[List]Gambling Board Spammers; Concerns, Solutions & Suggestions

[Igebotz]

Casinos sig campaign has the most signature participants on the forum, and because of the high demand for gambling-related posts from participants, the gambling discussion board has become a haven for signature spammers - why is this? I bet the majority of those who applied to those campaigns had no knowledge of the game, but because the rules require a minimum of 10 posts on the gambling board, most of these users with no knowledge of the game just spam the hell out of the board with low quality and offtopic discussion to complete post counts. I spend the majority of my time reporting, especially in the last few days, but that alone is ineffective.

The concern.

Just want to notify you guys! I see some people are very familiar to do post in gambling discussion mega thread. I will suggest to not make post on these mega threads. I really don't like this.

7. The posting quality will be thoroughly checked – posts in spam mega threads, campaign threads (including this one), necro posts and low-quality posts will not be counted.

The Solutions

* Is there a way the admin can turn thread to a self- moderated thread and hand it over to another OP who is ready to moderate the thread? I will volunteer ^{I spend 90% of my time there.}

* Is a self-moderated thread the answer? Yes, it reduces spam; consider JollyGood self-moderated threads as an example; zero 1xbit spammers, zero low posts since the beginning of last season, we talked and agreed to keep it clean for quality discussion only, and the result is fantastic!

⚽ English Premier League Season: 2021/2022 ^{self-moderated} 356 spam posts deleted

⚽ FOOTBALL: UEFA Champions League 2021/22 Season FINAL Real Madrid vs Liverpool ^{self-moderated} 15 spam posts deleted

Now what threads are the spammers fishing on?

⚽ Football Transfers Speculation, Odds and Predictions by tokeweed

⚽UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread -- 2021/22 winner - Real Madrid by buwaytress

La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2020/21 by trofo

Italian League Prediction Thread (Serie A) by scaccomatt0

Germany League - Bundesliga Prediction Thread by n30111

Premier League Prediction Thread 2021/2022   by trofo


My Suggestions!

• Lock the thread; create a self-moderated thread
• A new thread should be created at the beginning of every season. Old thread locked.
• Admin to convert the already existing thread to self-moderated.

Top gambling board spammers; excluded 1xbit spammers.

These users have zero knowledge of the game(Football) you can check their post history for details!

Gamgling board stats only!!!

Code:

jakdanye1
superman184
Fesatmas
BitcoinHunt3r
BuNga_cute
Bobrox
Oneandpure
Shasha80
erep
Suzie
Rigon
Luzin
flaming dinners
indah rezqi
MinoRaiola
Ondekinecakabilirim
sayaya17
Raflesia
lalabotax
variable
Wawa2013
bct_ail
hahay
Tony116
Davian144
wmaurik
yudi09
Jatiluhung

Removed

Code:

marcous 
Jatiluhung

N/B: Casino campaign managers should take note of these users. Added to ignore list.

Will a neutral tag with a bold message to these users be sufficient to send a signal to sig managers? Too harsh?

[1714234890]

1714234890

[1714234890]

1714234890

[buwaytress]

Thanks for the note igehhh. I concur:

1. A lot of spam posts not just in discussion but in ANN threads. It's quite clear who posts with any meaningful understanding and who doesn't, I would even say it's quite clear who actually gambles and who doesn't (it's gambling isn't it?)

2. Megathreads don't always get their due though, not all of them are low value (again this is arguable but I actually see a lot of value in the WO thread, for example where there IS an active and knowledgeable community, and that alone warrants for the high frequency of posts otherwise would be considered shitposting. I'm guilty myself every now and then but I trust my campaign manager recognises this haha).

Because many campaigns also discourage mega thread posting if not outlaw them, you get the spammers opening new topics -- you see this a lot in Discussion but also creeping up in the main Gambling thread. Low quality content, no new discussion or angle, etc.

I agree that threads I opened could probably be turned to self-moderated (you named one but I have others also attracting spam) -- I don't mind moderating, though I might be accused of being too harsh, and could be biased to all the users I already know gamble (but that bias is good right?). It was just natural for me to NOT self-moderate to keep the thread censorship free but at this stage, I think the pro (less spam) is preferable to the con (possible censorship).

