New Member Moderation?

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Mark Wolff

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Jul 14, 2024, 9:44:38 AMJul 14
to randon
Good morning to all here on Randon.   I am one of the moderators for this reflector.  Not that long ago we had a new "member” post an item “for sale” that turned out to be a scam.  Since then I have instituted moderation of new List subscribers to head off allowing their first List post as offering something for sale.

There is/are currently one or more determined individuals requesting List membership and then trying to offer a cycling related item for sale as their first List post.  Their proposed messages were not approved, hence not posted to the list.

These offerings could be legitimate, but as a first contribution to the reflector, somewhat suspect at least to me, and there are plenty of other options for offer up items for sale.

So polling the List so to speak – Should we continue to moderate these new “Members” when their first contribution is offering an item for sale here?

MW

Rebecca Clark

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Jul 14, 2024, 9:59:43 AMJul 14
to Mark Wolff, randon
Personally, I'd very much prefer such moderation.  It also seems to me that we can provide some additional assurance to each other by noting our RUSA membership when we send out messages - see example below.

Cheers,
Rebecca Clark
RUSA 6012

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Charlie Martin

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Jul 14, 2024, 10:03:47 AMJul 14
to Rebecca Clark, Mark Wolff, randon
IMO such moderation is a good idea. Sibling group randonneurs-usa@ gets a handful of these every month and many of them are scams. Moderation has allowed us to filter all of them out before they ever reach members. Meanwhile I see identical posts go out to other rando mailing lists with the name/address of the sender altered, indicating it is certainly a scam. We have the following as an explicit rule:

3. Do not join and post to this group with the sole purpose of selling something. If your first post is a for-sale post, you will be removed from this group immediately.

- Charlie

Scott Stulken

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Jul 14, 2024, 3:28:06 PMJul 14
to randon
Absolutely.  Most other forums I'm on have a 10-post minimum or require some kind of paid membership before For Sale posts are allowed.  If you've got something to sell, how hard is it to introduce yourself, make some new friends, and contribute a little to the knowledge base first?

I love that rule #3 above, but it's up to you whether you want to institute it here.  Thank you for all that you mods do!

- Scott Stulken
RUSA #7498

Emily O'Brien

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Jul 14, 2024, 4:30:44 PMJul 14
to Scott Stulken, randon

I agree on requiring moderation like this. Similar scams have been showing up in musical instrument circles lately, and I know a few people who have lost money. The scammers scrape ads someone else posted legitimately somewhere else (or even in the same place but years ago) so it reads like it's legit.
Making people actually participate for real before they sell stuff is probably not foolproof, but it's a start.
Emily
RUSA 3597


Pam Wright

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Jul 14, 2024, 8:49:50 PMJul 14
to Emily O'Brien, Scott Stulken, randon
+1 for moderation for all the reasons shared. And Mark, thank you for thinking things through and not just being a figurehead!! 


Sent from Pam Wright's phone
Please pardon misspellings and/or short responses. 

On Jul 14, 2024, at 4:30 PM, Emily O'Brien <emilyo...@emilysdomain.org> wrote:



mickeg

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Jul 20, 2024, 9:24:03 AMJul 20
to randon
Yes.  Continue.

Perhaps someone new should also have a waiting period before they list items for sale?  Three months?  One year?


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