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The forum troll phenomenon

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  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    @DarthDimi, that is so sad and I'm afraid getting more and more widespread. It is a sorry commentary on our societies, globally.

    I think there is an article in the news somewhere about a young person committing suicide after being bullied on Facebook. I didn't read the article; the headline depressed me enough. Some man is America recently murdered his wife, posted pics, and then turned himself in after saying "sorry" to his friends and he hoped they'd understand. Something like that. Ugh.

    And yes, the comments on website for CNN and Yahoo news and others easily obtainable - some are despicable, and downright sick - and I think there is no moderation for some sites, things just get posted without being looked at before hand. So much trash. I try to avoid even glancing at comments any more.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 14,840
    DarthDimi wrote:
    Agreed, @Ludovico. Even on news sites, where people can drop comments to news flashes anonymously, it's often shocking to read the kind of stuff that gets posted. And most of the time it's the same people that light the match. Talk about anything, from war in the Middle-East to the Mars rovers, from a celebrity's overdose to global warming, and you end up with anti-Islam talk or homophobia or what have you. You can tell that such issues get slipped in for no apparent reason and the merest suggestion from sane people not to go there results in major fireworks.

    One of the reasons I wanted to raise the issue of trolls via this thread, is because the school where I teach has organised an anti cyberbullying campaign for the coming school year. We considered it useful, necessary even, after a few rather unsettling incidents, mostly involving facebook. One such incident involved a 13 year old girl (!), stalked by classmates to take off her clothes in front of her webcam, or else. Upon her refusal, it really came to this 'or else' and she got terrorised all over facebook as well as in school. Thank god she was brave enough to alert us after only one day and we managed to interfere. Parents were brought in, even the police got involved. I can only dreadfully imagine what would have happened had the victim not been brave enough to step up for herself, if she had actually yielded. It turned out that those classmates were all but one girls, even the kind you'd normally describe as quiet and gentile. But once in front of their computer, their digital alter egos took control and proved to be nothing other than evil. The truly upsetting thing is that with a straight face they claimed it was 'only for fun', 'just a game', 'nothing too serious'... And lest we forget, nothing happened anonymously here. Everybody knew exactly who everybody else was.

    Shows you that bullies and trolls sometimes don't fully realise the extent of the damage they can cause. With a fairly innocent "it's only a game" attitude, how could they ever feel moral objection to the pain they're about to inflict?

    Chilling. I moved from working in a school to the private sector for a number of reasons (one being http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/aug/17/language-teaching-crisis-universities-closure), but I could not stand the cutthroat, nasty environment. Some pupils were awful, some teachers were worse. The Wire's co creator Ed Burns said that his most difficult job was not being a Homicide police or a soldier during the first Iraq war, but a school teacher.
  • TracyTracy
    Posts: 1,641




    ;)
  • SandySandy Somewhere in Europe
    Posts: 4,012
    Very nice text @DarthDimi. I think the anonymity can bring out the very worst in some people. I can only guess that although some of them might be, in their real life, apparently normal people they must have some sort of inner frustration in their lives, something that they can only release when they are “safely” behind an internet connection. I think minimum tolerance should be given to trolls. I do agree that a warning should be issued in some cases, if the person has no “troll tendencies” then this would be enough for the person’s behaviour to improve. After all, we all know the true trolls never change. But of course we shouldn’t jump into conclusions too quickly. I am sometimes annoyed to witness how easily some people use the word troll. If people think a new member might be one then just flag, don’t make it worse by name calling.
    thelivingroyale wrote:
    I'm all for banning trolls but I think people are too quick to label new members as trolls and sometimes they haven't even done anything wrong.

    Being a teenager that's a bit thick and that has dodgy grammar is not being a troll. Spouting conspiracy theories, starting arguments deliberately, deliberately trying to insult other members, that's a troll.

    What I'm trying to say is that the @DRESSED_2_KILL's of the internet are trolls that deserve to be banned when they join.

    The @hullcityfan's of the internet have done nothing wrong and we shouldn't start campaigning for them to be banned.

