And a user is told twice that he’s trolling, why doesn’t that user get banned?
So that I don’t put myself in jeopardy of breaking a rule myself, I’ll just clarify: Blackacre has been told twice by mods that he’s trolling. Neither admonition states that it’s a formal warning (not that that means it wasn’t) and he’s still a Charter Member so I’m simply confused. This was also addressed in this thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=285292 but I am really just seeking clarification on this point alone.
So: if he’s trolling, why hasn’t he been banned?
The only thing I can come up with is that there might be a small difference between “trolling” and “being a troll”…? As in, a user could troll in a post or two, but in general, have other threads that don’t qualify as trolling… Therefore, while they exhibit the behavior, they don’t qualify as an actual troll. (Does that make any sense?) Is that the distinction here? Does a troll make trolling his only activity?
Basicaly, this sort of action by the Mods gives us all something to wrangle over, distracting us from the real issues regarding whether Coldfire is spending too much time with his wife instead of patrolling the boards and whether Lynn really likes all that chocolate, or whether she is simply harvesting the results of her bribes for resale.
(You might also note that the administration not only prefers that cries of "Troll!’ be suppressed, but that questions regarding trolls be addressed to them via e-mail. However, I am sure that this thread will have a long and useful life–like the many before it.)
Yeah. I really think you should just ask the mods to close this thread and email them, which is the proper course of action for any inquires regarding trolling and the like.
That’s my guess, as well. Not everyone who joins here knows what trolling is and what constitues it right out of the gate. While Blackacre is probably a hopeless cause, I think it’s a good idea to give new posters a couple of chances to figure out the board culture and how to fit in with it before busting out the Ban Stick.
If the mods see fit to close this thread, I will certainly understand, but I am not accusing anyone of being a troll. I am only asking what the difference between a troll, and trolling is, and citing statements by the mods themselves.
Rather than burden the mods, it’s so much more fun to either (a) ignore the offending SOB, or (b) have a good old fashioned dogpile as was done with Beaver Cleaver about a month ago.
And another thing, the offending or questioned posts are public, the admonitions or warnings are public (the ones in the threads anyways), so why shouldn’t any questions or comments about it all also be public?
That phrase (you should’ve e-mailed a mod) is stupid, imho, when everything else about a situation is public. I for one would like to see those fucking posts stop.
Cool. Yet another thread about trolling. This will really put a stop to trolling. Trolls are shy creatures and really hate getting talked about and all the attention. It makes them sad and then they go away.
