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Spam in Subforums. How Can We Minimize it?

by WillR
18 replies
I know this is by no means a new problem but it IS something I have been noticing more and more of lately - that is the amount of pointless one liner comments being posted in the sub-forums. These posts are written for the sole purpose of advertising one's signature and they are a complete waste of everyone's time. I'm sick of reporting them and I'm sure as hell the mods are sick of deleting them. It's actually getting to the point where I don't want to visit some of the sub-forums because every time I do there is a new set of posts I need to report. Subscribing to any threads is also a big NO NO now.

So, what's the answer?

I'm not naive enough to believe there is an 'answer' as such but I am interested in hearing any ideas people might have on how best to minimize this problem.

It seems a lot of people are seeing the sub-forums as an easy way to 'fly under the radar' and get away with this type of behavior. I don't blame them. Obviously it's much easier to get away with something when there are only 20-50 users in a sub-forum at any one time compared with the hundreds of users found in the main discussion forum - and every time they get away with it they are more likely to come back and do it again.

The easiest way to look for a solution, I think, is to find the most common characteristic among the majority of these spammers - for me, it's quite clear. The huge majority of them are people with new accounts and/or very low post counts, say below 30 posts.

What if we were to make it so that users must first rack up at least 25-30 posts here in the main discussion forum BEFORE they are granted posting privileges for any of the sub-forums? If people are gaming the main discussion forum they won't last very long - it's almost impossible to 'fly under the radar' here.

I think it would remove a large part of the problem - what do others think?
#minimize #spam #subforums
  • Profile picture of the author sirtiman
    If you are the moderator, just banned the spams. Make sure others not doing it again, that will reduce the quantity of spams things.
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  • Profile picture of the author razorhound
    Originally Posted by WillR View Post


    What if we were to make it so that users must first rack up at least 25-30 posts here in the main discussion forum BEFORE they are granted posting privileges for any of the sub-forums? If people are gaming the main discussion forum they won't last very long - it's almost impossible to 'fly under the radar' here.

    I think it would remove a large part of the problem - what do others think?
    ^This, sometimes I don't really browse the sub-forums so it's kinda hard to report those.
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  • Profile picture of the author dadamson
    I used to browse the sub forums a lot more, now the spam sort of detracts me from hanging out in the SEO forum for the most part.

    Your posts get buried with rubbish spam posts anyway so you can't get your opinion across as easily.

    I think more moderators to battle the spam is necessary. The mods are VERY quick to action anything here in the main forum, but the sub-forums don't seem to get as much love.

    I often report the users but it is a big waste of time and they will usually just sign up for new accounts.

    This is an IM forum, so there is a lot of intentional spamming, I think the post count needs to be raised to 50 at least before a sig can be placed. - Maybe even a paid sig?

    Also, how about an account verification after 10 posts or 1 month. - If the posts are not adequate, account gets deleted.

    I dunno, just my thoughts in eliminating this BS.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    There is always the button, but I think it was Dr Mani who suggested a button that would shock the intended recipient with a direct current of electricity.

    Both work for me.
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    More people need to realize they can use the report button for this.

    As to how to get them to do that, not sure. Perhaps everyone logs in on a certain day and is reminded of the rules and most importantly how to use the report button to report spam.

    Not sure that's viable.

    Best thing to do would be to make sure no spammers come here. When they sign up, ask them a question. Are you a spammer?



    Somethings telling me that won't work...
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by redicelander View Post

      More people need to realize they can use the report button for this.
      I know about the report button as do many... and I DO use it. But that's my point. I'm a bit sick of using it in the sub-forums and there are not enough users in some of the sub-forums to really make a difference. It's easy to just rely on the report post button in the main discussion forum because there are always so many users here - in the sub-forums that's not the case... and as the problem continues to go on less and less legitimate people will want to hang out in the sub-forums so there are even less people to report these suspect posts.
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      • Profile picture of the author Gaz Cooper
        I don't think any LEGITIMATE marketer would be opposed to a min 50 count post prior to being able to add a Sig file and this would certainly seem like too much work to the spammers.

