SPAM

[mrs_potatohead]

Advise?

When I, and others, take the time and energy to ban those constant spammers, one by one, is it doing any good? Or is it simply wasted energy that makes an unsightly mess?

The four-hour ban thing that prohibits anyone making a new account and a new entry right away seems to be doing a stellar job of stopping actual vandalism and spam crap, so the the genuine spam *content* is very low now.

But the new fake new accounts are demoralizing, ugly, skew our stats, and make me feel like a helpless chump. I also live in fear that I'm going to accidently ban a real fan. The spam also seem to be increasing. I'd thought that by "tagging" with a ban would at least identify them for possible purposes of knowing more about their sources and tactics, and in the end, assist with their demise. But I'm thinking it's all for nothing.

Should we just leave them be? Or continue with our constant, and exhausting, whack-a-rat?

And, is there any other techy stuff/help on the horizon that can help curb these weasels?

Comments

[cathexys]

Quick question: does Fanlore require CAPTCHA to make an account? I know on the journal adding that made a world of difference...

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know, cathexys.

Mrs. Potato Head

[jetpack_monkey]

I just checked. It's a math CAPTCHA, meaning that any 'bot worth its coding parameters can figure it out. In image CAPTCHA of some sort would be more useful for reducing spam, although admittedly that can create accessibility issues.

[msilverstar]

I can help out, is there a help page about how to kill fake accounts?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know of any Help pages. It's not hard to kill the account (just check "block" and then pick the amount of time and the reason). And the accounts themselves are usually pretty obvious. There's been about 35 of them just today, pretty average.

But the big question I have: is killing these accounts worth the time and effort? I have no idea what the answer is.

Mrs. Potato Head

[kaffyr]

I think you're doing a useful job, but I don't like the idea that you're all alone in doing it.

[mrs_potatohead]

Thanks, kaffyr. I'm not the only one, though. There are a handful of us doing the spam dirty work.

[skaredykat]

See the second part of this page ("For new gardeners who find joyful satisfaction in deleting spam pages and banning spammers, how-to in 30 seconds") - http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fanlore:Gardeners/Tips

[msilverstar]

Ah, I found the most recent users by creation date:

http://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Special:ListUsers&dir=prev&creationSort=1

and that's a whole lot of obvious bots. Is there a way to disable a batch at a time?

[skaredykat]

I don't know -- but I'd be very interested in learning how to batch-banhammer if there were! If you find out if there is a way, could you add it to that tips page? Thanks!

[tiyire]

There is a mediawiki upgrade planned that should help with spam. I think we've been saying that for months now... That it's still not implemented is partly my fault: I was assigned to testing, but because spam seemed to decrease for some time and RL it got shuffled back on the priority list. I'm sorry! I've asked for help and hopefully it'll go faster now.

I don't know how annoying not-blocked spam accounts would be, compared to the work now. (If nobody knows, we could just try it out, I guess?)

[mrs_potatohead]

We really, really need the help. If you look at the Recent Changes page, it's almost nothing but a sea of red. Even if we don't block them, they are still in the way, a distraction, and are just plain demoralizing. And it's getting worse by the week, the day.

While the actual crap spammers add to Fanlore's content is quite low now, the Recent Changes page is one I, and many editors rely on to keep track of things, and at least in my case, is instrumental. I think it is also the one place users consistently check; to have that page completely swamped with useless red dilutes that purpose, and makes Fanlore look, well, incapable. It makes me think of a unkempt house porch littered with stacks of junk mail.

Any chance we could put in a harder captcha until this upgrade is implemented? The actual sign-up rate of real-live, legitimate fans is so low right now; it seems we could work with them on a case by case basis in some way until a better system is in place.

[tiyire]

I know! I use Recent Changes myself and it looks terrible. But I don't know if we can change the captcha on short notice (already asked, currently waiting for an answer.) What we can do is ask for more help with testing the new version, which I already did because I have very little free time atm. But even if we do finish testing soon there are still a few bugs and I don't know how long it will take to fix them.

[mrs_potatohead]

Is there any place I can go to help bump our priority for help to a higher position? I'd be happy to be a squeakier wheel if you think it would make a difference.

tiyire, I want to thank you for the work you do at Fanlore, and I hope I'm not adding too much to any stress you are feeling with RL stuff.

~ MPH

[aethel]

With the four-hour block in place, I think it doesn't make much of a difference. I thought the IP block might have some effect, but we've blocked so many IPs and they still keep coming, so I don't know that the IP block is so useful against bots.

Statistics of banned spambots could be useful, but if you feel tired of blocking, it's not worth it. The recentchanges page may look like a sea of red, but as long as they don't make edits, they're not doing any harm.

[anenko]

The sea of red is annoying, but I do get some satisfaction out of seeing spammers banned.