# How to stop trolls from closing threads? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 11, 2022, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648 "2022-04-11T05:04:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/21 "2022-04-11T19:13:50Z")
A “troll” on this MB seems to me to be “someone who expresses views I don’t like, and too well and often”. 😛 > [@filmore](#): > > I feel a lot of times, people labeled trolls are really just people with strong views that are contrary to the majority on the board. They are not saying controversial things just to get their jollies or rile up people. They sincerely hold those beliefs and are engaging in debate. Exactly. > [@Atamasama](#): > > Also, “people with strong views that are contrary to the majority on the board” is a broad umbrella that can apply to just about anyone who misbehaves. A person who wants to insult people in GD, for example, is just a person who has the strong view that personal attacks are a valid debate tactic. A person who advocates strongly for illegal behavior and tries to give advice about it fits under that euphemism as well. No, those are not “_people with strong views that are contrary to the majority on the board”._ **They are posters deliberately ignoring the posted rules.** If someone posts that they are in favor of the Death Penalty, then that would be “ _strong views that are contrary to the majority on the board”_. If said poster said “if you woke assholes disagree with me, then I hope you get murdered in your sleep”- then that is **a rules violation.** ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/22 "2022-04-11T20:04:10Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I thought I’ve seen mention of invite-only threads. Is that possible? Or the reverse, an exclusion list per thread, established by the OP if they so desire. Maybe only in GD and P&E. There would be one of those blue “official announcement” boxes at the beginning listing folks who were not allowed to participate in the thread. OK, that’s probably not a good idea nor a feasible one, but if someone wanted to have a discussion without the usual suspects shoving in their oars, I could see the appeal. Taken too far, of course, such an approach would produce very sterile discussions. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/23 "2022-04-11T21:44:03Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Would it be possible to shunt the hijacks to the Pit where such things can be responded to appropriately? I’m on board with moderators splitting off threads, telling posters to drop the hijack, etc. But why automatically “shunt the hijacks to the Pit where such things can be responded to appropriately”? Just because you, or the board consensus, disagrees, doesn’t make the argument worthy of the treatment that goes on in the Pit. Of course, you can Pit people yourself, but why have the mods move things according to your whims? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/24 "2022-04-11T22:30:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > If someone posts that they are in favor of the Death Penalty, then that would be “ _strong views that are contrary to the majority on the board”_ . It’s possible that somebody is going to call someone a troll for that, you can call someone a troll for any reason in the Pit, but you’re unlikely to see much support for that. There is push back against that sort of thing all the time. Yes, sometimes people do rant and call someone a troll because they’re unhappy with them, but that’s basically using the term as an insult, not as a legitimate label. The “trolls are always just people who don’t conform” line is fiction. We have people who really do troll. Much of the time (maybe most of the time) it’s a banned person returning with a new username. (Maybe a mod can confirm or deny if that seems accurate.) ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/25 "2022-04-12T07:42:45Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think this is likely true in many cases; I don’t think we have a large number of intentional trolls at this point. I agree on this. We’ve had some of course, but not as many as people seem to think. Forcefully disagreeing with someone doesn’t make you a troll. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > But conversely, I think that, from what I’ve seen at least some of those posters also have a tendency to jump into _every single thread_ on their topic of choice, and make the same arguments again and again. This is the big problem. I’m sure many of us could tell who’s going to derail a thread just from reading the title, because they do it every time on a certain subject. Another part of this problem is that other posters just cannot seem to ignore the poster causing problems, which just adds to the mess. Posters need to stop engaging one horse ponies every time they post. Put them on ignore if you have to, just don’t reply. Let them have the conversation with themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/26 "2022-04-12T07:56:37Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Another part of this problem is that other posters just cannot seem to ignore the poster causing problems, which just adds to the mess. Posters need to stop engaging one horse ponies every time they post. Put them on ignore if you have to, just don’t reply. Let them have the conversation with themselves. If the 20-plus years of these boards have proven anything it is that “_this ain’t going to happen_”. People can’t help themselves, plus there are always new people who don’t know. That’s why I favour the “you are to cease this hijack” approach from mods. It’s the neatest solution because: - it is non-punitive and avoids mods having to make a controversial decision about whether someone is trolling or being deliberately offensive or whatever and just goes straight to the heart of the immediate problem ie it’s derailing the thread - it avoids deleting posts - personally I find it very irritating when something I’ve put time into gets “wished into the cornfield” - move my post if you will but don’t throw my work away! It’s undeservedly punitive especially if I’m responding to the hijack and I’m not the original hijacker - it’s justifiably escalate-able - if the hijackers ignore the mod requirement to cease the hijack then _warn/ban them for that_ not the hijack. This is not only procedurally fair, it is also easier to defend - the mods don’t have to justify their sanction by reference to vague concepts like whether someone was hijacking or trolling or being offensive or whatever - they can simply say “you aren’t being sanctioned for that, you are being sanctioned for failing to comply with a mod direction” which is always justified. That’s my two cents worth. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/27 "2022-04-12T08:03:50Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > This is the big problem. I’m sure many of us could tell who’s going to derail a thread just from reading the title, because they do it every time on a certain subject. I can think of a couple of posters like this, posters I actually like and agree with most of the time. People who aren’t trolls and are a benefit to this place. But if a thread is covering a particular topic, it’s like a werewolf when the moon is full. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/28 "2022-04-12T19:04:34Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > If the 20-plus years of these boards have proven anything it is that “ _this ain’t going to happen_ ”. People can’t help themselves, plus there are always new people who don’t know. Yep, you are absolutely right on that. And it’s always the same few people and the same arguments. I just don’t get the appeal of rearguing the same subject with the same persona hundred times. Neither are going to change their minds, it’s just a waste. > [@Princhester](#): > > That’s why I favour the “you are to cease this hijack” approach from mods Me too, but I think it really has to happen early in the hijack or so many people have already lost interest in the thread that they have abandoned it and stripping out the hijack posts is too difficult. I’ve seen a couple times lately where a mod has split off posts and started a new thread with them. The few times I’ve seen it done, it seems to be working better than mod notes. For reasons I don’t understand, even general mod notes seem to put a damper on conversation. > [@Atamasama](#): > > I can think of a couple of posters like this, posters I actually like and agree with most of the time. People who aren’t trolls and are a benefit to this place. But if a thread is covering a particular topic, it’s like a werewolf when the moon is full. You’re talking about me aren’t you? 😀 Yes, I know what you mean. By now I’m pretty good at skipping threads I know are going to go that way. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/29 "2022-04-12T19:18:30Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > You’re talking about me aren’t you? No, but now that I think about it, yes. 😉 (Take that as a compliment.) ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2022, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648/30 "2022-04-13T06:49:37Z")
I did, thanks. 😄 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-trolls-from-closing-threads/962648.md?page=1)