Sponsor |  lerryn | Nov 19, 2007 12:07am | | we have in the beta interface a feature to flag spammers. From what i gather if enough people flag someone as a spammer then their account is "inspected" Well how can one tell if someone is a spammer by looking at their blog? There is a case at the moment where someone has spammed all the google groups in the forums, but looking at his blog no one would be able to detect his spamming activities. I believe there should be a zero tolerance policy on spam. I have used the feature on many occasions and all the spammers i flagged are still there! perhaps someone could explain if this current flag user feature is effective in eradicating spam! |
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Sponsor | | CastorQuinn | Nov 19, 2007 12:27am | The tools are working - I don't know why people keep thinking that being flagged as a spammer means you'll be insta--nuked. It just means dev attention, not dev Weapons of Mass Destruction. Telling someone to stop spamming is a good enough result for me, if they then stop - and many do, from what I've seen.
It's also worth noticing the difference between forum spam and blog spam. Forum spam can be dealt with by group owners. They have the tools to boot a spammer if they want to use them. If they don't ... well, that's up to each individual group owner. |
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Sponsor | | anitab | Nov 19, 2007 12:29am | i know i have mentioned this before.. just cant find the link...
but having a "flag as spammer" link in forums would be useful.
i think the consensus was that it would look "messy".
however, in situations like this.. it would help the devs track the spam activity. |
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Sponsor | | CastorQuinn | Nov 19, 2007 12:31am | I'd be nervous of that if it were available to anyone other than mods, as the sheer number of clicks would unbalance the system.
But yeah, if someone needs to ban someone from their group for spamming, having the option to "ban for spam" as opposed to regular banning would be helpful I am sure. |
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Sponsor | | CH | Nov 19, 2007 12:35am | 3: I concur. I'll raise a request for exactly that - so that "report spammer" for posting in the forums follows the same process as elsewhere (a process, incidentally, that sees us reviewing and dealing with spammers on a daily basis).
I'm minded to consider that this facility should be offered to mods and owners only. We have considerable freedom in our groups: dealing with spammers is a responsibility that comes with that freedom.
For the record: where employed, the flagging system is working bloody well. It will work even better when the uptake spreads to more of our membership - and the real effect will come from the message that the community sends to spammers: "we don't want you here".
These are bloody good tools. Please do use them, and encourage others to use them also. |
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Sponsor | | anitab | Nov 19, 2007 12:36am | 4: ofcourse just for mods/group owners.
and that is an even better idea.
but then there should be a reason indicated for all bannings.
perhaps we should even insert the reason for banning when the warning email is sent to the stumbler?
(sorry, slightly off topic)
5: thanks. perhaps i have mentioned it informally and not on here. |
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Sponsor | | CH | Nov 19, 2007 12:39am | perhaps we should even insert the reason for banning when the warning email is sent to the stumbler?
They get the message, whatever the copy employed ;o) |
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Sponsor | | CastorQuinn | Nov 19, 2007 12:39am | No, that's a good direction to take this feature discussion, I like that. "Banned for harassment", "Banned for obscenity" - so long as it's clear that the first recourse of all owners must be to discuss it with the person and make sure they understand that it's not okay to do that, and to stop or they will be banned. Same goes for spam: it's not always clear whether posting a link to your own blog in a group is allowed or not - some groups actively seek this sort of content, others don't care. So this feature should be coupled with maybe a guideline for group owners, perhaps.
But yep, Ban for [reason] seems good. |
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Sponsor | | CH | Nov 19, 2007 12:41am | I like: "....for breach of terms. I respectfully direct you to our TOS page. If you have any questions after reading them, please do contact us".
*g* |
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Sponsor | | anitab | Nov 19, 2007 12:59am | | i like "please stop spamming", but i guess your approach is more diplomatic. *g* |
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