I’m wanting to lock down site signups. I need your help on what question to put to applicants that can be used to vet their application.
Why do this? I expect that as lemmy matures and grows, it will gain the attention of trolls etc that we do not want here.
Also with Beehaw defederating some larger instances with open signups, I’d like to avoid the same fate.
The question is less important that the human interaction in my opinion.
Answering the question validly doesn’t make them a good person, or even a person, it just means that they have to apply and then someone else has to approve, and that delay is going to stop most of the bot stuff because it’s not worth it to the troll/spammer etc.
I remember joining a shooting forum years ago that asked “Please explain your 30 cal preference”.
There’s like a dozen 30 calibre rounds (30-06, 308, 7.62 * 2, 303, etc etc), and I’m sure the admins would let you in if you replied “6.5 Creedmoor is gods own round!”, because as I say, the question isn’t the important bit, it just means that a human read a question, formulated an appropriate response and then waited for another human to hit OK.
Absolutely, having a delay due to manual intervention will filter out some troublemakers. The question itself may result in some not wanting to register. Every bit helps.