I like the capcha idea a lot, but I'm not sure about the rest. It takes away from the openness of the site, and there are ways to protect material from people you don't want as friends.
Friending doesn't grant people any special access to your journal and it would just create a false sense of security/smug satisfaction to 'deny' a friend request. It doesn't solve anything and just makes the already complex system even more complex.
Bots are a problem but trying to come up with some sort of friend approval system is not a fix for that problem.
You're right and since my LJ is 99% public posts, anybody can read them. I just get tired of having to ban and report 5 bots a day for whatever nefarious purpose they might be there for. A simple captcha field would eliminate if not reduce the issue
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...it's really more of a "watch" than a "friend"...
This concept is difficult for a lot of people to get, but often people 'friend' as a means of BOOKMARKING to read. (And, no, I don't want to go into the endless debate concerning changing the term LiveJournal Friend to something else...)
I agree that it's not a good use of developer time which could be better spent on other things...
and how is it disruptive? Is the friending process so arduous that typing a number/letter combination in a textbox is going to break LJ? Somehow i doubt it.
No. Being able to reject a friend only creates a sense of false security for the journal owner. The bots are annoying, but them friending you doesn't cause them to be able to see anything they wouldn't be able to see otherwise.
Reporting them to the Abuse team and then banning them are the best thing to do until a solution can be found. You can do both using the hover menu - banning is one click and done, and reporting (which is the most important part) is two clicks and done.
Captchas are not a reliable way to prevent bots from creating accounts and adding friends. If a bot can get around a captcha to create an account (which they obviously have if they are friending you), then they clearly can get around a captcha to add you as a friend.
I can get past most car locks in about 14 seconds with common household implements and I'm not even a professional thief or locksmith (I used to lock my keys in my car far too often). Locks on your front door and your car aren't reliable either. But I bet you still have them to prevent casual thieves from wandering into your house or rifling through your car to steal your GPS and IPOD
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Justification and approval is overkill, but a captcha for the first time you friend someone might be useful. Then again, haven't the bots already beaten a captcha in order to create an account?
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Bots are a problem but trying to come up with some sort of friend approval system is not a fix for that problem.
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(The comment has been removed)
This concept is difficult for a lot of people to get, but often people 'friend' as a means of BOOKMARKING to read. (And, no, I don't want to go into the endless debate concerning changing the term LiveJournal Friend to something else...)
I agree that it's not a good use of developer time which could be better spent on other things...
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and how is it disruptive? Is the friending process so arduous that typing a number/letter combination in a textbox is going to break LJ? Somehow i doubt it.
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(The comment has been removed)
Reporting them to the Abuse team and then banning them are the best thing to do until a solution can be found. You can do both using the hover menu - banning is one click and done, and reporting (which is the most important part) is two clicks and done.
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