Christian Taylor3 said:It’s like people can still only see the trees and completely miss the forest for what it is. 😵
I’ve run into a bit of a problem.:
The Solution:
If we don't get rid of this whole "blacklist" of banned websites, people are just going to keep suffering.Look, I’m not saying anyone actually needs to see this, but apparently, we’ve got some unauthorized advertising going on again. Just a heads-up that if you're trying to hawk your services or drop links to your side hustles, it's strictly against the rules here. We aren't running a billboard in Times Square, so let's try to keep things civil and stick to the actual topics instead of turning the thread into a digital flea market.Honestly, I see people starting to suffer already, and it’s mostly just those random users who have absolutely nothing to do with all this spamming nonsense. For instance, little Mark might pop up on the Student Corner and write:
I’m not being malicious, rude, or lazy—I’m just a hyperactive dreamer. http://is.gd/NstpiF
... and I end up getting handed a pink slip just because of some "unauthorized advertising" nonsense, even though I didn't do a single thing wrong. See, the thing is, Who? I don't know what you're looking for, but if you were waiting for me to jump through hoops or provide some grand manifesto, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm just sitting here, probably overthinking something trivial, ready to write whenever you actually have something to say. Where? Did someone actually tell him that posting links on The New York Times isn't allowed?
It seems like you might have cut off mid-sentence there. If you were trying to get me to rewrite something, just paste the full text and I'll get to work on it. Just numbers. And they’re actually doubling down on this—I’ve already laid out the full explanation on the first page if you want to see how ridiculous this is. Honestly, obsessing over whether we can use hyperlinks during discussions here on Reddit is about as productive as campaigning against the use of electricity. It’s 2011, for crying out loud. 😁
I honestly think it’s just plain ridiculous that because some wannabe spammer showed up once, they feel the need to keep an entire website locked in a bunker forever.
Honestly, that’s their own fault; all those sites rightfully ended up in this mess specifically because of that aggressive spamming.
Did they at least apologize to the editorial staff after that incident? If they didn't, the administration has every right to keep them locked in the bunker. Looking at your detailed breakdown (thanks for that, by the way), it’s clear that in most cases, we're dealing with actual employees or contributors from these outlets. That’s a five-minute fix; any spammer popping up on the movie sub-section is spotted immediately and removed. They can make ten clones a day, but they won't last more than 24 hours (I've said much worse than this). Most importantly, the users themselves report them to the moderators.
Just so some new kids don't accidentally use or abuse this information: spammers know exactly how to bypass your block on those specific links (let's not kid ourselves, even a smart six-year-old knows that), so the only real way to get one over on them is to add about fifty of the most popular 'URL shortening' services to the blocklist via the Admin Control Panel.
That’s just the starting point. 🙂
Let's circle back to this whole "problem-solution" loop from the beginning of the thread.
Obviously, a Random Redditor isn't gonna get screwed over for linking to one of those censored sites. But when you have members whose entire reason for being on this forum is just dropping links to their own news outlets, those are the ones who need to go.
So that none of this info gets accidentally used or abused by some new kids: spammers know how to bypass your block on those specific sites on the forum (let's be real, even a smart six-year-old knows that), so the only way to really get them is to add about 50 of the most popular 'URL shortening' services to the list via the Admin Control Panel.
Just to start with. 🙂
It's not a bad idea 😁. Honestly, personally, I never click links from URL shorteners because I have no clue what's hiding behind them.
Bradley Sanders4 said:From what I can gather, it’s not actually against the rules to use a URL shortener to link to a site that's been censored. I mean, unless you’re some spammer using the service to blast ads constantly until both the site and the service get blacklisted—which clearly happened to TinyURL—this hasn't been an issue before. Honestly, it shouldn't be either, especially since there isn't even a definitive list of which sites are officially banned. Personally, my biggest gripe with re-linking is the lack of transparency. I have no idea what I'm actually clicking on unless some Random Redditor tells me beforehand. When I click a bit.ly link, I'm flying blind. I don't know if it's taking me to the All the Way Down news site, a "So you've been bitten by a zombie" article, or some sketchy page loaded with malware. If I can see the actual URL, at least I can make an informed choice about whether to click or not.
And look, I'm not suggesting we ban fifty different URL shortening services. I'm just saying we should get rid of those pages that some guy used to promote through aggressive spamming from his basement.
Exactly. That's why I leave clicking bit.ly or whatever up to the users themselves.
And I'm not necessarily advocating for adding 50 URL shorteners, but rather for removing the sites that are...Some guy once was out there spamming aggressively from his basement bunker.
Once that becomes ancient history, we'll lift the block.
Bradley Sanders4 said:Well, I certainly didn't get that impression, if you actually are doing all that. Can I ask what's been removed so far, what kind of criteria you're using, and whether this list of censored sites is ever going to be made public?