JollyGood's self moderation's a good example of how one could trim the fat, although I have to say at least one was opened despite existing ones -- should really have kept the existing topics (using the example of Champions League and EPL you used in OP) and moderate that together with others (is that possible?). Was there a reason JollyGood opened those new topics? To self-moderate?

[Welsh]

I'd say just report what you think is low quality. The moderators in that section are definitely active, and they'd probably welcome reports in that section. I only see newbie reports there, and they aren't that often, so I'm wondering if it might be the same for higher ranked accounts.

It would take the same amount of effort to report the posts, than to self moderate it yourself. Might be even quicker reporting, since you don't have to go through, and delete every post referencing that, whereas the moderator will.

Obviously, there might be a difference of opinion on certain posts. I can see a lot of subjective views being had on the quality of a post. Although, I do believe that the discussion should be resolved around gambling, and not just talking about a team or player for the sake of talking about sports, which I do believe is used quite a bit. I know that can be related at times, but it has to at least stem from a discussion about gambling, and not generic discussion. That's my view point anyhow. The moderators in that section, might have a different view.  

I agree that threads I opened could probably be turned to self-moderated (you named one but I have others also attracting spam) -- I don't mind moderating, though I might be accused of being too harsh, and could be biased to all the users I already know gamble (but that bias is good right?). It was just natural for me to NOT self-moderate to keep the thread censorship free but at this stage, I think the pro (less spam) is preferable to the con (possible censorship).

That doesn't really matter all that much, as it's a self moderated thread. If users don't like the way you're moderating a thread, they can open their own. Although, that does have its own set of problems, especially if we've got two almost identical threads, which are massing replies. Especially, if the spammers then post in both of them to get paid, which I suspect would be the case.

* Is there a way the admin can turn thread to a self- moderated thread and hand it over to another OP who is ready to moderate the thread? I will volunteer I spend 90% of my time there.

Yeah, I do believe it's possible. I believe the Wall Observer thread has been given this treatment in the past.

You've got the right users in Cyrus, and hilariousandco moderating the section. So, they'd likely have the permissions to do something like that. Different matter, whether they deem it appropriate or not, though.

[_act_]

* Is there a way the admin can turn thread to a self- moderated thread and hand it over to another OP who is ready to moderate the thread? I will volunteer I spend 90% of my time there.

Very possible but probably that is never going to happen.

This will only lead to report the spam posts to moderators, best to report to moderators.

Good members on the gambling board can agree on one thing, to just volunteer users on gambling thread to create a new thread for each what will later be mega threads and make it self moderated, but I am not advising you about this, the person that created the self-moderated thread can be bias.

I expect immediately before the beginning of new season, new threads should be created for those mega threads, the threads are getting too long. But best not to be self-moderated and keep on reporting spam posts.

[Despairo]

I spend the majority of my time reporting, especially in the last few days, but that alone is ineffective.

What the feedback you got from moderators then? I guess the majority of your post will stay in unhandled since the post are categorized as soft-bad post, moderators only mark your report are good when it's really shitpost or breaking the rules e.g. post in a row.

The concern.

Just want to notify you guys! I see some people are very familiar to do post in gambling discussion mega thread.

7. The posting quality will be thoroughly checked – posts in spam mega threads,

I think they're different, sujonali1819 pointed about mega threads on gambling discussion, while Trofo mean spam mega threads like Bitcoin discussion and Altcoins discussion. Honestly I don't understand why sujonali1819 mention to not post in gambling discussion mega thread since there's a lot users there and the discussion keep on going, that's make the thread have a lot replies. However not all mega thread in gambling discussion is really spam, it's just weird the campaign have a minimum gambling board posts but he discourage the users to not post in gambling discussion.

Lock the thread; create a self-moderated thread
A new thread should be created at the beginning of every season. Old thread locked.

I'd second about this solution and it's make sense.

Top gambling board spammers; excluded 1xbit spammers.
These users have zero knowledge of the game(Football) you can check their post history for details!

Since I'm football fans too, so I know about their post quality, some of them were shitpost and not have any point, but some of them not. The reason why I said some of those users aren't shitposter because the new campaign (your campaign) are selected some users that you mention as a shitposter. Not going to say your judgement are wrong, but different user have different perspective.

Will a neutral tag with a bold message to these users be sufficient to send a signal to sig managers? Too harsh?

If you want, you can do it since neutral tag isn't harm their accounts.

