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The Problem
Right now spacehey is vulnerable to account creation spam. During an attack hundreds of accounts with offensive images or names are created en-masse with the goal of eliciting a reaction from the user base. Personally I've done everything I can to show people how to limit their exposure to the content, and I've emphasized how posting blogs and bulletins simply to complain about the issue is exactly the reaction these people are looking for. There is only so much we can expect of the users, though, so this is my attempt to offer a systemic solution to the issue.
Part one: Adding a Queue
The target is typically the cool new people section because it's the easiest way to serve offensive content to the entire user base without any direct interaction. On an individual level most people who have taken action have hidden this section on their home page using an extension. This is effectively the same as removing the feature entirely, and doesn't discourage the attacks or limit their impact in any meaningful way.
My proposal for the simplest to implement and least mod-labor intensive solution starts with implementing a queue for the cool new people page. On account creation every new account starts with a "review status" flag that defaults to a "not reviewed" state. Only accounts that are both "new" and have a review status of "reviewed" would appear as new accounts in the browse and cool new people section.
Transitioning from "not reviewed" to "reviewed" would require some level of human intervention, but should overall be less labor intensive than seeking out and deleting the offensive accounts. Implementation could be as simple as a page displaying profile pictures and names, with a checkbox next to each. A human clicks the check box next to any offensive profile, and clicks a button that applies "reviewed" to approved profiles and "rejected" to profiles with check marks. Rejected profiles can be displayed in another page for further investigation and hidden from users until another action is taken.
This would have an immediate chilling effect on spam activity, as accounts would now have to first be created and approved before an attack could begin. It would also require spammers to retain credentials for all their accounts, and to log in and change the account images and content after approval. This greatly increases the time and sophistication required to launch the same type of attack.
To summarize the work required to implement this step:Β
- Adding a new field to user accounts in the database
- Changing the query used in the new people section and the cool new people widget
- Creating a page to display the queue for moderators with an action button to apply status changes.
Part two: Future development
Aside from the immediate chilling effect the first step would have when implemented there is a major benefit in scalability as well. With an account flagging system in place automation* can be used to supplement human labor using any arbitrary number of metrics. An endpoint to hash profile images, for example, could flag profiles for review by a moderator when the hashmap of the profile picture matches a database of banned hashes. Another endpoint can parse text in names and profiles to flag accounts for review. Account creation times can be used to map activity levels of offensive content and build a profile of the bad actors. These are just a few examples, there are many more options for reducing attack surface and increasing the costs required to attack the site.
Part three: ?????
I've done my best to lay out the simplest and least time consuming solution to the problem I can think of. I welcome suggestions for improvement in the comments and I'll update this blog with revisions if we come up with some better ideas.Β
I know there are developers in the spacehey community capable and willing to help implement this sort of feature. I would be willing to build some of the endpoints mentioned and I know of at least one skilled developer who has offered to write front-end features for the site in the past. I'm sure there are more people willing to contribute their time to help improve the site.
An, if you like this idea please implement it. If you want help, all you have to do is ask!
*To be clear: I'm not advocating for the automation of any moderation actions but instead automating detection of potential problems that human moderators can then resolve.
Comments
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Tommy Panzram
I think there's 2 solutions that could be implemented to curb the new profile spam issue.
1. Playing off of the "review" idea, I think just implementing a 3 day window before profiles show up on the "cool new people" section would be sufficient to curb spam. It would also give new profiles time to actually decorate and look cool before they pop up on your home page.
2. Having the option in settings to change the "cool new people" section entirely to "cool new friends" which would show you new friends of people you are already friends with would be far more beneficial for a lot of accounts who just want to reach their niche.
Also, maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but just removing being able to see new profiles that aren't at least 3 days old altogether should be implemented. I get it, you'd want new users to get those friend request, instant gratification, dopamine drips as soon as possible, but I don't think keeping them from showing up in the new people section for a few days wouldn't hurt anything.
All reasonable suggestions that would take even less time and effort to implement than mine.
Thanks, Tommy!
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PoBlo
imo they should make it so the cool new people tab defaults to just showing active users like when you click browse, and make "cool new people" an optional thing
LostBoys
I honestly didn't knew this was a problem on spacehey, but I like the suggestion you're thinking here on the first part. Fortunately, I didn't come across any gore attack on the "cool peoples to meet" page (yet). But I did came across on how to prevent from happening.
π»ππΌπΏπΈπ΄ π’πΏπͺπͺππΌπΈ
Part one sounds SMART!! Maybe An would be on board with this idea, it sure would make his job managing this website much easier! :)
Also how do you become a Spacehey mod? Just curious
I don't know how the mod process works, sorry!
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ι»εζ¦
great thoughts, but to implement a proper solution requires backend and infrastracture work. preventing repetitive requests form same ip address and that sort of thing. i don't think frontend hacks will fix it. i am working with a friend on an open myspace-like codebase, hopefully it will help make things more robust for the wider community.
There is certainly a lot more that could be done. The scope of this proposal is small, though, to demonstrate how easily addressed this particular problem is.
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Benjydenjy
I spread awareness to this poss
Thanks!!!
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moog_
I'm loving these ideas! One thing I almost wish SpaceHey implemented would be some sort of peer review to lessen mod's load (but I'm sure that'd be harder in the long run :c )...
I really hope the higher ups take these ideas into consideration! It's been a big issue for too long :,)
vic_zombi3
this is so good!!! u should probs send this to the support email, becuz they said they take suggestions there in the "about" page
Great idea, done!
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fish :B
genius!! very great ideas, hopefully they r taken into consideration :)
Bravo
https://i.imgflip.com/8fld50.jpg
Dude I was scared it was gore and tried it out anyway lol
by β Alex / Kris β ; ; Report
LOL My bad, I probably should not have posted an image with no description
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Angel!
Give this man mod tier
fr
by caspian ππ (aidyn & renis #1 fan); ; Report
I think hed be way better as a site developer.
by Fluid Dynamic; ; Report