Rather Obvious Trolling in the Pit

[Shodan]

Some time back, Euthanasiast was warned for trolling because the title of a thread he started in the Pit was "misleading". I and many others disagreed, but that is not really the point. The rule seems to be that thread titles cannot be misleading. Well and good.

We currently have a thread in the Pit where the thread title is not simply misleading; it is an outright lie. It refers to an incident that never took place. The OP contains a falsified quote inside quotation marks. I was under the impression that text inside quote boxes and/or quotation marks was sacrosanct, and not to be doctored or made up. The OP then finishes up with a fake link, leading back to a discussion about a completely different incident.

How can this possibly considered anything but trolling?

If this kind of thing is acceptable in the Pit, then perhaps you should put up an announcement that the rules against misleading thread titles and falsified quotes have been lifted.

Regards,
Shodan

[Leaffan]

It's a parody thread (post). I believe humour is still allowed here.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

I thought parody Pit threads were explicitly not allowed. Am I remembering wrong?

[MsWhatsit]

It's a shitty thread but then IMO so is this OP. Could we maybe get a link to the Euthanasiast thread/warning/etc. or would that be too much trouble?

[Loach]

Since it will be the first thing that comes up, did you report it?

[hajario]

Originally Posted by IvoryTowerDenizen

I thought parody Pit threads were explicitly not allowed. Am I remembering wrong?

You are supposed to include a link to the post which is the subject of the parody which the OP did do.

[Vinyl Turnip]

Shodan makes a good point. There are a lot of undecided single-issue voters who'll cast their vote solely on a candidate's ability to remember the size of his penis, and suggesting that Romney lacks this ability—absent clear evidence that this is the case—may give Obama an unfair advantage. I've no doubt that Shodan would campaign just as doggedly against unfair criticism of the President, even if it came from his colleagues on this board. I salute you, sir.

Whoops... forgot a few fingers. There we go!

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

Originally Posted by Shodan

Some time back, Euthanasiast was warned for trolling because the title of a thread he started in the Pit was "misleading". I and many others disagreed, but that is not really the point. The rule seems to be that thread titles cannot be misleading. Well and good.

We currently have a thread in the Pit where the thread title is not simply misleading; it is an outright lie. It refers to an incident that never took place. The OP contains a falsified quote inside quotation marks. I was under the impression that text inside quote boxes and/or quotation marks was sacrosanct, and not to be doctored or made up. The OP then finishes up with a fake link, leading back to a discussion about a completely different incident.

How can this possibly considered anything but trolling?

If this kind of thing is acceptable in the Pit, then perhaps you should put up an announcement that the rules against misleading thread titles and falsified quotes have been lifted.

Regards,
Shodan

The quote you claim is "falsified" is precise, as shown in the headline quoted here, and the link that you claim is fake leads back to the thread being parodied, as is required of Pit threads that parody other threads.

Of course, the quote is in answer to a different question than the one I imply in the OP there, but that's just SOP for the Romney campaign, taking quotes out of context and making a big R.O. flap about them, but that was my attempt at humor, so you're excused, since you don't know much about humor, or poking fun at Republican foibles.

If I had more computer skills, or time, I would have liked to do a mashup where I dubbed a voice-over "What is the size of your dick, Governor?" and then cut directly to "As little as possible" with Ann smiling at his answer, but I got lazy, hence that drive-by attempt at humor, which seems to have evaded most viewers. Mea culpa for that.

But you get high praise for trying to nail me with your (I believe) nineteenth accusation of trolling. This one was particularly sharp and insightful, Shodan--excellent work!

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Originally Posted by hajario

You are supposed to include a link to the post which is the subject of the parody which the OP did do.

Got it. Thanks.

[Shodan]

Originally Posted by Loach

Since it will be the first thing that comes up, did you report it?

Yes. FWIW, I have been told that at least one mod discounts whatever I report because I don't report enough violations from non-liberal posters, so maybe that is part of the issue.

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

Could we maybe get a link to the Euthanasiast thread/warning/etc. or would that be too much trouble?

