[EXPERIMENT] Testing the Limits of Shitposting

[actmyname]

I type fairly quickly. I maneuver around the forum quickly.

If I were a shitposter, how much could I post? Probably a lot. I'm doing an experiment to test this very theory.

Supposing I had multiple accounts and switching between them was as seamless as going to another board (since I won't be using alts) I could garner a large amount of signature earnings from campaigns that didn't care (too much).The reason that shitposting is so lucrative is because of the profit. And to really get a sense of what these account farmers are doing, I wanted to see exactly how profitable it could be. For science!

I hate spamming and therefore I will delete my posts as soon as I can (after archiving the posts for further research) but at 12 AM UTC^*, 4/21/2019, I will start my one hour of "quickposts". (I'll try to "look" constructive like many spammers do by picking random bits of knowledge here and there, but in a way where I can pump out as many posts as possible.)

The goal is >100 within the hour. I think it's possible.This is inspired by the new YoBit campaign which will bring forth a wave of spam. Only Moses can save us now.

*estimated time

EDIT: This is obviously very empirical and only applies to a shitposter that possesses the same traits as I do.

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[actmyname]

Experiment ArchivesPage 1 (1 - 20)
Page 2 (21 - 40)
Page 3 (41- 59)Analysis59 posts in 60 minutes. Not bad!

If the YoBit campaign continues without any qualms regarding member post quality (mine were 'decent', not good) then these would be the rates for 3 members of the ranks:

_{Bitcoin Price: $5300}

Sr. Member:  0.00708 BTC == $37.53 / hr
Hero Member: 0.00944 BTC == $50.03 / hr
Legendary:   0.01180 BTC == $62.54 / hr

Certainly lucrative, especially if your cost of living is low. With more accounts, you can extend your work day.

Let's consider a limit of 3, though.
Using only 7 hours of their time every week:

Sr. Members make:  $262/w | $1050/mo | $13696/yr
Hero Members make: $350/w | $1400/mo | $18261/yr
Legendaries make:  $437/w | $1751/mo | $22827/yr

I've seen account rings span far more than "just" 3 accounts. This is why people farm accounts.

Zero effort. Very little time. Huge profits.

[yazher]

I think the only board that is in danger was in the Bitcoin Discussion and Altcoin Discussion board the rest are just fine, that's when the Yobit signature campaign not yet come. as of today spammers are free to post wherever they like as long as they make it looks like a constructive post, cause there is no rules on Yobit Signature campaign that you cannot post on certain board, rather you are free to post on all Sections.
starting today the forum will be filled with the signature campaign abusers so,

[actmyname]

I think the only board that is in danger was in the Bitcoin Discussion and Altcoin Discussion board the rest are just fine

Spam haven boards include (but are not limited to):
Bitcoin Discussion
Mining speculation (not as much)
Technical Support (not as much)
Economics
-> Speculation
Marketplace
-> Gambling
->-> Gambling discussion
->-> Investor-based games ("ponzi alert" spam)
-> Lending ("you need collateral" spam)
-> Service Announcements
->-> Micro Earnings
-> Service Discussion
Trading Discussion
Meta (certain threads)
Politics & Society (certain threads)
Beginners & Help
Off-topic
Any altcoin board

[Quickseller]

I hope you got permission to do this ahead of time.

It isn’t any secret that it is possible to make large amounts of posts in short periods of time. The merit system has somewhat curtailed this by preventing shitposters (among others) from ranking up. If someone can’t rank up, the ad they display won’t be as attractive to advertisers.

As a side note, someone could potentially create many useful posts in a short period of time (although maybe not 100 posts in an hour), if you have sufficient knowledge of bitcoin related subjects.

[hacker1001101001]

The goal is >100 within the hour. I think it's possible.

I think this a very high goal. It's just like postsing new post every 0.6 seconds minutes.Would you really manage to do so ? ( One liner posts are possible but I think a campaign acceptable post should atleast be 2 liner )

BTW, did you mean 100 a day or hour?

[TMAN]

Yobit just need a decent manager who will educate the fools about quality over quantity

[LoyceV]

Challenge accepted: let's see how many I can report in that hour I'm not sure if I'm online though at that time tomorrow.

