Limit amount of threads new members can create

[C DM]

I think the point is, why bother, since the net result will be the essentially the same number of spam posts but users now having to do more reporting to capture them. At least this way by not having a throttle most spammers can be caught by a single report.

All throttling will do is make it harder to report them. And that means the spammers win.

If some of the more disruptive cases can be diminished seems that like that can be worthwhile.

I mean by the same logic why bother with the existing limitations in time between posts and reports, for example? Or many other things in life that don't prevent everything or only help with just certain circumstances and nothing else?

 

[TiggrToo]

If some of the more disruptive cases can be diminished seems that like that can be worthwhile.

I mean by the same logic why bother with the existing limitations in time between posts and reports, for example? Or many other things in life that don't prevent everything or only help with just certain circumstances and nothing else?

Because it won't make any difference to the spammers. They'll adapt and just make it harder for us to report them. I get the intent of your suggestion, just that in reality you have to understand that these people 'employ' workers for a few cents a day to create accounts and spam forums.

Limiting users will not stop the spammers or the number of posts they create. They're like cockroaches, block one method and they'll exploit another...

 

[C DM]

Because it won't make any difference to the spammers. They'll adapt and just make it harder for us to report them. I get the intent of your suggestion, just that in reality you have to understand that these people 'employ' workers for a few cents a day to create accounts and spam forums.

Limiting users will not stop the spammers or the number of posts they create. They're like cockroaches, block one method and they'll exploit another...

But it can limit the more extreme disruptive cases like the one that prompted this thread and has happened a few times since then.

Perhaps some other methods can come around to circumvent that, but perhaps not as much and this particular more disruptive case might be mostly addressed. Simply saying it's not worth it because maybe some might still find a way to work around it doesn't really make it not worthwhile just by the virtue of that. Some people can find ways to get around swear filters on these forums, and some in fact do, but it hasn't made it so that those filters would get disabled as they are still there to address or at least reduce the more obvious/common cases.

 

[TiggrToo]

But it can limit the more extreme disruptive cases like the one that prompted this thread and has happened a few times since then.

Perhaps some other methods can come around to circumvent that, but perhaps not as much and this particular more disruptive case might be mostly addressed. Simply saying it's not worth it because maybe some might still find a way to work around it doesn't really make it not worthwhile just by the virtue of that. Some people can find ways to get around swear filters on these forums, and some in fact do, but it hasn't made it so that those filters would get disabled as they are still there.

How would it have limited it? It takes these spammers just a few more moments to create accounts. Right now they don't need to do most don't. Makes it easy for us to report them.

Enforce these new rules and they'll adapt and start creating multiple accounts to then carry on the exact same thing. We'll have the same level of spam, but now harder to report it.

So, just what has been achieved by this? Answer - more work by the users in reporting spam. And that's it.

Your suggestion won't make a squat bit of difference to the spammers - they're used to it.

Listen, I'm bowing out of this conversation since we're getting nowhere assist from going around in a circle. One things' for certain though and that's that, based on the replies from the mods here, nothing is going to change regarding this.

 

[C DM]

How would it have limited it? It takes these spammers just a few more moments to create accounts. Right now they don't need to do most don't. Makes it easy for us to report them.

Enforce these new rules and they'll adapt and start creating multiple accounts to then carry on the exact same thing. We'll have the same level of spam, but now harder to report it.

So, just what has been achieved by this? Answer - more work by the users in reporting spam. And that's it.

Your suggestion won't make a squat bit of difference to the spammers - they're used to it.

Listen, I'm bowing out of this conversation since we're getting nowhere assist from going around in a circle. One things' for certain though and that's that, based on the replies from the mods here, nothing is going to change regarding this.

On the other hand given the drive by nature of most of the spam plenty of them likely wouldn't bother creating new accounts once the one they tried automatically got stopped by flood protection and then banned manually (as they do now).

None of this is really to change much for the spammers, simply just another thing to help keep the forums a bit cleaner to avoid some of the more disruptive cases. Plenty of filtering and rules are already in place to deal with spam and the like, despite the fact that spammers are still at it nonetheless.

Whether or not anything might happen as a result of this discussion that's a different question. Perhaps it won't, perhaps it will, perhaps it might be something in-between. But the discussion can still worthwhile for those who might care or be interested.

That said, I understand that in your opinion what's being discussed here is not worthwhile.

 

[S.B.G]

Some of y’all are making a mountain out of a mole hill with this one.

Choose your battles more wisely.

 

[C DM]

Some of y’all are making a mountain out of a mole hill with this one.

Choose your battles more wisely.

Isn't this just a discussion?

 

[C DM]

Looks like the same type of spammer is back having posted 10 threads in 9 minutes in the iPhone forum.

For some reason though (thankfully) the user stopped after the 10th thread. Perhaps some sort of flooding protections have actually been put into place recently, or maybe the user got distracted by something else or actually decided to only make 10 threads (although given the rate at which that the user was posting, and the past history of those type of spammers, that doesn't seem as likely).