To be honest I would like to encourage all author in gambling sections create self moderated thread to make 1xbit spammers has no place to posts in gambling sections, this will make their campaign destroyed.

[Little Mouse]

* Is there a way the admin can turn thread to a self- moderated thread and hand it over to another OP who is ready to moderate the thread? I will volunteer ^{I spend 90% of my time there.}

I don't know it's possible or not but it's not going to be happened for sure. Admin won't do that.

Users who already have posted in that thread have posted because they know the thread is not self moderated. They may not post in a self moderated thread. This is just a possible scene.
Your goal is honest but think about the possibilities. It's possible that you will not allow some users to post in your thread just because of your ego. Once again, possibility only.

Will a neutral tag with a bold message to these users be sufficient to send a signal to sig managers? Too harsh?

I  don’t think you should use the trust system here. A neutral would be fine but I would leave that for campaign manager. I have seen some tag on users for low quality post but they are very old tag. Haven’t seen recently.

Regarding the issue,
There's no doubt that gambling board is full of spammer. I remember when I wanted to have some gambler on Thunderpick signature campaign, it was hard to decide if they were really gamblers or not. By judging their post, I thought they don't gamble but they pretend to be gambler lol.

[Igebotz]

Thanks for the note igehhh. I concur:

You're welcome!

1. A lot of spam posts not just in discussion but in ANN threads. It's quite clear who posts with any meaningful understanding and who doesn't, I would even say it's quite clear who actually gambles and who doesn't (it's gambling isn't it?)

Most of the ANN uses bumps pay services it's very easy to detects the sheep's from the goats but that's topic for another day right. 

Because many campaigns also discourage mega thread posting if not outlaw them, you get the spammers opening new topics -- you see this a lot in Discussion but also creeping up in the main Gambling thread. Low quality content, no new discussion or angle, etc.

You are right, I have about 20+ already on my list that needs to be locked as they contribute to nothing but spams. I will release the list in my next topic and let the admin decide.

I agree that threads I opened could probably be turned to self-moderated (you named one but I have others also attracting spam) -- I don't mind moderating, though I might be accused of being too harsh, and could be biased to all the users I already know gamble (but that bias is good right?).

Quick solution; lock and create a self-moderated one? Saves time.

JollyGood's self moderation's a good example of how one could trim the fat, although I have to say at least one was opened despite existing ones -- should really have kept the existing topics (using the example of Champions League and EPL you used in OP) and moderate that together with others (is that possible?). Was there a reason JollyGood opened those new topics? To self-moderate?

I didn't understand the first question and as for the second question, Yes I think the high level of spams on the other mega-thread led him to create a new self-moderated thread for the same league.

[buwaytress]

I agree that threads I opened could probably be turned to self-moderated (you named one but I have others also attracting spam) -- I don't mind moderating, though I might be accused of being too harsh, and could be biased to all the users I already know gamble (but that bias is good right?).

Quick solution; lock and create a self-moderated one? Saves time.

I actually started reporting as a knee-jerk reaction and yeah, I think this could be the quickest solution. I'll consider doing that now for 2 threads I created -- and point them to the new one. There were a trio of 3 threads for UEFA club competitions but since JollyGood already has one for the main Champions League, I guess I'll leave that be unless he has a joint solution.

Lock the thread; create a self-moderated thread
A new thread should be created at the beginning of every season. Old thread locked.

I'd second about this solution and it's make sense.

Actually, the new threads I created for Champions League (because old one was locked and creator gone) and the subsequent Europe and Conference ones I intended to keep OP updated with results of every season (you can see this already). Posterity is quite nice?

I see nothing wrong with mega threads if they're well manicured or pruned -- WO in Speculation wouldn't be the same if they opened a new one every year. I think a single thread for a single competition makes sense.

As Welsh said I think we all have to simply do better at reporting. I used to, probably not much for gambling sections but will make it a point to do so more often now especially in the threads I created.

[Igebotz]

I'd say just report what you think is low quality. The moderators in that section are definitely active, and they'd probably welcome reports in that section. I only see newbie reports there, and they aren't that often, so I'm wondering if it might be the same for higher ranked accounts.

Most of my reported cases went unhandled, not because they were bad reports, but because they never got to the mod or the mod decided to ignore them. It is difficult to report when the end result is ¹/⁴.

