If I am understanding this correctly, the post was in fact initially flagged by a normal user, and approved by a moderator?
I will assume that this post broke the forum rules based on that paragraph written under “Do not spam” and/or Global Rule 5 (“Every reply should have a meaningful and contributive response.”)
How about we look at the case of this comment then:
“Ok that looks extremely cool! Good job!”
How exactly did this fit into the category of “spam”? Looking at the clauses of that rule:
Use the Like button instead of replying “Thanks!”
Does not apply, as he was not saying “Thanks!”, or thanking someone.
do not post memes or single-word posts such as “First!” or “bump”, and put effort into your posts
This post was not a Ugandan Knuckles, and neither was it a single-word post.
Did he put effort into his post? I think so. He took the time to craft a thoughtful response intended to boost the recipient’s confidence in their work.
Do not re-post what others have already said
He did not post the same message as another user, and was the first to reply to that post in particular.
Ensure every reply is meaningful, contributive, and on-topic.
On-topic - As the person who started the first “What are you working on currently?” thread, I would say these types of posts are completely welcome and on-topic. He replied to another user in the context of the work they posted on the thread.
Meaningful, Contributive - The goal of this thread is to encourage users to share their creations without having to feel the pressure of formatting 100% polished work in a standalone thread. Compliments like these, in my view, are very meaningful and help encourage people with their projects, which is exactly what the thread was intended for.
So my question is, on which of these points was the post failing? And what constitutes a “meaningful” or “contributive” post in this instance? It all seems very subjective to me. Should I be flagging all of other posts I mentioned because they are also not contributive?