C3, I won’t flame you for anything.
But really, your best bet is to not respond at all. I know how hard that is. Usually when I feed an annoying poster, I do it intentionally. But sometimes that SDMB monkey climbs on my back and I just gotts. One of the most valuable and hardest-won lessons I’ve learned here is when not to post.
Responding to say “responding is dumb” is no way to take the high ground.
-andros-
It’s interesting (and a bit puzzling) that the only post Boomer made with the aforementioned sock puppet was the one which did absolutely nothing but give away the fact that he was using a sock puppet. It’s funny, too; he doesn’t seem like the sock puppet type (as much as I despised the guy)–wonder what he was gonna use it for?
Ewww.
I actually think he did it on purpose. His back was in a corner, and his credibility was shot. He goes for the assisted suicide via sock puppet, and that way he’s excused from justifying his untenable arguments. He also gets to maintain a sense of honor by resigning.
Even up he makes a return with another identity. Hopefully he learned a lesson and we’ll only see his good side.
I must also admit, that in my weak moments I want to be a troll. It might be kinda fun. When I see these idiots screw up I can’t help but think of how I would do it if I were in their shoes.
There’s something compelling about the kind of people who when exposed to the possibility of online community, choose instead to thumb their nose at it and play the villain (kinda like in pro-wrestling)
I have about 20 great ideas for trollish behavior, some I think would be quite funny.
So far I’ve resisted temptation. I like most of the people here too much, and I guess the fantasy is enough.
Carpe Marmot Marmosa!
Via Con Huevos
Gee, and here I’ve been staying out of the “religion” threads because I thought they’d be boring!
Just goes to show you…
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen
Gee, I’m unsure; does this mean I’m excused from finding out where Pashley ripped off his assertions about the denizens of the New Testament Era? I mean, that was the sole posting of his with any thought evident, although based on a bad assumption, so, therefore, the words weren’t his.
I heartily agree, C3, that the gleeful bullying and clannish name-calling around here can often take on a life of its own.
It doesn’t appear, however, that this contributed substantively to the demise of either Pashley or CalifBoomer. The former appears to be a victim only of himself, and the latter wisely fell back on a sense of honor, however oddly misplaced.
To quote Nen wholly out of context, “A point in time cannot exist without a frame of reference.” Perhaps after a certain time in one’s life that frame of reference becomes clearer, and we can count on at least one of these exiles to return with a renewed sense of maturity.
Dr. Watson
“Of learned Fools I have seen ten times ten,
Of unlearned wise men I have seen a hundred.”
– Benjamin Franklin (drunk, probably)
Drat. I guess I’m not excused anyway, since it’s Jenkinsfan I’ve confused with Pash. Drat.
Well, if anyone misses Paeshrus, thinking he was just misunderstood, you should know that I chatted with him on AIM a few days ago.
Well, I tried to chat with him. He seemed quite reluctant to exchange any thoughts or ideas with me abiout anything, even though he was quite inquisitive of me in a couple of threads.
I saved the chat, but I do not feel it appropriate to post it without his permission, and I have no intention of asking for it. Suffice it to say, I can paraphrase it as me asking genuine questions about his questions of me, and him saying he had no desire to talk with me.
I learned right then he was simply a troll. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before he showed this to everyone.
His AIM name is P Ashley if you want to say Hi to him. I think he banned me after our one chat, since I don’t see him on anymore. I am so hurt too… :rolleyes:
Yer pal,
Satan
http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif
TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
Two weeks, four days, 3 hours, 13 minutes and 7 seconds.
725 cigarettes not smoked, saving $90.67.
Life saved: 2 days, 12 hours, 25 minutes.
Understood.
The point you’re missing is that the definition of a troll is someone who insults, abuses and/or offends on purpose. Either by admission or by action, there comes a point where they are, indeed, classifiable as trolls. When that point is reached, all bets are off, IMO, and calling them a troll and/or pointing out their behavior is not bullying, but responding to a bully (not self-defense, as most of us need none in this kind of medium, but simply debunking his power and pointing out his foibles). Frankly, when they’ve gotten to that point, they are asking to be treated in the same reprehensible way they’re treating others, and I don’t have any trouble obliging them.
Now, is this, in effect, feeding their ego? Yup. But I, too, am weak, and cannot always honor the “DNFTT” command.
Now, if you’re referring to people who have not yet reached the point of blatant trollish behavior, I don’t think asking about their prospects or pointing out to them they’re heading down the Dark Side of the SDMB is out of line. If someone is posting in an irritating, offensive way, isn’t it better to say so before they start racking up a list of people who hate them? Perhaps salvage them in their infancy to make them into better posters, and then make worthwhile contributions to our little community? And if their response to this is reactionary and inflammatory, then it’s hard to say if they’re capable of learning much of anything.
Are people entitled to opposite opinions of the majority of folks here? Of course! Without them, where would Great Debates be? 
But let’s keep it civil, and let’s help people learn what civility means when they seem to have lost the way, or even not yet learned.
IMHO.
Esprix
Evidently, I rock.
Ask the Gay Guy!
As a ‘newby’ I would certainly appreciate a warning to inform me not to fart in church anymore. later, Tom
BTW, tried to congratulate Satan on quiting but couldn’t use the e-mail in the profile.
Uhm…Ya kan’t git there from heyre!
I thought the definition of a troll was someone who purposely baits someone in the attempt to get that other person to lose their temper or get otherwise upset. My only question with your definition is how do you tell when it’s “on purpose”? I know a bunch of people (and they all work with me!) that are offensive and insulting, but they’re truly just offensive and insulting people and don’t know any better. I had one of our vendors come in here yesterday and start going off on the Confederate flag issue, racist epithets and all. He absolutely offended me and insulted me, but that wasn’t his purpose. I see what you mean, but I think in this format, it’s sometimes difficult to figure out if someone is insulting on purpose, or if they’re just stupid.
