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How can I block posts from all bot accounts of specific instance? (alien.top)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by lemmelurk@lemmy.ml to c/lemmy_support@lemmy.ml
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I do not want to block all bots. I only want to block bots from specific instance. More specifically, the @alien.top instance is using most, if not all, bot accounts with random usernames. It uses that instance to post in communities of other instances. I thought about blocking other instances. But the main issue lies with random bot accounts from @alien.top. And I cannot block individually by usernames.

What shall I do to block posts posted by random bot accounts of @alien.top instance?

Update

I looked up potentially affiliated sites connected to that instance and found these.

https://level-up.zone/ (@communick, high post rate)
https://gearhead.town/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, high post rate)
https://viewfinder.pro/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, medium post rate)
https://netheads.online/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, low post rate)
https://healthy.community/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, low post rate)
https://sfw.community/?dataType=Post&listingType=Local&page=1&sort=New (same admin, no post yet)
https://blockchained.world/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, low post rate)
https://matchpoint.zone/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, low post rate)
https://poweruser.forum/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, high post rate)
https://hi-fi.community/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, medium post rate)
https://expats.zone/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, medium post rate)
https://nba.space/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, high post rate)
https://athletic.center/?dataType=Post&listingType=Local&page=1&sort=New (same admin, no post yet)
https://style.land/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, high post rate)
https://metacritics.zone/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, high post rate)
https://academy.garden/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, medium post rate)
https://foodie.rehab/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, no post yet)
https://indiehackers.space/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, high post rate)
https://hardware.watch/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, high post rate)
https://nfl.community/?dataType=Post&page=1&sort=New (same admin, high post rate)

The instances may be hours to two months old and are run by the same admin. Some have high post rate, while others have no post yet. The ones with posts are all using @alien.top's random bot accounts. I suspect this problem will amplify.

Update2

Blocking by instance is finally working. I blocked @alien.top and @hardware.watch. Consider this issue resolved.

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[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I’ve wondered wtf is up with that instance. Someone floods certain communities - apple on hardware.watch for instance - with endless tech support questions, like pages and pages of them a day. Steamdeck on hardware.watch for instance has a dozen posts in the last 5 minutes, so it’s a ridiculous flood.

A few of the accounts seem more legitimate than others and actually have a history, but most just have 1 post. The questions aren’t badly written and I wonder where they come from - don’t sound like LLM, but I just don’t believe at all that 8,000 random people signed up at this Alien instance and want to ask one tech related question and then disappear. The content doesn’t seem harmful or scammy, though, they’re all things a normal person might post. Is the content copied from reddit? Is this someone’s idea of kickstarting these Lemmy communities? It’s all a bit odd.

Anyway it’s a limited number of communities these apparent bots post to, so I simply blocked those communities.

[-] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Is the content copied from reddit?

Yup, at least in some cases. In one of the home networking subs I've seen several questions that after a quick search were posted on reddit within an hour before they showed up here. It kind of pisses me off wasting time trying to help someone that doesn't even exist on the fediverse.

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I answered a couple questions before I noticed something was off. I guess it’s adding content to Lemmy but it’s more an annoying waste of time.

[-] canis_majoris@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

I had the same problem with lemmit.online, and with lemmit.online the owner said "yeah this is a bot, this whole instance is for reddit reposts, if you don't like it defederate from me" - which .ca did.

I can't stand bot instances or bots in general that are reposting from reddit, because it's not valuable content for the fediverse - the OP doesn't see what we're saying and if we're troubleshooting something that's been crossposted it's literally just on deaf ears.

The only bot I actually like is the ITNBot which is for ImproveTheNews - it posts neutral, pro-, and anti-stance information relevant to the article being posted, showing you all sides of the issue.

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

At least lemmit has a blurb that explains the content comes from reddit. Looking at alien.top itself, they do explain that it’s a page for “Fediverser” which posts content from reddit, but it’s sort of vague - makes it seem like people from reddit are signing up there to do this on purpose, but I’m not sure if that’s really how it works.

And yeah, it’s useless to respond to if the person asking isn’t going to get the reply. I’m not sure why people think auto-reddit spam would be a useful thing for lemmy.

[-] canis_majoris@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

Fediverser looks like a project that's supposed to ease the onboarding process from reddit, looks like you can sign up with a reddit account to have access to Lemmy, but I am not entirely sure.

