Content Scrapers are accounts that steal images and videos and then repost them without giving credit. Often they are AI or illustrations labeled as real photographs. Often they say they are one thing but are actually another.
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Sad. AI is barely getting started & I've already had enough. I came here looking to connect with visual artists & photographers, original thinkers & creators. Images & creative ideas in the arts generated by real ppl. I'm a landscape painter. But maybe that makes me a dinosaur 🦕
Amazing actual human artist @franzanth.bsky.social has curated a blocklist and created an account to host it (and also follow packs of real artists and science communicators) at @contentscrapers.bsky.social.
Now I gotta figure out how to implement blocklists of spammers and bots :D Bsky is sure coming along nicely though. Just a year ago when I signed up this place was dead. Now its booming, though hopefully not boomering 😂
Just in case this is not sarcasm, there is a way to block all on a list. You hit the subscribe button in the top right corner, and it asks if you want to block or mute all users
It wound be good to have additional admins, mods, or managers for a block list. It would open up ways to better curate a list or let it outlive someone. Least of which would be appealing to multiple people if someone is unfairly on a list.
Yeah, community driven moderation would work better if we count more easily partake in it as a group
There may be some workaround for this with multiple users having lists and the labeling service just auto-pulling from specific users' lists. Would have to experiment to see if that works.
This was one of the first things I learned about on BlueSky and one of the first things I did was start adding the lists. One must be careful though, add lists with care, examine who is on them before you do. Some early lists were seemingly legit, but then blocked actual good folks on purpose.
The second most important tool is the report and the third is the block. If it is obviously a bot or a hate speech account, I report and block. If it is an account that I feel is not reportworthy but is of issue, I examine further, take a moment to read what else they say, and then make my decision.
it’s a weird feeling giving Hank the power to limit who I hear from. As a Gen Xer who grew up with a functional media ecosystem this was one of the implicit functions of the New York Times and Washington Post whom I no longer trust.
the best part about bluesky by FAR is how much it empowers the user to control their experience. mass-blocking is incredibly easy, and you have to go extremely out of your way to even try and see a blocked user ever again.
it isnt just a blackbox that you hope feeds you the thing you want to see and doesnt show you gruesome body horror to rile you up next time you refresh your timeline. chances are good you will never run into that latter scenario
Oh you will, but usually only once. The report button is very sexy in combination with a nuclear block, but there's always new alts, bots n untagged bullshit
My biggest fear is being added to a list like this, because I just love sharing interesting stuff I remember / find on the Internet... I always try to give credit where it's due, and add my own thoughts. But still.
I've actually got a folder in my Favorites all ready with stuff to share. 😭
Sharing is fine! Do try to repost or give attribution, but the folks who make these lists will take a minute to poke at a reported timeline to see whether it's a human who occasionally posts random jpegs, or a firehose of stolen puppy pics. It's not hard to tell.
Most of these accounts are usually created just to rack up followers and once the account has enough followers, the owner will sell it to someone to be used for bad things, at which point you suddenly find you're following a Nazi. More explanation here: https://bsky.app/profile/rahaeli.bsky.social/post/3lc3cq7g5gc2s
There's also the ethical issue that most of them steal photographs and cheat creators, but that's secondary to the fact that the account has a really high chance of getting sold in the future and used for nefarious purposes!
Small addendum as someone who typically chooses to mute:
If you are an artist or creator of any kind, it’s probably best to choose block. It makes it that little bit harder to steal your work when they can’t see your posts.
It's true that it's virtually impossible to completely shield your work on atproto, but for that matter a scraper could just as easily make a secondary account regardless of protocol.
It's mostly about choosing the option that causes them a little more friction.
Thank you so much! Usually, I flipped through block list to make sure there’s nobody I would want to see that got caught up, but I just blocked this whole one. These are much harder to catch in the wild then trollers or reply guys.
I can't tell you of how long I've been afraid to post my photos because I had this one site just use one of my photos for a religious website and refused to credit me, it took months of me emailing them to take it down if they'd never credit me properly
I think bsky might be the first time that I have seen a social media that truly feels like the entire thing is grass roots, and I for one think that's pretty amazing.
Websites use https to prove their identity. Site owners to go to a trusted authority and request that the authority vouch for them (after verification ofc). Vouchers can later be rescinded via revocation lists.
We need groups who will vouch for users and maintain revocation lists for bsky proto.
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I saw how the AI "artist" community started creeping in so I decided to pay it forward by crafting an AI crusher list. It's 3-4k users long now 😮💨
For those who are interested
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xywyho4ewvmamahybifvmznf/lists/3klb7sfjwen2l
And, or course, they immediately arrived on Bluesky.
BUT BLUESKY IS FIGHTING BACK.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ocsbmyulc2grbq3esflddyj6/lists/3l42gs6pmns22
There may be some workaround for this with multiple users having lists and the labeling service just auto-pulling from specific users' lists. Would have to experiment to see if that works.
Click below and then click on “subscribe” to choose whether to mute or block. Either is fine, IMO!
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7clbywj3lmesv6utxqocmzdy/lists/3lbqvvdsz7p2y
https://bsky.app/profile/lelindepage.bsky.social/post/3lcnbgwae5c2x
I've actually got a folder in my Favorites all ready with stuff to share. 😭
And what's wrong with the non-English? What the fuck... French or German is bad?
If you are an artist or creator of any kind, it’s probably best to choose block. It makes it that little bit harder to steal your work when they can’t see your posts.
It's mostly about choosing the option that causes them a little more friction.
I think that's the only block list I'm on. Usually I block manually, but with these scrapers it's better to never see them.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:awctl2grk2psdl5vzqb7tsqt/lists/3lcjmqudiit2o
I think there's some way to set up an actual tagging system for 3rd party moderation. I'll have to look into that
Also some interesting in-depth reading on the topic of decentralization can be found here
https://bsky.app/profile/dustyweb.bsky.social/post/3lbkecsk34k24
I can't tell you of how long I've been afraid to post my photos because I had this one site just use one of my photos for a religious website and refused to credit me, it took months of me emailing them to take it down if they'd never credit me properly
Here's another labeler worth checking out: https://bsky.app/profile/skywatch.blue
Important question: what’s with the Alf part? Is that a symbol I’m not aware of or just a joke about the 80s sitcom?
https://go.bsky.app/Ryr4Dyz
https://go.bsky.app/DknVNVG
We need groups who will vouch for users and maintain revocation lists for bsky proto.