Stop the forum SPAM

1. 71

   livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

   I suggest that HP prevent any registered user from posting a new topic to the forums if they have no hubs.  They can comment but not start new threads.
   
   Most forums that I use have this restriction in place.

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   1. 64

      Dale Mazurekposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That is the best suggestion I have heard all year.  I just leave when the spammers start and come back a little later to see if they are gone.
      
      Dale

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   2. 77

      starme77posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      yeah good idea , but will it help? I mean if all the spammers need is one hub in order to post new topics it shouldnt take them long to throw some crummy hub together and still be able to spam

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      1. 71

         livewithrichardposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         No, we'll never stop the spammers but we can limit them.  I only brought this up because of what happened on here this morning.  Some Gucci person went and spammed every single forum topic and just cluttered up everything for a little while. That sort of thing happens mostly because they know when the staff is working. With such a small staff they can't watch the forums 24/7 so the hubber community has to police itself.

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2. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   Would make the sock puppets put up at least a token hub too.

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   1. 59

      Ron Montgomeryposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      They could require the hub to attain a minimum rating.

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   2. 71

      livewithrichardposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I would think that the only people that would be against this are the spammers and the sock puppets 

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   3. 60

      caravalhophotoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Okay...I feel real stupid ...what is a sock puppet?

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      1. 60

         The10DollarMarkposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Spammers. Since they're usually promoting affiliate products and thus are "controlled" (like a sock poppet) into spamming.
         
         Those people would be very likely to just copy paste someone's article and be like "there's my first hub". But that's why a minimum score requirement'd be put in place.
         
         And @ Relache, having a forum just for 0 hubbers is a great idea. Would also make it easier to track down spam.

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         1. 60

            caravalhophotoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you for the explaination...basically if the topic hubber has a 0 hub count and has just joined...do not patronize the topic put forth in the forum... got my vote.

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            1. 60

               blue dogposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               of course that leads to the legitimate 0 hubbers needing legitimate advice/help being corralled with the illegitimate 0 hubbers.  which then leads to: how many experienced hubbers would frequent the 0 hubbers forum to help those needing help?

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               1. 71

                  livewithrichardposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  No I think "legitimate" 0 hubbers would be directed to the FAQ or the SEARCH function of the forums to find an answer that has probably been asked to death on here. If they try to post without any hubs a message will pop up directing them where to look first.
                  
                  At the very least, I'd like to see a limit on how many threads a 0 hubber can post.  This will limit spammers (not prevent them) but also limit the sock puppets from stirring things up.

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                  1. 60

                     blue dogposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     sounds good. 
                     
                     about the sock puppets, why not eliminate them entirely, painful that it would be for some?  they bring nothing of value to the site.

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                     1. 85

                        Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                        It would be difficult to do, because some Hubbers have multiple accounts for legitimate reasons.

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                        1. 60

                           blue dogposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                           thus the pain.

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                           1. 56

                              yoshi97posted 14 years agoin reply to this

                              Actually, I recommended a while back that every member be allowed one persona on the forums and multiple personas for hubs.

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                     2. 75

                        Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                        Agreed, one account per living viable person...I'm not sure how the hubstaff could sort through them though. Computer savvy people can fake an e-mail and identity pretty easily now a days.

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         2. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Actually I'm pretty sure sock puppets and spammers aren't the same thing. 
            
            Spammers are people who make posts purely to promote their website.
            
            Sock puppets are second, third or multiple accounts created by existing Hubbers, purely for the sake of arguing on the forums (sometimes with their own alter egos) - sometimes because they think it's terribly clever and funny, but  generally with the aim of deliberately making trouble.

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            1. 75

               Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Thank You very much I understand now.

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      2. 75

         Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Me too though I know what is meant by a sock puppet...what is a 'spammer' exactly?

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3. 66

   Ivorwenposted 14 years ago

   I was thinking the same thing.

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4. 85

   gamergirlposted 14 years ago

   I'm against this idea for one reason alone:
   
   What happens to the newbies who have genuine questions to ask, or need help of some kind and would like to post in the forums, but can't because they don't have a hub published?
   
   Such a decision would, I think, have more of a negative impact than positive.
   
   Also - everyone posting threads about the spammer of the day only serves to help the spam keep flowing.  ;-)

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   1. 60

      The10DollarMarkposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Well the suggestion was to stop posting new threads, not posting to existing threads. They could just find one that's similar to their question and ask there.
      
      Also I imagine that, if we did have some sort of antiposting rules, the person would get a message telling them why they couldn't post. With that message, I would hope they would write at the end something like "PS. If you really need help, check out the following hubs that are bound to answer most of your questions." They'd just really need a kick-butt list of awesome hubs.

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5. 72

   relacheposted 14 years ago

   If people would only take the time to just report the spam, and somehow get it through their skulls NOT TO POST ANY REPLIES TO IT, there would be a lot less spam in the forums because then it would be cleanly deleted. (This is one of my pet peeves)
   
   I think livewithrichard's suggestion has a LOT of creedence to it.  How about personas with no hubs only have a single forum they are allowed to post in?

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   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      This is a great suggestion - perhaps the "Need Help?" one.
      
      I've been on other forums where you can make forum posts but you can't include any links until you've been a member for a period of time, have achieved a certain minimum standard, or  have made a minimum number of posts.

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6. 85

   KCC Big Countryposted 14 years ago

   What a great idea! I agree that having one place someone with 0 hubs can post a thread to would be great.  I also agree that one of my pet peeves is hubbers who respond to spam.  If you simply report it then HP can clean it up.

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7. 61

   Noel Christianposted 14 years ago

   What's with all the haters? Don't you people realize that Spam helped win the war. You take a nice thick slice, brown each side, some fresh rye bread, and a shot of spicy mustard....mmmmm spam.....spam-spam-spam-spam....

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   1. 0

      Crazdwriterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      not that kind of Spam Noel. hehehe oh and welcome to hubpages

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   2. 79

      Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

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8. 0

   Crazdwriterposted 14 years ago

   Would love that too, richard. that would be great! Then we wouldn't have to see it all over the forums.

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9. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   True, occasionally those who have been here a while and have one hub spam the forum, but not often.

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10. 0

    Hikikomoriposted 14 years ago

    The best way to stop spam completely is to have queued posts.
    
    With phpBB forum software, you can set it so that every first comment(s) by a new user must be manually approved by staff before they go live.
    
    I think I'd die without queued posts - they are a lifesaver.

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