I don't really mind the size of the community these days; I feel like if we start getting more and more people from reddit we're going to get the people we wanted to avoid by leaving the place. Right now it feels like there's not a ton of content, but there's a decent amount of discussion, and it's of high quality. I feel like an easier entrance to the platform is going to degrade the experience, as shitty as that sounds.

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I didn’t really understand the description. You sign up by authenticating with reddit, and then it automatically connects you with the same subs you have on reddit?

I see “Your account will be activated and you will be subscribed to Lemmy communities that have a reddit counterpart.” but also “create bot accounts to mirror the original accounts on a corresponding fediverse-enabled server”. Hmm.

Right, I mean, I don’t think we’d want Lemmy to just become a clone of reddit with all the same people. Not being ran by a lame corp would still be an advantage but for now I think discourse on Lemmy is higher quality and I hope it stays that way.

[-] rglullis@communick.news -4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Please, do not feel discouraged to participate. The idea of the bots is not to be a simple mirror, but to bootstrap real conversation. The next step of Fediverser is to allow two-way communication so that Reddit users can see the Lemmy content and migrate.

The reason that alien.top content seems so overwhelming now is more to Lemmy"s losing its activity than a real "flood" of bots. My hope is that people will join in to the point of balancing out, but if this is leading to the opposite effect I will have to turn off, and that will be a shame because there are hundreds of people already using it "as intended"

[-] remotelove@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

Your instance is misreporting its name somehow and it was super annoying when I was trying to block it.

Is it alien.top or selfhosted.forum? Pick one please.

Also, do you manage any other instances so I can block those as well? Needless to say, I am slightly pissed off that I have replied to several posts before I saw they were bots. Some of those replies took some effort when I was trying to actually be helpful.

[-] rglullis@communick.news -4 points 1 year ago

There is nothing being misreported, they are separate instances.

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I read more about the project and it seems interesting. I suppose 2 way communication to sync accounts between reddit and lemmy would be interesting... would the reddit TOS allow that? Or would the reddit admins tolerate it for long? I suppose you've looked into it.

The problem is the current state is confusing... if you look at the communities posted in by the bots, it is a huge flood of posts, like sometimes 20 posts in 15 minutes. I guess that would be different if Lemmy was more active, but it isn't yet. Also, it's confusing - one has to visit alien.top and github to have any idea what's going on, and if the account holders aren't receiving the posts, it's sort of wasting people's effort on lemmy and not creating true engagement. Perhaps a disclaimer like 'this post mirrored by Fediverser' would help.

[-] rglullis@communick.news -4 points 1 year ago

I agree with pretty much everything but:

it’s sort of wasting people’s effort on lemmy and not creating true engagement

Even if we don't have two-way communication, having the content mirrored has two purposes:

  • it allows lurkers to move away from reddit and browse here.

  • it works as a prompt for conversation between "organic" subscribers.

I will add a comment to every post though (similar to how AutoModerator does) to indicate that is a mirrored comment and with general instructions on how to interact with the bots and some links to describe the project.

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Great, I think as my and other people's experience illustrates it has been a bit confusing so far, being unexplained. The byline will help a lot, I think.

Sure, it's useful as it is as long as people check into their Lemmy accounts. I suppose I would if I signed up and was aware there might be replies waiting for me on Lemmy in addition to Reddit.

[-] rglullis@communick.news -4 points 1 year ago

So, a comment like this one will be sent on every mirrored post. The only issue I see with this approach is that there is no way to pin a comment to the top of the thread...

[-] zeppo@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

That's cool, I think that will help explain it. I didn't realize the accounts for people on reddit were being created on lemmy automatically though. Do the reddit users even know it's happening?

[-] rglullis@communick.news -4 points 1 year ago

They don't exist yet. Each bot on alien.top represents a real account on reddit. If you think that their question is legit and worthy of a response, but you don't want to give Reddit even more data, the best thing you can do is respond on Lemmy and send a message to the origjnal asker to tell them about Lemmy and help them migrate.

[-] can@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

Send a message to them how? On reddit?

[-] rglullis@communick.news -1 points 1 year ago

If possible, yes. Why not?

[-] Blaze@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago

!fediverser_network@communick.news

It's a project addressing the transition to new joiners to populated communities

@rglullis@communick.news

this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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