Not deleting spam accounts because of statistics - what's your take?

[Cedric]

I stumbled upon a situation recently that got me thinking, and I wanted to get your opinions on it. Recently I've seen more than 200 obvious spam accounts register on a site. Instead of deleting them, the admin chose to keep these fake accounts to maintain their stats.

Now, I'm not talking about a few accounts slipping through the cracks—this is a deliberate choice. The idea is that higher user numbers make the site look more popular and active. But is this really the right way to go about it?

On one hand, I get the appeal of inflated stats, especially when you're trying to attract advertisers or new users. On the other hand, it feels a bit shady to me. Like, isn't it better to have accurate numbers, even if they're lower, than to pad your stats with obvious spam?

What do you all think? Is this ethical, or just not done? Have you seen or heard of similar practices? And if so, how did it turn out for those involved?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences!

 

[Baw$e]

Delete the accounts, no point in stuffing stats. It doesn't matter that much, fresh, and quality content is what Google loves.

 

[zappaDPJ]

I don't delete anything for two reasons.

Firstly because it's occasionally useful for tracking persistent spammers or problem members. Secondly the owners of the support forums I run both insist on it for legal reasons.

I think if you are running a hobby orientated type of forum there's little reason to keep spam accounts but here's a thought; supposing those spam accounts post spam which you'll probably delete. Is there an argument for moving those posts to a hidden forum/dump-box thus inflating your post count? Or is that dishonest?

 

[Nomad]

Who are you trying to impress, advertisers or the active users on the site?

 

[arnoldmatt]

Sounds like inflated ego over actual growth! Real users will see right through fake accounts and it hurts trust. Better to clean house and build a community the right way.

 

[Cedric]

I don't delete anything for two reasons.

Firstly because it's occasionally useful for tracking persistent spammers or problem members. Secondly the owners of the support forums I run both insist on it for legal reasons.

I think if you are running a hobby orientated type of forum there's little reason to keep spam accounts but here's a thought; supposing those spam accounts post spam which you'll probably delete. Is there an argument for moving those posts to a hidden forum/dump-box thus inflating your post count? Or is that dishonest?

I'm curious, for what legal reasons could that be?

You're absolutely right on the hobbyist forum. I would move spam posts to the trash can as well, but what I don't understand is why you'd keep those spam accounts. Banning them has a much greater impact, as they can't return and have no posting privileges. If you don't ban them, you end up having those users post spam again. That not only looks worse, it shows you're incapable of running a community. So why risk it to have a few more accounts to your statistics?

 

[Katrina]

I've seen this happen...and in fact, I've also caught an Admin creating duplicate accounts using a variation of a username over 200 times just to boost the registration numbers!! This was an Admin on a HUGE forum that had over 350,000 members. Well, new owners came in and now the numbers are about half that, so I guess they purged those accounts and more.

Sometimes spammers slip in and I don't do anything about them if I see it years later. Mostly I try to spam clean them so I don't have to worry about dealing with their garbage later on.

 

[zappaDPJ]

I'm curious, for what legal reasons could that be?

The short answer is the two companies I maintain an official forum for are ISPs and they have multiple obligations regarding data retention. The data we keep can and has been used for law enforcement when subject to a court order which is why we keep everything even if it's identified as spam.

Here's one prime example of why all the data we collect needs to be retained.

Holly Willoughby kidnap suspect living a 'dark, twisted fantasy'

Gavin Plumb's barrister tells a jury he fell down a "rabbit hole" of fantastical online chat rooms.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I've always though the built-in statistics on a forum are cringy, LOL.

I go by analytical metrics. It paints a clearer story of what's going on.

Post count isn't any metric that makes a difference in all honesty.

I'd rather get the spam off my forum than try to deal with keeping it but concealing it but making sure the stats get it and all that mess.

100,000 posts with mixed real discussions and spam? Or 10,000 real posts? Which is better? I say real!

 

[Cory]

If spam accounts became a consistent thing on my forum, I'd probably delete the accounts. But, since they're not, I ban the accounts. I've only had to ban about 4 spammers out of 1800+ members. If you have a spamming issue where it becomes consistent and your statistics start to reflect on the number of spam accounts rather than the actual members, then that's probably a good time to prune spam accounts.

 

[BeautifulAngel]

I stumbled upon a situation recently that got me thinking, and I wanted to get your opinions on it. Recently I've seen more than 200 obvious spam accounts register on a site. Instead of deleting them, the admin chose to keep these fake accounts to maintain their stats.

Now, I'm not talking about a few accounts slipping through the cracks—this is a deliberate choice. The idea is that higher user numbers make the site look more popular and active. But is this really the right way to go about it?

On one hand, I get the appeal of inflated stats, especially when you're trying to attract advertisers or new users. On the other hand, it feels a bit shady to me. Like, isn't it better to have accurate numbers, even if they're lower, than to pad your stats with obvious spam?

What do you all think? Is this ethical, or just not done? Have you seen or heard of similar practices? And if so, how did it turn out for those involved?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences!

This is an amazing question!

First off, dang 200 obvious spam accounts and they still decided to keep the accounts.

For me though I agree with you. It doesn't feel or seem honest to me when people are keeping spam accounts to help their stats on their forum. I want to be able to trust forum stats and not wonder whether or not the stats are accurate or if the founder is just trying to make the forum seem more active.

I understand that administrators and founders want their forums and websites to look busy and active but there are plenty of honest ways to do that. Keeping spam isn't one of them.

Plus if I join a forum and I see that many of their members have 0 or very low post counts it's a HUGE red flag 🟥

I think that spam is spam and it shouldn't be counted unless it is acceptable to spam on your site. I've always been one that would prefer to be proud of having okay stats then to fake stats and not be honest with my members. Plus if someone is going to bluff about the stats how do I know that they haven't created a bunch of accounts just to make the forum look like there are multiple users.

If you're going to be untrustworthy with your stats I can't trust you with anything else.