Bug triage, or spam?

[Tom Spear]

Hi all, I just have a quick question..

I got a message from someone last night asking me to stop closing bugs
because I'm spamming the list, however I also received a message from
someone a couple of nights ago thanking me for doing bug triage..
Which is it, and if it is both, then what draws the line between
triage and spam, and how do I close stale bugs without it being
considered spam?