Over 250 Threads in the "Announcements" Subforum with Activity in Last 12 Hours

[hellscabane]

[Addendum for possible further discussion. Added June 12, 2014:]
I don't mean to "necro" an old thread, even though it is one that I originally created, but I thought it'd be okay since it's on the same discussion point.

I just wanted to see what the folks in Meta thought about this idea.

So I actually spent some time doing some number crunching and noted that roughly 68% of the bloat in the "Alternative Cryptocurrencies -> Announcements" subforum came from "Newbies" posting on threads created by other "Newbies."

Here is the idea: make some sort of viewing restriction on Newbie accounts to not allow them to View/Post on ANN threads made by other Newbies unless it's your own thread.

Part of me knows that this is quite a bit draconian, but it also seems like a good a way to help stem the tide of legitimate newbies from being scammed by intentional cloners. It also helps to address the rampant amount of bloat posts. And finally it also helps to address some of the newbie clonecoin ad campaigns that I've seen happening more and more often (a nifty little work-around that has been going on to subvert the "No-Giveaways" policy). [Mind you, I know the third issue has been taken care of adequately by the signature restriction, but I guess every little extra thing helps or something.]

---

So, during my lunch break, I decided to give myself a headache by perusing the "Alternative Cryptocurrencies > Announcements" subforum and there are some staggering numbers: over 250 threads in that one subforum have had activity within the last 12 hours.

As several points of comparison, the "Bitcoin Discussion" forum has had only around 50 threads and the "Alternative Cryptocurrencies" parent forum has just under 100 in the same timeframe.

With that said, what does that say about the state of affairs of the altcoin community? We're full of spammers and scammers aren't we? Maybe we're swinging back to the point where this forum should be deleted?

[I wish I could get a table extract so that I could see how many posts were made by user activity demographics.]

[Edit:]
@malevolent: Thanks for moving this to Meta. I wasn't sure where was the better fit due to the questions I had. Part of me wanted to know what altcoiners introspectively thought of themselves, and part of me wanted ideas on addressing the clear amounts of spam in that forum/sub-forum.

[1714710632]

1714710632

[Carpe Diem Coin]

So...delete the most active sub-forum? That sounds very counter intuitive

[Zzzack]

The crazy thing is... most crypto development comes from altcoin developers and not bitcoin. its not as profitable to help btc

[ashapasa]

people are looking at other options 

[Acidyo]

It's 90% spam, that's why. I've been trying to tell people to set up restrictions on that subforum.

One very effective rule would be for new ANN threads to have to pay a fee to open one. The devs and their coin would have to be very innovative and original to be worth putting it up for the masses. This would eliminate daily shitcoins and stabilize the market a little better in existing, good coins.

[hellscabane]

So...delete the most active sub-forum? That sounds very counter intuitive

Active doesn't necessarily mean "productive."

What is counter-intuitive is having so much "crap" that it causes more trouble than help.

[hellscabane]

It's 90% spam, that's why. I've been trying to tell people to set up restrictions on that subforum.

One very effective rule would be for new ANN threads to have to pay a fee to open one. The devs and their coin would have to be very innovative and original to be worth putting it up for the masses. This would eliminate daily shitcoins and stabilize the market a little better in existing, good coins.

I actually have a thought on this.

Paying to get in is never a good idea (as it forces unfair balance) and it'll just be one more thing that the cloners and pump-and-dumpers will factor into their "costs." In the end, it'd barely eat into their profits.

My idea is to limit each new thread in the "Announcements" sub-forum to one page that only the creator can edit, and only once a day can it be edited. This may be unfair for those who are promoting a service rather than a coin, but even those threads have been inundated with spam posts and "crap."

[jbrnt]

The mods are not going to delete the subforums. I actually have the whole alt currency and its subforum on ignore since the first week I was here. Just let them announce the hell they want.

(The setting is in: profile, ignore board preferences)

[SaltySpitoon]

The mods are not going to delete the subforums. I actually have the whole alt currency and its subforum on ignore since the first week I was here. Just let them announce the hell they want.

(The setting is in: profile, ignore board preferences)

This x 1000. Mods can't delete a subforum for one. The admins aren't going to delete the section, because then the spam would end up elsewhere. I believe there are some neat new changes coming to the Alt section with the new forum software, so until then, if you don't want to visit it, take jbrnt's advice, and ignore it.

