New members

[Perris]

Most of the bots that join there never ever post.

so who put them there? and why?
Thanks for the informative reply btw

 

[Evadig]

A huge amount of New Members post an introduction and then are never seen again. It's a bit disheartening when you greet them cheerfully and don't get a response.

I was thinking about this…maybe they (at least some of them) joined and then forgot they made an account? I myself have done this a few times - can’t even remember which sites they were, now!

 

[Chixnbacn]

I was thinking about this…maybe they (at least some of them) joined and then forgot they made an account? I myself have done this a few times - can’t even remember which sites they were, now!

Thats very possible

 

[notabitail]

so who put them there? and why?
Thanks for the informative reply btw

That's what I wonder.

BYC clearly has less of an issue with it, at least so it seems.

 

[Perris]

the obvious reason is to inflate the apparent number of eyes on the site, which sells advertising space. Remember Musk's row over the number of bots on Twitter, leading him to try to get out of buying it in 2022? 4 years later it's probably a lot worse.

 

[notabitail]

the obvious reason is to inflate the apparent number of eyes on the site, which sells advertising space.

Thing is, I doubt those bots on that site are bots that the owners of said site put there. Some of the stuff they advertise is pretty... not suitable for family friendly sites. If there's bots inflating this site, they'd have to be way more subtle than "ONLINE GAMBLING SIGN UP HERE" or whatever these other ones are.

Remember Musk's row over the number of bots on Twitter, leading him to try to get out of buying it in 2022? 4 years later it's probably a lot worse.

Twitter has always been a bot-land. Reddit is pretty bad too.

 

[Perris]

That's what I wonder.

BYC clearly has less of an issue with it, at least so it seems.

Today's news brings another possible explanation, a worrying one
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2...rnings-of-rise-in-scam-targeting-older-people

There are plenty of lonely people on here, who post more than enough to provide a scammer with all the info they need to pretend to be a friend.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

At the end of the day, what is your specific concern? If it's regarding the security of other members, people are responsible for the level of information that they share, whether it's with other human members or potential bots...
This is a time of year when you will see a lot of new members simply because there are a lot of people getting into backyard chicken keeping during spring chick days

Imagine a "spring emu day" at TSC?

 

[DuckLady]

Today's news brings another possible explanation, a worrying one
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2...rnings-of-rise-in-scam-targeting-older-people

There are plenty of lonely people on here, who post more than enough to provide a scammer with all the info they need to pretend to be a friend.

That is true. We try to maintain a balance of not allowing too much personal information to be posted versus respecting the wishes of members wishing to let it all hang out. We are especially diligent toward minors, but adults, well, it’s a fine line.

 

[Perris]

That is true. We try to maintain a balance of not allowing too much personal information to be posted versus respecting the wishes of members wishing to let it all hang out. We are especially diligent toward minors, but adults, well, it’s a fine line.

and what do you do to protect them against scammers?