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Should I Restrict The Ability For New Members To Personal Message?


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Steve, I only got one fraudulent PM a long while back that  I alerted you about when a eBay contact followed me over here to try to purchase something.  I haven’t had any other issues since then and I think you ended up dumping that account. Your moderation is working well!

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22 hours ago, Goldseeker5000 said:

I understand your concern to monitor and restrict spam. That is a given. I got on Prospecting Australia a few years ago and quickly saw that that forum is highly policed for any wrong doing even to the point that members have to go through the gauntlet to even be worthy to put up something they want to share. It is highly annoying and I stopped going to the forum. There is a reason your forum is desired above all other forums. I hope you won't go down that path that other forums have chosen to restrict new members. Perhaps there is another way without restricting new members and or making them earn their dues. For many it might just turn them away. But at the end of the day Steve, it's your forum do as you wish. 

I am not concerned with forum membership per se. I have my own theory of what makes forums work. First and foremost, it has to be easy for me to administer, lest I burn out. I have been running forums since 1998, and this one now for over a decade. So I know how to play the long game. Second, I think what people want in a forum is a calm, sane place with minimum drama and that stays on topic. More to the point, that is what I want. So people that cause drama have to go away.

I find it ironic the last person I booted gave me a little lecture on how to run a forum before I banned them, that I just did not get it, that high volume posters are what matters, and they write their own rules, because I need them. What people like that misunderstand is that I am not chasing numbers or revenue, and I do not want every Tom, Dick, and Harry as a member. I chase high quality members and I think this forum has them. As such, I consider membership here a privilege and don't mind if the barrier to entry is more than a simple open door.

Rest assured my goal is not to be the policeman. My goal is to have a place that does not need policing, and except for the battle with spammers, the fact is I never have to take any action regarding good forum members here. Anyone that finds their posts being deleted or edited needs to ask why, if they have taken a shot at another forum member, or dropped in the sly political comment. In other words, crossed the line and violated the spirit of the forum in some way. I will only delete or edit so many posts of that sort before I simply ban the person as being too high maintenance for me. If anything I think I’ve been too patient with some people in the past, and will be less so in the future.

All I can do is point out the obvious, which is that other forums seem to be withering or going away entirely, while this one chugs along just fine. Last 90 days....

active-users.png

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4 hours ago, delnorter said:

I’m glad you brought this up Steve. I was debating whether to let you know of a recent experience just like this.  

I posted the need for an original SDC 2300 coil a while back. I received a PM through the forum, by a “member”, about an individual who had a coil for sale. This guy provided a gmail address to contact an individual outside of the forum. I contacted this person and danced around availability, cost and shipping to the point I just told him I was suspicious of the whole thing and was ending it.

After this I went back to the forum to look up the “member” status of the one who send the PM about the guy with the coil. A brand new member with no posts. His only activity was to send the PM to me.

Thanks for bringing this issue to light Steve,

Mike

I've had several members get scammed this way on my forum. Most long time posters know better than to deal with anyone who approaches them this way. The majority of the ones getting scammed are new guys who have little or no experience buying items online. Scammers suck. 

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I have never had any issue either on your forum. I consider membership here a privilege as well Steve. I am not into the social media thing as I'm not comfortable with it. I only belong to this forum and another well run truck camper forum. I vote to keep the PM as is for now.

Thanks for all you do here.

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I'm late to this, but was wondering if you could attach a counter to a new member that let's just you know someone is new and is sending a lot of PM's. Anyone new doesn't know enough people to send multiple PM's. If a new member sends more than one PM, then maybe that could report to you that information. As a lot of people here, I have never had an issue that I can remember.

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Never have had an issue.
It seems most readers here are smart enough to recognize a bogus PM and trash it.
This forum thrives because b.s. is not tolerated and because most members don't need to b.s.
they are experienced and trustworthy.
Thank you for taking the time to keep things on the up and up, I know we all appreciate it.

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No issues from me, the few times that I've been contacted via PM by new members is for advice or assistance, not any scam. This forum is the most well-run one in the prospecting universe and many others should take note I think. 

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Thus far I've had no issues, anyone that has contacted me after joining was pleasant and respectful.

Of course I'd turn them in in a New York minute if they weren't 😏

Best forum I've ever been on, I feel grateful to be here. This is the only metal detecting forum I'm on. 👍

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