It would take the same amount of effort to report the posts, than to self moderate it yourself. Might be even quicker reporting, since you don't have to go through, and delete every post referencing that, whereas the moderator will.

It's been proven that deleting by oneself takes few seconds while reporting takes the whole day and sometimes eternity. Self-moderation is more efficient.

You've got the right users in Cyrus, and hilariousandco moderating the section. So, they'd likely have the permissions to do something like that. Different matter, whether they deem it appropriate or not, though.

hilariousanco understands the game and can effectively moderate, but Cyrus? I've never seen him post in a gambling sect, so I can't comment on his knowledge of the game. To get a good result, the moderator of that board must be someone who is familiar with the games.

I actually started reporting as a knee-jerk reaction and yeah, I think this could be the quickest solution. I'll consider doing that now for 2 threads I created -- and point them to the new one. There were a trio of 3 threads for UEFA club competitions but since JollyGood already has one for the main Champions League, I guess I'll leave that be unless he has a joint solution

Yes, it has, and in the spirit of "there is always room for improvement," you can open yours, as most users who were blacklisted from the JollyGood thread may be given another chance on yours.

[Maus0728]

What about those ANN threads on the "Gambling" board where KYC is discussed incessantly? I mean it is okay when someone new to that platform asks about KYC, in which two or three responses are adequate to answer the question. However, that is not the case, as it is evident that people are simply recycling their replies for the sake of increasing their post count.

Not only it pollutes the entire section but it also affects that specific gambling platform negatively.

Most of my reported cases went unhandled, not because they were bad reports, but because they never got to the mod or the mod decided to ignore them. It is difficult to report when the end result is ¹/⁴.

I also have unhandled cases but I am not certain if its coming from Gambling section. Hopefully, I can reach the required number of reports so I can see some stats...

[Trofo]

7. The posting quality will be thoroughly checked – posts in spam mega threads, campaign threads (including this one), necro posts and low-quality posts will not be counted.

The Solutions

* Is there a way the admin can turn thread to a self- moderated thread and hand it over to another OP who is ready to moderate the thread? I will volunteer ^{I spend 90% of my time there.}

* Is a self-moderated thread the answer? Yes, it reduces spam; consider JollyGood self-moderated threads as an example; zero 1xbit spammers, zero low posts since the beginning of last season, we talked and agreed to keep it clean for quality discussion only, and the result is fantastic!

I am against self-moderation and I never open my threads with that option if it is not absolutely necessary. I am all out for freedom of speech and true decentralization where no one person has the power to shut somebody down. Self-moderation is not a solution to the problem it is just a remedy to mask the  problem. It is also part of the reason I am not active in those JollyGood threads you mentioned.

I would much rather try to remove the cause of the problem. That is why I wanted that rule you quoted included in signature campaign I am running with cryptofrka, and that is also why we don't have minimum number of posts or required number of posts in gambling. The point should be that every campaign selects users based on their current posting habits and not to enforce them with rules. If you make a person that knows nothing about gambling to post 10 posts in that section to get paid, what results are you actually expecting?

Anyway, that is just my 2 cents and now I am running away from this strange section on the forum back to gambling where home is

[Welsh]

I am against self-moderation and I never open my threads with that option if it is not absolutely necessary. I am all out for freedom of speech and true decentralization where no one person has the power to shut somebody down. Self-moderation is not a solution to the problem it is just a remedy to mask the  problem. It is also part of the reason I am not active in those JollyGood threads you mentioned.

Self moderation doesn't always have to mean that you're censoring users. You could just be removing off topic, and unsubstantial posts, rather than relying on the forum moderators. That's a perfectly legitimate reason to open one up. You don't have to delete posts you don't agree with. I know there's a negative stigma around self moderated threads, but I've seen them become more prominent, and more importantly more accepted among the community over the years.

We moderators definitely do appreciate it when we get reports, but I can understand a users point of view if they don't want to rely on us for certain things. Especially, when it specifically isn't bad enough to break our interpretation of the rules, whereas yours you think it should be removed. I guess that could be considered censorship, but it's not like you're actively shutting people's opinions down, simply because they're giving a different opinion, it's because you deem it unsubstantial. Thus, they kind of accept that upon entering the thread.

