Amen, Zettebaby.
The key is to stop responding to the bait before someone tells you to. It takes some ego-wrestling not to try for the last word in an argument, but everyone can do it.
You guys should feel lucky. At least on this board you have people who want to try and stop trolls from spreading idiotic misinformation. I think it’s somewhat worthwhile for at least one person to stand up and say, “You’re an idiot.”
I’ve been complaining about this guy on another board for about two weeks, now. He’s racist and homophobic, and thinks there is a liberal conspiracy out to destroy the government and turn the US into a socialist country. He spouts circumstantial evidence “proving” that all gay men are pedophiles. He claims that blacks are inferior and warlike.
I’m the only one who ever tries to argue with him. I just can’t stand to see him take over the board with his nonsense.
One day I got sick of it and I stopped responding to him. He went around claiming that I couldn’t answer him, and that he’s shown me up and proven me wrong. Everyone on the board assumed that this was true, despite my claims that I was tired of feeding this troll.
The thing is, I don’t want people to think that this guy is right just because he’s spouting his garbage unchallenged. But I don’t really have an answer for everything he says. And nobody else does either (it’s mostly younger kids, 15 and under).
I like the way this board is. You don’t put up with crap from people who try to spread bs. That’s the great thing, you guys are stopping the spread of ignorance. Maybe not in the trolls, but in everybody who reads those threads and realizes, “This guy is an idiot.”
I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!
I dunno, Cess. It seems as though you should be able to find most of the ammunition you need to fight that sort of idiot by reading the reponses to Captain Ed and Rascist Scumbag.
(Satan, of course, has probably retired from leading expeditions into other MB’s in order to fight ignorance–and that’s probably just as well.)
Tom~
Here’s a thought. And it’s a thought I still don’t practice enough.
Does someone get you hopping mad? Do they make you want to pound the keyboard with an immediate response?
Stop.
I have almost always regretted things I’ve responded to in anger. Even if I thought the cause was noble.
Stop.
By giving yourself a day to respond you give yourself time to hit a reference book (if you’re that all fired intense about the subject) and you give yourself time to cool down.
Stop.
By the time you get back, others will have said what you wished you had said. Only they’ll have done it better.
And you’ll have had a day to decide for yourself whether it’s worth it to make a contribution.
The moderators here do a good job of fighting litter.
Thanks.
People always talk about ignoring the insane posters but who actually does it?
You don’t see me arguing with the lunatics. Sure, I made fun of Cpt. Ed’s “cannibals in the cities” garbage but I posted that because it was funny, not because I wanted Cpt. Ed to read it.
I didn’t respond to Phaederus whether he praised me or complimented me. He was invisible to me.
I aggravated MOJO LIZARD on purpose, but again, that was for my amusement and not because I wanted to “teach” him anything.
Mock the maniacs all you want, but don’t get angry with them and don’t take them seriously.
Right on guys…it’s easy enough to spot a troll if you read all the way through the thread…at that time I don’t post. A troll with take over the thread and then all you have are a lot of people sending nasty posts…and the point of the thread is lost. If you feel like having fun with them then go for it…but as long as you do they won’t leave…and there are quite a few people on the board that thrive on slamming trolls…like it really gets them somewhere.
“Do or do not, there is no try” - Yoda
I think there is a fine line sometimes between letting a troll “get away with it” (their insane crap unchallenged) and feeding the troll.
For instance, on another board, there was this insane sexist, racist troll. I fought with him for a while, and then gave up, announcing that I would “ignore ignore ignore”. And I did. Blissfully ingored him. Other posters still would get riled up, claiming that this troll was “ruining” everything, but to me, it was already over. I was busy scrolling through his posts and ignoring him. Fight over. Oh, if only everyone else had followed my lead. (My lead, and many others. I wasn’t the only one ignoring.) In the long run, the troll went away, but not after wreaking much havoc.
However, as mentioned before, sometimes it takes a while to discern a troll. For instance, with Newton’s Apple - I got into a small exchange with him on the “bigger breasts” thread (that has now been closed.) He made some appallingly sexist remarks, and I responded that I was “appalled”. He fired back in a more obnoxious manner. Other people who were replying to the thread did not directly address his crap, so I felt I had to. But I also felt a little tired, and didn’t want to spend a lot of time explaining to him the obvious. (And it was obvious - his attitude was just appalling.) So I wrote a few sentences in rebuttal, and figured that would be it. No more energy wasted. And I am so glad I did that, and did not attempt to craft a more comprehensive post trying to “reason” with him. Because it turned out that the thread was promptly closed, and he was exposed for the troll he is. And I didn’t waste too much energy trying to “reason” with a troll.
But, I did spend some time on the troll. You usually have to. It takes a little time to figure things out. But after it become so obvious that they will never be reasoned with, or will never pretend to comprehend or listen to another point of view, where has all the fun gone? There is no fun in a non-debate, which is what it will turn into. (You yelling at an unyielding asshole…over and over again.)
