How do you deal with low quality forum posts?

Charlotte Level 1

December 15, 2012, 2:45 am

9

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How do you deal with low quality forum posts?

Some forum members rush around posting one or two word responses to boost their post count so they can earn signature line privileges. Do you you tolerate this type of activity on your forum? How do you deal with low quality posts like this?

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angie828

angie828

No, I think that most of their posts should be of quality not just to get a link. Sometimes one or two words is ok, such as on a game or something but other posts should be longer.

12 years ago

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Beverly

Beverly

You can easily defeat a link spammer (someone who comes onto your forum just to earn signature line with low quality posts) by simply deleting the low quality posts. That will send a message to the person who is posting low quality that they are not welcome.

12 years ago

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angie828

angie828

Good point there Beverly. I think that if you get low quality posts, you should just delete them. Unless the posts only requires one or two words, then you really should be posting more.

12 years ago

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blueeyes

blueeyes

Could you as the forum mod maybe send them a message asking them to add some more useful info the the site and that you really prefer longer posts? See where that gets you and if it does not get you anywhere then maybe you could delete them.

12 years ago

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Beverly

Beverly

Could you as the forum mod maybe send them a message asking them to add some more useful info the the site and that you really prefer longer posts? See where that gets you and if it does not get you anywhere then maybe you could delete them.

This is a good idea. Some people are simply in the habit of posting shorter answers and not doing it for bad reasons. If you send a message to ask them to elaborate on answers, then maybe you will get longer responses. Each forum is different though. Sometimes, short responses are more welcome than long responses. Just depends on the forum and the question involved.

12 years ago

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Charlotte

Charlotte

You can easily defeat a link spammer (someone who comes onto your forum just to earn signature line with low quality posts) by simply deleting the low quality posts. That will send a message to the person who is posting low quality that they are not welcome.

Consider restricting signature privileges of new members so there is no temptation for link spammers to invade your forum.

12 years ago

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PinkTurtle

PinkTurtle

I think the easiest way would be to ban them! or make a disclaimer in the rules that low quality post will be erase or the members will be excluse of the forum/blog etc. The problem of that could be that you would actually need to track them down and get into it so you could identify them and not just block everyone around and that could take some time!

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

Short posts particularly when accompanied by a link is tantamount to being considered a spam. But keep your cool and observe. Some posters have the temerity to post an ad or 2 but that’s just that and later on he will be making interesting posts. Of course, if all his posts are of low quality then it’s about time you talk to him via private message. At least he will be fully informed of your wishes and if he doesn’t take heed then you have a good reason to ban him. Don’t forget that a member means traffic so be diplomatic as much as you can.

7 years ago

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mitan143

mitan143

I agree with you. I understand your point, and I also believe that some posts that contains 1 or 2 words only accompanied by a link may be the start of an interesting conversation but it still depends the topic that the poster started. Anyway, we can easily identify those posts which are definitely just a spam from a substantial one-liner post and from that, just like what you have mentioned, talk to the poster privately first and maybe ask him/her about his/her posting style or just humbly warn the poster that what he's/she's doing is not helpful anymore.

7 years ago

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