[sweerie_banana]

What is the best way to handle spam and trolls in a forum?

[Netherrealmer]

If you are not getting descent post from a certain country.. Ban it. I blocked China because all they do is to spam and no Chinese member want to join my forum anyway.

[mrki444]

If you are not getting descent post from a certain country.. B

How can you ban country? If you look just country in profile, it is not good enough since account is already made. Maybe some IP tracker or other geolocation tool?

[Netherrealmer]

There is a control panel for mods and admins to ban a whole country. I actually keep the trolls as long as they dont say something racist or sexist because trolls making people angry increases engagement.

[OldGuy]

When I was active as a moderator, I found it was important to regularly monitor the actual posts to spot and remove offensive content as it arrived. Although I was watching content on a random basis from consistently active members, I made a specific point of reviewing content of new members as they joined, but I also made a point of reviewing new content from long silent older members who suddenly became active again. Both ends are regular contributors of spam and offensive content.

My worst memory was a new member who posted spam as soon as he joined. I deleted the post within minutes but saw that he had posted several more spam messages while I was removing the previous content. I kept chasing his new posts and deleting them as he posted them for nearly 8 hours straight; some 187 total posts during a single run. Unfortunately, I did not have the option of blocking the member and the site owner was not online or reachable for the duration to take that step.

In every case, I was only able to control the content by visually looking at each post as they arrived. I don't think any other member ever saw any of that content due to the constant monitoring. Here on ForumCoin, offending members have to be passed on to Fergal or cyberfreak for a ban or blocked account.

I still regularly review new posts for offensive content from new members and older members who suddenly come back from a long absence and make reports to fergal when action is needed. Any member can do that whenever they are active on the site.

Cyberfreak regularly monitors account activity and often bans new members before they even post any content when he finds past history of offensive behavior.

I believe the only way you can control undesirable content is to actually view it as it arrives. Moderators do a lot of hidden work to keep the site clean.

[Netherrealmer]

Right now, I edit the posts of spammers because I noticed there's a lot of views on their posts because they put it in traffic exchanges. So rather than banning their posts, I just edit their posts, turn it into a real thread or reply, and I benefit from it. I also make them lose their capability to edit, which is really fun.

[sweerie_banana]

OldGuy this is such a clear-eyed, grounded reflection on what moderation actually takes — especially the part about the hidden, unseen effort that often keeps a forum clean before most users even realize something happened.

[augusta]

Trolls and spammers just want to have fun on forums it is to define and communicate your rules
to moderate your community take appropriate actions against trolls and spammers. you can ban them

[Fergal]

sweerie_banana congratulations on posting a topic of the week. Sending ForumCoin now

[Tendz]

When you have a strong moderation team in place, they can actively monitor the forum for any inappropriate or harmful content and take swift action to remove it.

[Netherrealmer]

Dont over moderate, you will alienate people

[Tendz]

Excessive moderation can drive users away rather than create a healthy community environment. There should be a right balance.