"pay your bill" or "deadbeat" posters
^ I left that one alone but this one I deleted as he was commenting that a phone scam should be paid - http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96089&page=2
Usually they are shills from the PDL companies... do we delete them or just respond or what?
Several issues going here. First: this is a very old thread from
Several issues going here. First: this is a very old thread from 2010, more than 2 years ago and second, this guy is a troll for the obvious reasons and one who never passed spelling, from the looks of his post. Sorry, I'm anal about these things....
I would tell Mr. Pay Your Bills or whatever his name is to go away and lock the thread, since it hasn't had a response since Nov. of 2010.
To me, these trolls don't have an original thought in their heads and automatically assume the company is always right.
Quote: automatically assume the company is always right.
Quote:
automatically assume the company is always right. |
Yeah.. and it seems like they're from those companies!!
And yet, we are instructed not to delete those posts. We are su
And yet, we are instructed not to delete those posts. We are supposed to "correct in the open". But the trolls that post this nonsense obviously will not listen to the corrections we post.....so posting a correction only causes them to post more.
Welcome to moderating on this forum....now you can start to see some of the problems we have been complaining about--and getting ignored about as well. We are here to ensure quality content, but it seems that Jason is more interested in driving traffic, so when some idiot troll debt collector posts this nonsense, it drives up post counts, and should apparently be left in place.
Welcome to moderating waffe :) As you will know (since you have
Welcome to moderating waffe :) As you will know (since you have moderating experience) there are no fixed ways in moderation.. One should not be very rigid while moderating. Every case is different. We are such a huge community that we get all types of people coming here with their own interest.
GO fast..
a) These "pay your bill" or "deat beat" posts are spams.The only thing that needs to be done with them is.. delete. So if you find one or two post in a old/new thread just delete them.
If you find similar posts being repeated in several threads then keep a copy/snapshot for your reference and post the thread urls and post ids either via mail or in the mod forum. We will take necessary action (blocking IP). We have done it before also. Check how it was done from previous threads in this forum.
Take time to respond if required
In some case, you will find the poster.. responding back saying why so and so post was deleted. Don't engage in verbal game with them because these people only wait for such a situation (some people just like barking in an open forum. Ignore them) Be polite in your words and state the reason for deletion like promoting pay day loans is against our tos policy. Don't lock the thread. If the poster resort to abusing again, just send me the urls with post id and we will block their ip or ban them if they are registered member. Again check how it was done from previous threads relating to dealing with spammer and solicitors in this forum.
GO slow..
Case where a poster is having an argument..
However if a poster makes post and you have different opinion about a particular member's post, let the thread be open. Don't delete or lock the thread just because you have a different view. Instead ask for reference where he/she is getting such answers.You can ask for opinions in the mod forum if you like. However if it is found that a poster has some hidden agenda, send a warning mail first.If the poster ignores your mail, leave it to us for taking necessary action. In case of unregistered member send us the thread url and post id.
Don't
Please don't delete posts where one member is welcoming the OP or asking OP to wait till expert sees their post and give a reply.
Wait for response.. No hurry
You may find a poster promoting a company or his/her own blog/site here. If you find such poster posting good quality answers don't just delete his/her post because he/she inserted a promotional link. We have a section where we allow such posters to add their company link (will be reviewed by us first) in our site. They can even add their blog/site (provided we give permission) in their signature.
I hope you will take time in reading (carefully) my previous posts (in this forum itself) where I have clearly stated what needs to be done with a)spammer,b)solicitors, c)posters posting different opinions and d)posters posting quality answers but posting links which appear to be promotional.
I'm sure if you read them carefully and understand it properly, you will have no complaints. When you spend enough time here you will never misguide other mods when you will be in a position to guide new mods.
Be patient. Be flexible. All the best. Enjoy moderating :)
if i may
i would like to address two points jason brings up.
1)i never deleted or edit post that welcome someone and state that an expert will be along shortly.in fact didn't we suggest a bot like that to keep posts from going unanswered?
