Why's "Bot spam" a separate report reason?

[pythonmegapixel]

Sometimes I'm not sure whether advertising and requests for support have been placed by a bot or just a human reposting a copypasta.

 

Is there any particular reason why reporting something for "Bot spam" is different to reporting things for other types of advertising? Also, which category is best for the kind of posts which aren't advertising a product as such, but rather are just saying "Please give me some money/repost my thing because X"?

 

This isn't a complaint as I'm sure the decision to do that had a rationale behind it, I'm just interested to know what it is.

[kelvinhall05]

1 hour ago, pythonmegapixel said:

"Please give me some money/repost my thing because X"?

If they are just begging for shit I report it as not meeting subforum posting guidelines.

 

 

The bot spam option is there because the bot spam filter isn't perfect. I suspect that posts are automatically hidden if reported with enough bot spam reports but I'm not sure.

[WkdPaul]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

I suspect that posts are automatically hidden if reported with enough bot spam reports

[Eschew]

...

Mods could probably answer this more definitively than I can, here's just a plebby forum member's thoughts/observations:

43 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Sometimes I'm not sure whether advertising and requests for support have been placed by a bot or just a human reposting a copypasta.

If the post contains a link or reads like a robotic advert/copy-pasta, I clicky the "Bot spam" button. Telltale signs are: thread title with weird formatting, thread titles that don't relate to the sub-forum, links at the top or bottom of the thread, spewing random facts about a topic (especially in the wrong sub-forum) then tacking on their website/online service at the end, or yet another CBD topic. Whether the spam originates from a bot/script or a human Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V is somewhat irrelevant, methinks. Spam is spam; clogs up the forum, needs to be flushed.

 

46 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Is there any particular reason why reporting something for "Bot spam" is different to reporting things for other types of advertising?

Been under the impression that "Bot spam" reports are handled faster than other reports. Or, could be one of those, "If a thread receives X amount of reports, it's automagically hidden from public view."

 

For "Advertising," it tends to be more "organic"? The language used in the thread and thread title will make it clear whether it's a generic copy-pasta, or something the OP is invested in. Like, "This is my brother's mother's uncle's sister's father's grandson's app/game/website/charity, please check it out." or "Hi guys, I've made a thingy, can you all download it and give me feedback? Oh, also here's my Discord server. Kthxbai."

 

46 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Also, which category is best for the kind of posts which aren't advertising a product as such, but rather are just saying "Please give me some money/repost my thing because X"?

I usually clicky on "Something else," then pasta Point #8 about begging/GoFundMes from the Community Standards into the report's message box:

Quote

No begging for free or discounted things, asking for donations, GoFundMes, or any similar content.

Mods have encouraged adding concise explanations in the message box. And I can confirm they definitely do pay attention to the messages. 

[SansVarnic]

7 hours ago, Eschew said:

Mods have encouraged adding concise explanations in the message box. And I can confirm they definitely do pay attention to the messages. 

Context is a tremendous help.

Besides if we didn't pay attention to the details, the forum would be a free-for-all

 

 

*edit

Just to clarify (for those that may not know) report messages just need to be a brief but concise summary of the issue. No need for finger pointing or opinions. We just need to know what is going on so we can make an unbiased judgement and then act appropriately.

[Crunchy Dragon]

7 hours ago, Eschew said:

Been under the impression that "Bot spam" reports are handled faster than other reports. Or, could be one of those, "If a thread receives X amount of reports, it's automagically hidden from public view."

 

For "Advertising," it tends to be more "organic"? The language used in the thread and thread title will make it clear whether it's a generic copy-pasta, or something the OP is invested in. Like, "This is my brother's mother's uncle's sister's father's grandson's app/game/website/charity, please check it out." or "Hi guys, I've made a thingy, can you all download it and give me feedback? Oh, also here's my Discord server. Kthxbai."

Without giving away too much, this is kind of how it goes. Bot spam and regular spam/advertising are different things, and it's important to make the distinction between them as it can impact our action going forward with the report.

[Spotty]

11 hours ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Is there any particular reason why reporting something for "Bot spam" is different to reporting things for other types of advertising?

There's a distinction between bot spam and advertising.

 

Bot spam: Bot spam/Professional spammers who spend all day signing up to websites to spam links. Quite often all they do is sign up, dump a bunch of links, then move on to the next website. This will often be things such as medication/drugs, tech support scam websites, gambling websites, adult websites, and just general SEO manipulation (trying to spam a website/business enough that search engines rank it higher). "Bot spammers" have no interest in participating in the LTT community and are only interested in being able to spam whatever it is they're spamming. These spam accounts are banned without warning and their posts removed from the forum.

 

Advertising: People who are actually interested in being members of the LTT forum who post something that is considered advertising. This will be the stuff covered by the No advertising section of the community standards. Often it is things like people creating a post asking people to subscribe to their YouTube channel, including a referral/affiliate link in their posts, or promoting their own website. Telling them that advertising isn't allowed and asking them to not do whatever it was they were doing is in most cases all that is needed, and they'll go on using the forum normally like the rest of us.

 

If you're ever unsure which report category something falls in to, or there isn't a report category that is relevant, just submit the report as "Something else". You are able to include a comment with the report if you wish to provide any additional information.