Yobit just need a decent manager who will educate the fools about quality over quantity

They choose a different path: they have red trust already (YoBit / Trust: -16: -4 / +0) and have nothing to lose. Yesterday, several topics were created by Newbies including several other Newbies bumping them, so it looks like they hired a spammer instead of a campaign manager.
And with their red trust, managing their campaign won't look good on the campaign manager.

[o_e_l_e_o]

As mikeywith cleverly picked up here, some of these spammers seem to write a bunch of posts in advance, save them as drafts, and then just release them all during the next "quota period", which is why they can spam so many posts so quickly. I would add the Stake campaign to the YoBit campaign as being guilty of this behavior.

Yobit just need a decent manager who will educate the fools about quality over quantity

We need bans. Bans for spammers and bans for managers who enable the spammers. There are some users I've reported 50+ times in the space of a day or two, all their posts are trashed, and then they are back the very next day, posting twice as much to make up for the all their deleted posts. There is a stickied thread in Services saying these users will receive bans for this behavior - this kind of spamming will continue indefinitely until this is enforced.

[marcotheminer]

Reserved. (future post archives will be published here for later use)

You needn't reserve a post for this.. You seem to do this a couple times: make an OP and make a post reply right after (so essentially a double post). I don't care - but note some people might thing you're doing only it for the signature payout too.

Otherwise, I agree, this Yobit campaign is going to be a flood of "YOBIT" ads. It's normal though - they are paying top rates and to senior+.

[Quickseller]

We need bans. Bans for [...] managers who enable the spammers.

This is not going to do very much. A manager does not need to be "not banned" to do their job as a manager, and they could potentially do their job in its entirety off the forum without even disclosing their account.

I have long advocated for reports regarding damage done via individual company's signature campaigns in the form of number of bans issued, and posts deleted (and associated reasons).  

theymos had previously broached the idea of people subscribing to a signature, but perhaps the "author" of a subscription could (optionally) need to authorize subscriptions so to prevent spammers subscribing to signatures with the intent of making a company/manager look bad

[o_e_l_e_o]

This is not going to do very much. A manager does not need to be "not banned" to do their job as a manager, and they could potentially do their job in its entirety off the forum without even disclosing their account.

Fair point. How about blacklisting then, as explained in the post I linked to above. If YoBit don't clean up their act, then YoBit as an entity will be banned from advertising on the forum. I still think we should be handing out escalating bans to the individual spammers though.

I have long advocated for reports regarding damage done via individual company's signature campaigns in the form of number of bans issued, and posts deleted (and associated reasons).

I think this would work great with the blacklisting idea. If your campaign has x number of posts deleted for spam, or x number of users banned for spamming, in y number of days/weeks, you get a warning. Repeat offending companies or entities are blacklisted.

[actmyname]

As a side note, someone could potentially create many useful posts in a short period of time (although maybe not 100 posts in an hour), if you have sufficient knowledge of bitcoin related subjects.

The metric is really to form a kind of idea on how many posts I can make under the context of "barely-passable" or "sufficient" post quality. If you take a look at a large portion of signatured posts, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

You needn't reserve a post for this.. You seem to do this a couple times: make an OP and make a post reply right after (so essentially a double post). I don't care - but note some people might thing you're doing only it for the signature payout too.

I don't think I've done it too often recently: maybe twice outside of this thread. Doesn't really matter to me what others may perceive as "posting for money". Those that know me should know (to some degree) that I don't just mindlessly post to hit the cap every week. I also trust in DS's ability to not tick a single line "Reserved" post as qualified.

This is not going to do very much. A manager does not need to be "not banned" to do their job as a manager, and they could potentially do their job in its entirety off the forum without even disclosing their account.

Which is exactly what's happening here: something that I've feared. High-count low-effort campaigns that induce spam, hosted off-forum.

[r1s2g3]

I do not think 100 post in a hour is also too much  for a shitposter too.You need a bot for this
I am wondering if some new service like "Yobit post making" services open up. 

I also expect to see a lot plagiarized post with lot of low quality post.

[suchmoon]

You needn't reserve a post for this.. You seem to do this a couple times: make an OP and make a post reply right after (so essentially a double post).

