Big Boards and Fake Users

[Shawn Gossman]

I have a theory that some big boards have been able to get such a large membership based because they have added a lot of fake members to the forum. I am wondering what you all think of this theory? If they did not do that, then awesome to them for getting that many members... But it makes you wonder a little bit.

 

[Jerison]

I doubt this theory, although FP exchanges in a sorta "fake member" way to get your forum active, considering they are just posting a certain amount of post and aren't being a "member" afterwards.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

That is true to think about it with post exchanges, post loop and stuff like that. I have also seen forums that allow spammers to join but mute them to increase their membership, though it does a number on their resources. But nonetheless, its an interesting theory to have you wondering.

 

[mav3n]

I think that any forum, at least in my own views, that uses "fake members" to beef up their numbers is just bad management. It's doing nothing but hurting them in the long run. Maninly becuase members will find out after awhile, and when they do, it's not going to be good for them.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I think that any forum, at least in my own views, that uses "fake members" to beef up their numbers is just bad management. It's doing nothing but hurting them in the long run. Maninly becuase members will find out after awhile, and when they do, it's not going to be good for them.

Oh I agree 🙂 While I don't see post exchanges as a bad thing, I do see outright fake members as a poor choice. I make a test user but that is about it for multiple accounts.

 

[Jerison]

That is true to think about it with post exchanges, post loop and stuff like that. I have also seen forums that allow spammers to join but mute them to increase their membership, though it does a number on their resources. But nonetheless, its an interesting theory to have you wondering.

Well, I've kept a spammers post on my board before just because they placed it in the right category it goes in and it actually has something to do with the subject of the whole forum. Besides I don't know why how much members your forum says you have would matter. I honestly could care less about my boards stats.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I honestly could care less about my boards stats.

Anymore, I am with you one that 🙂 As long as a few people are visiting and having fun, that is all that matters to me.

 

[Medora]

My question is, where statistics are systematically fabricated, what are the negative repercussions, if there are any? Is this a serious problem for the potential buyer of a "big board," or would such fraud be easily detected? Does it matter even in this case, or am I thinking about it wrongheadedly?

Of course, when speaking of systematic fabrication, I am not thinking of post exchanges, as I do not lump that with fabricated activity, but something more akin to the example above about utilizing spam bots as content creators, and trying to make them seem legitimate through say mass profile editing.

 

[Gizmo]

Whether a forum has 10,000 posts or even a whole lot more than that... what matters to me more than anything is how active it is. If you see true active members then you know it's run well. If the forum has only a few members online per day and it's classed as a 'Big Board' then and only then should you start worrying.

If there was no statistics on a forum and no post count would that change anything?

 

[Black Angel]

I've seen this before and while I believe that every admin should do what works best for them and their forum, I have seen some take it too far.

Even still, I wouldn't consider that as a deterrent, what matters to me more than stats is how the forum is managed.

If the admin is a dick, then I am not even going to bother with joining, no matter how active it is.

 

[Pebbles]

i never heard anyone do that on their forum
and if people do that.... that would be weird
but its not illegal or anything , so ..​

 

[Black Angel]

I've seen this.. this is from a topic I started on my forum sometime last year..

These are screenshots of a forum that I was on recently. Now, I could tell by looking at it that the stats were OBVIOUSLY fake..



But my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to disable javascript to see what the actual stats were.



The stats weren't too bad at all and while very little content wouldn't necessarily deter me from joining a forum, I am not a fan of deception and so, I didn't join at all. I think it is better to be honest, than to make yourself look worse by lying and although this is far from the first forum I've seen with fake stats, I honestly don't understand why some admins do this..

 

[Jerison]

I've seen this.. this is from a topic I started on my forum sometime last year..

These are screenshots of a forum that I was on recently. Now, I could tell by looking at it that the stats were OBVIOUSLY fake..



But my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to disable javascript to see what the actual stats were.



The stats weren't too bad at all and while very little content wouldn't necessarily deter me from joining a forum, I am not a fan of deception and so, I didn't join at all. I think it is better to be honest, than to make yourself look worse by lying and although this is far from the first forum I've seen with fake stats, I honestly don't understand why some admins do this..

Well, you never can trust the "Most users online" in the first place because of spam bots.

 

[Nebulous]

I think smaller boards would be more prone to having fake users because they are probably working harder to get and maintain forum activity. Big busy boards probably arent concerned about having fake users because they already have enough people buzzing around the forums.

 

[Black Angel]

Well, you never can trust the "Most users online" in the first place because of spam bots.

I agree, but it really all depends on how well your host manages blocking them and proactive you are as an admin.

For example, my host has excellent spam filters and proxy blocking tools.

I have noticed that the spammers come from the same 5 or 6 countries, and since I've never had a legit member from these countries in the years I've been running my forum, I have blocked the ips of these countries from accessing my forum and I've turned on the anti-proxy filters as well.

I also update my word filters blocking the sites advertised by spammers as well. This is why my host doesn't get hit as hard by spam bots as others, and it is because of my own efforts that, my site rarely gets hit with spam, unless it is someone who joined and then decided to be an idiot.

So, at least I know that my sites stats are legit in that regard. My most online statistic is what it is because it is the day after I opened my forum on my current host and sent out a mass email to those who were members of the old forum.

 

[Migi]

Not sure, perhaps it depends on the genre of each forum? I mean, forums in more saturated niche have fiercer competitions so maybe some admins might one day consider this.. strange option.

Statistics are not to be trusted, though. As much as there are posts on staff forums, for example, some boards do not delete spam bots account. The bots are just banned but they stay, so the number of members is big, but many are banned. This may be needed for future detection of spam bots.

While I'm not really a fan of post exchanges (because the new member is fake unless he likes the forum and decides to stay after the exchange), I can see how it can help new forums. At least the posts are made from different mind. It's a totally different case if the admin creates a new account and posts around like he's someone else; that's just sad.

 

[Justin]

Every website on the internet has fake or spam users. It is a problem we cant conquer. Sure they may not be a real person, but what if it is? You just deleted a possible large poster from your board.

To help just use a mod that connects to the forum spam DB to prevent spam emails from registering. Isnt perfect but it will help.