Forum spam management?
- Thread starter Wally
- Start date
As Notaz says, nobody with the skills and opportunity to get a real job would be sitting around advertising third-rate pharmacies on web fora.
That said, not everyone here is fluent in English - so a language-based spammertrap would be a bad idea.
How about showing the user a picture of a random everyday object, and asking them to identify it?
Not really common things that get into elementary language textbooks, but slightly odder things that should still be clearly recognisable. Something like a typewriter, perhaps?
That said, not everyone here is fluent in English - so a language-based spammertrap would be a bad idea.
How about showing the user a picture of a random everyday object, and asking them to identify it?
Not really common things that get into elementary language textbooks, but slightly odder things that should still be clearly recognisable. Something like a typewriter, perhaps?
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
If we're not limiting ourselves to english writers, wouldn't we then need that object's name in various different languages that we might support? Not to mention that there are perhaps plenty of millenials that have never seen a typewriter. Or they might think it's one of those standalone word processors from the 70s/80s.
I'm not completely sure. I've seen spammers create a few posts with nonsense text but no payload to begin with, with the hope of tricking mods into thinking they're a real person given their history of non-spam. Or perhaps more likely, the payload is in the user's about text, as we were talking about on the previous page. I forgot to check when I saw it.
rygD
Nihilistic Mystic
I think I have mentioned this before, but I am willing to be a partial moderator like what notaz described, basically just dealing with spam and maybe merging or moving threads if it is really needed. I would still want real mods to deal with actual user stuff. Basically, I just don't want the mods to hate their job, so I will deal with some of the stuff when I swing by, and they can deal with us when we are being stupid or getting too emotional, or whatever else they deal with.
As for the proposed image based request to enter the words from the logo, include it in the languages of the countries where most legitimate accounts come from. If those need to be translated I think it isn't that difficult to type the thing that needs to be translated into whatever they prefer to use for translation (I do this with old books and manuscripts I look at pictures of). It isn't perfect, but it might have more benefits than drawbacks, so it might be worth seriously considering. This method would make it easier for spammers that know the language to get through easily, while real users that don't have a more difficult time registering. Alternatively, the "find the registration password on the boards" thing should still work (and it can be changed quarterly it as needed), and including that means that the request for it can be kept as actual text, even autotranslated based on the language of the IP address. The only other decent options I see are those previously suggested restrictions on new users, and that only deals with posts, not those who abuse profiles.
Is there any sort of pattern with the email addresses used by the spammers? I know that I can't use mailinator for registering at some sites, so maybe something like that could be done here.
[doublepost=1488696625,1488696514][/doublepost]Mods, maybe this thread should be moved to the site feedback section.
As for the proposed image based request to enter the words from the logo, include it in the languages of the countries where most legitimate accounts come from. If those need to be translated I think it isn't that difficult to type the thing that needs to be translated into whatever they prefer to use for translation (I do this with old books and manuscripts I look at pictures of). It isn't perfect, but it might have more benefits than drawbacks, so it might be worth seriously considering. This method would make it easier for spammers that know the language to get through easily, while real users that don't have a more difficult time registering. Alternatively, the "find the registration password on the boards" thing should still work (and it can be changed quarterly it as needed), and including that means that the request for it can be kept as actual text, even autotranslated based on the language of the IP address. The only other decent options I see are those previously suggested restrictions on new users, and that only deals with posts, not those who abuse profiles.
Is there any sort of pattern with the email addresses used by the spammers? I know that I can't use mailinator for registering at some sites, so maybe something like that could be done here.
[doublepost=1488696625,1488696514][/doublepost]Mods, maybe this thread should be moved to the site feedback section.
Grench
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Spammers are persistent. If only they could use their forces for good. I saw that there was yet another one in Pyra/General.
It still amazes me that there are enough suckers in the world combined with enough people who will work for so little that it can make operations like that profitable enough to exist.
It still amazes me that there are enough suckers in the world combined with enough people who will work for so little that it can make operations like that profitable enough to exist.
If laws would let them... they would be working for free. Be glad of minimum wage laws, regulations, unions, etc. There where they do not exist... people live in misery.
I wonder if the sort of spam we see here is the tip of a huge marketing bubble.
Someone is paying to distribute these adverts - but I would bet not a single one of them has prompted a sale. Nobody buys pills because a nonsensical forum post told them to... do they?
Likewise, Amazon (and their kin) are very keen to sell me things I don't want because I either just bought one, or decided against it.
Bilboards bombard me with adverts for expensive items I would only ever buy after doing thorough research. Cars, insurance, package holidays, and so on.
Buses go past with "Find us on Facebook" and "Scan this QR code to find out more" written on the side - as if I want to actively participate in being advertised to. What's going on?!
Has the whole world gone crazy while I wasn't looking?
Someone is paying to distribute these adverts - but I would bet not a single one of them has prompted a sale. Nobody buys pills because a nonsensical forum post told them to... do they?
Likewise, Amazon (and their kin) are very keen to sell me things I don't want because I either just bought one, or decided against it.
Bilboards bombard me with adverts for expensive items I would only ever buy after doing thorough research. Cars, insurance, package holidays, and so on.
Buses go past with "Find us on Facebook" and "Scan this QR code to find out more" written on the side - as if I want to actively participate in being advertised to. What's going on?!
Has the whole world gone crazy while I wasn't looking?
well there's no adblock for rl advertising, and spam posts/comments/"recommendations" aren't blocked automatically either... who knows, maybe one day we'll get a ton of spam posts from some huge company because they realized no one cares for ads anymore
slaeshjag
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
afk ad-block might become the ultimate killer app for AR, who knows?
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
I think it's all actually about gaming search engines - keeping your sites linked when the robots do their scans in the main. Then, when somebody does an internet search for 'keep awake pills' these sites float towards the top of the results.
In the meatspace equivalent, adverts similarly rarely work directly to make people buy the car, except occasionally when someone comes up with a really cool TV advert that makes certain people think 'I want to be like that'. They work by making sure the name is in your subconscious when you're looking to buy a new car, so that you include them when coming up with a shortlist of cars that you're going to test drive or whatever. They become trusted by your subconscious, familiar to you, and that's how high street shops advertising works - you're at the mall or wherever your shops are and a shop banner that you have prejudged by seeing an advert is a shop you're more likely to enter, provided you didn't prejudge it as purely the sort of shop you wouldn't be interested in.
Nine times out of ten it doesn't require a conscious effort to judge these things, purely by becoming familiar and non threatening does a lot to make it something your subconscious will supply to your conscious brain with a little green tick against it next time you're out an about.
...but when I see a huge, obnoxious poster trying to sell me something I don't want, my gut reaction is somewhere between anger and repulsion. Someone is playing sneaky psychological tricks to get hold of my money. Ueght!
I was surprised, when I wanted to register on a1k.org (an active German Amiga forum) that I had to answer a question specific to Amiga hardware. There were several variations as I found out because I didn't know much about the Amiga and entered wrong answers. At first I was a little angry because of the elitist BS, but now I can understand why they are doing this.
Maybe we should ask a question or two about pandora/pyra. For anyone who really wants to register, it is easy to just google these hardware questions. Spammer I guess will not invest their time like that and move on to the next forum maybe?
Maybe we should ask a question or two about pandora/pyra. For anyone who really wants to register, it is easy to just google these hardware questions. Spammer I guess will not invest their time like that and move on to the next forum maybe?
FaeMinx
Rainbow Liberation Instigation
Whatever the question is.. The correct answer needs to be: Two Months.
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trix
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How long does it take a pregnant Pandora to conceive a baby Pyra?
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