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Straighterline spammer / policy change needed
#1
Many of us have observed this insane person spamming about Straighterline throughout the board multiple times per day. Many of us have seen similar spammers create one or more accounts for similar purposes.

Would it not make sense to restrict creation of new threads to accounts who have, let's say, 10 posts? Many of the questions newbies come here with have already been addressed, and this might force them to search for topics instead of re-hashing old information. And, of course, it will cut down on at least the less persistent spammers.

Or perhaps restrict new accounts from posting at all for 30 minutes after account creation. These people want to post quickly and move on to their next target, so either of these would help. Of course, you have the downside of possibly losing some new members, but I'm betting that many legitimate users lurk for a while before actually creating an account anyway.

dmjacobsen http://donaldjacobsen.com
Author, nurse, and all-around awesome guy
MSN Executive Leadership - The University of Memphis - 2016
MBA Healthcare Management - Western Governors University - 2015
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#2
Agreed. This is a very simple option to set on the board. There are similar options where new users can create threads, but can't post URLs. These are some quick anti-spam steps we could be taking.
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

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#3
I disagree. This site does a FANTASTIC job of identifying and removing spammers within a day or two. Just use the report button. The other site (degreeinfo) has a similar limit for new users. Put it this way, I've been a "new" user on there for like 3 years. I don't bother commenting because once my comment gets approved, the post is stale. This forum is fine the way it is, and I don't think we should be putting any kind of newbie limits.
CLEPS Passed: 10 DSST Passed: 11 TECEPS: 1

PrLoko-isms
Don't waste time by trying to save time. The only sure way to complete your degree is to knock out credits quickly and efficiently.

Don't let easiness bite you in the rear. Know your endgame (where you want to be) and plan backward from there. Your education is a means to an end.

Be honest professionally, socially and academically. There are people (especially little ones) who look up to you and they're going by your example.

Be proud. Whether you're an Engineer or Fast Food worker, there is honor and dignity in hard work.

Picking on people weaker than you only proves that you are a weak person.
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#4
Prloko Wrote:I disagree. This site does a FANTASTIC job of identifying and removing spammers within a day or two. Just use the report button. The other site (degreeinfo) has a similar limit for new users. Put it this way, I've been a "new" user on there for like 3 years. I don't bother commenting because once my comment gets approved, the post is stale. This forum is fine the way it is, and I don't think we should be putting any kind of newbie limits.

There definitely shouldn't be a waiting period where someone has to "approve" the comment. I dislike that, too. But there are other options available that would make it so we don't have to see this SL junk everyday that are much easier on legitimate new users.
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
Reply
#5
Prloko Wrote:I disagree. This site does a FANTASTIC job of identifying and removing spammers within a day or two. Just use the report button. The other site (degreeinfo) has a similar limit for new users. Put it this way, I've been a "new" user on there for like 3 years. I don't bother commenting because once my comment gets approved, the post is stale. This forum is fine the way it is, and I don't think we should be putting any kind of newbie limits.

I don't think that it needs to be so restrictive that moderators have to approve every post for X number of posts. That puts too much work on the moderators.

The moderators here are doing a great job of quickly removing garbage. This isn't a commentary on how well they're doing their job. However, putting some controls in place would take some of the work off of the moderators and also reduce the time wasted by users who read and respond to the posts prior to the moderators getting to them.

dmjacobsen http://donaldjacobsen.com
Author, nurse, and all-around awesome guy
MSN Executive Leadership - The University of Memphis - 2016
MBA Healthcare Management - Western Governors University - 2015
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#6
Prloko Wrote:I disagree. This site does a FANTASTIC job of identifying and removing spammers within a day or two. Just use the report button. The other site (degreeinfo) has a similar limit for new users. Put it this way, I've been a "new" user on there for like 3 years. I don't bother commenting because once my comment gets approved, the post is stale. This forum is fine the way it is, and I don't think we should be putting any kind of newbie limits.

you should message Kizmet, that doesn't seem right.... I thought a person was only new for their first 2 posts or something?
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#7
I don't like the idea of limiting posts for new users. The spam problem is annoying when it happens, but it's really infrequent. In a way, I feel like the spammer wins if we have to do something that restricts the speech of new users who have valid questions.
Currently studying for: Still deciding.

Done!
2020 - Harvard Extension School - ALM IT Management 
2019 - Harvard Extension School - Graduate Certificate Data Science
2018 - Harvard Extension School - Graduate Certificate Cyber Security
2016 - WGU - MBA Mgmt & Strategy
2015 - Thomas Edison State College - BSBA Marketing & CIS
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#8
I will say that I don't think limiting a new user's ability to create a new thread will help, since most of the time (it seems to me), they just post in old threads anyway.

Maybe add a moderator or two to help with this type of thing? A couple of very active users who can go in quickly and delete these spammers? That seems to be the quickest and easiest thing to do to make the forum continue being a great place for the majority of users.

Just a thought, it's not like it happens every day or anything. It seems to come in bursts, and then go away for a long time.
TESU BSBA/HR 2018 - WVNCC BOG AAS 2017 - GGU Cert in Mgmt 2000
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#9
I check in constantly, mostly out of habit as I work a deskjob, and I have forum admin experience! I can help if needed Smile


Even without limited new posts or making them go to an approval queue, we could make it take a few posts before someone can add a URL in their message, that will cut back on some spam.
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
Reply
#10
cookderosa Wrote:you should message Kizmet, that doesn't seem right.... I thought a person was only new for their first 2 posts or something?

Let me correct myself, I've been a member for 19 months, not 3 years (it feels like it Smile) I have posted 7 times, and it is still delayed.
CLEPS Passed: 10 DSST Passed: 11 TECEPS: 1

PrLoko-isms
Don't waste time by trying to save time. The only sure way to complete your degree is to knock out credits quickly and efficiently.

Don't let easiness bite you in the rear. Know your endgame (where you want to be) and plan backward from there. Your education is a means to an end.

Be honest professionally, socially and academically. There are people (especially little ones) who look up to you and they're going by your example.

Be proud. Whether you're an Engineer or Fast Food worker, there is honor and dignity in hard work.

Picking on people weaker than you only proves that you are a weak person.
Reply


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