Can we get a better way to fight spam threads? And what does reporting do?

[Jstpssng]

DANGER that this could be used abusively by a member for anything they dont agree with.

I actually had somebody doing that years ao, when I used to comment on articles in the local newspaper. They only allowed comments for two days, and it often took 24 hours or longer for somebody to review a "flagged" post. She didn't like my viewpoints so found that she could control any discussion by simply flagging my posts out of the conversation until it was closed. No doubt she was doing the same to others as well.

 

[JasperFrank]

I notice that spam will fill out the entire title field. Anything that first posts this way could be an automatic flag to a moderator? Obviously a link shouldn't be embedded in a title. So any title with an @ or a back slash or *.com would be suspect. I think TNB has done a fantastic job of quickly getting rid of spam. The harder thing is determining if a member is including links just because they think the link is useful, or if they are using the vast reach of this site to sneak in a link to a spam site.

 

[MF243RedTop]

To fight spam with first post approvals and not deter new members, requires committed mods that visit the site 24/7...
If not, you have new members sitting in first post approvals waiting..sometimes too long for them to return. Just saying been there done this ..
Mods have to be here...

 

[Jstpssng]

I thought that the current status quo was a part of doing business. Sure, the spam is a pain but it doesn't take long to recognize it and once I've done that it takes even less effort to ignore it.

 

[oosik]

The current system works just fine for me. They come - they go - they are forgotten.

 

[Oaktree]

The current system works just fine for me. They come - they go - they are forgotten.

Agree. I see very few posts I'd consider spam, so the moderators must be doing a good job.
Even the members who leaned towards being trolls seem to be gone for the most part. Dunno if they were banned or just lost interest but no big loss.

 

[IndyJay]

I've thought about an auto hide system that would hide posts after two members report them.

For new members only or have penalties for abuse.