"... I can't respond to any more posts that aren't directly about the clip anymore though... If I do people might complain to the mods again, so sorry folks!"
I was hesitant to even post that there (since the dream had some embarrassing moments in it) let alone open a whole new thread with it. But I thought those interested in WAM dreams would like it, and maybe producers and wammers in general would get ideas from it. Seeing as Jilly was in that dream and that thread is about a WAM dream fantasy, it seems an ideal spot for my post. Was not sure what response would happen if any and was quite relieved and validated by Jilly's replies. Thought maybe she was speaking in "rules of thumb" when she spoke of complaints about bumping, but I see here the complaint was more recent: http://umd.net/forums/idtitle/xxx-pie-punishment-in-my-cheer?start=30#456786
So I feel bad about bringing such drama on a fellow member, but really not sure what anyone did wrong (at least I assume the complaint relates to my post -- no such complaints in my inbox though). It's almost definitely had a chilling effect on that thread and maybe future ones as well. Honestly, it was not a manufactured bump -- were I to make up a dream for that purpose, it would not include harmonicas and naked men, lol.
There are probably a few people with opinions on this, but it would be most helpful if an Admin could weigh in.
In the end, I think all things work themselves out on the forum.
It's tough to say what's "bumping" since circumstances vary, but I've found that it's safest to post once per topic to avoid bumping accusations altogether. It may lessen the amount of dialogue going on, but it avoids triggering complaints.
Ironically, just today I chose not to reply to someone's response in a thread I started... simply out of fear of it being considered bumping on my part.
My understanding of it is that it's never wrong to reply to someone who has replied to a post you've made, and how anyone could consider an actual on-going conversation as bumping is beyond me.
The old problem with bumping was producers resurrecting long-dead threads of their own by posting pointless followups, which was largely dealt with by the two week rule. MM has also waged a relentless war on people trying to make their own posts stand out with all-caps titles or non-standard characters. There's a fairly clear line between reasonable response to a thread and actual spammage.
The way I do it is if I make a promo post and people reply with general "nice work" type posts, I'll let it run for a few days and then do a single reply for all of them, quoting each one and adding a thank you line under it, all in the one post. But if someone asks a question or makes a comment that needs a more in-depth answer, then I'll reply to that one as soon as I see it, and try and answer whatever has been asked.
Of course another way to respond to things is to heart click them.