2)this may get me in trouble,but i have been deleting posts with deabeat,pay your bills,and this country is in the shape it's in because of you for awhile now.
anyhoo this needed to be addressed.thanks waffles.
Quote:These "pay your bill" or "deat beat" posts are spams.The o
Quote:
These "pay your bill" or "deat beat" posts are spams.The only thing that needs to be done with them is.. delete. So if you find one or two post in a old/new thread just delete them. |
Except we can't delete posts that are more than 48 hours old.
Quote:
Please don't delete posts where one member is welcoming the OP or asking OP to wait till expert sees their post and give a reply. |
I agree with the welcoming part but what exactly is the point of someone posting "I'm sure someone will be along soon to answer your question"? It's silly and a waste of time.
Quote:Except we can't delete posts that are more than 48 hours o
Quote:
Except we can't delete posts that are more than 48 hours old. |
Note : Rules will be flexible here. We will take decision based on obsevations,feedback..)
Quote:
It's silly and a waste of time. |
Thanks
May I make a few points? I feel a Welcome to the Forums post (an
May I make a few points? I feel a Welcome to the Forums post (and I usually start with this line in my posts) reaches out to the member. Being in debt, as we know, is NOT FUN and the more we can support our members, the better. They are dealing with enough hostility on the phones from collectors and do not need anymore on a forum that is supposed to support them.
I have no problems with not deleting posts with differing opinions and in fact, welcome them. This is what helps our forum.
What I do have issues with is increasing drama in the community and if I think it's getting too heated from the troll population, I do not have any problems running it by the Admins first and then locking a forum.
We have to realize this: that people come here from all walks of life and education levels and some aren't going to be as sharp as others. That doesn't mean that we as moderators have the right to call them stupid and ignorant. What we need to do is educate the members on what to do and let them know that we care! Tell people to update us and let us know about their struggles!
Anyway, what I am saying is that we need to reduce the drama on the boards, INCLUDING the mods' forum (I have been lurking) and come together and become a team. That's all I have to say....
Jason, Quote:And you know the reasons why right? (ref. my pr
Jason,
Quote:
And you know the reasons why right? (ref. my previous threads where I told you clearly the reason what prompted us to take such action. Note : Rules will be flexible here. We will take decision based on obsevations,feedback..) |
Yes. I do. Which is why I'm confused that in one place you're telling us that if we find an old post that falls in the "pay your bills" category, that we should just delete it when we can't. It's a contradiction.
KSC,
We've been trying to improve both the caliber of content on this forum and the communication with the owners of the forum. Unfortunately, we've not been able to accomplish the task because we get blocked, push back or contradictions at every turn.
I'm with you on the team effort but it goes both ways.
Quote:I feel a Welcome to the Forums post (and I usually start w
Quote:
I feel a Welcome to the Forums post (and I usually start with this line in my posts) reaches out to the member. |
Ok...a lot of times someone (usually an unregistered guest) will post "someone will be along shortly" at 3am. At 3am, are they expecting a response?? You cannot even order a pizza at 3am!! Basically that is saying to the poster "I have no clue about anything in credit and collections, I can't do a forum search but it is a good opportunity for me to practice typing or my english writing skills." Do we have to welcome an unregistered guest who more than likely will never return?? What is the point? Yes, I used to delete these idiotic posts, the ones who give wrong information, incomplete information or a cut and paste answer that doesnt answer the posters questions. Now I will waste my time pointing out the unregistered posters errors, something the unregistered poster and probably the original poster will never return to view. Royal waste of time.
SL, In all fairness, it needs to be considered that posts in t
SL,
In all fairness, it needs to be considered that posts in this forum are not only for the person that posted them. Others can come along and see the answers too--and get helped that same way. If we apply the same logic youre saying to the forum as a whole, then to that end we should be deleting every thread once the OP's question is answered and he responds back with a "thank you". That is not productive. We will never know how many people just search and read without posting, so those answers are all important. I know that when I first found this forum it was because I did an online search, and when I first came here, I read all kinds of info before I posted anything. And we see all the time that people post saying that they did a search to get a question answered and found us, so others do it as well.
