragraphs at least. No one-liners, no smilies, no links to news articles. Infractions of the 'bumping' rule attract warnings; repeated infractions indicate to me someone who should probably receive a temporary or permanent ban.

It's no fun to come into a forum only to find page one flooded with months-old topics bumped by someone who has nothing more valuable to contribute than, "Yeah, I agree with this," or, "Any update on this?" This is spam, pure and simple. And with a board as good and valuable as FT, it's a shame to let a few people spoil it for the rest of us.

What do others think about a no-bumping rule?