: :pulling down outerwear::
: :pulling down underwear::
::bending over::
::slapping buttocks furiously in the general direction of the BBQ pit::
::standing up::
::facing the pit::
::making raspberries::
I agree with ya, Bricker.
I wish you could ride that train of thought into Congress.
I agree with you completely, Bricker. And everyone else seems to.
However, this is one of those ‘works in theory but not in practice’ ideas. I would estimate, with no way to prove, that in the last month at least 10% of all posts are either: A) angry response to racist, bigotted trolls B) talking about the same C)angry response to irrational, insane trolls D) talking about the same E) angry response to stubborn Fundamentalist trolls F) talking about the same.
I’m sure I missed a few categories, but you get the idea. In addition, some people just get their rocks off bashing trolls.
And besides, what else would we talk about, besides all the fucking snow?
Still trying to think of something witty to say here
You got the idea, Bricker + Zette, but sometimes it gets tricky in practice–as CDxtHvn so aptly said.
Seems to me there’s a inbred problem with this venue. All we have to judge by are words. Time depth tends to clarify thinking, but it can also lead to “newbie stomping”.
Then there are the deluded, confused, reality conflicted and cyber-addled. It can take a while to figure out that the person on the other keyboard has (ahem!) issues that don’t have a danged thing to do with discussion and fighting ignorance.
And then there are jerks, people who instantly counter-argue regaradless of the topic. They have no stance, just an insatiable appetite for attention, even if it’s negative. They thrive on ill will, hostility and confusion, bolstering their own ego rather than furthering clarity.
Finding those definitions are individual and difficult. IMO, chronic and deliberate jerks are much more offensive than the deluded and misguided.
Veb
The way I handle lunatics? I email em until they block my mail.
Jill
You want crazy? I’ll show you crazy.
Ah, but to be truly dedicated - you then sign up for a bunch of free e-mail accounts and continue e-mailing them until they’ve blocked ALL of the accounts! (Evil Grin)
Some days you’re the dog, some days you’re the hydrant.
And my point remains- if they are jerks or aren’t contributing, STOP POSTING TO THEM. I know you can’t always spot them right off, but as soon as you do, STOP. It isn’t that hard.
The more you yell “we don’t like you! go away! stay out of our clubhouse!” the more the person will want to get in. If they are simply posting to themselves at every thread and people don’t justify their stupidity/racism/sexism with a response, then they’ll leave.
I do believe that even in a group as smart as this, people get off on “bashing trolls”. I personally see it as having a need to feel superior. Who better then an idiot to make YOU look smart?
Think about it, that’s all I’m asking. Once again I’ll plead- ignore them for a month. See the difference it makes on the boards. Resist the urge to “get 'em”
Zette
Love is like popsicles…you get too much you get too high.
Not enough and you’re gonna die…
Click here for some GOOD news for a change Zettecity
As has been made plain by now, one of the problems with trolls is that it can take a long time for any one individual poster to discern a troll.
How about something like this? If you think someone is displaying trollish behavior, collect three clear examples (5? 10?) and post them here in BBQ with a heading of Call for Coventry: {poster}. Post the instances you think demonstrate your conclusion. Then, each time somone comes back to the board, they can scan pretty quickly for any Calls for Coventry and know right away which threads to either ignore, monitor without response, or reply to. I’d really like to see a situation where we can get two trolls whailing away at each other.
Thank you fer yer support!
Zette is dead right–and she was one of the first to appeal for starving out the jerks. I agree wholeheartedly, but only meant that sometimes it’s hard, on an individual basis, to identify the jerks and losers.
NTG put it so well–I think in the Newton’s Apple brouhaha–about how she kept forgiving and forgiving. It was so true; some folks like Satan and many others seem to have a better radar for this stuff. NTG put it so much better (in many fewer words) about how confusing it is sometimes to decide if there’s just a classic “failure to communicate” or if we’re dealing with a jerk.
I’m not arguing, Zette & Co. because you’re right. Actually, I remember on OP by the late, unlamented PitBullDawg that got ruthlessly hijacked (sorry, David B.!) by posters determined to withold troll chow. A racist rant got derailed and crashed by earnest responses about peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth, or junk mail or somesuch. It worked a treat, too.
Anyway, using the SDMB Pavlovian Troll Chow Pellet response is dead-on. But it would help if some emails or posts could help muddled Dopers wake up to Trolls In Need Of A Diet.
Dense since a child,
Veb
Now that’s nice “moderate” behavior for a moderator fer ya.
- A rose by any other name would still have thorns -
Unsolicited emails, particularly repeated ones, are a TOS violation. So, for that matter, are unsolicited, random, and nasty IMs.
We do understand you thinking that lunatics would block email from an SDMB reg, though.
-Melin
Yo, Jill, I think a couple folks forgot to take their humor pills. You might want to remember, in the future, to include a reminder for the humor impaired to take their medication before reading your posts.
Yo David! I’ve been on the receiving end of some of Jill’s random, nasty IMs. Don’t open your mouth when you don’t know what you’re talking about.
-Melin