[hellscabane]

The mods are not going to delete the subforums. I actually have the whole alt currency and its subforum on ignore since the first week I was here. Just let them announce the hell they want.

(The setting is in: profile, ignore board preferences)

When I asked about the deleting the sub-forum, that was more of an introspective question admittedly. But it does have "meta" implications.

I suggest the thing about limiting posts just because of the traffic that goes there. Part of me feels that the bandwidth of this site would be better served if it didn't have to put up with the thousands and thousands of meaningless posts in that one child board. Plus, it would force "serious developers" to provide their own website infrastructure instead of mooching off another site.

@SaltySpitoon: Thanks for letting me know that. I agree that spam would go elsewhere. I just hate seeing so many people being "cannibalized," that's all. The amount of "crap" that goes on there kinda leaves a long-lasting taint on a lot of things. But I understand. Once again, thank you for your feedback.

[SaltySpitoon]

The mods are not going to delete the subforums. I actually have the whole alt currency and its subforum on ignore since the first week I was here. Just let them announce the hell they want.

(The setting is in: profile, ignore board preferences)

When I asked about the deleting the sub-forum, that was more of an introspective question admittedly. But it does have "meta" implications.

I suggest the thing about limiting posts just because of the traffic that goes there. Part of me feels that the bandwidth of this site would be better served if it didn't have to put up with the thousands and thousands of meaningless posts in that one child board. Plus, it would force "serious developers" to provide their own website infrastructure instead of mooching off another site.

@SaltySpitoon: Thanks for letting me know that. I agree that spam would go elsewhere. I just hate seeing so many people being "cannibalized," that's all. The amount of "crap" that goes on there kinda leaves a long-lasting taint on a lot of things. But I understand. Once again, thank you for your feedback.

Well the tricky thing is, a lot of it isn't technically spam. A new coin has as much right to be in the section as any other coin. And then service announcements also aren't spam. Both of those things bring a substantial amount of content, so those threads are for the most part, good threads. So you have 500 coins, and each of them have 10 services, it gets cluttered very quickly, but its not spam. I dont see things changing much until the new forum software, but hopefully we will have a better system then.

[hellscabane]

The mods are not going to delete the subforums. I actually have the whole alt currency and its subforum on ignore since the first week I was here. Just let them announce the hell they want.

(The setting is in: profile, ignore board preferences)

When I asked about the deleting the sub-forum, that was more of an introspective question admittedly. But it does have "meta" implications.

I suggest the thing about limiting posts just because of the traffic that goes there. Part of me feels that the bandwidth of this site would be better served if it didn't have to put up with the thousands and thousands of meaningless posts in that one child board. Plus, it would force "serious developers" to provide their own website infrastructure instead of mooching off another site.

@SaltySpitoon: Thanks for letting me know that. I agree that spam would go elsewhere. I just hate seeing so many people being "cannibalized," that's all. The amount of "crap" that goes on there kinda leaves a long-lasting taint on a lot of things. But I understand. Once again, thank you for your feedback.

Well the tricky thing is, a lot of it isn't technically spam. A new coin has as much right to be in the section as any other coin. And then service announcements also aren't spam. Both of those things bring a substantial amount of content, so those threads are for the most part, good threads. So you have 500 coins, and each of them have 10 services, it gets cluttered very quickly, but its not spam. I dont see things changing much until the new forum software, but hopefully we will have a better system then.

Understandable. Very valid point. To me it just seems like there are more and more "shill" accounts that seem to be contributing. But that honestly could be because I'm so jaded by a lot of that scene. I can't tell you how many times I see a post say "this is great idea" and I'd think, "Who's sockpuppet are you?" And then I'll see all of the posts for "pools" trying to trump each other and I just go, "Gah!" And the same goes for exchanges and so forth. Nonetheless, you're right, fundamentally, they have just as much right.

*crosses fingers for new software*

[In full disclosure, I still go to the Altcoin section because I'm masochistic like that; but it does make me sad to see so many people falling into what I feel are "obvious" traps.]

[jambola2]

The mods are not going to delete the subforums. I actually have the whole alt currency and its subforum on ignore since the first week I was here. Just let them announce the hell they want.

(The setting is in: profile, ignore board preferences)

When I asked about the deleting the sub-forum, that was more of an introspective question admittedly. But it does have "meta" implications.

I suggest the thing about limiting posts just because of the traffic that goes there. Part of me feels that the bandwidth of this site would be better served if it didn't have to put up with the thousands and thousands of meaningless posts in that one child board. Plus, it would force "serious developers" to provide their own website infrastructure instead of mooching off another site.

