Time for some digital pest control!

[newsgroup@social.vir.group]

Time for some digital pest control! 🧹

I recently noticed some uninvited guests trying to treat my server like a free SEO buffet. A swarm of bots decided to sign up and "politely" boost my posts — not because they loved my content, but to piggyback on our domain's reputation for their shady SEO gains.

I wasn't aware of this specific "parasitic" method before, but today was the big "clobbering time." All bots have been evicted, and their data is gone. Consider the server officially de-bugged!

To keep things cozy and human, I’ve switched to manual registration approval. From now on, real humans only — no parasites allowed (see the attached photo for their "portraits" ).

To my fellow instance admins: How are you handling these digital ticks? Any favorite blocklists or moderation pro-tips to share?

#Mastodon #Fediverse #SelfHosting #AdminLife #CyberSecurity #DigitalPestControl #StopSpam #SEO #InstanceAdmin #MastodonAdmin