Why the need for email confirmation in forum registration?

[Chris Worner]

I have noticed that more forums require an email confirmation upon registration. The forums send new members an email with a link that needed to be clicked and verified. That will help member account get full access to the forum as set in their user group. For forum owners who require the email confirmation, what is the rationale behind it?

 

[VirtuBox]

Email confirmation is a good way to limit spam, because it require a valid email address to create an account and to click on the confirmation link received after the registration.
So it protect the forum against bots and spammer will have to confirm each new account before being able to post spam content.

 

[Mujkanovic]

I think this is a must-have for each forum unless you want to have too many spams on your forum.
Also, email confirmation will help you have real emails from members and it can be used in many cases like sending messages/emails to your members when needed.

 

[buzybee-kevin]

I stops bots from signing up. A bot cannot check its email to click a link. If they did not force a email registration system then they would have hundreds of junk signups from bots. Its standard everywhere.

 

[coredump]

coredump

I am wondering how you stop bots from signing up, of course is I agree that a bot can check email and click on a link but if it is target for a specific forum then nothing is impossible. It can be programmed to do that and bypass forum registration.

 

[24x7serverman]

Anyone can create an account on the forums on behalf of you using your email address and start posting so to avoid this issue an email confirmation in forum registration is mandatory.

 

[Carl009]

It's to prevent spam messages, but I have found that it's not good enough to prevent spammers.

Spammers are becoming more advanced and are getting around all these spam prevention systems.

This forum doesn't allow members to post their first post until it is manually checked, which is a good way of preventing spam.

 

[hostens]

Email confirmation is a good way filter bots from the real users. It also a way to make sure a user entered correct and valid email, in case of password reset case in the future or some notifications if chosen by a customer.

 

[aguilar10]

This method helps the website to refrain from bots. Entering a valid email address confirms the identity of the person who wanted to join the forum. Having this said, it is also a way to connect with the host. It can also help in resetting the password if forgotten and letting the participant know the important announcements regarding the forum.

 

[DenisMNE]

Email is needed for several reasons.

1. Identification
Identification is needed to show that you have an email so you can sign up to the forum.If forums just let anyone join them, they would lose the track on how many people are there.

2 .Bots/Spam/Multi accounts
Using email account to register will stop someone from not getting punished from breaking the rules.
Spamming is a huge issue from a ''low'' people who find it funny to mess up with someones work.
Also it stops bots to ''spam'' and cause traffic problem and also stops you from having multiple accounts.

3. Statistics
Keeping statistics on forum is a big deal as it can give the owners a deeper look on how many people, using their emails, registered on their forum.

Just think about forums like anything else in real life that needs your ID or Passport to make sure it is really you.
It works on almost the same principle.

Hope it helps!

 

[SenseiSteve]

Great explanations. Forum owners essentially use this tactic for a number of reasons, the most prevalent being to minimize spamming. Nonsense threads and posts detract from real conversations and are a pain to constantly moderate.

 

[kd06]

Validation via email is required for it helps the websites refrain from bots and spam. It's one way of checking if user wanting to join is a real person or a bot. Entering a valid email is also a way for the administrators to reach out to it's members by having them updated on the sites changes or the likes.

 

[dwebhosters]

Its only because of spam protection and nothing else.

 

[joey_2tep]

One thing is for sure. The reason why they require email verification is they just making sure that the email you have used is valid one. Also they are trying to avoid spam. I think the most important thing is whenever the email is verified, that only person using the email is also verified and it allows the website to contact you whenever there are site announcements or whatever changes the site has and verified email is the only way where they can get in touch with you.