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We’ve been playing Inspector Gadget over the last few weeks, learning more about activity on lenses and from multiple accounts. We started down this road while developing some new anti-spam tools, which is an ever-evolving process that gets better every day.

A few things I’ve learned are interesting, if not surprising. And I wanted to share them with you as a reminder, for which I evidently am becoming infamous, but hopefully, heeded.

First, lots of lensmasters have multiple accounts. That’s fine. We’ve all discussed reasons that you might want to maintain different lenses in different accounts. Remember, though, that being anonymous only hurts your reputation.

Turns out, though, that lots of lensmasters, even some really good ones, have been using their alias accounts to cross-rate their other lenses. To lensroll them, even stage comments in them. Part of me realizes that simply saying “don’t do it” is like telling people not to speed on the freeway. Everyone goes 70 in a 65 zone, right? But please be aware that real ratings manipulation is against our Terms of Service, and if we see it happening more than on the odd occasion, we will lock your accounts. This isn’t a new rule, and shouldn’t take anyone by surprise.

Third: If you ever run across someone complaining about a locked or suspended account, I’d recommend taking a second to wonder why. Chances are there’s something going on in the background. There could be multiple accounts locked for ratings manipulation, or for promoting SquidDon’t spambait topics, or any number of TOS violations. We respect every user’s privacy and will handle the matter quietly but quickly. It’s true that an infinitesimal number of lenses could get temporarily locked from view by mistake, as we continue work on our spam filters, and if you let us know we’re happy to unlock them. Suspended accounts, on the other hand… well, that’s rarely a mistake. Play hard and play fair, and you’re in the clear.

But it’s not all gloom and doom! Not by a long shot. You know something else we’ve noticed? That most of our best lensmasters are also our most generous lensmasters. They look at hundreds of other people’s lenses each week, offering good feedback in Guestbooks, and even help share their favorites outward with others. That’s so cool to see.

When’s the last time you told someone you loved his lens? When’s the last time someone told you that?