Excuse me, when I welcome someone to the forums, I have NEVER sa
Excuse me, when I welcome someone to the forums, I have NEVER said "Someone will be along shortly..." I do believe that you can be welcoming without having to say that. I also do not think that offering support to someone who is struggling with 10 or more PDL's (as I was) is stupid and beneath me. This is exactly the type of attitude that we need to get away from in the forums.
We have a lot of people who lurk here and if they see others treated in this way, are not going to post, I can promise you that.
Being in debt sucks, it's as simple as that. Why should someone get beat up by collectors all day and then have the same thing happen in cyberspace? We have GOT to get away from this.
We have got to revise our Moderator guidelines and have all of u
We have got to revise our Moderator guidelines and have all of us be on the same page with it.
Specifically, I would like to have the guidelines for when and when not to delete posts be revised and spelled out. IMHO, a post should only be deleted when it's spam, porn or when the poster is violating the TOS.
In soapladys defense, I believe she is referring to unregistered
In soapladys defense, I believe she is referring to unregistered posters who never come back after making their post regarding PDLs they owe. This happens a lot as they either forget they made the post since there is no email subscription or anything for a UR, or they succumb to the PDL harassment calls without knowing the facts.
Quote:
IMHO, a post should only be deleted when it's spam, porn or when the poster is violating the TOS. |
You make a good point. Perhaps we need a definition of spam that
You make a good point. Perhaps we need a definition of spam that we are all OK with,
Quote:In soapladys defense, I believe she is referring to unregi
Quote:
In soapladys defense, I believe she is referring to unregistered posters who never come back after making their post regarding PDLs they owe. This happens a lot as they either forget they made the post since there is no email subscription or anything for a UR, or they succumb to the PDL harassment calls without knowing the facts. |
I understand what youre saying, waffles, but there are two problems that I see with this line of thinking.
First, we do not ever know if the person comes back or not. We cannot automatically assume that they never came back to read the thread. Lots of people lurk on the forums.
Second, as I mentioned, these posts are not only for the OPs benefit. What about the people who will find this forum six months down the road? This forum is searchable and there's a lot of great info here--and we cannot assume that no one else will ever read the thread like this. Now more than ever, the PDLs and CAs have ramped up their efforts to gain business and to collect on debts, so this can only mean an increase in visitors to the forum. If they come here and see a welcoming environment, they are more likely to stay. Thats what caused me to stay when I first came here.
I wasn't saying I agree, just clarifying her point as she has ex
I wasn't saying I agree, just clarifying her point as she has expressed it to me personally before. I think welcoming new posters is a great idea. I just wish we made them register to the forums to make a post. I feel like that is a surefire way to keep people coming back especially if we automatically subscribe them to updates on their threads. From a revenue perspective, Jason could use their email addresses for affiliates and such. I believe this suggestion has been denied before though.
Waffles, I replied this in another thread, just here's what we d
Waffles, I replied this in another thread, just here's what we did with suggestions regarding spams..
Quote:
We implemented the moderators panel where 80-85% of spams go in the spam filter thereby preventing those spams become visible in the forums. We installed the captcha feature / image verification for user based on your observations to reduce spams in forums Implemented voting system so that OP don't get to read wrong info first or OP knows a post value based on positive/negative votes FYI, we are presently working on developing moderation /spam filter section in Social Answer too just like we developed it in our forums. We are also thinking of appointing few members to delete spams in our site As far as making registration compulsory.. we made registration compulsory here once before but we observed two things .. 1) members who are novice, find it hard to cope with the login process 2) members don't want to enter personal info like names/emails while registering so what do we do? We reverted back to allowing unregistered posters again with the intention to serve more queries from members. As far as email answer notification for unregistered member is concerned we have still have not found a way how unregistered members will get notification. (because here unregistered members don't need to provide email address) So how do we notify them. Any suggestion as to how to notify unregistered member in such a scenario from you will be appreciated |
KS, we will soon come out with a guideline on posts that should be deleted, posts that we can keep, how to deal with posts with wrong information. We are also working on Mod guidelines too.
