A note on dealing with spammers

Trollheart · 06-08-2015, 05:33 AM

I know, I know: we all feel that urge from time to time when an obvious spammer posts. I've been guilty of it myself, till Urban pointed out the futility of it and the extra work it entails for those who have to clean the forum up. We want to slag the spammer off, throw casual insults their way or engage in some sort of conversation with them. But if you do that, one of three things will happen.

1. You will run the risk of turning a spammer into a troll when they realise they can get attention here

2. Your post(s), along with any they respond with, will have to be deleted as well as the original one, making more work for our overtaxed mods

or

3. Your post(s) will not be deleted, while theirs are, leaving you either looking like you're talking to yourself or, worse, a poster above you in the thread who has nothing to do with your comment.

Of course, this can be turned on its head, as sometimes an obvious spam thread catches the imagination and becomes, through other members, more of a joke thread or just veers wildly away from the OP, or just mocks it. But generally speaking, these are instigated by mods, and if they do that then you know it's probably ok to post in it. But best not to try that yourself as you may just end up encouraging a potential troll.

So, try to restrain your natural impulses and

RoxyRollah · 06-08-2015, 05:42 AM

When did you get modded?^

The Batlord · 06-08-2015, 05:50 AM

Trollheart · 06-08-2015, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoxyRollah

When did you get modded?^

You don't have to be a mod to make a thread that helps out. It's in response to this exact thing happening very recently. Rather than go telling the member themselves I thought a reminder/public service announcement would be a good idea.

Guybrush · 06-08-2015, 07:01 AM

Better advice (imo) could simply be :

Don't respond to spam, but feel free to report it if you want to help out.

Neapolitan · 06-08-2015, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

Better advice (imo) could simply be :

Don't respond to spam, but feel free to report it if you want to help out.

I heard from real mods that's not such a good idea. If there are 30 members online and only one mod and a bunch of members send out a PM to a single mod, then his or her box can get filled up pretty quick -- all with the same message. Plus, no one likes to be told over and over about the same thing especially when its obvious.

If you notice it's the same topic in every forum/sub-forum about another music site, or see they made string of replies when you searched for new posts, it's probably spammer. If you are unsure if it's a spammer or not, check out the stats on that member's profile page, if they joined that day and have a handful of one word/sentence replies then they could possibly be spammers. Spammers have the same MO, it's pretty obvious what they are doing, the best thing is to ignore them.

LoathsomePete · 06-08-2015, 10:22 AM

If someone has put up a spam message inside an existing thread, feel free to report it because it's not as easy to find those. If there's 15 quick posts by the user in the New Posts section then it's pretty easy to spot so unless the spam post/thread has been up for a few hours, a mod will get to it. If a spammer posts a new thread saying something along the lines of "go check out my band" don't report it unless it has been up for 12 hours.

Personally I'd prefer if people didn't respond to spammers, even if it is something as simple as "no" but I can't stop people and I'm not going to infract people for such a trivial offense.

Guybrush · 06-08-2015, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

I heard from real mods that's not such a good idea. If there are 30 members online and only one mod and a bunch of members send out a PM to a single mod, then his or her box can get filled up pretty quick -- all with the same message. Plus, no one likes to be told over and over about the same thing especially when its obvious.

One should use the report function rather than PMs.

I remember Urban posted that people shouldn't report spam once back in the day, but I never minded it. I'm generally all for members helping out.

**Janszoon** · 06-08-2015, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

One should use the report function rather than PMs.

I remember Urban posted that people shouldn't report spam once back in the day, but I never minded it. I'm generally all for members helping out.

As Pete said, it's helpful to report spam if it's somewhere not immediately noticeable, like in an existing thread, but if it's its own thread there's no need to report it since it's very noticeable to any mod.

Neapolitan · 06-08-2015, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

One should use the report function rather than PMs.

I remember Urban posted that people shouldn't report spam once back in the day, but I never minded it. I'm generally all for members helping out.

Good point, I forgot to add that in there, that you should use the report function rather than PMs.

06-08-2015, 05:33 AM	#1 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	A note on dealing with spammers I know, I know: we all feel that urge from time to time when an obvious spammer posts. I've been guilty of it myself, till Urban pointed out the futility of it and the extra work it entails for those who have to clean the forum up. We want to slag the spammer off, throw casual insults their way or engage in some sort of conversation with them. But if you do that, one of three things will happen. 1. You will run the risk of turning a spammer into a troll when they realise they can get attention here 2. Your post(s), along with any they respond with, will have to be deleted as well as the original one, making more work for our overtaxed mods or 3. Your post(s) will not be deleted, while theirs are, leaving you either looking like you're talking to yourself or, worse, a poster above you in the thread who has nothing to do with your comment. Of course, this can be turned on its head, as sometimes an obvious spam thread catches the imagination and becomes, through other members, more of a joke thread or just veers wildly away from the OP, or just mocks it. But generally speaking, these are instigated by mods, and if they do that then you know it's probably ok to post in it. But best not to try that yourself as you may just end up encouraging a potential troll. So, try to restrain your natural impulses and This has been a presentation by Bloody Obvious Threads, a subsidiary of Trollheart Enterprises. All rights reserved MMXV __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-08-2015, 07:01 AM	#5 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	Better advice (imo) could simply be : Don't respond to spam, but feel free to report it if you want to help out. __________________ Something Completely Different

06-08-2015, 10:22 AM	#7 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	If someone has put up a spam message inside an existing thread, feel free to report it because it's not as easy to find those. If there's 15 quick posts by the user in the New Posts section then it's pretty easy to spot so unless the spam post/thread has been up for a few hours, a mod will get to it. If a spammer posts a new thread saying something along the lines of "go check out my band" don't report it unless it has been up for 12 hours. Personally I'd prefer if people didn't respond to spammers, even if it is something as simple as "no" but I can't stop people and I'm not going to infract people for such a trivial offense. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too