Would it fair to start a forum and then register thousands of users using a script, create automated posts, and have automated answers? The forum posts would hit google top ranks in no time and would have many people joining but it would be wrong right? Or would it?
It's called Ico-Content you can use that it's already made or you can use a software a friend is developing that takes from the NNTP.
I guess it depends on why you are cheating. If you then try to sell the forum and the new owner is left wondering where his thousand users are then it would be fraudulent. If you are merely trying to build up the forum, give the impression of business until you have real members then that might be less of an issue.
That depends on your ethics which may be very different from mine... I can't tell you what is right or wrong without knowing your cultural, political and social background. For instance I think tagging is bad - others patently don't have a problem with it. I think ice is benign, cold and wet. In some parts of the world you can be murdered for selling the stuff.
good point, but we agree on some generals like lying. Lying is wrong everywhere. Isn't this a form of lying?
it's plain cheating, pretending, lying = ( a moral crime ) and immoral at the very least. just try it the honest way - it works as well and makes you feel MUCH better and you even may face your own children, parents and partner eyes to eyes later on.
If you can't get the forum running after a while, then go ahead and try it as a last resort to attract more visitors. I don't think theres anything wrong with doing that... As long as its not purely based on it.
Wouldn't all of the posts be the same from other forum posts on the web meaning duplicate content, which most probably would not help your forum at all.
The software is not going to get you quality posts or replies. Use actual humans, paid posters, if you want to do it.
i agree with Vic_mackey i would pay people to actually post on your forum althought i don't know how tight your budget is. So if you got a few bucks to spare you should pay if not then go with the software.
Yeah, you can only assume the information would be a little out of date too. I don't think it would really be wrong though, as long as the person didn't go and sell it right after.
Seeding forums is certainly a common practice. It is worth being careful however as to where you or your paid posters are getting their content from. A client of ours runs their own forum and has successfully sued a number of other forum owners for breach of copyright by harvesting content from their forum.
I see nothing wrong with seeding forums if you're starting one, intend to keep it, and just want a headstart on content. If you're doing it to artificially inflate post count before selling the forum I don't think it's a very good thing to do.
If you have intentions of selling the forum without being honest about where your posters came from, then I would consider it extremely dishonest. However, if you are simply doing it for the purpose of getting a jumpstart on your forum then it may work for you. Just realize that you still need other places to market you forum as well because content will not always drive traffic. It will help with search engines some, but overall the content is to keep regular visitors that a forum will need, it won't necessarily draw them in.