Limit age of posts to which new posters can reply

[herulach]

LAtely there seem to be a lot of new posters trying to get their post count up (presumably for scan free shipping) by posting up in fairly old threads with 'me too' type comments, or suggestions on parts when OP has long since bought the system etc.

I appreciate theres a fine balance between encouraging new members and stopping whatever this is (I'm not sure you'd call it spam) but would it be possible to limit the number of old posts a new user can reply to? Say 2 threads with last reply more than a month ago in their first 25 posts?

[Lil-Diabo]

Part of the rules say that you need to make 20 constructive posts.
So I'm assuming that when they just post those type of comments they shouldn't really get counted?

I don't know if anyone actually goes to check the posts though

[jimbouk]

Sounds like a good idea, but would be a nightmare to implement from my experience of message boards.

I think that's what the report button is for though. People's post counts can be dropped or reset I think if they are guilty of the above.

[jimborae]

It really does seem to be becoming a problem of late, I routinely now just ignore posts where I can see the same user posting in multiple threads (some old, some more recent) all in the space of about of about 20 mins etc. And if I'm doing then I'm sure others are and that means that some genuine posts will get lost amongst the diarrhea which is a shame.

[AETAaAS]

I tend to use the 'New Posts' link quite a bit so I can easily spot when it happens and it has done a few times since I've been here. Mods have cleaned up most of them but I imagine it's tedious work. Maybe threads can auto-lock after 2 weeks or a month? I've seen it implemented in other forums but not sure how well it would work here.

[Agent]

It's not just the age of the threads, but the content as well. Some people tend to put a bit of effort in reword existing posts, but they ultimately add no new information.

I'm not a fan of older threads being locked based on age - there has been too many times where people have genuinely added new, useful information to them. But, the issue of 20-post-drivebys seem to be getting much higher.

A minimum sign-up time before free shipping might help, it seems to on other forums.

[g8ina]

The Mods have good eyes for posts just like this, but a report would not be unwelcome, just in case we miss em Just dont reply to their post !

They are dealt with !

[herulach]

I wasn't moaning, as I'm aware its dealt with usually pretty promptly. BCF have a 'cobweb' message that appears when you're replying to old threads, don't know how customer their software is though and if it would be easy to implement, it would certainly help with other people accidentally replying to old threads.

[Agent]

They use phpBB, but writing something like that for VBB wouldn't be hard.

I'd assume there are already plugins that display a message if a thread is over X days old. Might help

[Saracen]

We've discussed this before, but the conclusion was .... too much effort for too little return.

Besides, the 20-post rule is, as I understand it, a joint decision between HEXUS and Scan, and to be blunt, neither I nor any other forum mods were party to that discussion, or decision.

And there's joint responsibility for monitoring that.

First, HEXUS mods can and do delete anything too spammy. So if I see 20 posts saying "great", or "well done", I delete them. An odd post like that, especially them existing members? No problem. A barrage of them from a new member is blatant spamming for Scan's offer and spamming is a moderating matter.

BUT .... then there's Scan. It's entirely up to them, for their own business motives, how fussy they want to be about the quality of those 20 posts. They can reject 'spam', and I know that sometimes, they do. But it's their right to decide whether to reject, and perhaps permanently lise a customer, or not. It's not a role for forum mods to presume what Scan want.

So it's mixed. I WILL act on blatant spamming, but won't do it unless I judge it blatant spam. Then, Scan can honour free shipping or not, according to their own criteria.

But the next question is subjective. When is a post spam?

Suppose someone like me joined, and posted 20 lengthy posts, like this one, all in an hour or two .... is that spam? And for the wags out there, careful how you answer that, I'll be noting names.

So, a block of one or two word answers from a new member is probably spam, but 20 considered pists provably isn't. Somewhere in-between is the dividing line, but it's hard to define. So it's a judgement for each mod. We try to be consistent, but there's no way to ensure that.

My personal attitude is that posts don't have to be long to be a contribution, but it takes very little more time or effort to write 20 posts of a sentence or two, that actualky say something, that 20 semantically null one or two word posts. I expect to see some effort to actually contribute, and I'll delete blatant spamming, but I don't want to lose constructive members any more than I imagine Scan want to lose good customers.

