This request is twofold. I'm not sure they're both needed, maybe one precludes the other.
1. Remove comments from posts with the #spam tag from global chatter. The majority of such posts are truly spam so there's probably not a huge side-effect to this. Several of the recent spam accounts have started commenting on their own posts to get greater visibility, and even once the post is tagged and thus filtered from global posts, the comments are still visible in global chatter.
2. Comment tagging - or at least the ability to mark comments as spam. This feature, coupled with the option to filter spam comments may be a better option but both features could conceivably work together.
I hate to break it to you mk, but I'm doing my insomnia aided spam filtering right now and it looks like some of the bots (like this bum here) have been able to bypass the captcha. Might I make a suggestion that might help? What if you implemented a control that limits a person to one post an hour, and maybe x comments an hour, until they've had one full hubwheel filled up. That would definitely take care some of the more aggressive bots, like the one I just linked to.
I hated that option on Voat. It's not welcoming of new users. I guess mk and tng dont really care about having many users. But not allowing full access to the site from the get go, and limiting the need to share and comment, make a bad first impression. So far the best option seems to come from Reddit: A delay of a few minute (it must be variable) between interaction. For human it is bearable, for bots, they're probably thrown in a frantic pattern, where they cannot post, nor find the right delay.
Yeah. I can see where it'd be a bit frustrating for new users. On the other hand though, it might give them time to get adjust, get their sea legs so to speak. Isn't Reddit's delay only 8 minutes? Does it really make that much of a difference?I hated that option on Voat. It's not welcoming of new users.
A delay of a few minute (it must be variable) between interaction. For human it is bearable, for bots, they're probably thrown in a frantic pattern, where they cannot post, nor find the right delay.