Stop the Spammers

1. 72

   livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

   I think HP should put some sore of restriction on posting to the forums to keep people from joining just to post their spam.
   
   New hubbers should have to at least publish One hub of original content before having access to the forums.  I'm sure this will not eliminate all the spammers but it may slow them down a bit.
   
   Just look at the posts of "desire500." This person signs up and within 40 minutes has posted the same spam to dozens of threads.  This needs to be addressed!

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2. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   I understand your frustration with the spammers. But sometimes people need help finishing their first hub and post questions. I'd hate to see them penalized because of the spammers.

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3. 67

   darksideposted 14 years ago

   This has been brought up before.
   
   But as Nellie has pointed out, it causes problems for those who honestly need our help.
   
   I think if HubPages HQ deputised trusted Hubbers (as volunteer moderators) in different timezones to combat the pure spam posts (and leave the flame wars and other ToS infringements to HubPage Staff) then we could see the crap deleted within moments of it hitting the forum.

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   1. 64

      BristolBoyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That would be a very good idea in my experience.  I am sure there would be many who would volunteer to do this for free or at a low pay just to see Hubpages improve, which would probably be less than Hubpages would pay staff to do it anyway.

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4. 72

   livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

   I agree with that but then maybe brand new memebers should only be allowed to post in the two threads that are set up for them... the Need Help thread and the Knowledge Exchange thread. 
   
   Nothing is stopping them from searching the threads and reading all the help that is out there or by reading hubs that have been written on nearly every subject related to HP... They can also start with the FAQ
   
   I'm all for helping legitimate hubbers as I have needed help when I first started here.

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5. 60

   HealthCare Basicsposted 14 years ago

   Have you seen the forum: What is your pets name? poster Desire5000........ I believe that is the spam you are talking about.

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6. 69

   diplessposted 14 years ago

   @ darkside thats a great idea, as these sites grow and there are more and more posts, you are going to need more eyes to spot them. Take trusted hubbers and give them the power too pot these spammers!

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7. 58

   Mrvoodooposted 14 years ago

   Personally I dislike the idea of 'trusted' hubbers or moderators outside of the HP staff team as I have seen this abused many times in other forums. 
   
   HP staff as moderators will only ban users or posts that could possibly have a detrimental effect on HPs financially or tarnish their image.  Trusted hubbers would be those who have been around using the site for a long period of time and who have built up strong alliances, friendships and opinions of their own about how HPs should be run (not necessarily in keeping with HPs TOS).
   
   * You argue with my good friend = you're banned.
   * You're opinion differs from mine on this topic = you're banned.
   etc.
   
   These sort of actions may be a rarity but would still become  more commonplace (in my opinion) than with only HP staff moderating, like it or not everybody is biased one way or another.

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   1. 67

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Did you read my suggestion?
      
      It said that SPAM threads get deleted. And "leave the flame wars and other ToS infringements to HubPage Staff".

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      1. 58

         Mrvoodooposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         You're correct I didn't read it as thoroughly as I should have, was just against the general idea of 'trusted' hubbers, my bad, sorry.
         
         But if you gave these trusted hubbers the power to delete spam, would they not also have the power to delete whatever they chose to?  One mans rubbish is another mans treasure.
         
         Perhaps a system where if a post was flagged/reported by say 10 individual Hubbers as spam it would automatically be removed could work.

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         1. 82

            shibashakeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            This could be very dangerous as I could just get 10 friends and have the power to remove any Forum post I didn't like. Similarly, others could do the same and well ... the Forums would end up being a ghost town

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            1. 58

               Mrvoodooposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Very true, I just thought that 10 might be a high enough number to avoid the whole friends ganging up scenario.  I for one do not have 10 friends (on HubPages or anywhere else)
               
               Anyways, just a suggestion.

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         2. 67

            darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            They would have the power to do so.
            
            But that's where the trust comes into it.
            
            I'm sure there are numerous Hubbers who could be trusted to delete just the spam. To go outside those bounds would see them banned.
            
            Keep in mind that this isn't about people with such a power moderating regular hubbers who are misbehaving, being overly promotional or being rude. It's about deleting clear cut spam that hits the forum from new registrations that are barely hours old, if not minutes old.
            
            And if not delete it, then be able to move the spam into a hidden sub-forum.

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8. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   I'm not in favor of "trusted" hubbers regulating other hubbers either. There really isn't much that happens in a forum that can't wait a few hours.

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9. 78

   cashmereposted 14 years ago

   The Hubpages staff is qualified enough to catch and delete these threads. I'm sure they will do something about this latest abuser as well.

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10. 72

    relacheposted 14 years ago

    Sure the HubPages staff are qualified enough to catch and delete these threads, but you seem to have not grasped just how this site works.  The staff (all four of them) only looks at things the community flags, AND the staff does not work on weekends.  This has become apparent to the spammers who have begun a pattern of descending on the site starting Friday night.
    
    I think that if they had some of their staff take off a few weekdays and work on weekends instead, or hire some weekend staff just to keep up with the stuff flagged by the community, this would resolve the issue.

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11. 57

    Dame Scribeposted 14 years ago

    I 2nd that e-motion, Relache! I noticed that pattern also and was my 1st thought these past 2 wkends, lol. Our HP team can maybe rotate on wkends to check for flags...wkends are almost a dread now to get hit with spam

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12. 59

    countrywomenposted 14 years ago

    I usually post this smiley

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    1. 57

       dingdongposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       And, I hope you won't forget to make use of the Report link

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13. 72

    livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

    The report link is only useful on the weekdays. As Relache stated the HP staffers don't work weekends.

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14. 0

    Béla Mongyiposted 14 years ago

    What if you just ignore the spams...
    Actually I consider threads started on ridiculous topics just as spammy.

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    1. 57

       dingdongposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       We can't be like that always, they post like bots. Many posts within few minutes of joining the site!!!

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