That's probably the reason it's best to start a new self moderated thread, and just lock the old one. Since, then those that didn't sign up to the idea of a self moderated thread, wouldn't find their posts deleted suddenly, because it has now been converted to a self moderated thread.

[skarais]

most of these users with no knowledge of the game just spam the hell out of the board with low quality and offtopic discussion to complete post counts. I spend the majority of my time reporting, especially in the last few days, but that alone is ineffective.

I hope this is good as a reason why a post deserves to be reported to a moderator as the problem is not with most people but with some people who don't quite understand what they are talking about. That has made their posts end up as spam and really deserve to be deleted.

I have nothing against if the OP wants to moderate the thread to prevent spammers from posting as they please, that's fine. But I would prefer if users are caught spamming just to get paid regardless of the quality of the post, then the post should be reported regardless of whether the moderators will deal with it quickly or not. I'm a football fan, I watch a lot of match and spend a lot of time reading and talking about them and I don't think that should make me spam various gambling discussion threads especially about leagues from different countries and other competitions. But if you find me spamming there, then please remind me.

[Mpamaegbu]

Self moderation doesn't always have to mean that you're censoring users. You could just be removing off topic, and unsubstantial posts, rather than relying on the forum moderators. That's a perfectly legitimate reason to open one up. You don't have to delete posts you don't agree with.

In the real sense of that expression, your first sentence as quoted should be enough reason to diffuse any doubt around having a self-moderated thread. Sadly, your last sentence is often why most users self moderate. It hurts when one finds one's post(s) deleted for differing to OP's opinion. It suppresses healthy cross-fertilization of ideas when that happens. My observation is that despite the spam in the gambling board, moderators are hesitant in deleting posts there unlike their swift deletion when it comes to other boards. Do we take it to mean that moderators don't patrol that board often like they do others?

My suggestion for controlling spam on that board will be for moderators to lock any thread exceeding 50 pages, no matter how interesting anyone thinks the discussions going on there is. Secondly, campaigns should reduce their weekly post count requirement on that board to just five posts instead of 10. That way, participants won't hastily populate those threads with unconstructive posts and make them redundant.

[Google+]

Maybe I'm not smart or stupid about this. but I will state my intention in this thread. first of all maybe the moderation step itself can be the second option for this problem. I think the meaning of moderation itself is purely an op's action and it's 100% his choice to delete the post without any consideration. And for what purpose the button under the post which this button directs to the purpose of the report to the moderator. self-moderation and accompanied by a report button to the moderator maybe these two items should be separated so that the function of self-moderation can be more meaningful.




And I support the steps presented by Trofo. give him a round of applause.

[Welsh]

In the real sense of that expression, your first sentence as quoted should be enough reason to diffuse any doubt around having a self-moderated thread. Sadly, your last sentence is often why most users self moderate. It hurts when one finds one's post(s) deleted for differing to OP's opinion. It suppresses healthy cross-fertilization of ideas when that happens. My observation is that despite the spam in the gambling board, moderators are hesitant in deleting posts there unlike their swift deletion when it comes to other boards. Do we take it to mean that moderators don't patrol that board often like they do others?

You've got two of the most active staff users on that section, so while they might not patrol it, they're definitely around acting upon things. I don't know so much about Cyrus, as I'm not overly familiar with their duties, but I know they're very active at the very least.

I've reported a few posts over the gambling section earlier. Varying of different types, some which I'd expect to get handled, and then others which might be somewhat borderline, which I'm somewhat expected to remain unhandled. Though, I do think they're pretty much saying nothing. I'll see how they get handled.

My suggestion for controlling spam on that board will be for moderators to lock any thread exceeding 50 pages, no matter how interesting anyone thinks the discussions going on there is. Secondly, campaigns should reduce their weekly post count requirement on that board to just five posts instead of 10. That way, participants won't hastily populate those threads with unconstructive posts and make them redundant.

Yeah, we tend to avoid locking threads. In my head, locking is usually useful in certain circumstances, which to be honest I haven't really come across in the years I've been here. If a thread is that bad, it would probably be just as good to remove it completely. However, in almost all cases I'd say its better to remove the problems within the thread, than the thread itself, and that goes for locking too. Others might have varying different levels, but we don't see threads getting locked much so I expect they have a similar interpretation on that.

