Cargo Head (Network Trolls & Upcoming Improvements) #MindsGaming #Op #OpenMinds
A long standing issue with the ability to troll channels and the network has recently come to the limelight and Minds seems to be in plans and agrees that adjustments are needed in account creation to help prevent these attacks on the network and users.
The Issue
The current issue is users can make as many accounts as possible with no authentication that they are “real”, and accounts are easy to make. For years Minds standing has been that you can make as many accounts as you wanted, but this is going to change in the near future. For users unaware of the issue it works something like this, A user makes a few accounts lets say 5-10 then goes on to attack users with these accounts in a few ways. This attack can be anything from mass down-voting your posts on your channel to tagging you and other users that may follow you in posts with explicit images or even going as far as spreading false pretenses about your channel or account. Of course this has caused an stirrup in the help & support room as well as between users among themselves, but Minds is making plans for changes so lets explore them.
What’s Coming
Minds first step to slow these attacks is to force users to authenticate that they are a real user, this process will be done with email verification. In short you will be required to login to the email you provided Minds and click a button to say yes this is me. Next they will limit account creation per email account so each account will be attached to an email, and that email will be allowed x accounts.
I think this is great first step to slow production of fake channels and network trolls, and will keep the anonymous nature as an email isn’t linked to personal identity unless you have created it that way. This means for every x accounts the attacker would have to make a new email as well and authenticate the email.
Next Minds is looking into captchas for login, this will help slow bot production on the network and allow for a more even playing field when it comes to script players and attacks on the network. These are the “select the correct image” type of things you see in use on the web when visiting some sites, but they seem to have hit a snag with this and are looking for valuable input on open source software they could implement on the site, so if you have a suggestion stop by help & support and drop a line.
My Thoughts
I think overall this will help the network by slowing account attacks but also help with token manipulation and gaming the system as a whole. I personally think that users don’t need or can effectively maintain more than three active accounts, but only see the need for a personal and business account. I think this is a good thing for the network and support these changes as a whole to help make a fair and even playing field, or at least more even one, even if its not perfectly fair.
I don’t think you can completely stop attacks on a social media network fully but slowing the stream of attacks, bots and token manipulation is a positive thing to focus on for the network and its users.
I hope this is a “High Priority” for Minds creators and admins, and that affected users stay strong tell this issue has been resolved with these basic steps.
Thanks as always for reading, feel free to comment on the topic and please remember to like and remind this post for others.
References:
Email:
https://gitlab.com/groups/minds/-/epics/102
https://gitlab.com/groups/minds/-/epics/88
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