Combating Spamposts
That_Annoying_Kid
Sire of Titles Join Date: 2003-03-01 Member: 14175Members, Constellation
Sire of Titles Join Date: 2003-03-01 Member: 14175Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">LM style, would it work here?</div> It's 4th period, and I'm supposed to be doing <a href='http://www.lunixmonster.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=568&st=0&#entry8630' target='_blank'>CISCO</a> but I already did some 3rd period [link] and this is my TA period, and my actually CISCO class is fith, so I take this time now to make a discussion topic on something that I have been analyzing in my head as of late:
Dude, this are spam thread
I like pie
Lemon drink is good
olo +1
Looking at the general trend of things, the amount of "vigilante justice" in attempting to get threads locked has increased. However I have seen many a great thread dragged down becuase one person cries wolf [or spam] and the rest follow suit. The lunixmonster forums have an interesting way of dealing with posts of that nature, an admin goes in to the CP and lowers the offending persons postcount by 5, for ever peice of spam. Since people have strange allegiences to post count, a loss of five posts is usually enough to convince people to use the large head, and not the small one when posting. When it boils down to it, the people who get to decide what is a spamthread is the people with the power to lock, the "report this post" button exists to give the masses a tool to call attention to stuff that is in need of locking, cleaning etc. However most people these days just go "+1 before it gets locked" or "This is a spam thread" and the thread goes down the tube. But that doesn't look good on the forums, and it also makes serious talk hard.
Do you think this way mentioned above successfully combat spampost?
Although the admins already have lots of fun stuff to do on the forums this would be something else they have to do so it would make their job a bit more tedious, lets shy away from discussing that aspect for now and keep it on the actually policy of -5 for a +1
I think it would be effective becuase people will get the message, and when it comes to the **** measuring contest that is postcount people will not want to throw away five posts. I doubt this would incure RIAA effect [make examples of the few to persaid the many but wind up only strengthining resolve] becuase most people know not to spam, but it is starting to become exceptable social conduct on the boards.
[edit]
fixed some grammar, and provided a <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64514&st=15' target='_blank'>example</a> of spamposting
[/edit]
Dude, this are spam thread
I like pie
Lemon drink is good
olo +1
Looking at the general trend of things, the amount of "vigilante justice" in attempting to get threads locked has increased. However I have seen many a great thread dragged down becuase one person cries wolf [or spam] and the rest follow suit. The lunixmonster forums have an interesting way of dealing with posts of that nature, an admin goes in to the CP and lowers the offending persons postcount by 5, for ever peice of spam. Since people have strange allegiences to post count, a loss of five posts is usually enough to convince people to use the large head, and not the small one when posting. When it boils down to it, the people who get to decide what is a spamthread is the people with the power to lock, the "report this post" button exists to give the masses a tool to call attention to stuff that is in need of locking, cleaning etc. However most people these days just go "+1 before it gets locked" or "This is a spam thread" and the thread goes down the tube. But that doesn't look good on the forums, and it also makes serious talk hard.
Do you think this way mentioned above successfully combat spampost?
Although the admins already have lots of fun stuff to do on the forums this would be something else they have to do so it would make their job a bit more tedious, lets shy away from discussing that aspect for now and keep it on the actually policy of -5 for a +1
I think it would be effective becuase people will get the message, and when it comes to the **** measuring contest that is postcount people will not want to throw away five posts. I doubt this would incure RIAA effect [make examples of the few to persaid the many but wind up only strengthining resolve] becuase most people know not to spam, but it is starting to become exceptable social conduct on the boards.
[edit]
fixed some grammar, and provided a <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64514&st=15' target='_blank'>example</a> of spamposting
[/edit]
Comments
but yeah, knocking postcounts down by [5*n] works
although, on this scale it could become quite tricky. unless a whole division of forumites dedicated to the knocking of postcounts was formed
but yeah, knocking postcounts down by [5*n] works
although, on this scale it could become quite tricky. unless a whole division of forumites dedicated to the knocking of postcounts was formed <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
*dons uniform of justice*
In an ironic twist of fate it would appear that my own post posting in support of penalizing spam is in fact spam.
If one is found spamming excessively, I find that temp bans are much more effective than lowering post counts. Given what you say is true, TAK, then just eliminating post counts altogether would be the ultimate method to reduce spammers, correct? Reducing post counts seems a little too whimsical and futile for my liking.
Maybe if internet forums, especially gaming related forums, weren't populated primarily by teenage males, it wouldn't be so much of a problem. But they are, and it is! It's just the old 'my car is faster/my video card has more ram/I can rack up more kills/I am just better' attitude. In other words, human nature. And -5 sounds fine to me, although you <i>would</i> need an army to look out for spam posts.
