Why is there a minimum message length?

[Ross]

Marty, why is there a minimum (I think 25 characters) message length? Doesn't make sense! If I can answer someone in less characters, why not? It takes less band-width (than this message for instance). Hope you can correct this.

[Tindomul]

I'll go ahead and answer this one while Marty is away from his computer.
It has to do with the current contest we are running. Its designed to avoid cheaters who want to make 100 posts containing only the words, thanks, yea, ok, etc....(though I know no one here is a cheater).
Sorry for the inconvinience but I think its only for the duration of the contest. I too have had to make some of my posts longer than necessary for the sake of the contest
Anyway, thanks for understanding.

[Marco]

I'm a cheater. Kidding Just trying to get me an extra post.

ok ok...seriously I think the character limit is a great idea for the contest. It makes post replies more substantial

[Shadow]

I see one more plus here(for me) . The minimum length helps to practise English for non Americans. Sometimes I write shorter than I want because I'm unsure about some words or phrases.