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Topic: FORUMS: What to do about spam
| Author | Message |
| wecare | Posted – 6/19/2007 11:16:14 AM | show profile Yes, we know how annoying it is to go to the mediabistro.com forums and find them overrun with spam posts. Personally, if I ever meet "tipcell" (and I probably won't unless I go to China), I'd love to shove a cell phone down his or her throat. We're doing all we can to get rid of the problem, and I hope you'll agree that it's gotten better over the past few months, though we have seen an uptick in recent weeks. The spammers appear to be using a low-tech approach -- creating new accounts and posting manually -- which is both good and bad. It's good because we don't have some spam-bot completely taking over our board. But it's bad because it makes it much harder to stamp them out. In addition, they seem to have figured out that if they post when we're out of the office (ie, on nights and weekends), the posts can remain up for at least a few hours before they get taken down. So what else can we do? We've tried to ban IP addresses, but without success. I don't know if that's because they're using different computers, or somehow spoofing IP addresses. We're hiring Board Moderators, in part to help us flag spam posts earlier. We're also looking into allowing individual posters to report inappropriate posts. I'd like to see a system where if a post gets enough complaints, it's automatically removed. We'll let you know what we come up with, and we appreciate your patience. In the meantime, if anyone has any suggestions (especially if you have experience as a forum administrator dealing with this kind of thing), please feel free to add them here. Thanks, Greg Membership Director |
| Cyrus | Posted – 6/23/2007 12:15:25 AM | show profile Greg, Banning IPs is almost always fruitless unless someone's doing it from inside a corporate firewall, where a computer almost always keeps the same IP. In most instances, IP addresses are valid for as little as a few days and as long as only a couple of weeks. The unfortunate thing with these kinds of platforms is none I'm aware of contains the ability to filter out certain terms. IOW, if they worked like e-mail programs, you could create a filter for Tipcell and it would never be published. I know Craigslist's system does automatically delete postings once enough people have flagged them. I believe their technology is "home grown," but they might be willing to share insights. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/23/2007 10:43:47 AM | show profile Craig's List uses this system and it's very effective. Posts like this tend to disappear in minutes. --So what else can we do? We've tried to ban IP addresses, but without success. I don't know if that's because they're using different computers, or somehow spoofing IP addresses. We're hiring Board Moderators, in part to help us flag spam posts earlier. We're also looking into allowing individual posters to report inappropriate posts. I'd like to see a system where if a post gets enough complaints, it's automatically removed.-- |
| slink | Posted – 6/25/2007 8:21:17 PM | show profile Very simple: Move to a different message-board software. I work for a website that uses vBulletin, and there are NO problems with spammers. |
| csnation.net | Posted – 6/26/2007 8:27:58 PM | show profile i got an easier way to stop spamming first never send any personal info to the spammer, second never apply to illegal things, for example, "you will win a new fragrance by answering the following questions". Don't answer the question. Lastly never send the spammer your i.p. address because from there they can do horrific things to your email account and personal info. I might be under 21 years of age but i do know that there are over 3,000,000 spammers across the united states checking, or looking up your personal information right now! your never to safe to stop spammers from coming to you. for more info check my website at www.csnation.net and other local website on spamming. see ya later. ------ one love krew lives forever |
| noname1234 | Posted – 7/31/2007 10:06:51 PM | show profile there's a ton of spam cluttering up the forums -- could someone from mb delete it? it would be much appreciated! |
| noname1234 | Posted – 8/8/2007 8:04:45 PM | show profile Does Mediabistro have some kind of pro-spam philosophy? I'm serious -- is there a reason that no one deletes the spam on these boards? |
| nellie bly | Posted – 8/9/2007 9:03:03 AM | show profile noname, I don't think MB staffers read the boards except once in a while for the posts that interest them! Perhaps it's not in their job descriptions? I'm not kidding. From previous posts on this subject (as well as replies when I emailed a staffer to report spam), I got the impression they relied on us to report it to them. other boards I frequent have staff moderators who take care of the spam pronto. didn't MB advertise for moderators? |
| nellie bly | Posted – 8/9/2007 9:08:05 AM | show profile here's the link to the page advertising for board moderators: http://www.mediabistro.com/bbs/cache/t33384_1.asp |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 8/10/2007 4:40:27 AM | show profile This is ridiculous. This thread was started on June 19. It's now August and I don't see that the Spam problem has gotten any better. 'wecare,' that's a bit of a joke, that name is. how many minutes a day would it take to just scan the new posts and remove the spam? |
| Homer | Posted – 8/10/2007 3:25:15 PM | show profile Think the change in ownership has anything to do with it? |
| noname1234 | Posted – 8/11/2007 11:39:29 AM | show profile Do you think the tipcell people are now taunting us by posting their spam IN THIS VERY SECTION of the boards, practically next to this thread? (And if you're reading this and the tipcell posts aren't there, that means MB FINALLY deleted them!). |
| feMyNysT | Posted – 8/20/2007 12:05:13 AM | show profile Controlling spam and spammers To Stanlehy_Milgram, unless these forums have a Delete 'button', how?? would a poster do that? And to cs.nation.net....you just answered my question about the age of some of the people who post on these forums...you said you're under 21....that in itself, says a lot about many of the people posting here. BTW, I'm not being critical, but considering what I see and don't read, articulation is missing on this forum. |
| feMyNysT | Posted – 8/20/2007 12:06:24 AM | show profile Controlling spam and spammers To Stanlehy_Milgram, unless these forums have a Delete 'button', how?? would a poster do that? And to cs.nation.net....you just answered my question about the age of some of the people who post on these forums...you said you're under 21....that in itself, says a lot about many of the people posting here. BTW, I'm not being critical, but considering what I see and don't read, articulation is missing on this forum. |
| mb_pip | Posted – 8/22/2007 4:58:38 PM | show profile | email poster i _just_ got there Hi, I'm Pip, and I'm mediabistro.com's current anti-spam solution. I'm also ashamed to say that I read through this entire thread today before noticing the SPAM IN THIS THREAD. *sigh* If you notice a reduction in the amount or annoyance of spam in the near future, then I am doing my job properly. If you see something I've missed, you now have a contact link to notify me that there's spam to be stamped, and I'm just the guy to do it. All interests and opinions are welcome on our forums. Spam is not. Cheers! Pip mediabistro.com Membership Team |
| natalie6 | Posted – 9/5/2007 6:18:55 PM | show profile | email poster Try this Here's one thing that might help a bit: http://www.google.ca/search?as_q=tipcell&hl=en&num=100&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=www.mediabistro.com&as_rights=&safe=off |