I've also considered more drastic measures. Example: instead of lowering by 5*#, using a formula more like "(an arbitrary to-be-decided-constant, perhaps even 0) + ((# of distractingly useless posts in the thread)!)". If you're unfamiliar with the ! operator I'm speaking of, open up Calculator in Start->accessories, set "view" to "scientific," put any small number in, and press the "n!" button. 1! is just 1. 2! is just 2. 3! already jumps up to 6, 4! to 24, 5! to 120, 6! is 720, and so on. Ramps up faster than n^2. The formula allows minor spammage without blowing punishment out of proportion, but simultaneously slaps around notorious spammers.
Personally I'd prefer positive reinforcement instead of negative reinforcement. For example, I've thought about having a separate statistic instead of post count, a much smaller number more indicative of a user's actual positive contributions to the forums. I've seen <a href='http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/' target='_blank'>another forum</a> (no I'm not a member there, though many of my friends are) where their equivalent of our blue tick marks (theirs are green) is based on fellow user's positive or negative votes of individual posts. However, <a href='http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25485&highlight=scares+people+posting' target='_blank'>even they recognize that the system has problems.</a> An equivalent where only moderators or admins can bestow such little points would probably only result in accusations of favoritism and other such issues.
If we could find the system least likely to have such problems, that'd be great.
I saw Coil recently reset his post count, so I figured I'd do the same. It's about time I start practicing what I preach about postcount meaning nothing.
and yes, i've seen the justification of "look at my post count!! i'm much more experienced, knowledgable, in general a more affable feller than you are!" many a time before. the problem isn't so much that it gives them a perceived sense of power or importance, the problem is that it leads to too much noise between the oh so delicious signals, in the forum..
and.. HEYA guys! so many LMers in this thread <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
nevermind, that would probably just make spam posts longer, heh...
Oh, and post count isn't everything. Cheers, Marik, even though you're a total biter (copycat, for those who didn't read Peanuts). <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Two problems with the suggestion. One, it would take loads of work. Two, the trouble. With this system, mods would, several times each day, point out a specific case that they considered to be spam. Not a thread with multiple posters, but one specific post. What if the poster didn't mean to spam? Is it fair that he's punished for something he thought to be sensible. And even better, what happens when all those people who FEEL they've been judged unfairly start to complain?
Could be a mess.
^^
I'm not worried about spam per say, just the fact that it kills good threads
For example if someone is talking about the new Combat changes I could yell out CHEEZ and everyone would find it funny.
On a side note: TAK you make excuses to spam to easy.
Exactly. And if a post-count penalty for spam is introduced, and it leads all the spammers to one low-count competition, we can boot all of them at once. JOY!!!
But seriously, back on topic. I don't think it would work since the definition of "spam" is too abstract to be punishable without either being abused or being percieved as abused, both of which will mess up the boards more than spam..
I'd agree with you, but mine is statistically the <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?act=Members&max_results=10&sort_key=posts&sort_order=desc' target='_blank'>biggest</a>, and when again will I be able to say that about <i>anything</i>? <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Seriously, I'm just popping in here to tell you that we're now testing the 'reduce posts per spam' solution. Let's see how well it works out and go on from there.
it will be very interesting to see how it works out, be sure to keep us informed
with those stats you could probably wield a two-handed sword of ragdoll slaying +23, with 30% chance of finding more money on the street, +15% resistance to butter-based damage and +20 to your lockage ability XD
I'd say I'd hope it works, but not every spammer posts to boost their postcount; some of them just enjoying spamming for spamsake <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
with those stats you could probably wield a two-handed sword of ragdoll slaying +23, with 30% chance of finding more money on the street, +15% resistance to butter-based damage and +20 to your lockage ability XD <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Seeing our joint opinion of stats in RPGs, I should ban you right now XP
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I'd say I'd hope it works, but not every spammer posts to boost their postcount; some of them just enjoying spamming for spamsake <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--><!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
True, but those tend to break rules fast enough to be but a temporary problem...
Speaking of e-wang comparison: <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=65202&st=15' target='_blank'>http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/in...pic=65202&st=15</a> <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
lol just realised that the last 1000 or so pages include people with 2- posts <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='color:white'>***Moved.***</span>
yes people like myself get in the ol +1 thing.. but yeah... its the people with like less then 100 posts who start the things half the time.. i understand they are new and want to make an impression but yeah.. killing that postcount wont hurt them
i for one.. am proud of my posts.. but yeah.. if they were wiped.. and i was reset to 0. i honestly wouldnt care
go ahead coil od marik please by all means use me as a test dummy <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> drop my count!
^^
I'm not worried about spam per say, just the fact that it kills good threads <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
oh god that was funny.
But yea I think someone stated something before. i really get annoyed when some people are trying to add useful posts to something, then someone will come along who doesnt know/care about what is being discussed and so will make a comment such as
I like pants.
Then somene else will follow with
I wear pants.
As nem 0 would say. Dont feed the troll.
Then the entire thread gets locked and ruined for everyone who wanted to post something relevant to the origional topic.
They might value the other sections after a week in there...