Time for some digital pest control! ๐Ÿœ๐Ÿงน

I recently noticed some uninvited guests trying to treat my server like a free SEO buffet. A swarm of bots decided to sign up and "politely" boost my posts โ€” not because they loved my content, but to piggyback on our domain's reputation for their shady SEO gains.

I wasn't aware of this specific "parasitic" method before, but today was the big "clobbering time." All bots have been evicted, and their data is gone. Consider the server officially de-bugged! ๐Ÿšซ๐Ÿค–

To keep things cozy and human, Iโ€™ve switched to manual registration approval. From now on, real humans only โ€” no parasites allowed (see the attached photo for their "portraits" ๐Ÿ˜‚).

To my fellow instance admins: How are you handling these digital ticks? Any favorite blocklists or moderation pro-tips to share?