Topic: More stringent rules will solve the problem of spam (Read 296 times)

The new rules are just that, they're new. We haven't seen the full effects of the new rules yet. So implementing another rule so hastily without analyzing the results from the current rules just seems reckless.

I think we all know that the new rules won't solve the problems with all spam but it will certainly help. Let's just give it some time and see how it works before we start proposing more rules.


If you're an example of a Jr. Member that won't go back to the old ways then why do you assume other Jr. Members will?

Sure, there will probably be some that will but we don't have enough data right now to support how big of a problem it will be.

One merit per week will surely not work.
People with high merits are stingy on giving it out, rather we should be encouraged to post more quality stuffs to earn merits .

I read that in Liam Neeson's voice...remind me to never get on your bad side.

Many spammers will return, but also many will drop out. You have to zoom-out and look at the large picture. From now on, you can't just create dozens accounts and jump straight into bounties, you have to compete for limited in amount merit.


And if you don't get merit - you lose signature? If so, all the signature campaigns would get hit hard, even the ones that care about quality. Managers would have to monitor and re-recruit big chunk of participants in periods shorter than 1 week. Plus, that would encourage different kind of spam - "pseudo-smart" posting on most merited boards. Also, senior ranks would more likely send merits between themselves, making it harder for new ones.

It's definitely overcomplicated solution (I do see the logic behind it though), we should keep things as simple as practically possible: restriction for newer accounts (necessary as simply you can't stop people from creating new accounts) + bans/red tags for notorious spammers, whatever their rank is.


Than it's a good idea to learn and bump your post count by asking legit questions (after searching the forum first) on subjects you're genuinely interested in. Earn why you learn.

1 merit sent your way - but if I ever see you posting shit like "Hello sir, good project sir!!!" or alike - I will hunt you down

ps. I don't consider bounty-proof posts as spam as they're contained within relevant threads so don't pollute the useful parts of the forum.

I re-read your posts and I think I misunderstood you the first time around. Sorry about that.

So your suggestion is that users should be expected to receive a minimum amount of merits per week, lest they get demoted, did I understood you correctly?

It's an interesting approach, but you'd still have to account for 1) users taking a break from the forums every now and then and 2) high variance in terms of how many merits one receives within a given period. The latter could likely be alleviated by looking at a long enough timeframe (eg. 1 month instead of 1 week), the question of how to handle periodic inactivity is IMO not as easily answered though.

No, I will not go back to the old ways, in any case I will try to be useful for the forum, although I do not have any special knowledge.

Though it frustrates me a little, that i don't have a degree of trust for now, i clearly see merits(pun intended) of such system. Much platforms i saw, that succumbed under prevalence of spam\flood\sh*tposting all around, and while there was moderation, it wasn't quite enough, as people are people after all. So, be a cool person, and you will be promoted in trust of the others i say!

Will you be back in your old ways after you receive 1 merit to rank up? Because it funny how you manage to write this long post (majority of your posts are two liners and bounty campaign reports) yet you failed to put some time to think about this post on how it can affect the forum. Let's face it you are hoping to get one merit to get back again on your campaign. I know you are motivated to do so but actually right some sensible post and this post doesn't actually belong to the beginners section.

Easiest way to stop spam: Tell every upcoming ICO/Airdrop that if they require BitcoinTalk posts or signatures as part of their campaign that they won't be allowed to post on here ever.

Such is not someone who will not. B-business. Forum administration just changed the rules for fighting bots and monolations with Jn.member

We must remain calm and continue to work. I'm sure the oldest company will appreciate your treasure in development.

I did not say anything about automation

Allowing people to automatically gain merit, regardless of their posting quality, would completely undermine the purpose of the merit system.

If someone manages to stick around the forums for weeks on end, writing dozens of posts, without receiving even a single merit... than there's usually very good reasons for that.

Edit: Disregard the above, I misinterpreted OP.



Not really. The more a forum drowns in shitposts, the less interesting it is to people who actually want to use it and to companies wanting to advertise their services. Fluffing a community's activity with shitposts may work in the short term, but eventually it will catch up with you.

Isn't "spam" (as it's generally not literal spam, not advertisement etc it's just very useless posts), a good way for the site to grow in terms of .. outsider perspective?

I mean:

First option:
Obligatory receiving of 1 merit during a week of activity for all participants, regardless of rank.

The second option:
For get the rank of junior member make it mandatory to receive 2 merits, and since this will have a short-term effect, then continue to add 1 merit

As said from the announcement post, the rule was implemented "Due to excessive garbage-posting" which actually happened and can be proven so it doesn't make sense that they would revise the rule because of some speculations, what we need right now is real data to base the next move from, and in order to obtain it, you need to give it an adequate time and see how people adapt to it.

And can you elaborate your suggestion? From my understanding you want to limit how many merits can a user receive in an X amount of time, am I interpreting it correctly?

Of course there is an effect, but I'm sure it's temporary!
And in a week or two it will be necessary to make a rule - 2 merits for the jr. member.

Yes, I'm a bounty hunter, and before the introduction of the new rules I participated in the signature campaign for 2 months, you know how I did it.

The lowering of the rank did not upset me, but on the contrary made me think whether it was worth doing ...

Though I myself fell under these transformations, but still I agree with the new introductions on the forum. Of course, this will not completely stop spam, but still to some extent it will be less.
Your idea is not bad, because among the high ranks there are also those who write all sorts of nonsense, because they bought an account. So that perhaps what the tightening rules for them, too, would not prevented.

I don't think anyone was deluded enough to think this would stop the spam completely. It was meant to be an extra step to make it harder for the spammers.

So far the results are visible: The new rule (1 Merit for Jr. Member) is already reducing spam; + see Theymos' post within the thread: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.45912431

But I do understand where you're coming from. I am hesitant in rewarding good posts by newbies if there's a lot of spam in their posting history. There's too much risk they'll return to the old habits as soon as they have that +1 merit.

Oh well, lets give it time.

Friends, I would like to say a few words about the new rules of the forum - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.45810047

And so, that we have ...
New rules were created to ensure that jr. members ceased to spam and offtopic, but this only works until one single merit is received, and nothing else prevents them from doing the same thing again when they returned to rank jr.

But we all know that this problem is created not only by junior members, but also by ranks above!

And to solve this problem, I propose to the administration of the forum to introduce mandatory periodicity (for example, 1 merit per week) of receiving a merit by all forum participants, regardless of rank.