I somewhat regularly browse the “global shared stories” tab to find interesting posts. I have notice at least one user who uses newsblur to “share” every post they write on their personal tumblr (same blog and newsblur avatar), presumably to increase their readership. Is this an appropriate use of the Global shared stories? I am sure Samuel definitely does not want to moderate the tab heavily (if at all). But it substantially reduces its value if people are just going to clog it up with self-promotion/spam rather than its intended use of sharing interesting stories from others you have read - especially if it becomes a more widespread practice. Perhaps a “flag” option or something to hide shares from problematic users?
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To be clear: no one shares stories specifically to the Global shared stories area … it is simply a collection of all stories shared publicly on NewsBlur, regardless of whether you follow those individuals. There already is a mechanism for hiding shares from problematic users … use your own personal Shared Stories area to subscribe to the people you want to see, and don’t subscribe to the people you don’t want to see.
Yes I do understand how global shared stories works.
My point is that if self-promotion in it becomes common then its utility diminishes sharply. I am just suggesting that some way of “muting” problematic users from sharing to the global feed would be a good way of preventing spam.