Doubt we're publishing that list. Yeah, we block some portals here and there when they go overboard with self-promotion, but most of the stuff on the blacklist is just old-school referral links—you know, like those ancient Bytefiles clones or your typical spam sites. Honestly, there’s nothing interesting on that list.
briskeagle39 said:I assume there's a rule against linking to other subreddits?
Bradley Sanders4 said:Samuel Morgan4, I’m with you—it’s an idiotic way to handle advertising. Honestly, I remember how much of a massive headache it was dealing with those spammers, and I totally get why blocking links feels like the easiest fix for the problem. I’m not against using blocks as a tool to kill spam, but I really think we should revisit the status of banned sites after a certain amount of time. Like Christian Taylor3 said earlier, hyperlinking is a fundamental part of online discussions; it’s basically what makes sharing info on the internet actually work. It feels pretty stupid to just ban a site forever just because some wannabe spammer decided to use it once. What if some idiot starts linking to YouTube everywhere—and you know how vital that service is for our Music discussions—or maybe someone links to the Los Angeles Times or The Washington Post when there's an active thread about them in Other media? Or even H&M in the Fashion section? Or any shopping site that actually provides useful info (unlike those sketchy game sites where you click a link and a vampire or a zombie bites you)? Ultimately, permanently restricting access does way more damage to the quality of the discussions here than the spam ever did. So, fine, use blocking as a last resort if we have to, but it shouldn't be a permanent sentence.
To wrap this up, here’s an interesting article I’m reading right now about the internet and journalism from that hated portal you love so much. Is it really so worthless that it deserves to be blocked? Is it better to just copy-paste the whole thing from Reddit to avoid giving them a single click, while still citing the source without a hyperlink? And then what do we do about music? Are we supposed to retell it, like hollowtrucker77 suggests? Describe where an album can be legally streamed? Write our own damn reviews instead of linking to someone else's? What if I just want to talk about the tone of an article (again, just look at the thread about JL in Other media)?
Why do you think we aren't already doing that? Honestly, I'm scrolling through that list all the time just checking if there's anything that needs to be cleared out. I'm constantly adding things or taking them off. It's part of the job.
Ashley Price82 said:so okay, am I gonna get banned now?
Look at your custom user title. Now back to post. Now back to CUT. Now back to post.
Just chill out already. You got a warning for spamming. The post got nuked because it was just wasting bandwidth, and that's really all there is to it.
Matthew Grant9 said:Well... I feel like the timing just isn't quite right from an administrative standpoint! I mean, honestly, trying to use a single ten-page post as my main argument for closing this down feels a little bit silly, especially since the topic itself hasn't actually been deleted yet. You could look at it as a real force of nature, but I also see it as a tiny crack in the door being left open, since things were allowed to progress to some extent. But hey, you know me—I’m a total optimist!
It would honestly be such a huge help if we could take a closer look at the specific topics everyone is actually debating, just to see if any real patterns or trends are starting to emerge! I just can't help but smile whenever I see those little "likes" popping up on my screen! It’s such a tiny thing, really, but honestly, seeing that little burst of digital affection truly makes my day and gives me such a wonderful little boost of energy! I guess it really comes down to whether we should dive into those specific questions right away or if it’s better to wait until things have officially kicked off! Maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions about bot farms or click farms just yet! Honestly, it might just be that there’s actually a decent number of us out here who genuinely care about this topic and want to chime in. It’s not even necessary to argue whether this was an attempt to hijack the topic, because honestly, I would have been strongly against that from the get-go! I actually found myself pushing back against certain previous examples—even some of the moderator posts—that I felt definitely crossed the line into that territory. Is it actually possible for something to fly completely under the radar at first—maybe just because things were so routine or because we were all caught up in some sudden chaos—only to suddenly make perfect sense once it’s finally spelled out in a formal complaint? I can't help but wonder if the whole situation would have played out differently if someone else had been the one to spot the issue, like maybe an insider instead of me!
The mods were officially asked to weigh in on the registration situation, but they’ve stayed completely silent! So, I guess we're all just left sitting here playing a guessing game. Honestly, I’m still holding onto this little shred of hope that the whole thing just somehow slipped under their radar—because the longer this silence drags on, the harder it gets to make any sense of it at all. It’s not like they aren't around, but maybe they're just terrified of being the first ones to speak up? It feels like that classic case of groupthink where everyone ends up paralyzed by a sort of collective hesitation, passing the buck and practicing self-censorship until nobody wants to take the heat. Just total radio silence!
Honestly, that’s a huge part of why I’m sticking with the writing—even if all that recent nonsense really rubbed me the wrong way—because I just feel like it might make things a little easier for them to finally open up and find their voice!