There were a number of spin-offs from the thread, which is here. Post 52 is the one where the mod says misleading and inflammatory thread titles are trolling, and #67 is where she says it is against Pit rules to change quoted material. There are other instances of warnings for falsifying quotes, of course.

Regards,
Shodan

[Peter Morris]

Originally Posted by Shodan

The OP contains a falsified quote inside quotation marks. I was under the impression that text inside quote boxes and/or quotation marks was sacrosanct, and not to be doctored or made up.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/...48#post7697048

1) The rule only applies to posts made on the forum. Modifying, or inventing a quote made by a public figure is not specifically against the rules.

2) only quote boxes are sacrosanct. Quote marks aren't.

3) Parodies are specifically excluded from the rule.

[74westy]

Originally Posted by Peter Morris

3) Parodies are specifically excluded from the rule.

To Clarify:

Originally Posted by SDMB rules

This does not apply to parodies to which no name is attached.

emphasis mine.

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

Shodan's cute when he's mad, isn't he?

[El_Kabong]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

Shodan's cute when he's mad, isn't he?

Oh, I don't know. Actually, he comes off as one of the unhappiest people I've ever heard of. Pretty much everything in his life seems to bug the hell out of him, and nothing more so than most of the people on this board.

As the barman said to the horse, "why the long face"?

[Lanzy]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

Shodan's cute when he's mad, isn't he?

Pretty much all the time, eh?

[Smeghead]

I thought we weren't supposed to level accusations of trolling outside the Pit.

[aldiboronti]

It was a dickish thread (in every sense of the word) but by no stretch of the imagination could it be considered trolling. And, as someone showed above, it doesn't fall foul of the rules as parody either.

[Gfactor]

Originally Posted by Shodan

Yes. FWIW, I have been told that at least one mod discounts whatever I report because I don't report enough violations from non-liberal posters, so maybe that is part of the issue.
There were a number of spin-offs from the thread, which is here. Post 52 is the one where the mod says misleading and inflammatory thread titles are trolling, and #67 is where she says it is against Pit rules to change quoted material. There are other instances of warnings for falsifying quotes, of course.

Regards,
Shodan

That particular mod note is from 2008, and was controversial when made. While it is possible to troll in the Pit, and it is possible to do so with a single thread title or post, you really have to be an excellent troll to pull it off. The current Pit moderation staff doesn't hand out warnings that easily (which is probably why you had to go back to 2008 to find one). And I don't see any trolling there anyway.

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by Vinyl Turnip

Shodan makes a good point. There are a lot of undecided single-issue voters who'll cast their vote solely on a candidate's ability to remember the size of his penis, and suggesting that Romney lacks this ability—absent clear evidence that this is the case—may give Obama an unfair advantage. I've no doubt that Shodan would campaign just as doggedly against unfair criticism of the President, even if it came from his colleagues on this board. I salute you, sir.

Whoops... forgot a few fingers. There we go!

It's entirely possible that Romney does not know the size of his penis because it's too small to see.

[Maserschmidt]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

It's entirely possible that Romney does not know the size of his penis because it's too small to see.

Presumably his staff could take a poll.

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by Smeghead

I thought we weren't supposed to level accusations of trolling outside the Pit.

It's OK to ask in ATMB if a post constitutes trolling.

IMO, that post doesn't.

[Shodan]

Thanks to the mods for their responses.

Regards,
Shodan

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

And the apology for false accusations? Or must I settle for your continued regards?

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

Is that crickets I hear?

[twickster]

Huh, no response in ten minutes from someone who's not even online? That's pretty damning.

[Loach]

Just wondering what you really expected to happen with this thread?

[El_Kabong]

Originally Posted by Loach

Just wondering what you really expected to happen with this thread?

Why can't people refrain from picking at scabs?

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

Originally Posted by twickster

Huh, no response in ten minutes from someone who's not even online? That's pretty damning.

I posted my invitation to offer some sort of apology within 7 minutes of Shodan's being on-line, and my question about the cricket chorus within 17 minutes. It's reasonable to think that he was on-line that long. In any event, it's over three hours now, and I'm pretty sure that IS crickets I'm hearing.