 

[Krayzkat]

Looks like the same type of spammer is back having posted 10 threads in 9 minutes in the iPhone forum.

For some reason though (thankfully) the user stopped after the 10th thread. Perhaps some sort of flooding protections have actually been put into place recently, or maybe the user got distracted by something else or actually decided to only make 10 threads (although given the rate at which that the user was posting, and the past history of those type of spammers, that doesn't seem as likely).

Maybe the spammer saw this thread and started laughing

 

[C DM]

Looks like the same type of spam is back once again: 25 new threads in the span of half an hour, junking up most of the first page of the iPhone forum (pretty much just like the last handful of times).

 

[maflynn]

Looks like the same type of spam is back once again: 25 new threads in the span of half an hour, junking up most of the first page of the iPhone forum (pretty much just like the last handful of times).

And just like they'r gone

 

[C DM]

And just like they'r gone

They definitely are based on great moderation work. That said, they did needlessly junk up a good amount of the iPhone section for a couple of hours nonetheless.

 

[C DM]

Once again the same type of spam is back in the same iPhone forum. So far 10 threads in 20 minutes.

Even flood protection aside, seems like perhaps some filtering might be good given that it's basically the same spam in the same place time after time.

 

[bopajuice]

That's spam and its been taken care of.

As a discussion forum, I think its bad form to limit discussions based on join date - just my $.02

You posted this a year ago. And as of 30 minutes ago the same type of SPAM has started again and is continuing...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

You posted this a year ago. And as of 30 minutes ago the same type of SPAM has started again and is continuing...

View attachment 766114

I would suggest that you report one of these posts, (as I don't read the language, I can't tell whether they are duplicates scattered across the forum, or a single poster spreading stuff tweaked to each thread) and while doing so remind the mods that this type of spam appears to be infesting the place; once alerted, they'll attend to it.

 

[maflynn]

You posted this a year ago. And as of 30 minutes ago the same type of SPAM has started again and is continuing...

View attachment 766114

It was dealt with by the moderation staff - problem solved

 

[Apple fanboy]

It was dealt with by the moderation staff - problem solved

Thank you! We like to keep you busy.

 

[C DM]

It was dealt with by the moderation staff - problem solved

That it was. And a big thank you to the staff for that work, as always.

That said, it is done basically in a more reactive way rather than a potentially better proactive way, in particular when it comes to the same type of repetitive spam that seems to keep on coming up time and time again in a similar fashion essentially.

 

[C DM]

And yet again essentially the same exact type of spam is back taking over the first page of threads in the iPhone forum.

This time things are at 15 new threads in the span of about 10 minutes.

 

[C DM]

And yet again essentially the same exact type of spam is back taking over the first page of threads in the iPhone forum.

This time things are at 15 new threads in the span of about 10 minutes.

Sure enough the "regular" spamming of the iPhone forum is back with basically the same exact spam once again.

Looks like at the moment we are at about 10 threads in the span of just about 5 minutes.

Not sure what normal use would really result in something like that in the sense of flooding protection limits, if they were enacted, negatively affecting an actual real user in some way. Especially given the continued spamming of basically the exact same kind that keeps on coming back over and over.

 

[millerj123]

Sure enough the "regular" spamming of the iPhone forum is back with basically the same exact spam once again.

Looks like at the moment we are at about 10 threads in the span of just about 5 minutes.

Not sure what normal use would really result in something like that in the sense of flooding protection limits, if they were enacted, negatively affecting an actual real user in some way. Especially given the continued spamming of basically the exact same kind that keeps on coming back over and over.

So...did you report them?

 

[C DM]

So...did you report them?

Of course.

Unfortunately it's all still there taking up a good chunk of the front page of the iPhone forum (with close to 25 threads that were created in the span of about half an hour).

 

[millerj123]

Of course.

Unfortunately it's all still there taking up a good chunk of the front page of the iPhone forum (with close to 25 threads that were created in the span of about half an hour).

Yeah, me too.

 

[C DM]

Seems like the iPhone forum was "hit" again today. And although it was cleaned up after some time, it was there long enough to disrupt things and even to lead various people to create threads about the clutter (sort of adding to the clutter, in an indirect sense of sorts).
[doublepost=1537761742][/doublepost]Looks like the iOS Apps forum is currently flooded with over 50 new threads that are spam, from a user that just started posting them about 1 hour and 45 minutes ago. Sure they'll get cleaned up eventually, but they still unnecessarily take over a forum nonetheless.

 

[willmtaylor]

Seems like the iPhone forum was "hit" again today. And although it was cleaned up after some time, it was there long enough to disrupt things and even to lead various people to create threads about the clutter (sort of adding to the clutter, in an indirect sense of sorts).
[doublepost=1537761742][/doublepost]Looks like the iOS Apps forum is currently flooded with over 50 new threads that are spam, from a user that just started posting them about 1 hour and 45 minutes ago. Sure they'll get cleaned up eventually, but they still unnecessarily take over a forum nonetheless.

Currently some Arabic spam hitting TVOS forum as well.