Moderators

[ss20ts]

Do we need more moderators on here? Seems like Brian is the only one on here regularly these days. There used to be several moderators and I haven't seen some of them in ages. The spammers lately have been out of control.

[MichaelGates]

I wonder about this too from time to time. I saw all the spam today. I used to be a moderator on several different forums elsewhere and know how hard it can be to please everyone.

[TINASAM]

I'd help with deleting out spammers and crap posts that are flooding this forum if you'd like. I'm on a lot between 7am and 11pm EST.

[bjcheung77]

Basically, I sent an Additional Moderator Inquiry to the admin/webmaster... I also posted this in the moderator area for discussion.
+1, I agree, I think there is a need for an additional moderator, let's see what our admin has to say. I've let them know of this issue.

[Charles Fout]

Basically, I sent an Additional Moderator Inquiry to the admin/webmaster... I also posted this in the moderator area for discussion.  
+1, I agree, I think there is a need for an additional moderator, let's see what our admin has to say.  I've let them know of this issue.

Please let me know if I may be of any assistance.

[ss20ts]

Basically, I sent an Additional Moderator Inquiry to the admin/webmaster... I also posted this in the moderator area for discussion.  
+1, I agree, I think there is a need for an additional moderator, let's see what our admin has to say.  I've let them know of this issue.

You definitely need help. It shouldn't all be on you. You can't be here 24/7. I haven't seen Rachel on here in awhile. I can't even remember the last time I saw Merlin. I feel like there were others and can't remember their names......it's been that long since they were here.

[bjcheung77]

Yeah, I noticed that Rachel83Az haven't been on for a while too... This is what I wrote in the moderators area, co-incidentally, I made it within a post/thread from Rachel83AZ mentioning her possible absences!

We've been getting a bit more AI bots and spammers lately.  Just wondering if admins/moderators are looking for extra help.
Main active mods currently are LevelUP, ShotoJuko and I.  Basically, I just checked the "Forum Team" link and see the following:

ashkir 09-13-2024, 09:51 AM - ashkir isn't as active (been 10 days), but regularly assists
rachel83az  07-29-2024, 03:32 AM - rachel83az hasn't been on for about 2 months now

My suggestion is to move Merlin and rebel100 down to the same spot Old Rusty Pipe is, from "Super Mod" to Moderator.

Merlin 06-07-2022, 11:31 AM
rebel100  04-18-2018, 02:54 PM
Old Rusty Pipe 02-21-2018, 09:47 AM

Just a couple of hours ago, members were wondering if we needed the extra help, maybe we can add a moderator.
Please review this thread I linked: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-Moderators

I then sent off an individual private message to the admin/webmaster with this:

Hey, I was just wondering if you have the time to review the following post in the moderators area...
Some of the mods may be busy with activities and may not be able to moderate the forum as much as before.

[LevelUP]

Some spam is simply annoying, while some can be dangerous, containing links to malicious websites.

My recommendation to combat spam is to use ChatGPT, as it is nearly 100% effective at detecting spam, especially when there are blatant references to website links, contact information, or lengthy sales pitches.

Adding more moderators will help, but it won't completely stop spam. Ultimately, it's a matter of how long people are willing to tolerate spam posts before they are deleted. One or two here and there may be acceptable, but when there are ten in a row, the forum starts to look like a mess.

[jch]

I've reported hundreds, maybe thousands, of spam posts over the years. Though I'm not as active here as I used to be after finishing my degrees, I'm willing to help out as well.
Perhaps the biggest thing this community could do though is change forum settings to deter or prevent spam. In other online forums, I've seen restrictions like preventing new users from posting links, or requiring mod approval on posts by new users. Seems like most of the spammers here are freshly created accounts, so one or both of these controls would stop them.

[ss20ts]

I've reported hundreds, maybe thousands, of spam posts over the years. Though I'm not as active here as I used to be after finishing my degrees, I'm willing to help out as well.  
Perhaps the biggest thing this community could do though is change forum settings to deter or prevent spam. In other online forums, I've seen restrictions like preventing new users from posting links, or requiring mod approval on posts by new users. Seems like most of the spammers here are freshly created accounts, so one or both of these controls would stop them.

That's a great idea! If new members can't post links until they've made 10 posts (or some other number) then that would automatically reduce the number of awful links they post since almost all of them are brand new users.