Oh my goodness, can you believe how incredibly hard—and, I might add, how wonderfully benevolent—I am trying to actually grasp the point you’re making here! I honestly can’t help but laugh at myself sometimes, but I just had to share this little observation about how things can go completely unnoticed! It’s like that one tiny, invisible flaw that you swear everyone else can see, yet somehow stays totally hidden from view. It really makes you wonder about all the little things we miss in our daily lives, doesn't it? I’m starting to get a little worked up about this too, almost as much as Lisa Hernandez3! Even though this hits home for me on a personal level, she’s been incredibly articulate, well-reasoned, and straight to the point in all her posts over the last month. Honestly, I’m just over here popping like popcorn with pure joy because I can't believe you guys actually want to talk to us!
Honestly, this whole whining session isn't anything new, nor is it particularly special, and I really don't feel like spending too much energy on it; it's just one of those daily little gripes that we've seen a million times before and will likely see plenty more of in the future.
But hey, let's be fair—my point wasn't actually about the complaining itself, but rather about trying to stay polite and back things up with actual logic despite all the nagging.
If I could just have one sentence—what exactly is everyone getting upset about here?
[Speaking strictly for myself] I feel like this particular post falls under hate speech, but the real issue is the way the mod team is acting like a bunch of overbearing busybodies (similar to how they deleted that thread over on the General Discussion board), and the fact that the rest of the mods are staying silent even after multiple requests for clarification, which is what's truly controversial and should at least be open for debate in our main discussion area.
There are probably a thousand other issues, most of which I've already pointed out in previous threads, but if I have to boil it down to just one sentence... well, whatever it is, I won't ramble on forever, so thanks for coming to ask me! And I mean that sincerely, no irony intended, thanks for checking in.
Yeah, I'm with you on that. Total mess. It should've been flagged and binned immediately, but man, the ship has sailed now. Too late for that.
edit: nina, looks like the mods locked the thread. If you want to chat about it, hit me up in the DMs.
As for whatever motivation or goal they have... honestly, I don't care. I really don't have the bandwidth to sit here and psychoanalyze why someone would even want to make clones. But look, you just don't write about clones on Amtrak, period. If you do, you're basically inviting people to start purging them without anyone asking questions first.
Regarding that whole topic, the link in the original post is broken, so I can't even check it out.
Lisa Hernandez3 said:One more thing—I’m the one who actually started this thread, not Matthew Grant9. You’re responding to me first, so if you happen to address someone else along the way, that doesn't really apply to my concerns. You can't exactly answer me by just chatting with another forum member within the same thread.
Honestly, this topic would have been opened much sooner if it weren't for Silaj's thread—which I supported, by the way, and I even adjusted to the format used there. Now, you're finally addressing a topic that should have been handled over twenty days ago. Just look at the opening post—specifically that last sentence.
Nah. I’ll answer whoever I feel like answering, and however I feel like answering them. You don't get to demand that everyone directs their replies solely to you.
Matthew Grant9 said:mellowraven22, honestly, people can be such jerks sometimes! It feels like they just don't want to engage with us in any meaningful way, and then you start questioning why we’re just spinning our wheels in circles. That thread you shut down yesterday? You could call it whatever you want, but let's be real—it lasted a full month, spanned ten whole pages, and if you actually counted, you could barely find a single post that was even slightly out of line. And again, just people being difficult. We really do go out of our way to stay polite and keep things focused on actual arguments, even when nobody is responding to us, and even though this silence—this constant stalling of everything—is making us feel a little more arrogant than we’d like to be. With so many topics and posts flying around, I really wish it would occur to anyone that there’s genuine effort being put in here, because we truly believe it’s worth the trouble.
So? Nothing new here, they've always been complaining. They threw fits over jokes when a thread got shut down, they bitched about RiD once moderation actually started working properly, they complained about politics for a million different reasons, they even acted out over religion when they couldn't get a private subforum just for Catholics... See my point. This whining isn't anything new or special, and I'm definitely not wasting my precious time on it. It's just more of the same daily nonsense we've seen a ton of before, and we'll see plenty more of it. I've already made my stance clear and I don't have the energy to write a hundred-page manifesto just to justify myself again. If they don't like it, there's plenty of other stuff on the internet.
You can call that thread you closed yesterday whatever you want, but it only lasted a month, it was ten pages long, and you could count on one hand the posts that were even slightly rude.
Polite <> useful.
Just give me one sentence—why are you guys even complaining?
Look, since one of the main points used to kick this whole thing off turned out to be straight-up wrong, and the other one just can't be proven, plus everyone's just throwing around emojis and lazy one-liners instead of actual logic... yeah, there's really no point in doing this.
It's all just going to be a total circus if we keep talking like this.
Since nobody’s actually answering what we're even supposed to be talking about here, this whole thing feels like a massive waste of everyone's time and bandwidth. Just a total drain on my energy.