Quote:As far as making registration compulsory.. we made registr
Quote:
As far as making registration compulsory.. we made registration compulsory here once before but we observed two things .. 1) members who are novice, find it hard to cope with the login process |
Quote:
2) members don't want to enter personal info like names/emails while registering |
When I tell people here to register as a member because they will receive an email notifying them of a new answer, most times they will sign up. People are posting under a username...it allows them to be anonymous....it is simply a fact of life using the internet.
Quote: Waffles, I replied this in another thread, just here's wh
Quote:
Waffles, I replied this in another thread, just here's what we did with suggestions regarding spams.. |
For example I was drawn back to a website I have not been on for months when I got an email about a thread subscription just last Sunday night. We could also automatically subscribe new registrants to weekly digests or to other forum news. Even we could give their emails to affiliates which will bring in more revenue.
I just feel strongly that required registration would do really well for the site. Jason - if part of the reason is you do not want new members to have to go verify their email (admittedly that does aggravate some people) you could let them post but have their posts moderated along with their accounts. So basically the mods would need to approve the new member's posts before they were public on the site and ultimately once that occurs their account would be fully validated. Just a thought again. I feel that the image verification really hurts our prospects with current members... even the unregistered real people as old folks have trouble reading it sometimes and they are the most vulnerable to these scams and they cannot post. Spam bots are able to beat image verification systems. Captcha was cracked a few years ago and it just seems counter intuitive. Again this is all just positive feedback. I have no major gripes at all and really enjoy the moderating opportunity.
Very good points have been made by everyone during this discussi
Very good points have been made by everyone during this discussion, and yes, put me down for registration. I understand all the arguments, so perhaps a compromise is in order here: maybe we could allow so many unregistered posts, then after the next post, require registration? This would do a few things: get rid of the trolls we all hate to deal with and show that if a person is really serious about wanting to be a contributing member, they will put up or shut up, ie, register.
And regarding image verification, Waffles, I guess I'm one of the old folks who has a problem with it, because it's a PAIN....;)
Thank you Soaplady, KS,Waffles for you valuable suggestion. As y
Thank you Soaplady, KS,Waffles for you valuable suggestion. As you all know very soon we will be shifting to a new platform. I have placed all yours suggestions (both old ones and the new ones) to our tech team.
Since we won't be using the existing VB platform any more, they will try and check it out in the new paltform which we hope to make it live within a week ( if all things go well). Presently, we are busy shifting our records/data/files etc in the new system. It will be better if we test and try it out there itself.
Again thanks for your valuable observation.
Thanks, Jason! Will you let us know what the results of the test
Thanks, Jason! Will you let us know what the results of the tests are? Also, will image verification be going away? (Please say yes--please says yes!!)
We will test those suggestions after we successfully put our exi
We will test those suggestions after we successfully put our existing platform in the new one. We will let you know which suggestion our tech members manage to implement.
KS, image verification/captcha is necessary but I have told my tech team to check if it's possible to bypass members who made certain number of posts (as suggested by waffles). If its possible they will surely do it but at the moment all eyes on the inserting those basic features/section/rights & permission..
Update on image verification in social answer. We have kept thi
Update on image verification in social answer.
We have kept this section for unregistered posters only in social answer. Registered members don't need to go through the verification process.
Like I said OG we would be considering all suggestions once we a
Like I said OG we would be considering all suggestions once we are live in the new platform. Social answer is more manageable as compared to VB as its developed by us. And since it would take some time in VB, we will be wasting time implementing it in VB now, since we are on verge of shifting in the new platform.