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 607
Lieutenant
Joined: Sep 19, 2018
Member#: 46975
Posts: 221
Location: Amersfoort
    
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 Posted:
Sat Jan 22, 2022 6:57 am Post subject: Deleting spam posts |
 
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Hi!
We get spam posts on the forum now and then. If these are simply full of links to escort services, they are simply removed, but in many cases they include a normal sentence or two, presumably in hope to not get detected by automatic spam filter. In this case, staff removes the link(s) but keeps the rest of the post up.
In my opinion this isn't beneficial, because these posts never contribute anything to the discussion, and often necrobump old topics. I am a bit weary of getting excited by seeing a certain topic active, only to see it was a bot post.
So my suggestion is to simply remove any clearly spam comments from public view.
Thoughts? |
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 Dragonel 
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Jul 16, 2008
Member#: 21881
Posts: 411
Location: Dragonia, US
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Posted:
Sat Jan 22, 2022 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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I also get disappointed to see a reply & find it is only a spam link.
However, I could see a case of a new member joining, looking at something like the Video Games threads and innocently posting a link to their favorite game or gamesite. I saw a case recently when a new user who had posted a link logged back in several days later, which might mean they were genuinely interested in SST rather than just spamming. I believe their link was game-spam rather than escorts, but for some reason I didn't click it to find out ....... 
So I can see the mods would prefer to err on the side of being nice - and I certainly wouldn't want them to have to make extra effort to try & determine if the message that goes with a link is genuine or not.
And maybe if we all posted a bit more on the forums, the spam ones would stand out less anyway.
_________________
If you can't stand the heat, don't tease a dragon |
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 Locutus76
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined: Mar 21, 2004
Member#: 5698
Posts: 97
Location: Netherlands
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Posted:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 3:24 am Post subject: |
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Based on the spam link it should be quite easily to see the intention of the poster. If the link is in any way music (or maybe just movie/game related) then it would be ok to leave the post. If the link is pure spam, the entire post should be deleted imho.
_________________
"Speak for yourself, Sir. I plan to live forever." Cmdr William T. Riker - ST:Generations |
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Dragonel
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Jul 16, 2008
Member#: 21881
Posts: 411
Location: Dragonia, US
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Posted:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| Locutus76 wrote: |
| Based on the spam link it should be quite easily to see the intention of the poster. If the link is in any way music (or maybe just movie/game related) then it would be ok to leave the post. If the link is pure spam, the entire post should be deleted imho. |
If the link is obvious, yes, that would be good. But if it is an obfuscated link like https://tinyurl.com/2p863xaw then how does the mod know short of clicking on it?
_________________
If you can't stand the heat, don't tease a dragon |
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 MojoPin
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Jan 16, 2004
Member#: 4569
Posts: 712
Location: Texas
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Posted:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 12:41 pm Post subject: |
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Since I see no other Mods or Admin weighing in on this one yet, I'll share my thoughts. But in general: there's no standardized way to handle these since each new post is different. It's just looking at them case-by-case to see what's there. Yes, that means it's somewhat subjective and possibly with some individual variation between Mods, but overall I think it works out pretty evenly.
As Locutus already pointed out, the intention of a new poster is usually quite plain from the content. If the comments are even semi-relevant to the thread in question, I think most Mods would err on the side of caution and leave it alone but simply kill a questionable (or obviously unrelated) link.
When it's a brand new account with no track requests, no chat, no other forum engagement, but straight into posting spam links... then it's pretty clear that's their only purpose in being here. In those cases, I typically purge the whole post & block. (That's just me, though - other Mods may be more generous and leave a partial post up in that situation, but I. freaking. hate. nonstop spam.) Really, it's not often tricky to distinguish the new peeps asking about an album or composer, say, from the spammers offering escort services, academic help, "find a dentist" or "buy our software" and so on.
Many times the spam account also extends these junk links into their profile - not displayed directly on a forum thread page but visible if you go looking - and that can also help to point one direction or the other. Additionally, Mods/Admin can view certain elements (like recurring I.P. addresses) which are NOT visible to other users, to help make a determination if there's any question. Someone just superficially browsing might think a Mod has been aggressive in pulling a post, but actually, we have more factors to look at & consider than just the one spammy thing in the forum.
FWIW, I would just add that actual new users are a drop in the bucket these days compared to the deluge of junk links we get. Remember that there are Mods in all different time zones, so by the time you've logged in to find one spammer, Mods have probably already cleared away half a dozen more that day which you didn't have to see. 
Not sure if any of that is helpful to you, 607, but I do believe all of the SST Mods try to deal with each instance of nuisance posts as we come across them, as best we can. Sometimes that may mean comments left behind where you think they ought to have been removed, OR possibly the other way around, but everyone is just trying to use their best judgment each time. |
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Luther_III
Commander
Joined: Jun 20, 2005
Member#: 10621
Posts: 846
Location: New Orleans
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Posted:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Mojo (and all the other mods and admins) for the explanation. That sounds like a lot of work and a pain in the a$$. It is me, or has there been a noticeable uptick in the spammers within the past couple of months? I wonder if the Captcha function is outdated for creating accounts or spammers found a way around it. It seems like a huge annoyance for you all to deal with.
_________________
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.... I get most joy in life out of music."