I think in essence this is a very nice idea, but in reality, some of the “suggestions” are just as inflammatory as the original trolls. I’m just offering my opinion, and thank you for responding in kind, but I am hoping that maybe a couple people will read this and, in the future, weigh their words before posting, just to make sure that the kindest spirit is behind their words.
I don’t really agree with this definition. I still hold that a troll is one who specifically posts for the attention. Period. Regardless how irritating a poster is, if they are here to stand up and debate, discuss, or just do battle, I do not consider them to be a troll if the perspective they take is one they actually hold and they are defending their actual thoughts or beliefs.
From that perspective, CalifBoomer basically admitted to being a troll. In one of his few quiet posts he admitted that he had stumbled in here, decided that he did not like the clientele, and decided to harrass the MB. (That was a shame because he showed signs that he could have been an effective minority voice for his opinions had he not chosen the troll route.)
Pashley was not a troll, (although he was a serious waste of bandwidth–and perhaps oxygen), because he did stand and fight (albeit badly, and without any real comprehension of either his opponents’ issues or even of his own).
Pashley returning as Apologist is a self-declared troll.
My point. I guess, is that troll does have a meaning and I hate to see it slapped on every PITA poster. There are plenty of of other words to describe, or identify people who are irritating, foolish, or utterly contemptible. (Didn’t we just do a thread on this, winding up with Putz as our term for now?)
Tom~
Often they become abusive or insulting in order to get that attention, but I couldn’t think of a good way of adding on what you just said. You are correct - I’d classify both those who post just to get attention and those who post to stir up trouble as trolls.
In a forum such as this, it’s obvious, plus sometimes they openly admit flouting civility in order to provoke reaction.
I disagree - I think it’s painfully easy to distinguish between the two, although I will admit it takes time before you can see it clearly enough.
Here I do agree with you. I think the OgreFade/The Urge fiasco proved some people are quick to jump on a newbie if they show signs of trollish or putzish behavior when they’re just new, inexperienced, and/or a bit on the dim side. However, Ogre happened to pop in just when the trolls were on a roll, so everyone became suspect. (SDMB McCarthyism?) I’m sure even I’ve been guilty of this.
But, on the other hand, if someone posts ignorantly, and they are flamed for it, and they point out that the flame was disproportionately harsh, often the flamer (usually a long-time SDMB poster) will admit the mistake and apologize. But if the newbie then goes on, as Ogre did, to then use that as an excuse to whine every time someone disagreed with him or again pointed out an error, regardless of the tone used to do so, then they put themselves out in the middle of the forest with antlers and a bullseye on their ass, and I have little sympathy for them then. There comes a point where if they don’t learn from experience, they’re dooming themselves to fireproof longjohns.
As I said, I think it’s both definitions, but that’s just the way I look at it.
I disagree here - he was a troll long before this. At first, no, he wasn’t, but I can point you innumerable instances where he stopped debating (in his own cute little misinformed and grossly ignorant way) and just started mudslinging, insulting, and provoking for the sake of provoking. He crossed that line before he disappeared the first time.
“PITA?”
That seemed to be the prevailing thought, yes. And the reason I started that thread in the first place was exactly because “troll” is used far too often, and I wanted something new to be able to point out errors without going too far and calling them something they’re not.
Esprix
Evidently, I rock.
Ask the Gay Guy!
PITA=Pain In The Ass
Not that there’s anything wrong with being one…
Esprix, why do you need a name to call them? Can’t you just say, Mr.Poster, let me point out that you’re offending people and let me help you refine your postings so that this doesn’t happen.
Of course, real trolls are going to take the opportunity to hurl more insults at you, but then, they’re going to do that no matter what. The people who may be salvagable, though, will probably respond better to constructive criticism if it doesn’t start out, “Dear Putz”.
Well, if you’re seriously in need of interacting with one of the trolls mentioned above, OgreFade has been attempting to harass me with numerous requests for AIM sessions. He/she/it/whatever has cycled through, so far, the following AIM usernames:
OgreFade
OgreFade1
OgreFade2
Trashman21
Because it amuses me. 
Seriously, I would say that, in general, people don’t get called “putz,” “troll” or anything other than “newbie” right out of the gate, even if they start posting ignorantly. 9 times out of 10, they get one post saying, “Uh, you know, there are better ways to do that around here” before getting flamed, and that’s only if their response is, “FUCK YOU i write what i want to write” or similar nonsense. Then again, some people deserve it right off the bat, i.e., farley (probably a sock puppet anyway).
Esprix
Evidently, I rock.
Ask the Gay Guy!
I’ve already spoken with him several times through AIM. It’s kind of sad, really.
Esprix
Evidently, I rock.
Ask the Gay Guy!
Why Dr. Watson, I’m flattered to be quoted by a fellow newbie nutmegger, especially out of context.
<Hijack> Nen – Manchester eh? I’m so very sorry. (kidding) That makes three of us living in this neck of the woods that I know of, and I’m sure there are a few more who are too ashamed to admit it.
Actually I’ve been hanging around the board quite a bit longer than the curriculum vitae over on the left indicates. My first User Name was ruined in a tragic gardening accident and I had to re-register.
Three is probably too few to make a proper Doper bash, but I bet we could still shake up a few folks at Black-Eyed Sally’s . . . <End Hijack, you may resume bitching at will . . .>
Dr. Watson
“Cynicism is a very lonely virtue.”