Reply spam
@7CupsCommunity I understand that our current policy on spam in the forums is to allow it to be posted, then delete it manually. The manual deletion seems to work quite well when the spammer creates a new thread, but it doesn't seem to be working so well when the spammer replies in an existing thread.
Some threads seem to be created by spammers for no other purpose. The original post is not spam, but the reply is. An example is here: Web design If you search for other posts by the member accounts involved in that thread you can see how they are being used. (You would be able to see it better if forum search worked better.)
I suggest that if there is some policy reason for allowing spam to be posted, it could at least be flagged automatically. Manually flagging this reply spam seems to be only partly effective.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
Thank you for the feedback! We do have an automated system that deletes some spam. We have been tweaking it over time to catch more true positives and less false positives.
@RarelyCharlie Some of the problem too is that some on the forum team can mass-delete from things like the new thread list. That's not possible with replies and if no one flags them it's hard for the forum team to notice them all.
So having everyone keep on flagging if they see this kind of stuff is useful as it's likely there's always going to be some that gets through the spam filter.
@AffyAvo I flag them when I see them, but flagging them has not always worked.
@RarelyCharlie That's helpful information. People on the forum team were choosen to see a flag list based on getting coverage for different time ranges, it may be time to reassess who is active and when and if we need more coverage @Anomalia
@RarelyCharlie
Can you clarify what you mean by flagging doesn't work? Just in that they are left up for a while before being taken care or some other sort of error? I try to check the queue fairly often. Right now for instance there are 3 flagged posts, but none of them are spam.
@MonBon I think when you write "none of them are spam" that's the problem. These posts look like genuine replies to genuine questions, so that even when they are flagged they don't always get deleted.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
I looked over them myself and they are not spam. They are legitimate posts that include no links, are not advertising for any sort of product, and are relevant to the threads they are in. Can you please answer my question on what you mean by flagging does not work? I'd like to work with both you and @AffyAvo to brainstorm this issue, but I need to know.
Do you mean that forum mentors are clearing them from the queue without checking the thread they are in to make sure they are not spam?
@MonBon I mean that they are not always deleted. I don't know whether that's because they are cleared from the queue without checking. It seems more likely that they are checked very quickly and appear legitimate, like the example I linked to. In that example the posts appear legitimate individually, but those member accounts have not posted anything else, so it seems likely to me that a single spammer created all three accounts and all three posts. It's a pattern I have seen before occasionally, but alas I don't have links to other examples.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie @MonBon
Maybe you can take note the next time there is spam you flag and it remains for an hour or more?
@AffyAvo Yes, that's a good idea. I'll note the time in future.
@RarelyCharlie This example was not spam, but I flagged it at around 3 p.m. EDT on June 8th and the content was eventually removed at around 7 p.m. EDT on June 9th. A delay this long makes me suspect the flag was ignored, or perhaps didn't work at all because of a bug.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
Well, posts have to be dealt with on an individual basis (we cannot tell our forum mentors to delete legitimate posts just because other posts from that account aren't), but we'll work on the issues of a) posts being in the queue too long (if you notice there are specific days or times that this happens, that is useful as well) and b) posts being unflagged despite needing attention.
Thank you both!
cc @AffyAvo @Anomalia
Apologies for my delay in responding - I'm trying to catch up on notifications, but clearly am slow right now! I think there may be a number of contributing factors, but one that we can definitely work on is adding more people to the forum flag team. @SoulfullyaButterfly - can we add this as an agenda point for the next forum meeting? I can give you more info on what we want to cover, but want to make sure not to forget it!
@Anomalia absolutely, noted!
Just for interest (because I realize this activity harms no one), here are some more that appear to match the pattern I described at the top of this thread—the first post is a question that is not obviously appropriate for 7 Cups, and the reply from another account answers with a link to a commercial website. Also, note that these examples happen to involve the same accounts each time, suggesting that perhaps these accounts might be operated by the same person:
cubic yards
business
Work of a lawyer
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
This is a classic spamming strategy. Thank you for bringing these to our attention! Please flag them when you see them as that is the best way for us to identify and remove.