Poll: Report Spam button

I know, I know, yet another poll... But I think this one has merit, and I'm interested to hear what you all have to say on the subject. I'd be happy to entertain arguments on either side that haven't occurred to me.

With all the deletions going on these days (of everything BUT legitimate spam, it seems), it got me thinking that maybe the Report Spam button should just be done away with altogether; then members would only be able to delete their own posts. Unless people are currently jumping on (and deleting) actual spam as quickly as it's posted, I don't see much of it on the forum, anyway. If the Spam button disappeared, then other members could simply post immediately after a spam post with a warning to newer members that it *is* spam and should be ignored.

Another option would be a Report Post button (which could be used in cases of an abusive member who's posting inappropriately). I'm not sure if it should remove the post automatically (as the spam button does) because of the continued concern of abuse or if it should just alert someone at cpaptalk to review the post. (I know that's moving towards "moderation," and we like the forum the way it is, with little intervention. Just thinking there should be a way to deal with abusive posts without members being able to abuse that privilege, too.)

I don't see the forum being overrun by spam, but there definitely ARE members who are seriously abusing their Report Spam privilege... Is there really still a need for the button when it's being abused so flagrantly?

I don't know how much work would be involved on the administrative end of the forum to get rid of (or change) the button (provided the Goodmans saw fit to do that), but I'm thinking it wouldn't be a big hassle.

What do you guys think?

This may sound mean, but I think it might help if it's technically possible. Have a button (whatever it's called) that not only deletes but records who did the deletion. That just might keep some people from abusing the thing whenever they feel like it and would avoid having to bother Carolyn when it happens to us as well.

I think most of us have been responsible with using it for legitimate purposes.
If it's being abused, I believe the forum owners can tell who's doing it and have the ability to remove the button from those who abuse their privileges.


Den

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Julie wrote:This may sound mean, but I think it might help if it's technically possible. Have a button (whatever it's called) that not only deletes but records who did the deletion. That just might keep some people from abusing the thing whenever they feel like it and would avoid having to bother Carolyn when it happens to us as well.

the way it works now is that when someone does a spam 'delete', the post goes into a admin only forum that we can't see, but people with admin rights can. the admin can see the post, as well as who 'deleted' it.... already. (I put quotes around the delete because it's not deleted, it's just hidden from us mere mortals)

Oh good, that makes sense (both of you ). I thought the only way Admin. would know would be if someone complained.

Julie wrote:This may sound mean, but I think it might help if it's technically possible. Have a button (whatever it's called) that not only deletes but records who did the deletion. That just might keep some people from abusing the thing whenever they feel like it and would avoid having to bother Carolyn when it happens to us as well.

I don't think it sounds mean at all, but I'm assuming that the Report Spam button does that already. How else would Carolyn know who should have their privilege revoked? Unless you mean that the body of the post would disappear but the identity of the member who deleted it would be visible? I like that idea.

Wulfman... wrote:I think most of us have been responsible with using it for legitimate purposes.
If it's being abused, I believe the forum owners can tell who's doing it and have the ability to remove the button from those who abuse their privileges.


Den

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I would agree that most don't abuse it and yes, Carolyn can remove the button when it *is* being abused. But Carolyn only gets involved if one of us PMs her with an alert to our posts being deleted. But if many people are doing the deleting of many other members' posts, then it becomes a quagmire for Carolyn if every victim reports the abuse to her. I see it happening to a lot of posts.

Well "IMHO", it does not appear that any of the "abuses" caused any significant loss of helpful information (of course, all MY deleted posts were helpful!)(OK, maybe some, not so much)...

Consequently, I'm like y'know, I should be out picking them tomatoes or making more pesto anyway, so WTF cares...

BleepingBeauty wrote:I know, I know, yet another poll... But I think this one has merit, and I'm interested to hear what you all have to say on the subject. I'd be happy to entertain arguments on either side that haven't occurred to me.

With all the deletions going on these days (of everything BUT legitimate spam, it seems), it got me thinking that maybe the Report Spam button should just be done away with altogether; then members would only be able to delete their own posts. Unless people are currently jumping on (and deleting) actual spam as quickly as it's posted, I don't see much of it on the forum, anyway. If the Spam button disappeared, then other members could simply post immediately after a spam post with a warning to newer members that it *is* spam and should be ignored.

Another option would be a Report Post button (which could be used in cases of an abusive member who's posting inappropriately). I'm not sure if it should remove the post automatically (as the spam button does) because of the continued concern of abuse or if it should just alert someone at cpaptalk to review the post. (I know that's moving towards "moderation," and we like the forum the way it is, with little intervention. Just thinking there should be a way to deal with abusive posts without members being able to abuse that privilege, too.)