    I completely agree with you in this matter @thelivingroyale, people like hullcityfan are not trolls, just annoying kids. But that's an entirely different phenomenon.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,564
    You are correct, @thelivingroyale, that some members are labelled trolls when they are not. But when some members post in an annoying or borderline spammy way (four word posts, nothing relevant,...) we friendly ask them to please avoid doing that. When they ignore that and systematically proceed by derailing threads with annoyingly stupid questions, random and irrelevant interjections and whatnot, we ask them - again - to give a little thought to the quality of their posts. After a while though, one grows impatient. And while they may not necessarily be trolling or targeting other members, they clearly give us the finger when asked to improve the quality and efficiency of their overall posting and that usually indicates they know they're getting on our nerves and get some fun out of that. This isn't true for the whole lot, mind, but we have seen a few of those stir things up in recent history. ;-)
  • Suivez_ce_parachuteSuivez_ce_parachute
    edited August 2013 Posts: 2,015
    DarthDimi wrote:
    You are correct in pointing out that flaw, @Perdogg. I fear that sometimes the label of troll is stamped on people with opinions that are diametrically opposed to those of the 'majority' group and who will persist on defending those opinions.

    Comments about my attempts to show how silly it is to rank everything, including trying to compare worldwide box office between now and 40 years ago (remember : even BoxOfficeMojo does not even try), even made the front page of this site with a derogatory comment ! It used the strawman tactics to claim that if I said it was silly to claim SF was #1, then I was an "old member" claiming TB should still be #1 and still living in the past and something like that...

    In this period, I was flagged as soon as I posted two posts in a row, while other members of the "SF #1" crowd could post up to five in a row with no problems, and I'm not even talking about GG's huge lists full of inaccuracies he posted every two days with only one line changing !

    Can't wait for 2015 : if Bond 24 is "only" the 9th movie at the US box office and 5th at the worldwide one or something like that, the same behaviour should end with people repeating every two minutes how "poor" it's doing. Will they then be labelled as "trolls" ? :)
  • NapoleonPluralNapoleonPlural
    Posts: 512
    Well, you get highly paid trolls too - the Julie Burchill-style columnists who like to tweak sensibilities. TBT, they can get you to think through your arguments more coherently sometimes.

    The Web is a new thing really, it's like the Wild West. It's a lawless country so we make our own laws, but you get this painstaking, almost prim and Victorian-style good manners towards another stranger online you don't really know, or alternatively it's some weirdo out to shoot you down. The former is a kind of defence against the latter, a sign of just how shaky the social construct is.

    So I think some trollery is a kind of reaction to this 'Hello trees, we are the world' slightly sentimental goodwill we get online towards each other and events, the kind of kid who jumps in the sandbox and messes things up. It's all highly primitive. And of course, consequence-free, like in the playground mostly, where you can call someone horrid names and so longs as teacher doesn't hear, all is well.

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    To all those that can't for some reason avoid commenting on threads clearly created by spammers, would you please ignore the fools and simply engage IFM? Every time trolls/spammers want to attract attention to themselves, they create threads that are so off topic it is shocking, and they successfully make you pay notice of them when you post in their said threads. I am getting sick of seeing people post in threads that are clearly made to anger us and seem controversial, or simply threads someone creates to advertise themselves. By posting in these kinds of threads, you are in turn giving the trolls/spammers all the attention they were trying to get before. Again, folks, Ignore, Flag and Move on. Any other action is counter-intuitive to our mission to stop troll activity in the MI6 Community.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    Even with those comments, you're kind of negating what you're stating: you cannot enter a spam topic - be it self advertising, something off-the-wall that you know will be closed, etc. - and merely say 'Flagged.' or 'Spam.' Isn't that, in itself, spam? A one word comment that adds nothing to the discussion seems pretty spammish to me. The best thing to do, as Brady stated, is IFM: the mods appreciate it, you don't clue the trolls in on what you're doing - which you shouldn't, anyway, because at this point, they don't care - and everybody wins in the end: we get the trolls out, the mods can handle it quickly and quietly, and we have one less worrisome troll to argue with.
  • DiscoVolanteDiscoVolante Stockholm, Sweden
    edited September 2013 Posts: 1,347
    Yes, no need to reply to those kinds of threads at all, we still notice them thanks to your great job of flagging! IFM all the way ;)
  • minorMajor9thminorMajor9th
    Posts: 157
    Seems like they're back again.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    minorMajor9th wrote:
    Seems like they're back again.

