Curbing Spam

runningdude · #1 Mar 15, '12, 8:39 am

I've noticed lately a lot of spam providing links to illegally uploaded episodes, such as "[[Show Title]], Season [[#]]". What if CAF put up a simple filter that blocked threads with the word "Season" followed by a number from appearing in the "Latest Threads" column.
This would not necessarily forbid such titles, just prevent them from clogging up the active thread list. As an alternative, a CAPTCHA could be employed when new users post suspicious titles (if the CAF software has this capability).

For example, a thread titled "Christmas Season" would be allowed to appear, but "TV Show, Season 3" would not, or would require a CAPTCHA to post.

Another idea might be to automatically withdraw threads from the active list whose original posts are repeatedly reported. This wouldn't delete automatically delete the thread, but would mitigate its disruptiveness, pending Moderator review.

TheRealJuliane · #2 Mar 15, '12, 6:01 pm

An easier option would be to limit new forum members so they cannot post ANY links until they have something like 10 posts. That way, the spammers would never get on in the first place.

Tietjen · #3 Mar 17, '12, 10:59 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealJuliane

An easier option would be to limit new forum members so they cannot post ANY links until they have something like 10 posts. That way, the spammers would never get on in the first place.

That would be a good idea IF these spammers were here to promote the bad web sites. I wonder though if that is only part of it and the main reason is simply to clog up the forum. Even if links were turned off for new members these people could still post spam, it just wouldn't link to the other web site. I wish there could be a 72 hr waiting list after a new member registers before he/she is allowed to post OR perhaps all new members could be limited to a New Member Area and only be able to post in that thread until a specific time limit and/or trial posts had been reached.

I've been a member here for several years now and have never seen it this bad.

SwizzleStick · #4 Mar 17, '12, 11:00 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tietjen

...I've been a member here for several years now and have never seen it this bad.

I second that. It has been pretty awful lately.

TheRealJuliane · #5 Mar 17, '12, 1:57 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tietjen

That would be a good idea IF these spammers were here to promote the bad web sites. I wonder though if that is only part of it and the main reason is simply to clog up the forum. Even if links were turned off for new members these people could still post spam, it just wouldn't link to the other web site. I wish there could be a 72 hr waiting list after a new member registers before he/she is allowed to post OR perhaps all new members could be limited to a New Member Area and only be able to post in that thread until a specific time limit and/or trial posts had been reached.

I've been a member here for several years now and have never seen it this bad.

I agree with this suggestion as well. A New member "sandbox" is a great idea.

Kouyate42 · #6 Mar 17, '12, 5:20 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRealJuliane

An easier option would be to limit new forum members so they cannot post ANY links until they have something like 10 posts. That way, the spammers would never get on in the first place.

I've been on forums where this has been the case, where you couldn't make a new thread without having made 10 posts or more, and viewing or posting images before a post count of 25.

Edmundus1581 · #7 Mar 17, '12, 7:21 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kouyate42

I've been on forums where this has been the case, where you couldn't make a new thread without having made 10 posts or more, and viewing or posting images before a post count of 25.

Me too, and it works well. Stackoverlow.com has millions of members, and no spam.

Another vote for this suggestion!

SwizzleStick · #8 Mar 18, '12, 6:22 am

I reported spam within a thread just now. The poster joined today, had only two posts, both within the same thread and they were spam. Guess CAF has taken steps to curb spam as suggested by members, so now spammers are trying to post in old threads? Spammers are quite persistent, but I think CAF has them quite limited now, if suggested steps to curb spam have, in fact, been taken, so Bravo CAF!

.

If not, maybe spammers are trying something else now? This person was advertising a company's services via its web link with only its name.com.

runningdude · #9 Mar 18, '12, 9:50 am

I don't really think creating a newbie sandbox is particularly polite. A lot of members lurk around for a while before actually joining, and usually join because they found an active thread they'd like to participate in. Going through the hoops to join, only to be confined to the sandbox, would just discourage them.

I think CAPTCHA's (which test whether a poster is human) are the way to go. For instance, a new member must fill in a CAPTCHA before each post while still in "Trial Member" mode.