Signature campaign managers can specify whatever they want in their rules, as long as it doesn't break forum guidelines. To be honest, even if they had a minimum of 20 posts a week, certain users could easily do that, without spamming. Some already do. It's the outliers which are willing to pretty much pump out anything, while still remaining somewhat borderline in terms of spam.

[YOSHIE]

I don't like self moderating threads, gambling boards are not reputation boards full of trolls and drama, spam can be tackled by reporting to mods, Regardless members bet on soccer league or not, know about football or not, sometimes people who actually bet don't post in league thread, if indeed they are unfamiliar with the football league and spam is detected, it can be reported.

I often see moderated threads, sometimes the answers given by other members make sense, because of the dislike factor for that member the post can be deleted, I'm sure this often happens in moderation threads.

Regarding this topic, Honestly, I tend to agree to be reported and marked as spam neutral, as @actmyname did, when it comes to spam, the campaign manager can check the user profile before accepting as a participant, of course the decision is in the hands of the manager, if it is still accepted, of course it is not the participant's fault.
the manager is wrong, they already know the member is spamming, why was it accepted, so when they do the same thing over and over again, they just get a problem, it's clear that the spamer's profile is written.


I agree on this point.

N/B: Casino campaign managers should take note of these users. Added to ignore list.

Will a neutral tag with a bold message to these users be sufficient to send a signal to sig managers? Too harsh?

A good move, even if it seems hard, is enough to make them realize and change, from spam for the better.

[Coyster]

My suggestion for controlling spam on that board will be for moderators to lock any thread exceeding 50 pages, no matter how interesting anyone thinks the discussions going on there is. Secondly, campaigns should reduce their weekly post count requirement on that board to just five posts instead of 10. That way, participants won't hastily populate those threads with unconstructive posts and make them redundant.

I am a football lover, so i will use the footballing threads in the gambling discussion section as an example, most of those threads are peculiar to a particular football league and the Champions league all season long, and a season lasts from August till May, that is about 10 months span, imagine if mods have to lock each thread that gets to its 50th page, mind you that it will get there (50 pages) pretty quickly as football discussions go on endlessly there, if that happens we would prolly have new topics created, locked and another created again in the same day, everyday. That will make matters worse, and i would not want that cause i am active in that section.

As for signature campaigns, we can't dictate what their requirements should be, there are quite a lot of users making more than 20+ constructive posts in the gambling discussion section, it is very easy to do if you love football or the dedicated thread of the sport you are commenting in. There will always be spammers, just as there are in every section, so the 'reporting' method should still suffice.

[hyudien]

Permission to comment on this, I hope I get a chair to sit down and express my opinion.

Discussing football is speculation because everyone has a different point of view in describing what they see in the game. Sometimes it's true sometimes it's not, and sometimes it's confusing because football is not a final mathematical theory. For example:1+1 I'm sure everyone will answer 2. And if anyone answers 100 then he must be admitted to a mental hospital.

In football, people will have different understandings, different theories, have favorite clubs, thoughts, and strategies, and also can be considered irrelevant to the discussion because we don't understand what he understands because football is knowledge, unlike Mathematics. Even though he is considered spam, it is possible that he is a person who is very attached to his football soul so he uses football threads as a place to pour his thoughts.
Various free speech in the football section and reported to moderators I think thousands of spam reports occur every day. Will the report be effective? I'm not sure about dropping one or two for this.

Just expressing opinion

and now I am running away from this strange section on the forum back to gambling where home is

+1

[ShowOff]

I think the meaning of moderation itself is purely an op's action and it's 100% his choice to delete the post without any consideration.

Without any consideration? No, I don't agree that that's the end goal of the self-moderation thread. But I don't need to go into detail about what thread self-moderation is because most people here already know it well. You shouldn't delete other people's posts because of differences of opinion, and this sometimes creates problems for self-moderation threads because rating the quality of posts is so subjective.

And for what purpose the button under the post which this button directs to the purpose of the report to the moderator. self-moderation and accompanied by a report button to the moderator maybe these two items should be separated so that the function of self-moderation can be more meaningful.

Do you mean to ask the admin to remove the report to moderator feature in the self-moderation thread? And that means only the OP is 100% responsible for maintaining the thread without moderator involvement? I thought it was impossible. Moderators should not escape the responsibility of moderating any thread regardless of whether it is a self-moderation thread or not.