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
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.