Forum Spam: Apology and Fixes

Really? A spam button with auto-remove capabilities sounds dam right dangerous. All you need is a clique to take a dislike to someone and gang up on them to remove their posts/threads which could result in all out war. Or worse you could just get gangs of trolls who deliberately disrupt the forum.I guess it might depend on getting the balance right on the number of clicks before removing the post/thread.

At least with  user moderation there is a degree responsibility, if RW towers see abuse of the moderation they can ban that member. With a spam button abuse will be far harder to spot and pin-point blame.

Of course cliques and bullying is something which doesn't happen on this forum so I'm probably seeing potential issues which could never happen here

It wouldn't delete, it would put it in invisible limbo until someone responsible has checked it. If it was then decided it wasn't spam it would be restored. If people were deliberately marking valid posts as spam then it would be down to Admin what action they chose to take against those people. Maybe their right to mark as spam would be removed.

One of the things about User Moderation is that picking the right people is probably the most important part of it, and this tends to mean picking people that have been around for some time and have earned their right to be a moderator. And it needs someone in charge to actually pick them, rather than it it being done by public vote. Whether anybody from RW actually monitors the forum closely enough to be able to do this I'm not sure. I have been on a forum where mods were elected by popular vote - it didn't work. People have to be able to be detached from what's going on in order to make fair and rational judgements, or at least be able to step aside and let other mods make that decision if they feel too close. It won't suit everybody.

Beware Of The Fish wrote (see)

 And it needs someone in charge to actually pick them, rather than it it being done by public vote. Whether anybody from RW actually monitors the forum closely enough to be able to do this I'm not sure.

I don't think anyone from RW Towers reads the forums enough to do this.

I have been approached (and accepted) by RW to 'moderate'

Firstly, I dont see this as a 'moderators' job as described in this thread, more of an unpaid cleaner!

There is no intention whatsoever for the moderator(s) to play God on any contentious issues that happen and I fully support this.   I see the role of unpaid cleaner as going some way to making this forum usable over quiet times by removing the evident spam as we saw last weekend.

I have no intention of removing posts or threads that are not genuine spam (if there is such a thing) and there are other ways or alerting first time posters who may have misread the T&Cs or overstepped the mark which will be dealt with as usual by RW

I did wonder about being anonomous but I think that for me I would rather be upfront and honest and to some extent 'available' if a spam attack happens if for some strange reason I am not here!!

There are/maybe other moderators who may or may not reveal themselves, I suspect that will depend on how much flack comes my way while I nip out for chocolate 

M...eldy wrote (see)

I have been approached (and accepted) by RW to 'moderate'

Firstly, I dont see this as a 'moderators' job as described in this thread, more of an unpaid cleaner!

There is no intention whatsoever for the moderator(s) to play God on any contentious issues that happen and I fully support this.   I see the role of unpaid cleaner as going some way to making this forum usable over quiet times by removing the evident spam as we saw last weekend.

I have no intention of removing posts or threads that are not genuine spam (if there is such a thing) and there are other ways or alerting first time posters who may have misread the T&Cs or overstepped the mark which will be dealt with as usual by RW

I did wonder about being anonomous but I think that for me I would rather be upfront and honest and to some extent 'available' if a spam attack happens if for some strange reason I am not here!!

There are/maybe other moderators who may or may not reveal themselves, I suspect that will depend on how much flack comes my way while I nip out for chocolate 

Are you categorically saying that you won't remove or change posts by established users, even if you disagree with them? I don't like user mods, I've seen it go from sycophancy to downright misuse on other forums. I also don't like the fact that RW Towers choose users from not being on the forum themselves, complete guesswork. I knew they'd choose you because of various reasons. I don't disagree with that choice if someone HAS to do it.

That was a compliment btw I'm fucked off with RW generally as they still owe me money promised from years ago for being a pacer for them and promoting them at races.

No-one gives a shit anymore.

And I asked Dominique in email about this and she couldn't be bothered to reply. Bring back Dan.

kittenkat wrote (see)

M...eldy wrote (see)

I have no intention of removing posts or threads that are not genuine spam (if there is such a thing) and there are other ways or alerting first time posters who may have misread the T&Cs or overstepped the mark which will be dealt with as usual by RW

Are you categorically saying that you won't remove or change posts by established users, even if you disagree with them? I don't like user mods, I've seen it go from sycophancy to downright misuse on other forums. I also don't like the fact that RW Towers choose users from not being on the forum themselves, complete guesswork. I knew they'd choose you because of various reasons. I don't disagree with that choice if someone HAS to do it.

That was a compliment btw I'm fucked off with RW generally as they still owe me money promised from years ago for being a pacer for them and promoting them at races.

No-one gives a shit anymore.

As it says on the tin

Meldy - No flack warranted. You'll do good

So who else has RW promoted to prefect?

Sounds good to me. As  a witch Meldy can probably delete spam without even logging on anyway. 

<waits for this to be deleted>

<in the mean time runs away very quickly> 

Well done Meldy, you've got to be the highest poster I've ever seen on here, and thus spend your life on here, so who better to clean up this dump!

Looking at the length of your post though, the power is already kicking in

I cant win can I ?   

Now now Meldy, you're at work, you haven't time to chat on here..there's spam afoot

M...eldy wrote (see)

I cant win can I ?   

No! What's your motivation for wanting to do it? Let RW deal with it, they're not paying you but still making profit.

Will they share that profit with you?