Gladstone Nextdoor Moderators Crack Down on Spam—Literal and Digital
Gladstone, MO – June 7, 2025
In an unusual but oddly fitting twist, Nextdoor leads and reviewers in Gladstone, Missouri, are taking a stand against both types of spam: the digital kind clogging up local feeds—and photos of actual cans of Spam, the iconic canned meat.
The social media site randomly appoints Karens moderators to police online content in their local communities and here in Gladstone they have grown increasingly frustrated with the proliferation of spammy happy rocks pontificating on the latest antics of the clay county commissioners, shady "coyote sighting" alerts, and restaurant reviews disguised as neighborly posts. Community leads and reviewers responded swiftly, flagging and removing content that they claim violated Nextdoor’s guidelines on fraud and spam. Somehow local news blogs have fallen into that category.
But the crackdown didn’t stop at raffle schemes and fake news. A handful of users—either cheekily mocking the situation or obliviously contributing to it—began posting photos of Spam cans in protest or jest. That didn’t fly with the moderators either.
“The image might be funny once,” said one Gladstone reviewer, “but after the tenth picture of Hormel’s finest, it starts to feel like meat-based trolling.”
Adding fuel to the fryer is a user named Bruce, widely considered the bane of Gladstone’s Nextdoor review team. Known for posting everything from dubious contests to conspiracy theories involving raccoons and HOA surveillance, Bruce has become a prolific and persistent offender. “He’s like the boss level of spam,” one exhausted moderator shared anonymously. “He once posted a can of Spam wearing sunglasses with a caption about local government mind control. We’re still not sure if he’s serious.”
According to Nextdoor's official guidelines, off-topic posts and repeated low-value content—whether text, image, or canned meat—are subject to removal. And in Gladstone, the reviewers are keeping the feed clean, one Bruce at a time.
According to Nextdoor's official guidelines, off-topic posts and repeated low-value content, even when edible in nature, may be subject to removal. And in Gladstone, the reviewers are keeping the feed clean—whether it’s digital junk or pork-based parody.
Residents are reminded to use the platform for genuine neighborhood communication and avoid posting anything—real or metaphorical—that smells like spam.
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