"Lurkers"

1. 76

   DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

   Today I denied a comment that was little more than an excuse to put a link to an external website.  Beyond that, they stated that,  "I'd like to share some of your thoughts on my site.."  Of course I e-mailed them to say that was not acceptable, (because who knows what their definition of "some of my thoughts" might be), but that putting link to my article would be okay.
   
   The person commenting is a registered Hub Pages user, (but you'd have to say that fast to sneak it by)!
   
   On their profile page, they show to have been on the site for 6 years, however, there are no hubs; no activity showing elsewhere on the site; have no followers; they are following no one; and have no profile information.  The user name is a dead-giveaway that they are here only for purposes of trying to gain visits/business to their own external website.
   
   I wonder, would it not be in Hub Pages best interests to weed out such bogus accounts?  I mean, I can understand signing up, feeling a bit overwhelmed, and taking a few months to get going.  I certainly went that route. 
   But 6 years???  Come on!  Something is wrong there, and any such "accounts" are surely taking up unnecessary room on the HP servers! Obviously, from my perspective, I have no idea how widespread this problem is, but I can surmise that if there is one, there are others, possibly many others.  I say this because every time I've had to deny this type of bogus "comment," it has been either from such a "user," or from "guest" comments (since disabled). 
   Obviously, some people have gotten around the setting for "only registered Hub Pages users may comment," by activating an account which they have no intention of using save for posting spam external links.
   Inasmuch as the HP automated processes are able to count how many hubs each person has, how long they have been on the site, how many visits, followers, and all the other stats, surely it would be an easy matter to generate an automated e-mail to such "lurkers" informing them that they should, in essence either "sh** or get off the pot."
   I dunno--maybe I'm just being a grumpy old lady today...after all...I did turn 66 yesterday.  LOL

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   1. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Really?  How kind of you.  If someone does that on one of my Hubs, I wouldn't dream of contacting them - they are obviously a spammer and I certainly wouldn't want them to know my email address.  I'd delete the comment and that's that!
      
      
      
      Well, if the account is just sitting there doing nothing, it's not doing anyone any harm - and I suspect HubPages staff have their hands full just keeping up with the spammers who are active. Bear in mind, too, that it wouldn't be easy to identify those accounts - there are people who are members of HubPages because they want to read, not to write.

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      1. 76

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Hmmm....well, yes, I suppose.  But I've done this before, and never had any problems vis-a-vis my e-mail address becoming "visible" to them.  One even answered back with an apology, stating she "did not know," and thanked me for the information.  (They obviously do not read the rules and guidelines upon signup!)
         IMO--(and don't we all have those!)--anyone who signs up only as a reader should at least make a single-sentence profile saying so...but yeah..I know--that's an unrealistic expectation.

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         1. 86

            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Do you ever get "spam" email?  Do you know where it comes from?   The more you give out your email address, whether publicly online or directly to strangers, the more likely it is to fall into the hands of spammers.

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            1. 76

               DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I got a LOT of spam on Yahoo mail...then their mail system itself began being a PITA, so I switched over to g-mail, and get virtually no spam there; their filters seem better.....
               Plus, when I sign anything online--petitions and such--I have a separate, dedicated e-mail address for that. and I don't care how much spam it collects, as I never read it...I just go empty it from time to time.

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               1. 86

                  Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  So, I hope you used that "throwaway" email to correspond with this potential spammer?

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                  1. 76

                     DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Well, no, because there's no way to do that.  When you first e-mail someone via Hub Pages, their e-mail address is not visible to you, so you have no option but to just send the mail that way, which, of course, is linked to your own e-mail associated with Hub Pages.
                     I've never had a problem doing that from here.  99% of my spam comes from unauthorized "sharing" on sites where I am politically active...and that's where I use the 'throwaway' address.

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                     1. 86

                        Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        That's what I thought.   I'm just saying, you may have been lucky so far, but it IS a risk to email people who look as though they may be spammers - like this person.   After all, they may be involved in a variety of spamming activities, such as selling people's email addresses to spam emailers.

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                        1. 76

                           DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                           yes, you raise a good point...however, gmail seems to have a better spam filter than my former Yahoo addy, so I guess it's ok..but, I'll heed your caution in the future.

