Creating a Reddit Bot to Detect Spam - Python Reddit API Wrapper (PRAW) tutorial p.4 | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

This tutorial teaches how to create a Python Reddit bot that detects and removes spam and affiliate links, specifically targeting udemy courses.

Key Insights

• 🍝 Udemy affiliate link spam on Reddit has been increasing over the past year.
• 🤲 Spammers are getting more sophisticated in their methods, making it harder to detect them.
• 🤖 Creating a bot to combat spam can help reduce the amount of unwanted content on Reddit.
• 👤 In addition to monitoring for specific keywords, it is important to analyze the overall post history of users to determine if they are genuine or spam accounts.
• 🤖 The bot provides a warning to potential spammers and incentivizes them to stop spamming.
• 🤖 Constant monitoring and refining of the bot's algorithms and detection methods is necessary to stay ahead of spammers.
• 🤖 Collaboration and community contributions can further improve the effectiveness of the bot.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: Why did the creator decide to build a Reddit bot to combat udemy affiliate link spam?

The creator noticed a significant increase in udemy affiliate link spam on Reddit and decided to take action to prevent this type of spam.

Q: How does the bot identify potential spammers?

The bot analyzes the post history of users to identify those who frequently post about udemy courses. It also checks for certain keywords commonly associated with spam.

Q: What action does the bot take when it identifies a potential spammer?

The bot posts a message on the spammer's thread, notifying them that their posts are considered spammy. This serves as a warning and encourages them to stop spamming.

Q: How does the bot determine if a user is a spammer or not?

The bot calculates a "trashy score" for each user, which represents the percentage of their submissions that are considered spam. If the score exceeds a certain threshold, the user is flagged as a spammer.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The creator noticed a rise in udemy affiliate link spam on Reddit and decided to create a bot to detect and remove it.

• The bot identifies potential spammers by analyzing their post history and checking for certain keywords.

• Once identified, the bot posts a message on their thread notifying them of their spammy behavior.