Spam threads gone wild

[mlee]

Originally Posted by SSE 4 2SS

Many of those names I personally banned, perma ban, and deleted their postings…. Some of the names still show up… when I find the moderated threads, I go in and find the op and ban all of their postings… occasionally I can’t ban every post, and those I will moderate, and then try to get them one at a time… Sometimes t works, sometimes not…

It’s irritating when I log in and see 25 or more threads on one page “moderated.” It certainly takes the wind out of my sails for reading and enjoying the site… I wish deleting and banning was the preference over moderating…

Only you and I see the moderated stuff. But Yeah pretty damn annoying.

I've never put anything into moderation... I always delete the thread and ban the spammer. But just not worth my time anymore.

[mlee]

So I broke my word...

4 clicks and 33 threads deleted and the spammer auto banned.

A few were sitting moderated but needed to be gone.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by mlee

So I broke my word...

4 clicks and 33 threads deleted and the spammer auto banned.

A few were sitting moderated but needed to be gone.

Attachment 1158754

Thank you Mike!! Well done.. Hang in there. One day they just might get tired of being banned and wasting their time posting the crap!

[NoDakZ/28]

Another appreciation post here fellas, thanks for your efforts!

[mlee]

Robert,
I have no idea who keeps moderating posts without banning but this guy's 1st post was moderated and then he just continued to post 30 more threads.

[90503]

Can you explain the meaning and differences of "moderated"? Thanks

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by mlee

Robert,
I have no idea who keeps moderating posts without banning but this guy's 1st post was moderated and then he just continued to post 30 more threads.

I've seen a bunch of that, and occasionally it wont allow me to delete threads for spamming. It's irritating, so I go into the members page, select all of their posts and I'm able to moderate, (unapprove) them....

I spend a lot of time deleting posts by a spammer where one is moderated and there are 38 others sitting out there... If a spammer has one (1) post, I'll simply click that post and ban them as a spammer... If more than one, I always go into their page and click on all posts, then delete all of them in one fell swoop....

Originally Posted by 90503

Can you explain the meaning and differences of "moderated"? Thanks

When we delete a thread, "we" (moderators) can still see them, or the remnants of them. The text changes to black and it's not underlined as a link. If we delete the post as a spammer, then they are banned. Gone... At least under their current registration... AI Bots just replicate and carry on...

Deleted Remnants... Our view...



When a thread is Moderated, it gets a "face" next to their name with a red X next to the face, indicating that thread or post, cant be seen by the regular membership. It still appears to us as a clickable link. One step further than this is an Admin deciding a member should be quiet. The posts of that member still appear to the member in question, but even we only see a space holder stating the admin has decided this member should be quiet. No one else see anything...

Moderated Threads... Our view...



We can also "Unapprove" a thread if there is some question about what to do with it, or if we need time to sort it out and clean it up...I've also used the unapprove button when a bunch of children are posting and while the thread is full of valid and useful information, we/I get tired of 5-10 emails a day from various members complaining about another in the same thread... wanting us to ban hammer anyone that doesn't feed their confirmation bias on a given topic... EV cars for example... I unapproved a thread for a couple of days, cleaned out lots of posts, essentially put the rest in a forced timeout for that thread, and then after writing an ultimatum, reopened it... One or two members in there were also removed... Problem solved... The rest of those remaining work to keep the thread on topic.... There are a few other options, but this outlines the main methods we use...

All of these threads disappear from the general members, but our screens are often a mess... I've opened the site before and had to scroll two or three pages to get past the "deleted" and "moderated" threads.... It absolutely removes the joy of browsing threads looking for reading material....



My hope is that for the most part you guys have clean pages to peruse. Continued reporting by members helps a bunch... All I ask is don't chase one spam bot with 20 different posts, under the same name,. That makes for a crap ton of emails to sort through... Obviously some threads are reported numerous times once by several different members, and that's the nature of it... I hope this helps.... Within our capacity, we are trying....

[90503]

Thats a lot to digest!

I suggest you contact the other 15 or so moderators whose names show up and get them off their ass, or close their accounts. I wonder if anyone wastes their time e-mailing the useless moderators that still are listed?

FWIW what you show above I think will have many re-evaluating their desire to be a moderator.

On another note, I looked at the most recent Member Introductions...SIX in the last month approximately. I would suggest a moratorium on new members, as the number of real members pale in comparison to the number of spammers. Not ideal, but the legit ones can remain lurkers until this spammer problem is resolved.

Welcome to our newest member, JoshuaDig (Man from Morocco) just now.

Good luck, and thanks again.

[Dabjbr]

Lots to digest! Just want to thank you working moderators! The Camaro has already been canceled. Let’s not let that happen to our forum too!

Edit: I think a vetting process before one could post might be the answer. I think it’s less work to vet than moderate/remove. Of course, I’m no expert here. Just sharing perspective based on the intense workload you two are experiencing!

[SSE 4 2SS]

Originally Posted by 90503

Thats a lot to digest!

I suggest you contact the other 15 or so moderators whose names show up and get them off their ass, or close their accounts. I wonder if anyone wastes their time e-mailing the useless moderators that still are listed?

FWIW what you show above I think will have many re-evaluating their desire to be a moderator.

On another note, I looked at the most recent Member Introductions...SIX in the last month approximately. I would suggest a moratorium on new members, as the number of real members pale in comparison to the number of spammers. Not ideal, but the legit ones can remain lurkers until this spammer problem is resolved.

Welcome to our newest member, JoshuaDig (Man from Morocco) just now.

Good luck, and thanks again.

Yeah I spend an hour or more every other day or so going through the list of online members and I’m banning as much as 75-80% of those listed… it’s crazy…

As for the other moderators, some of them haven’t logged on in years… and I’m sure they have their notifications sent to a trash file or directed to junk or some such…

Removing a moderator is an admin level decision, and I don’t want any of them removed… I understand life happens… I would however like to have a few new mods to help with the spam load… As for showing what it looks like and some reconsidering being a moderator, I wouldn’t want anyone that isn’t aware of what they are getting into…

Originally Posted by Dabjbr

Lots to digest! Just want to thank you working moderators! The Camaro has already been canceled. Let’s not let that happen to our forum too!

Edit: I think a vetting process before one could post might be the answer. I think it’s less work to vet than moderate/remove. Of course, I’m no expert here. Just sharing perspective based on the intense workload you two are experiencing!

100% the reason I still chase the spammers is I don’t want this forum to go away… It has meant so much to me for so many years… Especially after my medical issues…

[90503]

In case you didn't know, Tran is the site administrator. Go to advanced Search in the General forum and put in his name. (The Member's list has been disabled.)

In the spirit of site Suggestions/Feedback/Questions, perhaps a little Private Message from enough of us.......



Tran
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I just sent him this:

Tran,

Spam is at an all time high.

The one or two moderators who are still active are overwhelmed.

The site has become so polluted its almost unusable.

Hope you will take an interest in this and give the moderators some new tools or help of some kind.

Thank you

[cdb95z28]

Jesus, this is ridiculous. The site has turned into a bot shit storm.

[bigd1276]

It sure seems to this long time user that Tran abandoned this site a long time ago.

[90503]

Originally Posted by bigd1276

It sure seems to this long time user that Tran abandoned this site a long time ago.

His last post was in June of '23...not too terribly long ago....Don't know about his Facebook status, but the ads have been changing, he must have some interest in the site. Maybe not.