# Mods: still incredibly bad at spotting trolls **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 2, 2018, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882 "2018-11-02T09:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/41 "2018-11-02T18:18:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > We already have a name for this: threadshitting. That’s not the definition of threadshitting we use on this board. I would like to make the point, which I have made before, that it is not our role as moderators to vet the accuracy of any information posted. We generally leave it up to posters to refute or debunk ignorant or stupid assertions that are made. Posters can decide for themselves when a point has been addressed sufficiently. My personal strategy, when confronted by someone who is continuing to dispute points that have been sufficiently refuted, to just say that these points have already been addressed, and that I am not engaging further. You don’t need to post the last word to win an argument. This said, I will moderate or evict from a thread a poster who becomes sufficiently disruptive in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/42 "2018-11-02T18:20:26Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > This board needs to learn that arbitrary and capricious modding is to be embraced rather than feared–but only when the consequences aren’t draconian and irrevocable. It’s why we use sheepdogs to harass and chase the sheep into where they need to go instead of employing wolves to murder the ones who stray from the herd. It’s not feared. It’s rejected as undesireable. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/43 "2018-11-02T18:21:10Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > This board needs to learn that arbitrary and capricious modding is to be embraced rather than feared–but only when the consequences aren’t draconian and irrevocable. Or rather, only when you agree with it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/44 "2018-11-02T18:37:58Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > BPC, the best thing you can do at this point is take a break, stare at the sky, listen to the birds and clear your head. As the election has drawn close you have been losing your sense of balance. This type of dismissive post helps no one. No one ever sees “calm down” or “chill out” and actually feels better, because it means you are ignoring what they are saying. You are invalidating their concerns. You are accusing him of being a bad person. If he reports people who merely disagree with him as trolls, that means he is lying and being deceitful. But he is not doing that. He is reporting people he suspects of being trolls, and then wondering why no action is taken. Maybe he’s wrong. But then you need to spell out why they are not trolls so he can learn what counts as trolling and report better. Rather than assume he’s doing something wrong, assume you are equals with different opinions on what counts as trolling. * * * I also note that BPC is not remotely alone in thinking this board is too lax on trolls. Just because we don’t report them doesn’t mean we don’t think they are. We just know that you guys won’t do anything. I also note that it was BPC who reported **Starving Artist**. He didn’t fit the definition of trolling here, but, thanks to BPC, a toxic, rape-defending troll got banned. So BPC has every reason to try and figure out where the new trolling boundary is. I actually didn’t report Starving Artist because I didn’t think you’d get rid of him. I’m glad BPC had the guts to do so. He’s clearly an asset on the trolling detection. He got rid of one of our worst recurring trolls. Why not treat him as an asset? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/45 "2018-11-02T18:49:30Z")
Also, what is with this trend of people thinking telling people to calm down or chill isn’t horribly dismissive and insulting–let alone something that would make the situation better? I’ve been seeing it a lot lately. I even found myself wanting to do it once, and had to remind myself how shitty it feels when someone does that when you are legitimately upset. Growing up, everyone understood those were fighting words. Every situation where someone tells people to “calm down” results in a bigger fight. Yeah, it’s probably a subject for another thread. But seeing a mod use it suggests that people really think it helps. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/46 "2018-11-02T19:02:57Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This type of dismissive post helps no one. No one ever sees “calm down” or “chill out” and actually feels better, because it means you are ignoring what they are saying. You are invalidating their concerns. Did you not read the rest of Chance’s post? Read: > [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > In the past two months you’ve reported 28 posts, almost all of them for trolling and you’re getting shriller. You need to calm down. I say this not in a punitive or warning fashion but in a way that has concern for your health. > > Of those 28 reported posts, 3 of them were also reported by other posters. Generally, when there’s something egregious we - at least in GD and Elections - will see several reports on it all at once. The guy clearly does need to chill out, even if Jonathan Chance didn’t use the properly coded language you demand. Every two days he’s reporting a post for trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/47 "2018-11-02T19:05:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s not the definition of threadshitting we use on this board. So change it. How many times do you have to be told by the members that behave that you have a huge problem with members who don’t? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/48 "2018-11-02T19:11:02Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > So change it. > > How many times do you have to be told by the members that behave that you have a huge problem with members who don’t? Cliquishness and behavior are orthogonal. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/49 "2018-11-02T19:18:55Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This type of dismissive post helps no one. No one ever sees “calm down” or “chill out” and actually feels better, because it means you are ignoring what they are saying. You are invalidating their concerns. > > You are accusing him of being a bad person. If he reports people who merely disagree with him as trolls, that means he is lying and being deceitful. But he is not doing that. He is reporting people he suspects of being trolls, and then wondering why no action is taken. No. This practice you engage in of saying, ‘when you say X, you are saying Y’ doesn’t work. The reason it doesn’t work is because your interpretation is whack. Saying calm down is not equivalent to ignoring what someone is saying. Saying calm down doesn’t invalidate anything. There is no accusation of someone being a bad person. There is no implication that anyone is lying or being deceitful. All of these are conclusions you have drawn, that saying X means saying Y - they are completely unsupported and make no sense. * * * Regarding the actual thread topic - there are lots of people that I simply don’t respond to anymore. It’s easy. I have faith that the reader can determine when an argument has merit or it doesn’t. And if we were to ban everyone who as some point I thought could be trolling - well I have a long list. