Only flag spam, that's it

Question

I've been seeing way to many people editing spam, upvoting spam, downvoting spam, closing spam, and using the wrong flags for spam. So, this is a reminder. If you are not on strike, flag spam, that's it. Even if you are on strike, don't do anything. But certainly don't upvote spam.

Answer 1

Clearly flagging doesn't work, or at least doesn't work fast enough in the current conditions. Plus, people run out of flags (and downvotes).

Right now the situation is farcical. Although enough flags will delete a question, there are so many spam posts and they arrive so fast (they come at the rate of about one every 15seconds now) that it's not possible for a post to accumulate enough flags to close.

Even if the spam poster is banned, another account under a different username is immediately created to keep the wheel moving.

Answer 2

Update

With the moderation strike ending, moderators are back to flagging. If you do see spam on this scale again, spam flagging as much as you can will help posts like these get in front of mods — at least if they're online. (It's too soon for Charcoal to have discussed its own direction, but the outlook is positive.)

Old answer is below. Let's not get to the point where we need it ever again (SE Inc, I mean).

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This cannot be solved with just flagging

(But close voting or editing is absolutely useless.)

I took a look at one spammer and then another. Ten posts from the first and fifteen from the second. Since I have 25 flags, this would have used up all my flags without even putting a dent in the mass of it all — remember, each one of those posts needs other spam flaggers, or four total per post with the current configuration. The sheer number of posts is why spam is usually handled by a semi-automated system (which is now on strike) using flags from users who may not even participate otherwise on this site (many of whom are also on strike). Failing that, mods would step in, but, at least on Academia, the strike strikes again.

Desperate times call for "Contact Us"

Without diamond mods, there are only diamond employees. As a moderator (elsewhere), I used the "Community Emergency" option under my site's contact page, which sent an expedited message to the community team. Shortly after this, the spam posts disappeared. While regular users won't have this option, your message sent via the contact form will eventually reach staff. Then they can handle it, and maybe even pass the pressure on upwards so that the strike can end.