To Loach: I think most parodies have the desired effect of amusing someone. In this case, it was people who felt that pkbites's thread was a pathetic gotcha. (Did he tell us in advance exactly how close Obama would have to come to the national debt at the precise second he named a figure to be credited by pkbites as correct? He did not. So any answer, as pkbites notes, was by definition incorrect. Gotcha!!!!) In addition, as noted above, I had the notion that Romney's quote "As little as possible" could be quoted out-of-context, Romney-style, to provide an amusing answer to a question about his pecker's size.

But when I have to explain my own jokes, it's obvious that it wasn't as universally amusing as I'd hoped. (I continue to crack myself up--other people, not so much.) I will keep honing my humor until I manage to amuse you. It may take a while.

[aldiboronti]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

I posted my invitation to offer some sort of apology within 7 minutes of Shodan's being on-line, and my question about the cricket chorus within 17 minutes. It's reasonable to think that he was on-line that long. In any event, it's over three hours now, and I'm pretty sure that IS crickets I'm hearing.

To Loach: I think most parodies have the desired effect of amusing someone. In this case, it was people who felt that pkbites's thread was a pathetic gotcha. (Did he tell us in advance exactly how close Obama would have to come to the national debt at the precise second he named a figure to be credited by pkbites as correct? He did not. So any answer, as pkbites notes, was by definition incorrect. Gotcha!!!!) In addition, as noted above, I had the notion that Romney's quote "As little as possible" could be quoted out-of-context, Romney-style, to provide an amusing answer to a question about his pecker's size.

But when I have to explain my own jokes, it's obvious that it wasn't as universally amusing as I'd hoped. (I continue to crack myself up--other people, not so much.) I will keep honing my humor until I manage to amuse you. It may take a while.

Shodan's questions were answered by the mods and he posted to thank them for their responses. I really don't see how you can read anything at all in his not returning to the thread.

[Loach]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

I posted my invitation to offer some sort of apology within 7 minutes of Shodan's being on-line, and my question about the cricket chorus within 17 minutes. It's reasonable to think that he was on-line that long. In any event, it's over three hours now, and I'm pretty sure that IS crickets I'm hearing.

To Loach: I think most parodies have the desired effect of amusing someone. In this case, it was people who felt that pkbites's thread was a pathetic gotcha. (Did he tell us in advance exactly how close Obama would have to come to the national debt at the precise second he named a figure to be credited by pkbites as correct? He did not. So any answer, as pkbites notes, was by definition incorrect. Gotcha!!!!) In addition, as noted above, I had the notion that Romney's quote "As little as possible" could be quoted out-of-context, Romney-style, to provide an amusing answer to a question about his pecker's size.

But when I have to explain my own jokes, it's obvious that it wasn't as universally amusing as I'd hoped. (I continue to crack myself up--other people, not so much.) I will keep honing my humor until I manage to amuse you. It may take a while.

I was wondering why Shodan posted his thread not you. I don't like political threads much so I wasn't too invested in your thread.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

I will keep honing my humor until I manage to amuse you. It may take a while.

I'm 68 this year. Could you work faster.

[Irishman]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

I posted my invitation to offer some sort of apology within 7 minutes of Shodan's being on-line, and my question about the cricket chorus within 17 minutes. It's reasonable to think that he was on-line that long. In any event, it's over three hours now, and I'm pretty sure that IS crickets I'm hearing.

And your point is...? You really expect an apology? Or is this just another stab at Shodan you're squeezing into ATMB instead of taking to the Pit?

[Measure for Measure]

It was not trolling. I was neither offended nor amused.

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

But when I have to explain my own jokes, it's obvious that it wasn't as universally amusing as I'd hoped. (I continue to crack myself up--other people, not so much.) I will keep honing my humor until I manage to amuse you. It may take a while.

...or you could lay off the humor and try to add value in some other way. Just saying. Humor is difficult: I'm not saying that I could do any better.