Newbie Tuesday - Using the Report Button?

Let this be a lesson to everyone about how crazy spammers actually are. This is a posting about how to find and report spam. The goal is to clean up Mahalo so taht we do not have to deal with these clowns.

Once they ahve been reported, the site moderators (like Buddawiggi) can delete their accounts. Spammers will spam any question that they come across that they think will bring interest to their sites. Since this question is one of the featured questions, they believe that it will have a lot of extra traffic, and a lot of extra chances for people to click on their links.

They do not even pay attention to what the posting is about. A perfect example is this case in which a spammer would hit a posting about eliminating spammers. One good place to find these clowns is on any posting that is featured.

Take a look on the front page when you sign on to Mahalo. Chances are good that if you follow the links that you will find at least one spammer. Report the spam, and then click on teh spammer to go to his or her account.

Report any of the other postings that the spammer has done. 1. What should we be reporting?

Therea re many reasons. You might wish to clean up Mahalo. You might want to send a message to these clowns that Mahalo (as a community) will not stand for their actions.

Maybe you just want the badge and the few extra bucks taht come with them. Whatever the reason, help out the site. 2.

Why should I report a question, answer, or comment? You should not wait for someone else to report a post. YOU should do it to show your support for the site.

If you do not report, there is a chance that this person is going to post more. The earlier that these accounts can be found, the better. The moderators work quickly on spam.

They just can't be everyhere at all times. That is where YOU come in. 3.

What are the common TOS violations? If a spammer is posting a commercial, it is against the TOS. If a person is posting the same thing over and over again that has links to a site, that is spam.

A few weeks ago, I contacted Buddawiggi because of a person that I found who was posting all types of anti-semetic garbage all over the site. S icon was a propaganda picture from WWII that was demeaning the Jewish people. S name was an old title for the KKK.

S questions and answers blamed Jewish people for everything wrong in the world. Buddawiggi banned him because these are blatent violations of the TOS, and even his presense brought the site down. 4.

What is spam and how will I know when I see it? Most of the spam that you find is going to be obvious. It will not be an answer for a question...it will just be either a bunch of keywords tossed together with a link to a site, or will list the items that you can buy on the site.As for other violations of the TOS, you are going to have to make a bit of a judgement call.

In the case that I reported a few weeks ago, the guy was obviously here with an agenda of hate. It was obvious that he wanted to drag others down to his scummy level.5. How do I report a question, answer, or comment?

On teh bottom of each comment, andswer, or question you will find a red report button. Click on this and you will see a popup that will ask what type of violation it is. Once you select the type, you dod not need to give a long discription of it.

Simple putting, "This is a commerical," or, "This is a racist statement," might be enough to clue in the moderators. Final thoughts: If you enjoy Mahalo, you have a duty to yourself to report spam. If you like the site, why wouldn't you do what you could to ensure that Mahalo improves?

Why wouldn't you do what you could to tell the clowns and the scum that this is YOUR site, not theirs?

I report whenever I see something blatantly wrong, against the TOS, and I have the badges to prove it. If it's someone who is actually trying to answer the question but just doing a poor job of it, that's not reportable (although it might be a reason to vote the answer unhelpful if it truly is unhelpful, and not just something you disagree with). The kind I notice the most often is when someone places a poorly-worded ad into comments.

I believe there are bots that can do this, which is why the spam ends up in the comments and not as answers. The bots are designed to put these spam comments into blog comments, based on a keyword search. I know this as someone who has designed a few websites and needed to defend against this kind of spam.

If enough people report the spam quickly enough, it gets pulled fast! So report, report, report. Some of the finest, most honest, intelligent and interesting people I know I met here.It's a great community, and I'd like it to stay that way!

I"ve noticed someone often posting a fairly long spam "comment" promoting an online store. I voted down the answer but it didn't occur to me to report, which I will do from now on. Someone must have done so, though, because those posts soon disappeared.

When I see them I report them and if there is an infestation, I send a list of the offenders straight to you, because it would take forever to report them all. Or if there is 5 or 6 different spammers at once, it is just easier to keep a list as I work and send it to you, but is that the proper way to go or should I stick to reporting them, because I never actually asked you if that is ok.

After combing the Mahalo website in relationship to your question, I discovered that you gave a very informative answered... QUOTE ---- 1. What are content which are considered as spam? Spam would be including but not limited too ...External links to products, advertisements, services, web storefronts etc.Any sort of off topic links or content that does not apply at the very least indirectly to the question asked.

The subject of unanswerable, illegible, or statement types of questions they should be reported to Mahalo. Some things to look for in spam detecting. ~~ like recent postings anything that directly asks us to go to another site.

Could be to buy handbags or read the posters article on a recent news item. I. E "what are some great handbags?

This guy has just been obvious and is posting a url _as_ the question. I have even seen a poster looking to sell their personal Avon website here. Spam.

~~ Be very suspicious Many spammers have been sneaky recently and one user will post a "where do I download "blah blah blah" for free? " and their partner will post the spam links as an answer. Poof!

Best answer selected and the spam module is complete. We can stop this in its tracks by answering the question with a safe non spam method (if there is one) answer forcing the poster to now make a decision. .. do I violate tos and pick the spam answer or let this one go to voting... where importantly we have to be able to spot the spam answer and simply not vote for it... reporting it along the way asking for it to be removed.

This trick has been going on a lot recently. ~~ spy view Watching spy view helps see spam as it comes in and will get it off the site faster. Use the spy view to detect and report as the spam comes in.

We can also see here the questions the get answered as soon as they are asked usually in a bunch or 3/5 and the asker will select best answer right away. Report these to staff and send me the links via direct question. On spy we can stay on the cutting edge and get to the spam before it gets to us.

~~ reporting When reporting to staff be sure to be very descriptive in the report. Use this opportunity to say "Everything this user posts is spam. Please check the entire profile".

A good report will get them banned by IP address and they will have to start again with a new one. They will start again but the bump in the road will slow the down a bit and hopefully ad a measure of frustration to the process if it happens to them more than a few times.2. Where you report spam?

Every question, answer, and comment here in Mahalo Answers has a red "Report" button. Just click this button and follow the easy steps every time you see anything commercial or spammy. 3.

What effect it would take on that spam or the one doing spam work? Reported spam will be vanished off of the Mahalo website and repeat spammers will have their Mahalo accounts banned and Mahalo dollars removed. END QUOTE 4.

What is spam? - Spam is any kind of unwanted internet/online communication... unwanted emails, unwanted text messages, unwanted instant messages, and unwanted social networking messages 5. What are the common TOS violations?

Lift some TOS quote Must not create or submit unwanted email to any of Mahalo's members ("Spam"); Must not use the Services to abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate, intimidate or otherwise violate the legal rights (including rights of privacy and publicity) of others Must not, in the use of the Services, violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, proprietary rights and copyright laws). You are responsible for any activity that occurs under your username. Multiple accounts will lead to all accounts being closed Must not transmit any worms or viruses or any code of a destructive nature; Must not use the Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose Violation of any of these Terms of Services will result in the termination of your Mahalo Account End quote As a newbie, I try to follow these TOS...

I am newbie in this site. I would like to thank you for such a informative knowledge in a single site. I have got lots of knowledge from this site.

Keep sharing & be in touch.... edited.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.