Because we get called Nazis often enough already, and warning people not to feed the troll will have no effect, since there is always someone who will come up with something so clever s/he absolutely must post it.
Yeah, like those cat food and pie posts. It’s as if the cleverest wits of all time, like, say, Ben Franklin or Winston Churchill, have come back from the grave to post here.
With all due respect, Arnold, that’s a cop out. If the admins and mods decided to make DNFTT an honest-to-gawd rule the rest of us would toe the line PDQ - just like we have (for the most part) for P2P and websites-that-go-boo.
The reason World Eater said
is because it’s not enforced. Half of the people here bitch because it’s not enforced, half of the people here bitch because the other half bitches about it not being enforced, and I’d really like you guys to decide one way or the other.
Yes, yes, but what’s this about stealing content?
It’s not a cop-out. If I warned everyone in the thread that you mentioned in the OP, the next time a troll appears it will be a bunch of different people (we have on average several dozen people sign up per day) who will feed the troll and then say “I didn’t know there was a rule!” Having a troll’s post totally ignored at the SDMB is impossible due to the large number of members and the constant influx of new people.
In addition, some people will see an obnoxious post, charge in with both barrels blazing, and then say “I didn’t think X was a troll, I thought X was an idiot and I was fighting ignorance.”
It’s rare that we have such an obvious case as the one you mention in the OP. However, when we do have such an obvious case, it is irritating that posters ignore the guidelines.
Peer-to-peer file sharing discussions are a good example. The issue comes up constantly and it will never go away. Either because of new members, because of old members who claim to be unfamiliar with our ban on discussions mentioning how to break copyrights, because of old members who think those types of discussions should be allowed, because of people who think “if I phrase my question very carefully then I hope it won’t cross into forbidden territory”, etc…
I’m not going to waste my time looking at threads started by trolls, so I can’t address the specific examples. But in defense of some people, I think it’s very hard not to respond to some inflammatory posts when one considers that we have a lot of drive-by readers. Perhaps the troll feeders fear that one of these people will think such idiocy/bigotry/whatever is accepted or tolerated.
I don’t feed the trolls (when I can help it) but I suspect this is why some people can’t resist either arguing or poking fun.
I’m not saying it’s right, I just mean that maybe we ought to cut posters some slack.
I am not a troll.
Aight, Arnold, I want to make sure I’m crystal clear on this:
There is no such thing as a DNFTT policy on the SDMB. We’d really rather you didn’t, but go ahead if you feel you must. Please remember to click the “Report this post to moderator” link if you think of it.
The policy is this - there is a DNFTT rule at the SDMB. If we catch someone doing it to excess they could be banned just for that. It happens so often that we are not going to keep track of every single infraction.
If you are a poster that values moderator requests you will obey the DNFTT rule. If you are someone that doesn’t care then you won’t. We will not condone breaking the rule, but we think it’s sad that the only way to make people obey the rules is the threat of banning. We have too many other things to do than ban people that FTT.
Thanks 
Italics mine.
Oh, come ON now…don’t you think this a TAD bit harsh?
I do. Actually, I think it is WAY harsh. In other words, please cease and desist.
And chique my darling, CALM DOWN! This isn’t WORTH the stress on your blood pressure. Or mine.
Arnold, question please. While I understand about the new users who might not be familiar with the board rules, what about Troll-Feeding by people who should know better? For example, there were 22 individual posters who replied to the thread in question, and their average post count was 2,061! :eek:
As the OP noted, DNFTT is in the FAQ, a sticky, and ATMB. Plus, some people should just know better. If not a warning, how about a strong admontion at least?
Something along the lines of:
Moderator note: This poster is a sock puppet and has had his posting priveleges removed. To X, Y, and Z, DNFTT is a board rule which you are already aware of. To clarify, see here. Please do not do this again.
No extra work, really, and I think it would be of some help. Just a suggestion, not trying to stir things up.
See this thread.
I’LL take THIS one, Arnold.
I once had a very nice discussion with a troll. See, he said he was investigating his Scottish ancestry. So, having one of those myself, I responded. As did others of Scottish ancestry. After much discussion, he all of a sudden said “Oh, I just found out I am not Scottish AFTER all…” or something like that. Well, I am so stupid that I was just sitting there scratching my head, thinking “How could someone be WRONG about something like THAT? Oh well.”
It wasn’t until the next day that someone came in and kindly informed me (us) that THAT was a sock.
The whole thing was humiliating, but I was totally in the dark.
Perhaps THAT is why people don’t get “warnings” about this sort of thing…SOME socks are GOOD about fooling us. And some of us are not so bright about spotting them. ME, obviously, for instance.
Also, the mods have ENOUGH TO DO…they don’t need to be handing out warnings to nice dimwits (like ME, for instance) who are too stupid to KNOW that they are feeding the trolls.
Point taken, Scotticher, but the sock in question in this thread admitted to being a sock himself! I have two other identities, on two other IP addresses, etc. And still people fed it. Forget “warning” even “admonition”, maybe just a friendly reminder? Newbies would be educated, and regulars just might think before they post next time.
(sigh)
All right, all right.
Everyone in this thread, line up and bend over for six smacks with the Bad Girl Paddle.
Oh please. The rule is enforced. Maybe not the way you like, but we reserve the right to apply some reasonable discretion.
Look, chique, that thread was opened at 5:09 p.m. It was shut down at 5:57 p.m. That’s barely over three-quarters of an hour. We try to dive on problems just as fast possible–and sometimes it’s immediate–but there will be time gaps.
So what you’re saying is that we should crack down on any poster who responds, in any way, to a post that might be “trollish”. Ah, and yes! Now let’s define what’s trollish and not! Gee, second-guessing flies fast and furious over official warnings and bannings. But you want us to spray machine-gun warnings to everyone who even responds to a thread before we’ve had so much as a chance to look at it?
I hope you’ll concede enormous ranges of behavior and expression exist on this board. And they shift at times. Infinite shades of gray apply, and any workable rule has to encompass them. We’d much prefer posters err on the side of caution and report rather than respond. But we aren’t about to impose widespread, after-the-fact discipline. “We decided, yep, this one was a troll, all righty, but you posted back so you’re in deep weeds NOW, sucka!”
Of course some trolls are more obvious than others. But it’s a damned slippery slope. Extrapolate beyond this instance, and consider the full range of past problems. It just isn’t that cut and dried.
We’re trying to take a positive approach here. Actually y’all do an admirable job of self-policing, coaching, encouraging, setting the tone by example, etc. The plus side of a cussed, intelligent, outspoken membership is that we don’t need to get medieval on your collective ass in order to have the spirit of a rule applied.
Veb
HEY!!! WAIT a minute here…I was on YOUR side…and I don’t WANNA be spanked!!!
[sub]On the other hand, no one almost EVER thinks I am a BAD girl! Carry on![/sub]
TVeblen, you guys are overworked and underpaid. I know it takes time to get a thread shut down, especially at odder hours, but that wasn’t my point. I realize that some threads or posters are judgement calls - but that wasn’t my point, either.
The thread in question was an example - not the first, nor will it be the last - of blatant trolling. There was no judgement call to be made, and despite repeated moderator pleas to the contrary old hands still jumped into the fray. And, really, even if there is a judgement call to make, what on earth is wrong with posters following the guidelines as laid out in the FAQ quoted by Arnold?
Anyhow.
I’m sorry if you took my posts as criticism. I wanted clarification of board policy, and I wanted to bitch about people who break with what I think is board policy. That’s the purpose of the Pit, isn’t it?