So .... I do exercise a considerable degree of tolerance over the 20-post rule, and only act on cases that seem to be overt pee-taking.


Note: There's a halfway situation too. I'll ignore a few null posts IF most of them are contributing. If there's too many null posts but some contributing ones, I'll delete just the null ones. So 20 posts might see 8, 10, 15 deleted if they're the spammy ones. 20 spammy posts will see all 20 deleted.

And actual spam, of course, in the sense of the drivel we all see around (not the stuff real people post for 20 posts) , gets deleted on sight and the account banned too.

[g8ina]

Note: There's a halfway situation too. I'll ignore a few null posts IF most of them are contributing. If there's too many null posts but some contributing ones, I'll delete just the null ones. So 20 posts might see 8, 10, 15 deleted if they're the spammy ones. 20 spammy posts will see all 20 deleted.

This from me too.

[ik9000]

It really does seem to be becoming a problem of late, I routinely now just ignore posts where I can see the same user posting in multiple threads (some old, some more recent) all in the space of about of about 20 mins etc. And if I'm doing then I'm sure others are and that means that some genuine posts will get lost amongst the diarrhea which is a shame.

I don't think seeing who has posted on lots in a row in a short period is a good benchmark for spam. I often dip in and out the forums. So respond to a batch of threads then leave and revisit a few hours later/next day etc. It's usual for me to post on 5-10 threads in a row depending on what's in the new+subscribed thread lists. And poor CAT would never get a look-in, he responds to so many a day...

Someone restarting 6month dead threads with "me too" 5 times in a row, is however IMO. I think the OP has a really good idea. Maybe there needs to be a half-way house where a new user restarting lots of long-dead threads e.g. more than 3 needs to have his posts reviewed before those threads become active to other people. I'd happily volunteer to assist with that.

[peterb]

I routinely now just ignore posts where I can see the same user posting in multiple threads (some old, some more recent) all in the space of about of about 20 mins etc.

Please don't ignore them, if you think that posts are not constructive or the user is post-count pimping (PCP!), please use the report post button. (You only need to report one!) Please don't add 'post reported' as it disguises the issue!

I don't think seeing who has posted on lots in a row in a short period is a good benchmark for spam.

Very true, which is why we review all the posts and the context when we get a suspected PCP. Sometimes we will send them a PM, or delete pointless posts, but reports are not ignored, even if it appears no action has been taken. I try to provide feedback to a post reporter if I happen to be the one to action it, but sometimes that isn't possible.

And in general...

For similar reasons, don't post a narky coment aimed at the poster - again it tends to hid patterns when we scan the boards, and can be off putting to genuine new users

We are reasonably adept at spotting post-count pimpers, but we also rely on a reported posts as we cannot be on the boards 24x7 (although there is often a mod around a lot of the time )

We have said it before, but it is worth re-iterating, that to some extent everyone is a moderator - just some of us have the superpowers to do something about. it.

And so a very big "Thank you" to everyone who helps us to keep HEXUS spam free.

[deejayburnout]

I think It would be a very good idea to control spammy posts.

Could it not be more constructive to the community to have the post count set to a minimum of 50 say.

It might tend to put those off who really have nothing constructive to say. However I could lead to even more spammers.

What to do.

[Saracen]

I think It would be a very good idea to control spammy posts.

Could it not be more constructive to the community to have the post count set to a minimum of 50 say.

It might tend to put those off who really have nothing constructive to say. However I could lead to even more spammers.

What to do.

As I said above, the arrangement is an arranfement between HEXUS and Scan. I wasn't party to that deal, but I assume, seeing as the incentive (free postage) is provided by Scan, the level of 20 is set at a point of agreement by HEXUS management, and Scan. And therefore, I assume, changing it would need agreement between them.

And besides, a harder line on spam opens up some issues risking claims of over-harsh moderating, etc. It's a fine line to walk.

[peterb]

AETAaAS:

There is no point in our deleting SPAM if you are going going to quote it! I have therefore deleted it!

That type of spam is not unusual, but it is testimony to the spam reporters that it is very rarely seen on the boards because we get it first!

I have just seen your spam report (and others) so thank you for that!