User blog:Rappy/Catching Up With the VSTF

Hey everyone. It's Rappy from the Community Support Team bringing you an update on the Volunteer Spam Task Force (VSTF).

As many of you may know, the VSTF is a volunteer group that helps keep Wikia free of spam and vandalism. They work behind the scenes to keep that annoying and pesky aspect of the internet under control on Wikia. The team is now 21 members strong with recent additions who speak several languages. Currently, the VSTF team covers Dutch, English, French, Georgian, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish languages, and we are always working to add more to this growing list.

Spam is an unfortunate and inevitable part of the internet, which is why Wikia is so fortunate to have a group of people like the VSTF. Their work and dedication lets them remove this type of material from the hundreds of thousands communities that call Wikia home, and to block vandals and spammers for their actions. With the addition of native speakers in other languages, there is an increased sensitivity to the nuances of that specific language, preventing errors in the identification of spam, vandalism, or content that violates the Terms of Use.

With the addition of people in the different areas of the world, there is an improvement in overall coverage during the day and night, as well as the ability to respond in a more timely fashion when spam events occur. Increasing the overall number of volunteers for the VSTF helps keep the group's membership numbers strong and provides quicker responses to the communities.

There are many individuals who have been part of the team over the many years it has been in existence. With thanks to all those who have dedicated hours to this task, I wanted to share a few reasons why people have agreed to join the team. So, I contacted two of our newest VSTF members and asked them to share some of their thoughts about the role, and why they joined the team.

So, as you can see, the VSTF is a group of dedicated volunteers from all over the world that try to keep our wikias spam- and vandalism-free. If you have any questions about the role of the VSTF, feel free to ask them in the comments section below.