# Let's just ban the troll. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852 "2009-01-18T13:13:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/21 "2009-01-19T00:29:37Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Really, **Frank**? Just how old ARE you? My ear hair has ear hair. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/22 "2009-01-19T00:37:08Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Is there any chance of you placing the best of the worst in a bonus thread? It’d be something to warm the cockles on a cold winter’s evening, or a miserable Sunday afternoon! 🙂 Find 'em on your own. Really, find them in threads that are on subjects you’re interested in. Otherwise, how do you know they suck? For example, the lawyers on the board go into orgasm over **Bricker** ’s ownage of **Beryl Mooncalf** ; doesn’t mean shit to me. There are, of course, the occasional general interest idiots, but who cares about **deeward** anymore? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/23 "2009-01-19T00:42:46Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Find 'em on your own. Really, find them in threads that are on subjects you’re interested in. Otherwise, how do you know they suck? Yes, but some of the choice nonsense gets deleted before you even get a chance to see it, I bet. It could be used as a “How not to post unless you want to get ridiculed”, or “The dangers of posting after sniffing glue” thread. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/24 "2009-01-19T00:58:43Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Yes, but some of the choice nonsense gets deleted before you even get a chance to see it, I bet. Ah, I see. Well, the choice nonsense that gets removed from public view is either spam or is from sock puppets, and you’ll never get to see it - unless you ever become a mod, and if that happens, let me assure you, it’s not worth digging through the dross. If it takes the posts of sock puppets or spammers to delight you, you’re on the wrong board. Common, or garden variety, idiots just get banned. Their posts are still there for your interest. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/25 "2009-01-19T01:27:02Z")
But see, we already missed major entertainment here. The first troll already Pitted this troll over that thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=502230). But the first troll got banned. So now we’ll never know if there would have been a troll fight. Incoherent posts from both sides. . . maybe there would have been a meeting of the minds. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/26 "2009-01-19T01:28:28Z")
I just figure it falls under the rule that proselytizing goes in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/27 "2009-01-19T01:30:05Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Yes, but some of the choice nonsense gets deleted before you even get a chance to see it, I bet. It could be used as a “How not to post unless you want to get ridiculed”, or “The dangers of posting after sniffing glue” thread. **Frank** ’s right: we get rid of spam and sock posts, and those are rarely worth reading. Regular trolling and drooling idiocy is usually left alone. I don’t think **jesse** was pitting **reef shark** , Heff. Not that I could tell what he was saying anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/28 "2009-01-19T01:54:37Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t think **jesse** was pitting **reef shark** , Heff. Not that I could tell what he was saying anyway. Really? **jesse** ’s post looked like satire of the first post of **reef shark** ’s thread to me. And someone pointed it out in the 3rd post of **jesse** ’s thread and **jesse** even mentioned WTC. I don’t think that jesse’s posts were completely incoherent. If you look at the thread where everyone was trying to copy him, those posts are lot more dismissible as having no value. **jesse** ’s posts made you stop and wonder if it was possible that there was some sense in it somewhere. I’m not disagreeing with the banning, just that the posts weren’t completely incomprehensible. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/29 "2009-01-19T02:07:44Z")
What gets me about OPs like reef shark’s is all the people who go on and on and on and on turning another stupid CT theory thread into a multipage cacophony of stupid. Why can’t people just leave him and his ilk alone? Let it drop off the page and let him wonder off to greener pastures. It really says as much about the people who respond as it says about reef shark. No need to call for banning just let it run it’s course and ignore it and it will be over before you know it. None of it is new, none of it is interesting at most it deserves a link to one of the many previous similar threads. Do we have to rehash the same tired arguments again and again and again? Instead of banning trolls I wish we had some way to send a shock to the people who feed them. Of course one persons troll is another persons entertainment so I guess we just have to let posters post what they want and let the mods sort it out. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/30 "2009-01-19T02:29:19Z")
I don’t get the concept of banning trolls. Aren’t replies voluntary? I am amused at the assorted conspiracy-theory threads over 9/11 that get pages and pages of responses. It’s particularly humorous when some of the posters are annoyed. I mean, when it’s obvious the OP is a retard, exactly what is the compulsion to reply? It seems to me baiting trolls would be more effecting than banning them. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/31 "2009-01-19T02:42:35Z")
Baiting _is_ trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Rolken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@Rolken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rolken)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/32 "2009-01-19T03:12:15Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > I am amused at the assorted conspiracy-theory threads over 9/11 that get pages and pages of responses. It’s particularly humorous when some of the posters are annoyed. I mean, when it’s obvious the OP is a retard, exactly what is the compulsion to reply? Didn’t you know? Conspiracy theorists tend to find logic and reason when confronted with proliferate caps, bold, italics, and large text. And if, after several pages of badgering this guy for cites or responses, he provides them and they are found wanting, he definitely will see the error of his ways and renounce his errant beliefs. Works like a charm! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/33 "2009-01-19T03:51:15Z")
Has anyone noticed that the crazy seems to come in bunches? Two, three, or four weird new posters pop up around the same time and then go away over the next few weeks. What is going on? Are they socks for the original crazy, or are do they travel in packs? (Or does no one else know what I’m talking about and I’m the crazy one?) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/34 "2009-01-19T04:12:38Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > What gets me about OPs like reef shark’s is all the people who go on and on and on and on turning another stupid CT theory thread into a multipage cacophony of stupid. Why can’t people just leave him and his ilk alone? Because I have been un/underemployed for over a year now and have little funds for entertainment. I am bored and poking the trolls with a pointy stick is one of my very few remaining amusements. Internet posting is _cheap_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/35 "2009-01-19T04:34:13Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Has anyone noticed that the crazy seems to come in bunches? Two, three, or four weird new posters pop up around the same time and then go away over the next few weeks. What is going on? Are they socks for the original crazy, or are do they travel in packs? January ones could be those who received a new computer for Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever. Students whose school is not in session can explain the rest. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/36 "2009-01-19T04:34:34Z")
My first thought after reading the first handful of posts in that thread was “lol.” It was pretty clear by then where the thread was going, yet so many people seemed willing to go along for the ride. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/37 "2009-01-19T05:07:20Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > It seems to me baiting trolls would be more effecting than banning them. You can’t really bait a troll: they don’t care about what they’re saying in the first place. The idea is they’ll say anything to get a reaction. But in cases like this one, people point and laugh at them and it’s good fun for a little while. > [@madmonk28](#): > > Has anyone noticed that the crazy seems to come in bunches? Oh yes. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/38 "2009-01-19T05:13:20Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > January ones could be those who received a new computer for Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever. Students whose school is not in session can explain the rest. I never made the connection, brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/39 "2009-01-19T05:17:01Z")
Sometimes it’s probably related to school vacations. Other times, I don’t know - a szygy? Jupiter aligning with Mars? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852/40 "2009-01-19T07:16:10Z")
At first I thought the guy was just misguided. After reading the latest I am convinced he is a troll. I will not be responding to the thread anymore and I hope no one else would also. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-just-ban-the-troll/481852.md?page=3)