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/50 "2018-11-02T20:14:50Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I do try to kick people out of threads they are disrupting, for whatever reason. It is a good tool. > > It’s not always universally appreciated, although the folks who get kicked out are rarely the ones who complain. I think you do an excellent job at heading off the dolts and trolls before threads do hurtling down the gurgler. Unfortunately, the prevailing official attitude with posters who repeatedly and persistently stink up the joint seems to be "Well, he didn’t say “_fuck you_’ so our hands are tied”. Personally I’d like to see a lot more active modding of posters whose presence actually detracts from discussion. The “don’t be a jerk” rule would be an excellent one if it were ever actually applied, with an added corollary that “and it’s our call on what constitutes being a jerk”. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/51 "2018-11-02T20:46:46Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Cliquishness and behavior are orthogonal. Say what? ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/52 "2018-11-02T21:41:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Also, what is with this trend of people thinking telling people to calm down or chill isn’t horribly dismissive and insulting–let alone something that would make the situation better?. You’re getting overwrought–you should just calm down and chill out. Perhaps you could take a pill. A pill to help you relax and just let go of your stomach-churning fury. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/53 "2018-11-02T21:53:38Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > You’re getting overwrought–you should just calm down and chill out. Perhaps you could take a pill. A pill to help you relax and just let go of your stomach-churning fury. **Moderator Warning** **Fenris** , this is pretty blatant trolling as well as a personal attack. You have a habit of coming into threads in ATMB just to attack posters you don’t like. This is not what ATMB is for. I’m instructing you to desist from this in the future. This is an official warning. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/54 "2018-11-02T21:58:57Z")
Fair cop. I _have_ been fairly aggressive in calling out trolls, because they piss me off and it’s frustrating to slog through them, and because I’m sick of the kind of dishonesty and insanity that seems par for the course these days in political discussions. I’ve been quick to report posts that look like trolling, because it helps to build up a _pattern_ of behavior. Also, coincidentally, we recently lost **Starving Artist** and **Clothahump** , two notorious long-standing trolls. I don’t think anyone misses them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/55 "2018-11-02T21:59:08Z")
**Colibri** , I think your sarcasm detector is broken. That was \*\*Fenris \*\*doing \*exactly \*what \*\*JC \*\*did to \*\*BPC \*\*earlier. Obviously, **Fenris** isn’t a mod, but come on, where was the personal attack? If it \*is \*a personal attack from **Fenris to BigT, why was JC** ’s post to \*\*BPC \*\*\*not \*one? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/56 "2018-11-02T22:11:46Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > **Colibri** , I think your sarcasm detector is broken. That was \*\*Fenris \*\*doing \*exactly \*what \*\*JC \*\*did to \*\*BPC \*\*earlier. Obviously, **Fenris** isn’t a mod, but come on, where was the personal attack? If it \*is \*a personal attack from **Fenris to BigT, why was JC** ’s post to \*\*BPC \*\*\*not \*one? No, it wasn’t “exactly the same.” **Jonathan Chance’s** post was intended as constructive criticism. **Fenris’s** post was deliberately exaggerated in a way to bring ridicule on **BigT** (“stomach-churning fury”?). And I think that the remark about “taking a pill” was a deliberate jab implying that **BigT** requires medication. That post was suitable for the Pit, and no other forum on this board. Even if it was intended as sarcasm, it was way out of line. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/57 "2018-11-02T22:12:52Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Fair cop. I _have_ been fairly aggressive in calling out trolls, because they piss me off and it’s frustrating to slog through them, and because I’m sick of the kind of dishonesty and insanity that seems par for the course these days in political discussions. I’ve been quick to report posts that look like trolling, because it helps to build up a _pattern_ of behavior. > > Also, coincidentally, we recently lost **Starving Artist** and **Clothahump** , two notorious long-standing trolls. I don’t think anyone misses them. 🙂 I think the issue is less about your reporting them (although it does seem excessive) but that you expect the mods to agree with you about who is a troll. You may be trying to expose a pattern of behavior that’s crystal clear to you, but less so to the mods. So increasingly strident reports and ATMB threads saying we are bad at our troll detection skills makes clear that if we don’t respond the way you expect, it’s because we’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/58 "2018-11-02T22:27:10Z")
…refusing to answer a question is not trolling: its a concession. You’ve won the debate. Move on. I’ve had a few exchanges with the poster in question over the years, never once considered they were intentionally trying to rile me up. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/59 "2018-11-03T00:38:21Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I think the issue is less about your reporting them (although it does seem excessive) but that you expect the mods to agree with you about who is a troll. You may be trying to expose a pattern of behavior that’s crystal clear to you, but less so to the mods. So increasingly strident reports and ATMB threads saying we are bad at our troll detection skills makes clear that if we don’t respond the way you expect, it’s because we’re wrong. Read the thread title. Mods: still incredibly bad at spotting trolls It’s true and it’s the point. You can’t dodge it by blaming the people who are saying it aloud. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882/60 "2018-11-03T01:10:30Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Say what? Opposite of heterogonal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-still-incredibly-bad-at-spotting-trolls/823882.md?page=4)