--Albert Einstein |
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607
Lieutenant
Joined: Sep 19, 2018
Member#: 46975
Posts: 221
Location: Amersfoort
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Posted:
Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:47 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the responses! |
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 molossus
Admiral (Administrator)
Joined: Aug 09, 2005
Member#: 11167
Posts: 3308
Location: Warsaw & once in a blue moon Szczecin (Poland)
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Posted:
Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:52 am Post subject: |
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As a crew member I have three options:
- edit a post and leave it where it was posted;
- move the post to a hidden part of the forums available only for crew members ("Graveyard");
- delete the post.
When I see posts that can't stay where they were posted because of our policy of being family friendly site, I move them to Graveyard.
When the post can stay I usually just edit it and leave. This way spam is removed and everyone can see which members are spammers (or even BOTs).
BTW: Leaving edited post behind means that people can also see that crew members do their job
I used to delete some posts in the past but I stopped doing it. I want JERIC to have some evidence of what happened in case I make a mistake and edit/ban a member who is not really a spammer nor a BOT. I also give every post as much benefit of a doubt as I can (in case my decision is disputed).
_________________
<i>"The piano keys are black and white,
But they sound like a million colors in your mind"</i>
(from "Spider's Web" by <a href="http://katiemelua.com/music/#KatieMelua">Katie Melua</a>)
Avatar is from work of art by Drew Struzan |
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Dragonel
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Jul 16, 2008
Member#: 21881
Posts: 411
Location: Dragonia, US
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Posted:
Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:14 am Post subject: |
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| Dragonel wrote: |
| I saw a case recently when a new user who had posted a link logged back in several days later, which might mean they were genuinely interested in SST rather than just spamming. |
Looks like I was mistaken in trying to give them the benefit of the doubt (they reposted the same spam).
| molossus wrote: |
| I used to delete some posts in the past but I stopped doing it. I want JERIC to have some evidence of what happened in case I make a mistake and edit/ban a member who is not really a spammer nor a BOT. I also give every post as much benefit of a doubt as I can (in case my decision is disputed). |
Sounds like good reasoning to me.
_________________
If you can't stand the heat, don't tease a dragon |
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MojoPin
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Jan 16, 2004
Member#: 4569
Posts: 712
Location: Texas
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Posted:
Thu Jan 27, 2022 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| molossus wrote: |
When the post can stay I usually just edit it and leave. This way spam is removed and everyone can see which members are spammers (or even BOTs).
BTW: Leaving edited post behind means that people can also see that crew members do their job
I used to delete some posts in the past but I stopped doing it. I want JERIC to have some evidence of what happened in case I make a mistake and edit/ban a member who is not really a spammer nor a BOT. I also give every post as much benefit of a doubt as I can (in case my decision is disputed). |
Interesting for me to hear your approach here, too, molossus. I handle them differently though with much the same rationale behind. For obvious spam, I don't want to edit the link away because that is the "evidence" as you called it. Instead I move the post to Graveyard where it won't bother our members, but still leaves the original junk post intact for Crew to access & review at need.
(Also, leaving the spam link as it was posted, allows Admin to see & potentially track who/where spammers were trying to direct click traffic.)
As to users being able to "see that crew members do their job" – I do get your reasoning here: not just doing, but being seen to be doing. For me, that's already evident when the spam has been removed so our real users don't have to think about it. I believe that's what the original poster was getting at, with the suggestion of removing the visible "crumbs" instead of leaving them behind. Admittedly, approaching it that way means most users will never know just how much spam the Mods remove on a regular or even daily basis (!!!), but I'm fine with that if it gives more end users a smoother experience on the forum.
Nothing wrong with either way, just two different approaches. |
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MaddisonPlayford
Cadet 1
Joined: Jan 28, 2022
Member#: 50972
Posts: 1
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Posted:
Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:13 am Post subject: Wi-Fi Support Hendersonville |
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I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog, I will keep visiting this blog very often [URL]Wi-Fi Support Hendersonville [/URL]
 Ha! ha! ha! We got a spam post in the thread about "Deleting spam posts"! Good one Ms or Mr Spammer!!! This time I HAD to leave it here with just a small edit to it!  - molossus |
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molossus
Admiral (Administrator)
Joined: Aug 09, 2005
Member#: 11167
Posts: 3308
Location: Warsaw & once in a blue moon Szczecin (Poland)
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Posted:
Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| MojoPin wrote: |
For obvious spam, I don't want to edit the link away because that is the "evidence" as you called it.
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Good point Mojo!
Now I have an idea how to modify my tacticts a bit to leave original links for JERIC and the rest of the Crew to see them and to leave a trace of original post in original place in case I made an error and the post was by genuine member...
_________________
<i>"The piano keys are black and white,
But they sound like a million colors in your mind"</i>
(from "Spider's Web" by <a href="http://katiemelua.com/music/#KatieMelua">Katie Melua</a>)
Avatar is from work of art by Drew Struzan |
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MojoPin
Vice Admiral (Moderator)
Joined: Jan 16, 2004
Member#: 4569
Posts: 712
Location: Texas
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Posted:
Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:42 pm Post subject: Re: Wi-Fi Support Hendersonville |
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| molossus wrote: |
| Ha! ha! ha! We got a spam post in the thread about "Deleting spam posts"! Good one Ms or Mr Spammer!!! This time I HAD to leave it here with just a small edit to it! - molossus |
...Naturally. *LOL* |
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