Understanding forums: Trollspotting

[k'sha]

When I first started posting in forums I was in complete innocence as to the online phenomenon of 'trolls'.
A little wiser now I think it is valuable to be able to spot them as they can wreak havoc,not only on a thread but in the whole forum.

These are some insights I have about them.

Usually they don't go to much trouble to create a persona,they just use any word and don't bother with an avatar.However some of the more inventive ones do go to the trouble of creating a fake identity.

They are usually unknown to the members who regularly post in the forum and have put their time and energy into genuinely discussing issues and events in order to increase their (and everyone else's) knowledge.

Trolls have not contributed to these conversations in any meaningful way.

Their contributions are usually vitriolic or they belittle using sarcasm.Personal attack is also popular.Its easy to indulge one's shadow side when anonymous.

How to deal with them? Particularly in a forum that upholds freedom of speech.

Ignore them.They usually fade away with lack of oxygen.

Pound them.They usually don't have the strength of character to deal with someone who has it.Online bullies tend to cave easily.

Use them to sharpen your rhetorical skills.You can never have too much wit or pithy comments.

Challenge their anonymous status.They generally don't like to be called on what they do or what they are.That is,trolls.

Have fun with it.Keep it light.After all,they are a fact of online life.

[Norval]

K'sha,
A most profound recognition of attitudes and psyche, and what if one had an alchemical
knowledge? Would they be so profoundly caustic and insatiable in their endeavors to demean
humanity too? Maybe a bad ET too, in woolly attire.


A most excellent post, Thank you.

[k'sha]

Thanks Norval,for your appreciative comments.I must admit I posted the thread above with some trepidation,like a few of us here I have been burnt on other forums which makes me a little gunshy when entering a new one.
But I feel that a thorough understanding of online forums and our experiences of them and the insights we have into the phenomenon can only be helpful in making this one fulfil its purpose.
'If one had an alchemical knowledge'......definitely a useful thing to possess in these times as an aid to deeper understanding.
Bad ET...definitely possible....I thought I was generally wellread when it came to ET's but I am going to have to get up to speed with your research before I can answer with any confidence.
....where I come from with relating to others online is that all we are here are the words we write...and it is in that we reveal ourselves for who we truly are.

[Norval]

Burnt? Hell, Gale and I have been slaughtered. Drawn, quartered, sliced, diced, and hung up on a
stake for all to see. But, "We're alive, we're alive!" is what we are. You mentioned this in your OP
above,

Trolls have not contributed to these conversations in any meaningful way.

IMHO there is much we all can learn from their, "Troll's" as you called them, posting methodologies.

[Swami Salami]

Rockin the Trolls

[zorgon]

TROLLS

Trolls can not be bad ET's... why? Because Trolls lurk in the underground of Earth and have been here a very long time. They are mostly evil but they are home grown.

Ignoring a Troll is the best way... banishment from the Realm works well too...

But feeding the Troll is a bad idea... because their purpose is to disrupt and derail. Look at it this way... One Troll enters an active thread and posts ONE nasty comment...

Then 20 people in the thread get mad at the Troll and feel the need to make a comment, witty or otherwise...

NOW you have just achieved the Troll's desired result... I have seen this at AT go to five pages of counter bashing as everyone jumped on the Troll. It got so bad in one thread I just left it... this after having just dropped a bombshell called "MISTY"

[zorgon]

Now let's talk about the REAL problem...



Over at 'You know where' Henry Deacon made a big fuss about deleting his threads and a big drama about leaving. Yet all along he was there as SEVERAL sock puppets watching people and causing trouble. I had 7 identified and several more at ATS, OM and GLP...

It was actually this whole mess with HD that made me see what PC was becoming. Once you identify the deception there is no going back. The problem with the mods started because they were expected to go along with the deception, to the point some felt threatened

Simon was sent packing because he banned one of HD's sock puppets. 'Orionsbelt'

Over at ATS I have seen an increasing number of threads started by 'newbies' who come in an deliberately pick a topic that has caused issues in the past... and they will do a tag team deal getting it started. They know the regulars will come in soon to take over. Seems planned to me to keep things stirred up.

So SOCK PUPPETS are PUBLIC ENEMY #1 for forums. If admin does nothing else but watch for multiple accounts from the same IP it would knock out a LOT of dissent

[Gary]

Well, I have to come clean with Zorgon here and I offer my hand in friendship, I am Bazil, who on ATS was responsible for the Avalon thread there recently which caused Mary Lou to blow a fuse, I was just trying to drive traffic to the new forum, sorry Sir.

[Swami Salami]

Well the Swami is the Swami, always has been and always will be. No sockpuppeting for me, I'll take it right in the face. Lets go bananas....

[k'sha]

Sock puppets!...lol....well,I learn something new everyday.....I can't for the life of me fathom why someone would want to damage their integrity for the sake of blowing off steam and causing havoc as a sockpuppet.

Not to mention their lack of guts...sorry,courage is the nicer term....in standing by what they say.

I think its fine to use a different name on different forums though.I was monkeyblood at RS but after the reactions I got from it,I decided to change it when I came here.