New account post approvals to stop spammers

[RadioRob]

Greetings!

I implemented a change this morning to require new accounts (less than 30 days old) to require moderator approval for new posts in an effort to mitigate some of the recent increased spam attacks. 

Once a new account has 5 unique pieces of content approved (new topics, replies, etc), they’ll automatically be updated to no longer require moderator approval. 

Again, this is only being done as a spam mitigation mechanism. I’m not looking to censor new users or prevent discussion.  Posts that are not spam and that don’t violate the community guidelines will be approved as quickly as possible.  I would just ask that folks remember we have a small team of volunteers who moderate the site and this is a side gig for all of us. So if it takes a little bit of time for us to see/approve a topic, it’s not personal!

Thanks!

Rob

[RadioRob]

Also if you do see a major spam attack, feel free to report just a single post per account. The moderators have a tool that when used will remove ALL content they posted automatically.  You don’t need to report each message as that first one once processed will clean up the rest by that user automatically. 

If you do happen to report multiple from the same account, it’s not a big deal… it just means we have to close that additional report as a duplicate as it will have already been handled. 
 

Thanks again for helping keep the site clean and safe!

[BuffaloKyle]

I'm glad to see this implemented. Will make your job a lot easier. Don't have to worry about any spam bombing @RadioRob while you are busy handling more intimate affairs.  

[+ poolboy48220]

I assume this is in response to the new user who posted a dozen or more threads with customer service numbers for various airlines. I could see those getting cleaned up in real time yesterday morning. Once again I'm grateful for the moderator's quick response.

It reminds me of a site I worked on 10+ years ago that allowed free-form commenting. That got out of hand really quick; we implemented a 'bad words' filter (that list of 'bad words' was hilarious, including f**k with various numbers of 'k's); then we switched to moderating comments, and finally turned off commenting completely when the amount of moderation got very expensive.

Edited Saturday at 01:34 PM by poolboy48220

[mike carey]

4 minutes ago, poolboy48220 said:

I assume this is in response to the new user who posted a dozen or more threads with customer service numbers for various airlines. I could see those getting cleaned up in real time yesterday morning. Once again I'm grateful for the moderator's quick response.

It wasn't just one new user, there was a succession of them, and we had an interesting time dealing with them. You can interpret 'interesting' in any way you like.

Thanks for the vote of appreciation, we all appreciate that. With a little bit of luck, the new measure will reduce the chance Season 2 (actually more like Season 5 but I haven't been counting).

[pubic_assistance]

On 8/29/2025 at 2:33 PM, RadioRob said:

You don’t need to report each message as that first one once processed will clean up the rest by that user automatically. 

Thanks. I tagged all of them individually. Message received. Will know the correct protocol for next time. 

[RadioRob]

58 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Thanks. I tagged all of them individually. Message received. Will know the correct protocol for next time. 

The note was not meant to call out any specific person.  During those attacks, tons of people just report each one they see.  It's not a huge deal to close a duplicate report, but was just calling it out so individuals have less work reporting and we have less work closing.