# Is trolling not against the rules?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [April 14, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101 "2014-04-14T18:10:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/61 "2014-04-15T21:42:45Z")
Oh no, who’s going to tell everyone in the car threads the glory of the 2001 Passat?!
I chalked it up to “dude drives one and likes it” but constantly recommending one of the least reliable cars of the past 15 years might have been a very cleverly-formulated bit of automotive trolling.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/62 "2014-04-15T21:43:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Part of the context is that **Melchior** had already received four other warnings since he joined a little over two months ago. It’s pretty clear the remark was intended to yank chains.
OK
> [@](#):
>
> I don’t know about other forums, but a remark like that in GQ would certainly be liable for a warning.
Remarks like that are pretty common in GD. I agree that it would against the rules in GQ
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### Author:  [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/63 "2014-04-15T23:15:04Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#):
>
> Flowers cannot be “sent.” The idea is an absurdity. Flowers grow in the earth. Once they are plucked from their environment, they die and cease to be flowers.
I think that this is a very strange redefinition of flowers, and wonder where you get it. Also, watering flowers that have been ‘sent’, in potting soil, seem to thrive, oftentimes, IME.
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### Author:  [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/64 "2014-04-16T00:43:09Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> OK
>
> Remarks like that are pretty common in GD. I agree that it would against the rules in GQ
I share **John Mace’s** surprise at this, even in light of the other Warnings. I’ll add more in ATMB.
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/65 "2014-04-16T00:53:50Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#):
>
> I think that this is a very strange redefinition of flowers, and wonder where you get it. Also, watering flowers that have been ‘sent’, in potting soil, seem to thrive, oftentimes, IME.
Not an argument.
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### Author:  [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/66 "2014-04-16T01:08:49Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> A sincere argument deliberately desinged to yank chains is still trolling.
B ut that goes to motivation. And this board always says to ignore a poster’s motivation. Let’s say there’s a topic you’re passionate about. let’s say that I take the opposite position but I am also just as genuinely passionate about it as you are. It could very well be that your arguments might piss me off, and vice versa. So, who is trolling whom?
I think I know the answer. It’s the person that shares what might be a view held on this board by only a small minority. Other than crystal-clear instance of trolling that we’d all agree with, that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it?
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/67 "2014-04-16T01:25:09Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> You forgot the charming habit of declaring what topics are/are not appropriate for the SDMB.
And to think, what a mod he could have been! Such a shame his skills are lost to us now.
:insert suitable smiley here:
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### Author:  [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/68 "2014-04-16T18:47:28Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> [We’ve banned **Melchior** after this invaluable contribution to public discourse.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17291674#post17291674)
I’d just like to say that I’m proud of everyone for not feeding his blatant trollery, and letting it sit unremarked on and alone until it was dealt with.
That’s a GOOD JOB, GUYS!
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### Author:  [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/69 "2014-04-16T18:52:39Z")
My British SO always says “sarcasm is the lowest form of wit”.
Although, there always is **FXMasterMind** , and his gang of 3.
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/70 "2014-04-16T20:48:37Z")
> [@magellan01](#):
>
> B ut that goes to motivation. And this board always says to ignore a poster’s motivation. Let’s say there’s a topic you’re passionate about. let’s say that I take the opposite position but I am also just as genuinely passionate about it as you are. It could very well be that your arguments might piss me off, and vice versa. So, who is trolling whom?
>
> I think I know the answer. It’s the person that shares what might be a view held on this board by only a small minority. Other than crystal-clear instance of trolling that we’d all agree with, that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it?
Not really. In addition to crystal-clear instances of trolling that we’d all agree with, there are frequent instances of pretty damned obvious trolling that most of us recognize because it follows a pattern that we see replayed over and over again. Some of us may not, or may not care, because the troll is on our side of a particular argument, or at least is pretending to be, which is good enough.
While I understand your desire to swell your ranks, it’s probably unwise to enlist pranksters who are only parroting your talking points for the lulz.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/71 "2014-04-16T21:48:39Z")
> [@magellan01](#):
>
> B ut that goes to motivation. And this board always says to ignore a poster’s motivation. Let’s say there’s a topic you’re passionate about. let’s say that I take the opposite position but I am also just as genuinely passionate about it as you are. It could very well be that your arguments might piss me off, and vice versa. So, who is trolling whom?
>
> I think I know the answer. It’s the person that shares what might be a view held on this board by only a small minority. Other than crystal-clear instance of trolling that we’d all agree with, that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it?
What **VT** said.
My point is that one can be sincere while trolling; they aren’t mutually exclusive. Anyone who has been here during a Stormfront invasion should know that.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/72 "2014-04-16T22:02:50Z")
Or to put it another way, you can express sincerely held beliefs while acting like an asshole. The first part is fine, the second one is the problem.
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### Author:  [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/73 "2014-04-16T22:19:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Or to put it another way, you can express sincerely held beliefs while acting like an asshole. The first part is fine, the second one is the problem.
I am so stealing that.
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### Author:  [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/74 "2014-04-16T22:26:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Or to put it another way, you can express sincerely held beliefs while acting like an asshole. The first part is fine, the second one is the problem.
Oh, I din’t realize **Der Trihs** been banned.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/75 "2014-04-16T22:28:02Z")
> [@magellan01](#):
>
> Oh, I din’t realize **Der Trihs** been banned.
Are you calling another poster an asshole?
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### Author:  [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/76 "2014-04-16T22:51:28Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Are you calling another poster an asshole?
#edgierthanU2
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/77 "2014-04-16T22:54:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Are you calling another poster an asshole?
As much as I find myself almost always diametrically opposed to **magellan01** ’s viewpoints, I’m really having difficult seeing how **Melchior** acts more like an asshole than **Der Trihs**.
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### Author:  [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/78 "2014-04-17T04:53:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> As much as I find myself almost always diametrically opposed to **magellan01** ’s viewpoints, I’m really having difficult seeing how **Melchior** acts more like an asshole than **Der Trihs**.
Could you point to some recent comparable quotes by Der that he didn’t get warned for?
I’ll add that I find Der quite despicable based on his attitude towards women.
The last comment is not meant as an attack on Der and I respect those who disagree but merely to make it clear I’m not a fan of him.
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### Author:  [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/79 "2014-04-17T13:36:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> As much as I find myself almost always diametrically opposed to **magellan01** ’s viewpoints, I’m really having difficult seeing how **Melchior** acts more like an asshole than **Der Trihs**.
In the SSM [marriage](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17276850#post17276850) thread Der Trihs posted five times and IMO calmly destroyed Melkie’s “arguments.” Starting with post 40.
I didn’t following the thread past the second page because it seemed like Melkie was trolling – not responding to arguments in a useful way and making provocative contentions. however, I did pop in near the end (because I generally enjoy your posts Puly) and found you repeating writing that your point wasn’t being understood.
What a surprise, thinks I.
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### Author:  [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trolling-not-against-the-rules/686101/80 "2014-04-17T14:14:20Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#):
>
> In the SSM [marriage](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17276850#post17276850) thread Der Trihs posted five times and IMO calmly destroyed Melkie’s “arguments.” Starting with post 40.
>
> I didn’t following the thread past the second page because it seemed like Melkie was trolling – not responding to arguments in a useful way and making provocative contentions. however, I did pop in near the end (because I generally enjoy your posts Puly) and found you repeating writing that your point wasn’t being understood.
>
> What a surprise, thinks I.
What?! By your metric I can point to all the days that Ted Bundy didn’t kill anyone and talk about what a sweet guy he was.
:rolleyes:
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