It's pretty obvious who uses Hubski to share and who uses it to spam. The ones that "share" post their own original content and engage other users in discussion about their content. How great is that? You get to speak with the content creator directly. Even better is when they comment on posts that aren't their own. They are genuinely a part of the broader community. -Awesome.

That said, there are users that only post their own content and rarely engage with the community and sometimes, I actually will follow them too. Why? Because I like their content. I follow mpoe because I enjoy listening to the New Books Network while on long drives.

There are plenty of interesting people out there, doing interesting things and they shouldn't feel guilty for wanting to share that.

About 3-4 years ago I finished recording my second album and I gave a copy to mk. He was really enthusiastic about it and posted a song to reddit. It received some positive reactions and I thought, "this is a cool place to share your own work."

But when I posted some myself, it was not well received. I didn't understand...? Still don't really.

The world needs artists, musicians, writers etc. We need to nurture them and provide safe environments in which they can share and discuss their work without having to be coy about it.

Don't get me wrong, there are users I ignore because they spam Hubski. I went so far as calling up an auto-supply store once and speaking to the owner about the SEO company they were using and if he knew why they were spamming our community. He was very kind and apologized for being associated with them. You may have noticed that they stopped submitting shortly thereafter.

What is spam? As Justice Potter Stewart, said in his opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio (a case about "hardcore pornography") I know it when I see it. There is a big difference between sharing and spamming.