The Joiner

The internet has permitted a lot of human social behavior to arise and expose itself to the entire planet. Well at least to the users of the Internet on this planet. One I find most curious is the “joiner”.

The Internet is THE social activity place for people who have the resource to explore this digital two way communication system. That includes all “developed” nations.

This has give arise of software services or systems called, FaceBook , Twitter, Pintrest to name just three. All require “joining” to become a “member”.

I see this phenomenon at a micro level when I create and become the admin of a blog, forum or website that offers open registration. “Open” meaning anyone at all can fill out the form and “Join” a registration to the website. The registration creates a user list that is stored in the system.

My purpose for open registration is to open certain basic privileges, like being able to post replies in a blog. The registration is a tool that can be used to block spam and other automated processes from flooding the system with off topic comments. The list is then used to grant advanced privileges once a “trust” is created. For example a store customer who has made a purchase may be granted access to download files.

What happens on a new website is registration is quiet for awhile, then the trickle begins, then it becomes a flood. Everyone who registers must provide a working email address and these “joiners” usually use a free service like hotmail.com or any of the others of the” free email, hide your identity “ genera.

Because of the style and use of popular free generic email services, I suspect many could be generated by the same person or small group. They join over and over again using this same email service but use very curious mishmash of letters to create names and email prefixes. That “style” usually indicates they are of Eastern Europe and Russia locations. I have traced the IPs addresses on occasion to form this conclusion. (Web site admins have resources to do this.) There could be a large contingent of lonely people in the world who are compelled to join whatever is available.

These “joiners” are always harmless as I don’t grant anyone any dangerous privileges by simply joining. They never seem to post replies as this is the only thing open registration permits. A registration doesn’t boost status in search engines. I have to wonder slightly why it is done. I suspect it is because it can be done, or just to see what happens. Some may just want to belong as an indication they “like” the website. So to me it is a compliment. Thanks!

On many of my blogs I don’t require a registration. Here on Ramblin’ Dan there is no registration. What I get is a lot of spam. Just look at the bit bucket. The purpose of most automated spam is to get an included URL posted as an attempt to increase search engine ratings. For real uses this ability to post your URL is a privilege. The spam created by robots is easy for filters to mark for deletion. Spam is a totally different goal than the “Joiner.”

So I will continue to grin, shake my head and wonder. Different strokes for different folks. Maybe if I add a do nothing registration here, it could be my “LIKE” list… Hmmm…