Reposting this because a) thanks for the corroboration, and b) thanks for the compliment. Oh, and c) because I don’t get to see this nearly often enough:
Ahhhhh. That was good. I could totally feel that one in my face!
You don’t seem to get this. Your answer is: it depends. Dozens and dozens of “Ask the…” threads have been posted, and even more initial posters have just introduced themselves and told their stories that are unusual. And they weren’t called out.
Some were. And why? Because of a bunch of various factors. If you’re in a community long enough, especially a big and popular one like this, where there’s a significant pool of members, you start to recognize patterns of behavior. These aren’t just hunches, though they may start as that at the very very beginning, but one develops an increasing familiarity with the way certain poster types, in particular troublemakers, act. Troll detection is never 100% perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I don’t believe anyone has ever said that. But whether you believe it or not, there are recognizable features that exist between the various types of trolls/fakers/psychos, and it’s quite possible for people with experience in multiple communities, good eyes for detail, some awareness of group dynamics and psychology, even research and editorial skills (not to mention long memories) to pick up on these patterns earlier than others. And as you yourself said, you do admin a community but have been fortunate enough – er, for varying definitions of fortunate! – to only be besieged by spammers rather than trolls. (Though yeah, I’d rather deal with a spammer than a troll any day. Divisive threads like this are way.)
FBI profilers exist. I’m not saying that we members of the, um, quad squad, were anything nearly that intelligent or special (or important, I mean, it’s a troll, not a serial killer!). But the reason profilers exist is because people behave in identifiable patterns, and at least for me and Giraffe and Sarahbellum and many others including splatterpunk – the latter, btw, is who should get the vast credit for having been the first to spot the sezyoo situation and PMed Tuba as asked – we recognized them. The fact that others didn’t doesn’t make you utterly stupid, the harsher members’ insults notwithstanding.
But I do wish you would open your mind to the possibility that yes, there were reasons to doubt umkay, and soon not just doubt, but move from doubt to suspect to almost certainty about her lack of veracity. Even before the sezyoo connection was spotted. You didn’t see them, fine. Others did. Accept it and if you’re interested enough, look up enough of these troll scams and you’ll soon develop a good eye for 'em too.
Me, I can’t manage to see the patterns in those stereographic images that were big in the '90s. But I don’t think that those who can are lying.
Argh, I can’t believe this is still being repeated. Once more with feeling: there’s interesting, there’s unusual, there’s extraordinary, and there’s holy fucking shit this is off-the-charts ridiculously improbable. umkay’s behavior and claims started the dial at Unusual (a quad-sex-fetish thread as her very first post) and swiftly moved on from there. The death hoax and her behavior upon return was when the dial began shifting past Extraordinary. Once sezyoo was discovered, we reached HFSTIOTCRI territory, with the red flashing lights and everything.
Let me give you a f’rinstance why no, I don’t think every “Ask the” thread is going to be called a troll thread – although for the nth time, the simple answer is because they don’t exhibit the same freakin’ behaviors!
Earlier this year – actually not all that long before umkay, I think it was in April – I opened an Ask the… thread myself. Now admittedly, mine was a situation that no one in their right mind would brag about (hoarder/clutterer) but instead it could certainly have been one of those sympathy trolls instead. I did mention what led me into this level of squalor, some health issues such as depression and agoraphobia, and so on. Those who responded were remarkably unjudgmental and kind and supportive way beyond my expectations, and instead of the abject shame I was expecting, I started to feel more able to deal with the situation as time passed.
At that point , were I a troll, I could’ve hinted at, I dunno, being on disability, or having health bills, or needing money for the clean-up, or whatever. It really depends on what kind of troll I was. A sympthy troll could’ve invented more horror stories about my life (or even just acknowledged some more of my own real ones, heh). But I didn’t, because, y’know… not a troll.
If I had, though, I am dead certain I’d have earned some dubious glances. People might have started checking my past posts. (For all I know, they might have done so anyway.) If they had, they’d have seen clues about my situation from posts a year or so ago, which probably backed me up and is why I received no cries of BS. Also because I did have a history here, posting on a boatload of varied topics (well, mostly Cafe Society stuff, though at the time they’d’ve been bombarded with Mafia posts too. :)). And maybe my posts seemed sincere, because I was. I never asked for anything (except support) and was as forthcoming with details as I felt comfortable with.
Hoarding is quite the fad TV phenom, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if some troll had picked up on it and started a thread very similar to my own, perhaps with the end result of simply gaining attention or even scoring some PM donations, either spontaenously given or requested, in order to “help him/her clean up” and so on.
But no one called a troll, because I didn’t have the signs. umkay did. Sure, some people might be more suspicious in future. But you know what? THAT IS NOT OUR FUCKING FAULT. Stop blaming the people who defrocked the abusive troll and turn that misdirected anger at the troll. Because SHE, or HE, is the one who is responsible for that future suspiciousness. Not those of us who wanted this manipulative shithead out of our community.
I am fully ready to worship you both adoringly, no questions asked.