        So a min 50 valuable posts or a fee of $20 to bypass the 50 min posts, but just because they pay that, its does not mean they can spam the board and post just to get a link in, they still have to add value and become part of the community.

        I think something like that would eliminate most the problem except for the most persistent of spammers.

        Kickin it on Amazon

        Gaz Cooper
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    I think you'll find a lot of people don't use the report button in those sub-forums, I guess.

    People just don't take the time and I think a lot of people don't realize they can use it.

    I think I must have known at first but forgot about it.

    It wasn't until several months later when I was like, "Hey, I can use that!"
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  • Profile picture of the author Mr Bill
    Education is the key (as always). They need to be told. Silent reporting might not even get noticed and so it's unlikely to curb their behaviour (unless they are notified of the deleted post - are they?). This thread will help get the message across. I report a few blatant offenders (like 6 quick fast useless comments in one day) but I feel like I'm "dobbing" people in and that's a feeling I would rather not have during any day. I guess I feel a responsibility to clean up a forum I like to use just to help with the maintenance. I feel bad for reporting but feel good that I'm "helping". What is that, a conundrum or a paradox? Should have paid more attention in 5th grade English I guess.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Note: The following comments do not apply to everyone. If you already report the garbage posts, just read this as encouraging others to do the same.
    The mods are VERY quick to action anything here in the main forum, but the sub-forums don't seem to get as much love.
    They do when the spam is reported.
    The SEO section should be much better now that Pearson is moderating it, and the members are reporting a lot more of the junk.
    What if we were to make it so that users must first rack up at least 25-30 posts here in the main discussion forum BEFORE they are granted posting privileges for any of the sub-forums?
    And if they want to talk only about a specific subject, they'll do it here. And get dumped on for it.

    The whole purpose of member moderation is to give you folks the ability to keep your favorite sections clean. If enough of you report a given post, it goes away without the mods needing to see it first.

    If you depend on us, you're stuck with what we can do in the time we spend moderating each day. If you grab hold of the sections you use and work on them yourselves, we'll only be needed for the really weird or extreme stuff.


    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

      If enough of you report a given post, it goes away without the mods needing to see it first.
      I had no idea this was the case. I thought every post I reported went past your eyes first and that's why occasionally, I'll feel bad if I'm reporting too many in a short period of time.

      This is good to know.
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Will,
        I had no idea this was the case. I thought every post I reported went past your eyes first and that's why occasionally, I'll feel bad if I'm reporting too many in a short period of time.
        Fear not. We're not going to be annoyed about people reporting spam or other junk. I am frequently annoyed, though, to see the things that don't get reported.

        If enough members report a post to get it removed from view, we still see the reports and the post. We can "undelete" those, but it's unusual for that to happen.


        Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author J Bold
        Originally Posted by WillR View Post

        I had no idea this was the case. I thought every post I reported went past your eyes first and that's why occasionally, I'll feel bad if I'm reporting too many in a short period of time.

        This is good to know.
        Yep, it's a great feature. If enough people report it, it's gone!

        That's what I was saying, if more people would just report that stuff ASAP, then it would be less of a problem.

        But the problem is education of our members, and I'm not sure there's a good way to force everyone how to use these functions...
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  • Profile picture of the author KabanaSoft
    I've seen this more and more often...usually its from a new account that starts with very little posts.

    Perhaps they could rate limit the number of posts you are allowed in a given timeframe if you are a new member (say < 1 week old) and have say under 20 posts? Limit to 5 posts every hour until you reach a certain age or number of legitimate posts that haven't been reported?

    Or perhaps if one of your posts does get reported more than twice then you cannot post anymore until a moderator lifts a lock on your account?

    Just some ideas...Usually i see them when i'm up late night at 4am in the morning...the mods also do a good job ridding of them as soon as they are caught, but is annoying seeing these idiots post on every thread.
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