Watch the Neighborhood

A sad record after a spam flooding at 43T, 80+ accounts to review… Does anyone have an idea how to get them 43T programmers to take effective anti-spam measures? This certainly felt like dweilen met de kraan open – (proverb in Dutch, something like mopping the floor while the tap is open)

...why the Neighborhood Watchers are insulting each other? Here’s what one comment said just now:

“read the “rules”, idiot!!!!! There are no rules against “self-promotion”. Geesh!”

Why would people be taking this so personally as to get into name calling? Aren’t we all on the same team? For that matter, wouldn’t personal insults like that be against the 43T Terms of Use themselves?

...why I’m doing this. It’s just frustrating. I report someone who has a ton of entries, all the same, advertising a blog, and very little if any “real” content, and someone defends them, saying something like, “there’s nothing wrong with wanting people to read your blog”. Isn’t that the definition of spam? Is 43T an advertising site? Grrr. I’m not sure I’m going to keep doing this.

Look at this user, for instance:
http://www.43things.com/person/supersudser

The vast majority of the entries are about the business this person has started, and wants YOU to start, too. But this user throws in a few other comments about unrelated things, links the account to a flickr account (who knows if it’s really theirs), and thinly veils their attempts at advertising.

However, it’s evidently enough camouflage, because people just love to defend this type of spammer. This user got a comment in defense, something like: “I like this person, they just seem to be enthusiastic”. Sure they’re enthusiastic – they’re trying to make money from YOU!

Same thing for these:
http://www.43things.com/person/bootkidz
http://www.43things.com/person/danlev

The system is only as good as the users doing the evaluating, and people are so easily taken in. These types of spammer bother me even more than the really obvious ones, because they’re taking advantage of people and tricking them.

...somewhat satisfying to report spammers.

43T Neighborhood Watch