Spam threads

[Jules_S]

I notice over the last couple of weeks that there's a number of spam threads popping up in 2-channel, posted by newly-registered users. I've brought it to the mods attention at least once, and they definitely seem to be on top of this but it occurs to me that now it's started, this sort of thing is going to continue to happen.

To try and wheedle this sort of thing out, I was going to suggest that the first x posts made, or perhaps more appropriately, the first x new threads opened by a newly-registered user needs to be manually reviewed and approved before they appear on the forum. I've seen similar controls applied in the past on other forums so it's not a new concept.

Appreciated that this creates a manual overhead for someone (or a group of people) and I have no idea how many new forum users register on a weekly basis so it may not be practical, but might be a way to help prevent this sort of unwanted content continually appearing.

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

An alternative might be to "watch" the content posted by "new" subscribers by looking for characteristics that match those of previously-reported posts, eg the title always ends with a '?', there are frequently-used words (like "gummi" and "CBD") and the post invariably contains a website address (usually beginning with www.outlookindia ) - using software which scans the posts for these things. A list of things which should cause the post to be rejected could be built up over time, for the scanning software to use.

 

[Devil]

How about not being able to start a thread until you’ve made 10 posts??

 

[simon g]

The easiest way is to manually review all new account registrations, I would have thought. May take a bit of time, but I don't know how many new accounts are opened on a daily basis?

 

[rabski]

It's being looked into

 

[Tony_J]

The easiest way is to manually review all new account registrations, I would have thought. May take a bit of time, but I don't know how many new accounts are opened on a daily basis?

Not straightforward - the surest way to review new accounts is by their posting behaviour, so it would place another burden on the mods/admins to review all new posts.

 

[rabski]

Not straightforward - the surest way to review new accounts is by their posting behaviour, so it would place another burden on the mods/admins to review all new posts.

This. Just reviewing and approving registrations means nothing, because you don't know if it's a spam account until spam gets posted. A lot of spam is just bot generated, but a great deal isn't. It's done manually and without giving anything away (not that potential spammers won't already be aware), there are various ways to add spam after the event, so to speak.

The issue is 'balance'. Quite reasonably, we don't want to make a massive amount of time and work for forum staff and we don't want to make things hard for 'proper' posters here.

 

[hylander]

Or. Between the insomniacs and the daywalkers on here I’m sure that as soon as we see one we report it as spam and it’ll be gone in short order.

 

[Tony_J]

Or. Between the insomniacs and the daywalkers on here I’m sure that as soon as we see one we report it as spam and it’ll be gone in short order.

That is pretty much how it works now. It is rare for such posts to last for very long.

 

[Lawrence001]

I wouldn't mind trying some of these CBD gummies maybe we could politely ask them to spam the non Hifi classifieds or the Wam Arms?

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

we don't want to make a massive amount of time and work for forum staff

That's why I suggested automation

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

I wouldn't mind trying some of these CBD gummies maybe we could politely ask them to spam the non Hifi classifieds or the Wam Arms?

You're probably better off rolling a proper joint

 

[Lawrence001]

You're probably better off rolling a proper joint

Yeah but can I pop into a shop here and buy one?

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

Yeah but can I pop into a shop here and buy one?

is "here" = NL?

 

[Lawrence001]

is "here" = NL?

Sadly not. Although you used to be able to pop into SOAS bar when I was at Uni in London. There was a rumour it was safe as it was royal property and the police couldn't arrest you there but I think that was just an urban myth!

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

easy-to-spot words/phrases = {Condor. CBD, Gummies, Official Website, www.mercurynews.com, www.outlookindia.com}
Other characteristics: East-Asian English

 

[Lawrence001]

Damn missed another CBD gummy opportunity

 

[rabski]

easy-to-spot words/phrases = {Condor. CBD, Gummies, Official Website, www.mercurynews.com, www.outlookindia.com}
Other characteristics: East-Asian English

Ironically, you have inadvertently highlighted one of the problems with automating such a task. You would by now have been banned

 

[audio_PHIL_e]

Ironically, you have inadvertently highlighted one of the problems with automating such a task. You would by now have been banned

I'm sure I would have been banned if I'd put words/phrases like that in a new post after recently registering my username. But you can tell from the info you already have about me that I've been here for nearly 2 years, and have contributed to a few technical discussions - conclusion = this is not new spam posted by some con-artist who has only recently registered a username for the purposes of posting said spam.

 

[garn63]

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