Bump Spam - Invites & Accounts sub

[PrimeNumber7]

I have noticed there are a lot of threads in the Invites/Accounts sub that are bumping (and deleting their bumps) their threads multiple times per day.

For example:
Unneverknowme has bumped his thread 5x in 3 days.
Unneverknowme has bumped his other thread 13x in 4 days (he regularly bumps this thread 3x+ per day).
michaelh13 has bumped his thread 18x in 4 days (he has consistently bumped his thread at least 4x per day).
andypekaa has bumped his thread 7x in 4 days (he frequently bumps his thread 2x per day).
Netsssp has bumped his thread 5x in 3 days (he frequently bumps his thread 2x per day).
daxdepot has consistently bumped his thread 2x per day. (this thread is currently in the wrong sub).

The excessive bumps are being reported, and the moderators are (mostly) handling the reports by removing the excessive bumps. However, after having the excessive bumps removed, they just bump their threads again.

I propose that forum members be prevented from deleting their posts in the Invites & Accounts sub for 24 hours after they create their post. Almost no one in this sub has any merit, so I don't think it would be good to implement the merit based bumping system because it would result in these people ending up trying to buy merit, which is not a good outcome.

AFAICT, the Invites & Accounts sub is the only one with this problem, or at least as bad of a problem regarding bump spam.

[1714646616]

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[1714646616]

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[Welsh]

Yeah, the lack of further action is probably because the moderator handling the reports can't actually verify themselves easily (at least without relying on third party sites). However, I've reported a few of these to the higher ups, and they can see deleted posts. Though, from now on I'm thinking of archiving the threads myself, and then monitoring the bumps so I can verify it myself, rather than rely on other websites which are logging all replies deleted, just to be sure.

I agree though, restricting this behaviour in the first place as a way of mitigation is probably a good idea. It's has particularly become a problem as of recent, as users know that they sort of get away with it the majority of the time.

[PrimeNumber7]

Do you have access to thread 5368808? It appears this is the thread where all deleted posts get moved to (that were deleted today). It looks like a new thread is created periodically (everyday?). For example, a post I reported now appears to be in a different topic than it was when I reported it 5368619, vs 5201817. Or at least the URL is different on my reports page once the post is deleted. There might be different of these special threads for when a post is deleted by a mod and when a post is deleted by the user, I am not sure.

I agree though, restricting this behaviour in the first place as a way of mitigation is probably a good idea. It's has particularly become a problem as of recent, as users know that they sort of get away with it the majority of the time.

It looks like some users are progressively increasing their frequency of bumps as they have seen they are able to do it without real consequence.

[DaveF]

If it's not a self moderated then you could probably just reply while quoting the bump(s) and then report it.
Don't stress yourself out over it. Although I still do report a bunch, I have found the mods of some sections will take down more / are more reactive then others that seem to have a more relaxed attitude.

I would purge a lot more, but then again I'm not a mod and don't have to answer to anyone.

-Dave

[PrimeNumber7]

If it's not a self moderated then you could probably just reply while quoting the bump(s) and then report it.

Technically speaking, even quoted posts can be faked.

It appears there is at least one mod who really does not care about excessive bumps. Yesterday (November 3, UTC TZ), I had 8 reports of excessive bumps marked as bad. The posts in 7 of these reported posts have already been deleted and replaced with another excessive bump.

I also had 12 reports of multi-posting marked as bad, even though as of now, the post in question, and the prior post were both written by the same person (I had one additional multi-posting report marked as bad after the person deleted his prior post sometime between when I reported his post and now).

[PrimeNumber7]

As an update to the above: I attempted to implement a solution to the lack of evidence regarding the bump spammers, but it appears tools I have attempted to use to produce evidence have effectively IP banned me.

Meanwhile, bump spammers have been able to continue to excessively bump with impunity, to the extent that my reports of excessive bans are being marked as bad, even when spammers are able to bump 2-3+ times per day, and in excess of the once per 24 hour period.

I would repeat my request to have the Invites & Accounts sub permissions be edited such that users cannot delete their posts for 24 hours after making their posts.