I don't see the forum being overrun by spam, but there definitely ARE members who are seriously abusing their Report Spam privilege... Is there really still a need for the button when it's being abused so flagrantly?

I don't know how much work would be involved on the administrative end of the forum to get rid of (or change) the button (provided the Goodmans saw fit to do that), but I'm thinking it wouldn't be a big hassle.

What do you guys think?

removing it, or having a 'report post' option wouldn't be a good idea, (imho) because there IS a fair amount of spam, especially with not even having to register to post, it's just cleaned up very promptly in most cases. if the spam button went away, we'd have a lot more spam posts, and as word got out that this was a spam friendly place, it'd get worse. not to mention that there are spambots out there trolling the internet for forums to post on.

switching it to a report post button would put a lot more work on the goodmans heads than they want to invest in the forum, OR it would necessitate a group of assigned moderators that had the ability to delete posts reported.

as it is, when carolyn has time and inclination to review what's been deleted, she can easily remove the ability to abuse the feature from whoever is abusing it. the latest to complain about their spam button disappearing was good old tedburns.

Julie wrote:Oh good, that makes sense (both of you ). I thought the only way Admin. would know would be if someone complained.

it might be the only way they know it's happening, (because I don't think either of our fine hosts spend much time checking up on things here on a daily basis, they've got more important things to do ) but, if you think about it, *WE* have no way to know who actually did a spam delete, though we may have suspicions...

the forum software logs all that activity though, never fear there's a lot that can't be seen by regular users.

Early risers see more of the truly "junk" spam posted on here, and it gets deleted before most of us even see it.
(Like the two lines of gibberish, and the "hi, and bye"); to say nothing of the endless purveyors of knockoff designer junk,
stolen or counterfeit computer hardware, and porn.
Believe me, take away the spam button, and the forum will be as cluttered as our mail boxes (physical, and e-)
It would be nearly unusable.

palerider wrote:

Julie wrote:This may sound mean, but I think it might help if it's technically possible. Have a button (whatever it's called) that not only deletes but records who did the deletion. That just might keep some people from abusing the thing whenever they feel like it and would avoid having to bother Carolyn when it happens to us as well.

the way it works now is that when someone does a spam 'delete', the post goes into a admin only forum that we can't see, but people with admin rights can. the admin can see the post, as well as who 'deleted' it.... already. (I put quotes around the delete because it's not deleted, it's just hidden from us mere mortals)

The posts don't move, they remain in the same forum, but the viewing permission changes to moderators and admins only. A log will record the "moderator action" of deleting a post, if anyone wants to see that.

I have deleted a few real spam posts, especially if there have been no replies. I know the feature is abused, but we collectively have to take responsibility to moderate the spam and not abuse the privilege. I'm not looking to make any changes. This has worked well for years.

There is a LOT of true spam during the wee hours of the morning. It would be a mess if we who care could not delete the junk. As for a "report" button, report to whom? I think Johnny and Caroline pretty much let this forum run itself. They don't want to have to play Mommy all the time. I think we know when to call them in, but let's not make forum admin an extra job for them or we may just see it go away.

I too hit the forum in the early hours (shift work) and have been fairly active in spam removal. I like what is working now, but feel some one or two people need to have the right revoked. I've see what appear to be innocuous posts deleted for no discernable reason. I don't like spam but censoring is even worse

-Bill

wm_hess wrote:I too hit the forum in the early hours (shift work) and have been fairly active in spam removal. I like what is working now, but feel some one or two people need to have the right revoked. I've see what appear to be innocuous posts deleted for discernable reason. I don't like spam but censoring is even worse

-Bill

Thanks to everyone who zaps the spam before the rest of us are even awake. I appreciate knowing that that's why I don't see much of it. But I agree with Bill here, that one or more people are really abusing the power to zap any post they don't like or agree with, and that's just wrong.

Julie wrote:This may sound mean, but I think it might help if it's technically possible. Have a button (whatever it's called) that not only deletes but records who did the deletion. That just might keep some people from abusing the thing whenever they feel like it and would avoid having to bother Carolyn when it happens to us as well.

Your poll is biased. The responses all imply there is an abuse problem. It's sort of a "wife beating" question.

I haven't been watching as much as I used to and haven't seen the abuse, but I'll assume it's happening.

I think maybe the owners should just fix posts and ban the problem children, or at least despam them.

However, since we already have a lot of old timers with lots of posts, maybe the time period and post count for "spambusting" could be increased. Anyone know what the current count for posts and time is? Given who participates in this forum, we could probably set the spambusting level to 1 year and 300 posts and still get plenty of "reliable" spambusters.

A report post button would work, but then you'd have to have some form of moderators, which the board owners don't seem to want to do. I do see some validity in their stance on this issue.