32. Posting multiple posts in a row (excluding bumps and reserved posts by the thread starter) is not allowed.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I think the only board that is in danger was in the Bitcoin Discussion and Altcoin Discussion board

Those two sections are beyond redemption anyway and can't be shat upon any more than they are already.  The Yobit participants could still make constructive posts and hit the maximum amount allowed per day by the campaign, but I'm not optimistic about that actually happening.  If the shitposts stay mainly in those two sections, the damage will be somewhat contained at least.  I hate that Bitcoin Discussion has become a spam section, because it should be where all the good threads get created, but whatever.  Theymos is OK with it, so I won't fret.

I also expect to see a lot plagiarized post with lot of low quality post.

Me too, and I'd imagine it's going to be damn hard to catch all of them.  Yobit really should tighten up their campaign standards.

Good luck with your extra-super-scientific experimenty thing, actmyname.  Let me know which journal you're going to publish the results in.

[marcotheminer]

You needn't reserve a post for this.. You seem to do this a couple times: make an OP and make a post reply right after (so essentially a double post).

32. Posting multiple posts in a row (excluding bumps and reserved posts by the thread starter) is not allowed.

Ok fair enough, thanks for the correction - I had never realised that.. I will refresh myself on forum rules..

Good luck with the testing, it'll be fairly rapid to fake the "constructive" replies - just expand, expand, expand.. Especially useful threads for that are the "who is your bitcoin heir" type threads (yes, that's in Bitcoin discussion currently, I quickly looked for an example...). Isn't that more off-topic semi-random discussion? Could there be an off-topic-but-related section somehow?

[o_e_l_e_o]

I hate that Bitcoin Discussion has become a spam section, because it should be where all the good threads get created, but whatever.  Theymos is OK with it, so I won't fret.

Completely agree with you here, but don't understand the logic behind it at all. Bitcoin Discussion should be the main discussion board on the forum, which, after all, is called bitcointalk. As it stands, it's barely usable. Many smart and experienced users don't even visit it, and the few that do are rapidly drowned out by endless amounts of spam. I've reported thousands of posts on it in the last few months, but every day it just fills up again more rapidly than can be dealt with. Given that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, I'm going to have to take a break from reporting for the sake of my own sanity.

I don't think it's beyond redemption, however, by any means. It could be cleaned up quite rapidly, but we need some top down changes. Several mods dedicated just for that board (most boards could benefit from this). Higher merit requirements to display signatures, applicable to all ranks. More liberal bans for repeat spammers. Those three changes would remove the incentive to spam, get rid of the users who continue anyway, and prevent necrobumping and useless threads before they gain traction and turn in to yet another spam megathread.

[actmyname]

I do not think 100 post in a hour is also too much  for a shitposter too.You need a bot for this

Assuming I average 110 wpm == 550 cpm, I can probably make at least one post per minute.

Just did a few to practice. Should be good enough to hit at least 60 posts/hour.

At current YoBit rates, assuming Sr. Member accounts only, that would be 0.0072 BTC == $38/hr. That grows to $64/hr with Legendary accounts.

If we assume that the account farmers only have Sr. Member accounts (they require 3 per hour) then you would need 24 for an 8-hour work day. (give or take an hour)

Good luck with the testing, it'll be fairly rapid to fake the "constructive" replies - just expand, expand, expand.. Especially useful threads for that are the "who is your bitcoin heir" type threads

Ah, yes. The ever-so-frequent post-padding that spammers decide to insert into their posts to obfuscate the very fact that they are just rambling with the same nonsensical bullshit that is ingrained into their mind after countless hours of frequenting the forum and posting the same vapid and generic replies to posts which that quote thereof and will do the same routine of agree and expand or rephrase in a different way, without adding any extra content.

See how easy it is? That took less than a minute to type, I believe.

[tbct_mt2]

The goal is >100 within the hour. I think it's possible.This is inspired by the new YoBit campaign which will bring forth a wave of spam. Only Moses can save us now.

Even when you can do it, I don't think you should do it. Instead, if you can, you should scrap data to count how many posts published by Yobit supporters are one line shit posts, and how many percentage one line shit posts per total posts published by Yobit supporters.