14 DAY TRIAL // Spam has always been a problem online but as the web evolves so do the means of spreading it. Email spam isn't going anywhere but social networks are increasingly flooded with the problem and the bigger they are, the more likely target they become. Twitter has been battling with the issue and has just launched a new tool to report spam and now Facebook is reminding its users how to deal with spam but also other unwanted messages.
“While only a small fraction of people on the site ever experience abuse such as bullying, harassment, unwanted contact or offensive behavior from others, we're constantly improving our processes to better respond if you do have a problem,” Facebook's Jessica Ghastin wrote. “Specifically, we created much more granular reporting categories for you to classify the issues you may come across including bullying or unwanted contact from other people on the site. We also added new fields where you can detail the location of abuse that occurs in videos or text.”
Facebook is huge – with 300 million users and growing, it is by far the largest social network on the planet and one of the biggest sites overall – but compared to the number of users its staff is minuscule, so policing the site is a massive undertaking. While there haven't been any widespread problems, issues are bound to pop up so the social network is relying on its users to report them. And to make it even easier for the users and the employees themselves, the site has updated its abuse and spam reporting tool to include a lot more information and details from the users.
For example, if reporting an offensive video, users can specify the exact time when the issue occurs making it easier and faster for Facebook to spot it. If the problem is with a note, users can just copy and paste the text directly, again saving everyone a lot of time. A “Report” link is always present near photos and the other types of content and clicking it will present the users with a set of options helping them detail the problem.