SPAM review in reader reviews

[Shawn Basil]

"Blaquart Antoine", username of blakos33 showed up on The Lightweight Backpacker today spamming for Ticket To The Moon Hammocks. I just noticed he has done something more egregious here on BPL.

He has skewed the rankings under "The Travel Hammock" in reader reviews. Of course, he gave his hammock a 5/5 despite the fact that it is heavier than a Hennnessy by a good bit, uses ropes instead of webbing which will shred trees, and has a sleeve style mosquito net which seems as if it would drape onto the user.

Even worse, (yes, this is his first post) he is spamming for his product and creating ridiculously skewed information in what I view as a somewhat sacred part of the forum. Hopefully, this review will be removed, as it seems incredibly unfair to the folks who work so hard to offer helpful, realistic reviews.

[Mike Barney]

Good catch Shawn. If any of the BPL staff is listening, I'd like to reiterate a consideration of a little "report me" icon on each post and review.

This is an outstanding forum, the decorum is lighthearted but professional without being sales-ey.

MikeB

[Thomas Knighton]

He didn't even change his post significantly from what I can tell .

At least someone reviewed them and gave them a 1/5 to even the odds a bit :D

Tom

[Brett .]

Is staff reading this? Please get a [report this post] button on every post, review, etc..

[ian wright]

The first time I saw spam here (months ago now) it stayed in the forum for weeks. It made me think that BPL don't monitor their own web site.

[Sam Haraldson]

Ian, we DO moderate, as closely as we can when taking things like sleeping, etc into account. Shawn posted this comment in regards to this spam last evening at 9 pm, and I read it this morning at 8:30.

Over the past three months (since I've been off the trail and back in society) I've kept as close an eye on SPAM posts as I can. I would estimate that many of you never even get a chance to see MUCH of the spam because I delete the message and thread it is contained in long before most can even read it.

As you know, BPL is in a transitional phase in terms of Web development. Phase one was a new skin design and in subsequent phases we hope to upgrade the forums and shopping sections of the Web site. Along with those upgrades we will strive to keep the user experience as top-notch as possible.

A person writing a review for a product that appears to be legitimate comes into a gray area in terms of spam. I am of the opinion that people should be allowed to review their products in any way they feel. It is up to the individual user to read through each and every review to decide how the "average rating" was derived.

As a side note, let me say that I am a regular forum user of not only BPL but a half a dozen or so others and am highly against spam posts and hate them just as much as you.

[John S.]

Sam's probably right. That person's review, though skewed, is his opinion.

There are people that do not own a piece of gear, use their friends gear one (or a couple) night(s), and write a horrible review on this board. That is the same difference to me.

[Addie Bedford]

Hey all – we figured the guy was trying to skew the rating for a product he has a vested interest in. That's unethical, and we deleted the post. Thanks for your concern & vigilance!
Addie

[Shawn Basil]

Thank you. Hopefully this will prevent others from doing the same to reviews in the future.

[Roger Caffin]

And to follow up on Addie's comments:
Staff WILL be monitoring and actively deleting spam in the future. So it may not even be worth while posting a 'delete this' reply when you see a spam posting: the posting, or even the whole stream, should be gone Real Soon Now!

Spammers may get bumped too.

Cheers

[Andrew Lush]

>>Staff WILL be monitoring and actively deleting spam in the future

Despite what Roger said above there's been a spam post sitting at the top of the "General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion" forum for quite a while now.

And I remember Sam being greatly offended when Ian Wright wondered if anyone from BPL actually reads these forums. (Sam's original reply has been edited to take the sting out it)

So can someone, please, get rid of that annoying spam.

[Anonymous]

I am all for casting spammers, a particularly low life form, into the outer darkness, but, in the meantime, as Dr. J once said, (sic)"Hey, yo Mama's not watching out for you anymore". Caveat emptor, y'all. I think BPL staff are doing a pretty good job with limited resources(which I personally would prefer to see focused on content) and the rest is up to us. I mean, it took Shawn all of a millisecond to figure what the guy's game was and spread the word; and others weren't far behind. Keep up the good work guys!

[Sam Haraldson]

My method for perusing the forums is to use the New Post Since Last Visit link. If I spot spam in that list I delete the post and thread immediately.

I wouldn't mind if people e-mailed me directly to let me know there is a spam message someplace, preferably including a link to the actual message for easy deletion.

I may be a Staff member but when it comes to using the forums I'm just as much a regular user as anybody. I HATE spam messages with a passion and would love to be able to spot and delete them before anyone else had to see them but I am only one person and only have time to check the forums a half a dozen times a day which leaves a lot of time for a spammer to come in and do their dirty work.

Thanks,
Sam

[Michael Martin]

Hi Guys-

FYI, a "Report SPAM" button is in the works. Stay tuned…

/Mike

[Mike Barney]

Whoooorayyyyyy!!!!!

[Siegmund Beimfohr]

"Crocs Any closed toe model / Crocs alternative"

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/reviews/display_reviews.html?forum_thread_id=8075

Why do people persist??

[Addie Bedford]

Thanks Sieg!

[Siegmund Beimfohr]

David Laurie, this is not a review of the Arc'Teryx Sirrus Jacket:

"Hybrid Jackets : Paclite / XCR …"

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/reviews/display_reviews.html?forum_thread_id=6466

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