    Yep, someone is mimicking other poster's usernames and making troll topics.
  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    Posts: 3,494
    Just perform the usual maneuver, which SNS hasn't quite gotten the hang of it appears.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,333
    I'm going to post this here because it couldn't be said better.
    DiscoVolante wrote:
    Responding to trolls is totally unneeded and serves no purpose whatsoever. The aim of these bots is to get confused members to click their suspicious links, and if some people continuously reply to them, the threads bump & get more views, which might lead to someone clicking them = the troll wins. Why do them a favor?

    We have informed several times that members should ignore the trolls by not replying to them at all, you should flag the topic and await its removal. Lastly, move on.

    A member replying "IFM" in such a thread shows how little he/she understands the "I" part of it...

    Shouldn't be so hard.

  • StirredNotShakenStirredNotShaken Toronto
    Posts: 2,400
    SirHenryLeeChaChing wrote:
    Just perform the usual maneuver, which SNS hasn't quite gotten the hang of it appears.

    Is that meant to imply I'll be flagged again?
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,333
    StirredNotShaken wrote:
    SirHenryLeeChaChing wrote:
    Just perform the usual maneuver, which SNS hasn't quite gotten the hang of it appears.

    Is that meant to imply I'll be flagged again?

    No. Just Flag the troll without commenting to them and you'll be fine. Besides, It's most likely the troll flagged you themselves to spite you. None of us on this forum would flag you for responding to a troll. Just Ignore Flag and Move on. it's that simple.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited October 2013 Posts: 13,973
    Creasy47 wrote:
    Yep, someone is mimicking other poster's usernames and making troll topics.
    Yes, this time it seems I am one of the targets. One major difference is that my username starts with a 'Q', plus there's always at least a quanta of quality in my quotes.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited October 2013 Posts: 17,816
    My advise is just IFM folks as the trolls don't like it up 'em.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,350
    If the five hours down-time today (from 3pm - 8pm, UK time) was to sort the trolls out, good call.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,492
    Samuel001 wrote:
    If the five hours down-time today (from 3pm - 8pm, UK time) was to sort the trolls out, good call.

    Absolutely. Was curious as to if I was the only one who was having connection problems to the forum or not.
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    Creasy47 wrote:
    Samuel001 wrote:
    If the five hours down-time today (from 3pm - 8pm, UK time) was to sort the trolls out, good call.

    Absolutely. Was curious as to if I was the only one who was having connection problems to the forum or not.

    Yes same here. Glad it's back up and running. Any official notification as to why the site was down?
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited October 2013 Posts: 13,350
    I checked the Twitter and Facebook accounts, normally something is posted there but nothing, I guess the problem wasn't ongoing for long enough.

    Or as some old MI6'ers would say, due to an unpayed bill. ;)
  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    Posts: 3,494
    Murdock wrote:
    StirredNotShaken wrote:
    SirHenryLeeChaChing wrote:
    Just perform the usual maneuver, which SNS hasn't quite gotten the hang of it appears.

    Is that meant to imply I'll be flagged again?

    No. Just Flag the troll without commenting to them and you'll be fine. Besides, It's most likely the troll flagged you themselves to spite you. None of us on this forum would flag you for responding to a troll. Just Ignore Flag and Move on. it's that simple.

    Exactly. Don't respond to their threads nor on the activity page. No contact. This latest joker clearly has nothing to say, it appears that creating stupid thread titles is about as far as his brain is capable of working.
  • MrcogginsMrcoggins Following in the footsteps of Quentin Quigley.
    Posts: 3,144
    I'm glad to see that someone found 50p for the meter welcome back I've been expecting you!
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    Just a quick thank you to all the mods for banning the 'infamous' troll using multiple accounts and a thank you to all the other members for not taking the bait and using IFM. Just goes to show how well IFM works if we all stick to it :-)
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    Yes - nobody responded with any comment of any kind! That was great. The poster was probably dying to get a reaction from us, any at all. Bravo to all mods involved and to all MI6 members online at the time.
  • SandySandy Somewhere in Europe
    Posts: 4,012
    Bravo to the mods on duty this morning, the problem was swiftly taken care of. I'm glad nobody answered them this time, I did my share of flagging and I'm sure others have to. This is the way to go.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    edited November 2013 Posts: 7,981
    I've got the feeling one of our mods is living up to his name of 'problem eliminator' ;-)
  • BennyBenny In the shadowsAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 14,886
    We help trolls with problems.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,564
    @Benny and @MajorDSmythe did a tremendous job and the admins finished it off. I enjoy waking up like this. ;-)
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