Way Too Much Spam

codeToad · Post by **codeToad** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:24 am

I can't be the only one who is appalled by the sheer volume of posts that have literally nothing to do with SMART. These are obviously not valuable to our community, but is there anything we can do about it? People shouldn't have to sift through dozens of posts trying to get you to click links.

3rdYearEngineer · Post by **3rdYearEngineer** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:30 pm

Agreed, but I'm not sure if there is an active moderator who can get rid of these.

RoyBoy432 · Post by **RoyBoy432** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:59 pm

Yeah, it is a problem... I'm surprised both by the suddenness and sheer mass of the spam influx. One solution that could be tried perhaps is to stop permitting posts from users without an account, and making a strict "Are you a human?" test/criterion for creating an account.

sendHelp · Post by **sendHelp** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:16 pm

RIP this chat

Guest_PhD student · Post by **Guest_PhD student** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 2:14 pm

JDetwiler, I'm pretty sure the admin has been passively managing this forum, generously paying out of pocket to keep it running for years. It's disappointing to see the forum suddenly overwhelmed by spam, but we shouldn't take it out on the admin. I don't know if the admin has any additional moderators at all.

Suggestions are fine, but let's try to stay appreciative and kind.

JDetwiler · Post by **JDetwiler** » Tue Jul 30, 2019 3:14 pm

You're not wrong, and sorry to appear like I was taking it out on the admin. It's just that no one is stopping them right now. As for suggestions...we could get more moderators, we could move to a place like Discord or Slack, or we could implement more rigorous posting and account creation requirements. I think Slack would be a good choice, but I know that would make it harder for new members of SMART to find the forum community.

rigs90 · Post by **rigs90** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:39 am

I setup a subreddit if anyone would like to try that. Would still be relatively easy to find, fit a similar function as this forum, and probably would be less susceptible to spam.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SMARTscholarship/

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:24 pm

Subreddit is a great idea. I subbed.

Post by **administrator** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:28 pm

You can all be moderators!

codeToad · Post by **codeToad** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:05 pm

First of all: thank you mods/admins for cleaning this up! We all really appreciate what you do to keep this site functional. Second: what do you mean we can all be mods?

rigs90 · Post by **rigs90** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 3:32 pm

Pretty sure it means that those of us with accounts that replied in the thread literally have moderator privileges now. For example, I noticed that I had them, so I cleaned up the General Questions section this morning.

codeToad · Post by **codeToad** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 5:02 pm

UNLIMITED POWER! But thank you for the clarification.

Sisyphus · Post by **Sisyphus** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:54 am

Given I'll be checking this for the foreseeable future while maintaining the Debtor's Discord I might as well throw my hat in for moderator power as well.

Post by **administrator** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:53 am

Sisyphus wrote:Given I'll be checking this for the foreseeable future while maintaining the Debtor's Discord I might as well throw my hat in for moderator power as well.

Done

JDetwiler · Post by **JDetwiler** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:37 am

Just cleaned up a little more, including all the remaining reports.

The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

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