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                           1. 86

                              Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                              I also have gmail and yes, it does have a better filter than Yahoo (where I also have an address).   
                              
                              However, the gmail filter is SO good that it sometimes catches genuine emails - so it has to be checked every time.  The more spam you have sitting in the Spam folder, the longer it takes to check - so it's still worth trying to minimise spam.

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   2. 70

      Matthew Meyerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Happy belated birthday!
      
      Some people sign up for account merely so they can post comments.
      There is no requirement that users create Hub content.
      
      Please continue to mark any comments that you deem SPAM and moderate your Hubs as well for the same.

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      1. 76

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         OIC .. ok, well, then.  I will continue to delete such comments without comment in the future...However, since they stated that they "wanted to share my thoughts,"  I was concerned about copying without authorization, so I deemed a reply to be required to state that was "not okay" unless via an actual link to my article.
         So--if I mark them as spam, and others do likewise, that will boot them from the site? 
         
         BTW, though; I've noticed that it is still possible to comment as a guest, without an account....but it appears, by way of the language used at the comment box, that it IS required to have an account in order to comment.  (I've explored this before, when not signed in, and it is confusing for anyone not "in the know.")

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   3. 61

      tirelesstravelerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Happy Birthday.  Lots of folks pulled out of HP a couple of years ago, but left their accounts active. They  come back periodically to  lurk.  I noticed someone like that yesterday.  It annoyed me too.

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      1. 76

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Hi, tirelesstraveler,
           Many thanks for the BD wishes. 
         Yes, a lot of folks did pull out...but...did they pull out to that extent?  Deleting all their content, eliminating their profile? Un-following everyone?  And how do you delete any followers you may have?  I did not think that was possible.
         Anyway, this person had a user name along the lines of 'soandsosales'  so I doubt it was a regular or even former Hubber.

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   4. 84

      gmwilliamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Happy birthday, Ms. Lizzy and may you have many more healthy ones.    You call these "hubbers" lurkers; I call them for what they are mysterious hubbers.   Yes, the mysterious hubbers are those who sign on HubPages for quite nefarious reasons.  They have no hubs but sign on to troll hubbers for one reason or another.  Let us say, that their methods and means aren't positive at all!
      
      Beware of the mysterious hubbers.

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      1. 76

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         LOL  love your graphic, gmwilliams!

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   5. 71

      Twilight Lawnsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Many happy returns, my friend.  I have a feeling you are on the ball, and that some of these people above are a little ingenuous.  Please, "Others" don'e be offended, but I was glad to see this topic, and know how irritating it is to go to a Hubber, only to find that he/she is completely invisible, anonymous blah blah blah.

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      1. 76

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you very much TL--

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2. 97

   JessBrazposted 11 years ago

   Happy Belated birthday!
   
   I don't know how HP would go about getting rid of these bogus accounts.. Perhaps the tech wizards might be able to come up with something in the future.
   
   Good for you for emailing them and taking some action! I have never had anyone leave a bogus comment like that on any of my hubs, but a few weeks ago I did have a sudden rise in people following me. I was so excited at first, only to realize that about 10 of the people who signed up to follow me don't seem to have any activity on HP, no profile, etc. etc. I was pretty bummed. I thought my readership was growing, only to realize those people were following me in hopes that I might.. I dunno... purchase something from them? My account isn't very well known, so I don't possibly know what they think they're going to gain by connecting themselves to my HP profile.
   
   Arrrrrggggggg.

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   1. 76

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks very much for the BD wishes,  JessBraz! ;-)

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3. 86

   Suzanne Dayposted 11 years ago

   Just a thought here...maybe the ones who aren't real potential hubbers might be hanging around to get your latest content first before other scrapers as they will be able to see it in notifications etc?

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   1. 76

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That, too, had occurred to me, Suzanne....

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4. 68

   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   Well, some of them will just be readers who needed to sign in to comment on a particular hub, or thought they did. The quickest way to find spammers is via spam reports, IMHO, not profiling certain types pf accounts.

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   1. 76

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I suppose--HP does use very confusing (misleading?) language at the comment box area if you are not signed in.....makes it appear that you MUST have an account in order to comment....(you do not).

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