As you may or may not know, RNTAS stands for Random Number To Avoid Spam

This term is used to avoid the spambot, that doesn't let you post the same thing over three times. i'm pretty sure that it is three times, but please correct me if i'm wrong

So, my question is, is it okay to use RNTAS? And, I don't mean to post a comment like:

follow me pls (RNTAS: 568923641)

I mean in the sense to let a group of people all receive the same comment to let them know something, like:

Results for the Art Contest are out now! (RNTAS: 76304175)

I am hosting a competition currently, and I really hope that someone will let me know if this is okay to post. Thanks!

I'll test it on my profile. Ill just say THIS IS A TEST RNTAS ___ five times and see what happens

Well, commenting on my profile worked, but it might be better if I commented on something else to TRULY test it (because it is my profile and I doubt it will ban me for spamming myself) so I would need something else to test it on so I might just go to an abandoned scratcher's project and then do that, NO! I will go to some fake accounts that actually are doing nothing and were accidentally created.

Edit: Oh wait that doesn't work their emails are not verified time to go to abandoned pages!

Ok nothing seemed to happen so I think it is OK!

PizzaAddict4Life wrote:

Ok nothing seemed to happen so I think it is OK!

Okay, thank you! I was also hoping that maybe an ST member could respond (or someone who has previously used RNTAS), just because I don't want to get muted/ blocked or anything.

HarryPotter_Hamilton wrote:

PizzaAddict4Life wrote:

Ok nothing seemed to happen so I think it is OK!

Okay, thank you! I was also hoping that maybe an ST member could respond (or someone who has previously used RNTAS), just because I don't want to get muted/ blocked or anything.

I am glad I could help!

I still do want to say I only tested it on four profiles, so it is most likely to be OK, and for the reason you are doing if you did get blocked you could easily get unblocked

I think it really depends on the context. If it's needlessly advertising to other Scratchers, it might be reportable to the Scratch Team. Otherwise it would probably be seen as a taboo since you're “begging” for attention than earning it.
On the other hand, if it's for a general announcement about an event or something of the sort, I think it should be fine.

DownsGameClub wrote:

I think it really depends on the context. If it's needlessly advertising to other Scratchers, it might be reportable to the Scratch Team. Otherwise it would probably be seen as a taboo since you're “begging” for attention than earning it.
On the other hand, if it's for a general announcement about an event or something of the sort, I think it should be fine.

Thanks

I think if your using it as a way to get around the spam bot to spam then it's not okay but if you have a good reason to say the same thing a lot of times then it's probably fine. I would change the wording instead but that's just my preference.

I don't know if it is allowed, but it does work. I tested it with my alt account on my profile, and I was able to comment the word “hi” more than 3 times with RNTAS.

I would discourage its usage. The phrase “Random number to avoid spam” is a little misleading because you're still technically spamming with it. As mentioned above, it also possibly depends on its purpose. For instance, this is okay:

Hey! You asked me to notify you when that MAP you participated in was finished, and it is! You can watch it here: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/123456789 RNTAS: 18452

But this is not okay:

Love and favorite my projects! RNTAS: 43972

I would consider it “allowed,” but not really “encouraged.” Again, you're still technically spamming when you do this, so be sure to use it constructively. In extreme cases it is possible that you could get an account blocked for it, if you spam a very large number of comments, with or without RNTAS.

But what does it it mean by “to avoid spam?”

i don't think so. i honestly consider it spamming all the same.

If there is a small L in your post, use a capital i instead.
The spam detector may think that I and l are different.

Scratch---Cat wrote:

If there is a small L in your post, use a capital i instead.
The spam detector may think that I and l are different.

Some people use screen readers, which also think l and I are different.

Well, if you’re using it for important information like “ Here are the results for my animation contest! RNTAS: 456” Then that should be fine! But if you’re using it for something like this “ like fave my new project rntas 3” then it’s not OK. Hope this helped!

flower0122 wrote:

But what does it it mean by “to avoid spam?”

To avoid spam filter.

Maximouse wrote:

flower0122 wrote:

But what does it it mean by “to avoid spam?”

To avoid spam filter.

So an less confusing name would be RNTASF or ETASF.