Originally, I didn’t intend to treat this matter as a problem, but sometimes when pushed to the limit, one has to react.
As a seasoned QQ group administrator managing dozens of various QQ groups, the most frequent task I handle is receiving notifications of people joining or leaving groups from the bottom right corner of my desktop, and then approving or rejecting them one by one.
In terms of campus QQ groups, from my sophomore year to now, there are records showing that I have managed 47 QQ groups for students from the classes of 08, 09, and 10 (currently 38). The journey to becoming an administrator varied—some groups I created myself, some were left over from my time managing the school forum, and others were set up because my fellow students thought highly of me.
I am very aware of how many of these numerous QQ groups are actually active and useful. It’s safe to say that most groups are struggling, with nothing but advertisements being posted regularly. However, I can’t bear to see this situation worsen, so I frequently remove those who post ads from the groups.
My humble goal is: even if a QQ group has no activity, it shouldn’t become like a lamppost overrun with ads for venereal diseases, universally despised.
I fully understand that many people have entrepreneurial dreams, a need to advertise within the campus, and a strong desire for low-cost promotion. However, if the sole purpose is to advertise, then I believe such behavior can be stopped in time because these ads indeed have many issues.
Here is an example of a recent ad:
Hello everyone, we are the Information Sharing Team. We sincerely welcome all students to add our Feixin numbers 391349851, 391368420. We are responsible for the free dissemination of information. To achieve the goal of resource sharing, we mainly collect the latest information on part-time jobs, recruitment, China Mobile recharge discounts (or the latest gift-giving activities from China Mobile), and merchant discounts. After careful verification, we will send out a group message once a week. Thank you. We only aim to serve everyone sincerely and spread the highest quality information! To avoid disturbing everyone, we will only send out one group message a week, scheduled for every Saturday at 8 PM. We apologize for any inconvenience and wish everyone a pleasant mood! (PS: Please only add one of the Feixin numbers to avoid duplication, O(∩_∩)O haha~)
I don’t reject such ads. That is, if someone posts this type of ad without a very obvious commercial purpose, I will turn a blind eye, as their intentions are good. However, I still had to remove the students who posted this message from several groups.
When this message was posted in the QQ group, it used a font size larger than 12. Those familiar with QQ know that in group chats, if the font size is larger than 12, like the ad above, it will inevitably fill the entire QQ interface’s message window (left image), creating a bad impression of spamming.
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In fact, there are some universal rules for QQ group chats. Not posting pornographic or reactionary content goes without saying. I believe that maintaining a neat ID and speech, not spamming, and not copying large chunks of text are basic respects for others. If the font size in the above ad were smaller, say 9 or 10, the effect would be much better. A normal user would find it much easier to grasp the entire ad’s information at a glance, rather than having to scroll through pages of uncertain content.
Removing users just because their ad font is too large might seem too narrow-minded. QQ groups are not like TV stations. If someone tried the Hengyuanxiang approach in QQ groups, I believe no administrator would let such behavior slide.
Campus often sees various false advertising scandals, sometimes even requiring police intervention. I believe this is related to the rampant advertising on campus.
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Currently, the advertisements flooding the campus of Foshan University are severely repetitive and low-quality. Often, it’s just a black-and-white A4 sheet being distributed, with minimal cost! At least put some creative design into it. Those who come to QQ groups or forums to advertise are even more casual, directly copying a block of text and spreading it everywhere without any regard for the viewers’ feelings. Why can’t you strive for some form of presentation? Even simple text formatting or content refinement would be better.
At this point, some might feel indignant! Do I really need to consider the administrator’s psychology when posting a message in a QQ group?
I am not an unreasonable person, and I believe most other QQ group administrators are the same. As mentioned earlier, I understand the behavior of posting ads. But while I understand your actions, have you considered our feelings?
Our QQ groups have been around for a long time. As freshman groups, they usually stabilize within the first two or three months of each academic year. New joiners are mostly those trying to catch the last bus, and more often than not, they are users who only post ads. You forcefully insert yourselves into these groups, contributing nothing or engaging in any meaningful interaction, and repeatedly disturb the peaceful life of the group with your ads. Perhaps you can come up with numerous reasons to justify your actions, but are these reasons really important to us?
If you had good interactions with the group members or were familiar with the group’s dynamics, would you still resort to such unscrupulous advertising? Try it in your own class group first! Therefore, in my view, when you come to post ads, you need to follow some underlying rules. This is something you should experience in your advertising journey, and it will only benefit you in the long run.
Finally, I sincerely hope that all students who post ads can consider the perspectives of other students before posting. Think about how to present your ad in the least annoying way. If you can master this skill in university, I believe you have great potential for future development.
In the future, regarding the issue of posting ads in QQ groups or forums, I will continue to hold my current views.