@SaltySpitoon: Thanks for letting me know that. I agree that spam would go elsewhere. I just hate seeing so many people being "cannibalized," that's all. The amount of "crap" that goes on there kinda leaves a long-lasting taint on a lot of things. But I understand. Once again, thank you for your feedback.

Well the tricky thing is, a lot of it isn't technically spam. A new coin has as much right to be in the section as any other coin. And then service announcements also aren't spam. Both of those things bring a substantial amount of content, so those threads are for the most part, good threads. So you have 500 coins, and each of them have 10 services, it gets cluttered very quickly, but its not spam. I dont see things changing much until the new forum software, but hopefully we will have a better system then.

Are obvious shills to be removed ?

I saw a thread on an altcoin , where there were three advocates of the obvious ScamCoin.

Two of them had around 7-8 posts on the thread and lots of other posts on extremely similar altcoins.

The third account had 7 posts , with every single one of them being on the thread.

I've reported two of them , I really think that the altcoin forum is the most impossible to moderate ...


EDIT :Suggestion , add the awesome sounding thing above all posts in the securities forums.

"Moderators do not remove likely scams. You must use your own brain: caveat emptor. Watch out for Pump'n'dumps . Do not invest more than you can afford to lose."

[Bicknellski]

The mods are not going to delete the subforums. I actually have the whole alt currency and its subforum on ignore since the first week I was here. Just let them announce the hell they want.

(The setting is in: profile, ignore board preferences)

When I asked about the deleting the sub-forum, that was more of an introspective question admittedly. But it does have "meta" implications.

I suggest the thing about limiting posts just because of the traffic that goes there. Part of me feels that the bandwidth of this site would be better served if it didn't have to put up with the thousands and thousands of meaningless posts in that one child board. Plus, it would force "serious developers" to provide their own website infrastructure instead of mooching off another site.

@SaltySpitoon: Thanks for letting me know that. I agree that spam would go elsewhere. I just hate seeing so many people being "cannibalized," that's all. The amount of "crap" that goes on there kinda leaves a long-lasting taint on a lot of things. But I understand. Once again, thank you for your feedback.

Well the tricky thing is, a lot of it isn't technically spam. A new coin has as much right to be in the section as any other coin. And then service announcements also aren't spam. Both of those things bring a substantial amount of content, so those threads are for the most part, good threads. So you have 500 coins, and each of them have 10 services, it gets cluttered very quickly, but its not spam. I dont see things changing much until the new forum software, but hopefully we will have a better system then.

What is SPAM define it as a MOD so we can help you detect it.

[rohnearner]

 I was so surprised when i first saw that section..! I was like wtf there are almost 1000+ coins and I only heard about 1-2..! and than I realized they are not serious about what they doing and never visited that section of forum again..! sometimes few links shared here and there redirects me to that section, and I get surprised each time, with the amount of Alt coins launching each day.

[Coef]

It's 90% spam, that's why. I've been trying to tell people to set up restrictions on that subforum.

And the situation was 100x worse when altcoin giveaway was allowed.
99% of the posts were for giveaway, made by newly created shill accounts.

[hellscabane]

It's 90% spam, that's why. I've been trying to tell people to set up restrictions on that subforum.

And the situation was 100x worse when altcoin giveaway was allowed.
99% of the posts were for giveaway, made by newly created shill accounts.

This is so very true. Banning giveaways in the altcoin section was one of the best things that could have happened. That's a form of "needless promotion" that the shills have had a hard time of circumventing. Of course though, they try very hard to do so.

[DooMAD]

There are only hundreds of altcoins because cryptocurrency is a new and novel thing for most people.  Given time, once the majority of people understand crypto and people can easily recognise which coins actually hold some value, we'll start to see alot less novelty crapcoins.  It's one of those things that will eventually rectify itself.  As other have already said, it's no use trying to ban people talking about altcoins or deleting forums because the discussion will just end up somewhere more annoying.   

The currencies with the best features and most users will survive and the rest will fall by the wayside into obscurity.  But which ones will make it is still anyone's best guess.  We'll see how it plays out.  Let it run its course, people will eventually lose interest and that subforum will suddenly become much more manageable.

[Lauda]

Maybe 10 of those threads are useful, maybe.

[hellscabane]

No thoughts on the addendum I made to my original post? I'm very curious about what others think about that idea.