Re: Detecting / Controlling Forum Spam
Hey Jade,
Long time, eh?
Just getting back into the forum scene of late and cannot believe my eyes seeing how far some of the forums out there have degraded to one-line 'fortune cookie' posts. Your spam in the title post caught my eye and had to drop in for my two-cents.
What I think you need are tools to help your Mods spot spam of this type more easily. Forum modification may be required.
All of the problems you noted leave a footprint. Spotting the footprint is basically simple and program for.
For the duplicate questions from other forums, provide a one-click link for your Mods to run the text of the post through Copyscape. It will become readily apparant if the text is duplicated word for word. Mods can use the link at their discretion.
Automated posting bots leave a unique footprint. The post is made in X amount of seconds. Modding the board to 'flag' quick posts should not be hard to do. After all, there is flood control for X amount of posts per time period. The flag will be visible to your Mods only, and they can take action as needed depending how low you set the threshold.
Then there are the posters who start a topic, but never respond afterwards. Meanwhile days go by and several responses from the members, and still no show from the original poster. These can be flagged as well.
I am in agreement with forum spam being an occupational hazard here, but catching it sooner should be your priority.
Ron.
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