# The "no calling anyone a troll" rule is dumb **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 11, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676 "2005-10-11T01:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/141 "2005-10-12T22:45:12Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > Why do you feel the urgent need to change my mind on the subject? I dunno. Maybe because it’s a fuckin’ _debate_ board? > [@](#): > > I mean, I don’t begrudge you the right to try, but it is kinda futile. I think it _will_ have an impact, especially if more than one person in a thread agrees and tells the troll in question that they recognize what’s happening and expect it to stop. Amazingly, peer pressure works. Ask any teenager. Are you new here, or something? This is such an stunningly naive statement, I’m almost at a loss in how to reply to it. Almost. 1. How often can you get everyone on this board to agree to _anything_? All your doing is inviting an endless succession of “Is Poster X a troll or not?” hijacks. We’ve already tried that on this board, and it sucked. Do you think things are going to be different this time around, or do you think there’s some actual value in such discussions? 2. How often does anyone on this board change their mind just because they’re getting a lot of disagreement? Most of us aren’t teenagers, here. Peer pressure only works if you consider the people disagreeing with you to be your peers. Jesus, you’ve just admitted that even discussing this subject with you is “futile,” so (one assumes) no amount of disagreement is going to change your mind. Why do you think the other people who post here are going to be so much more malleable than you? 3. Trolls, by definition, are trying to piss off as many people as possible. Assuming you can get a broad consensus that a given poster is really a troll, all you’ve done is given the troll _exactly what he wants._ ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/142 "2005-10-12T22:50:16Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > And i _never_ said all the rules were silly, in fact I said I agree with most of them just not this one _grumble_ No **I** said some of the rules were silly. Unfortunately, trying to create a utopian ideal with a lot of dystopian citizens results in the occasional overreaction or the “good” rule with limited applicability that must be universally enforced to reduce the number of whining posts about capricious enforcement. Seen from the perspective of a wholly objective outsider, I am sure that many rules can be deemed silly. Such is life. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/143 "2005-10-12T23:07:02Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I dunno. Maybe because it’s a fuckin’ _debate_ board? No. It isn’t. It’s a rants forum. No one is beholden to try to change anyone else’s mind here, the primary purpose is to rant. Or bitch about board administration. Or both. Amazing how that works; this thread seems to do both. > [@](#): > > Are you new here, or something? This is such an stunningly naive statement, I’m almost at a loss in how to reply to it. > > Almost… ad nauseum… Honestly, **Miller** , what’d I do to piss in your cheerios? It isn’t naive, it’s a statement of fact. Peer pressure works in the office, in sales, in just about every area of life. What the fuck do you think “keeping up with the Joneses” is all about? You really think peer pressure ends after high school? I don’t believe anyone here is either more orless malleable than I am. But if someone tells me their opinion, that they agree to disagree with me on the subject and they aren’t going to change their minds, I probably won’t keep yammering at them expecting a different result. Please see the definition of insanity. OTOH, if I’m discussing something with someone I know in the past has been amenable to changing their mind, I’ll argue a little longer. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/144 "2005-10-12T23:08:33Z")
oh, and I apologize for changing your quote, the “ad nauseum” was supposed to be outside the [/quote] tag. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/145 "2005-10-12T23:11:20Z")
**Maureen** peer pressure is remarkably ineffective when the object of said pressure _doesn’t give a shit and is only there to stir up trouble_ (IOW, a real troll). and if, of course the object of said peer pressure does indeed give a shit, they’d likely not be a troll, and would also then respond (in your preferred way) to other forms of verbal chiding. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/146 "2005-10-12T23:15:22Z")
**wring** , I will concede the point and quit the conversation. I believe we’ve gotten off the main topic, which is that not being able to call someone a troll is stupid, but I appear to be pissing off **Miller** , and as I ordinarily value his opinion and don’t care to get into a pissing match with him, I’ll withhold any further comment. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/147 "2005-10-12T23:17:37Z")
ok. (but for the record, I wasn’t getting pissed ) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/148 "2005-10-12T23:19:42Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > Why do you feel the urgent need to change my mind on the subject? I mean, I don’t begrudge you the right to try, but it is kinda futile. I think it _will_ have an impact, especially if more than one person in a thread agrees and tells the troll in question that they recognize what’s happening and expect it to stop. Amazingly, peer pressure works. Ask any teenager. It’s not particularly urgent. As for why, I have this thing about responding to poor logic and attempting to use reason. Call me crazy, but hey, sometimes it works. Other than that, I don’t really care one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/149 "2005-10-12T23:34:13Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > No. It isn’t. It’s a rants forum. No one is beholden to try to change anyone else’s mind here, the primary purpose is to rant. Or bitch about board administration. Or both. Amazing how that works; this thread seems to do both. I was talking about the board as a whole, actually, but if you want to be pit-specific, you left out “tell other posters when they’re being idiots” as one of this forum’s functions. > [@](#): > > Honestly, **Miller** , what’d I do to piss in your cheerios? You posted stuff that I found frankly stupid and ill-considered in a forum that doesn’t require me to be nice about it. > [@](#): > > It isn’t naive, it’s a statement of fact. Peer pressure works in the office, in sales, in just about every area of life. What the fuck do you think “keeping up with the Joneses” is all about? You really think peer pressure ends after high school? I don’t believe anyone here is either more orless malleable than I am. But if someone tells me their opinion, that they agree to disagree with me on the subject and they aren’t going to change their minds, I probably won’t keep yammering at them expecting a different result. Please see the definition of insanity. OTOH, if I’m discussing something with someone I know in the past has been amenable to changing their mind, I’ll argue a little longer. No, what’s naive is your understanding of how peer pressure actually works, particularly in regards to internet trolls. So, care to adress the actual points in my last post? On preview, I see that you don’t. Oh, well. Small loss. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/150 "2005-10-12T23:35:22Z")
> [@BayleDomon](#): > > As for why, I have this thing about responding to poor logic and attempting to use reason. Call me crazy, One sign of crazy is mistaking opinions for logical proofs. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676/151 "2005-10-13T00:35:54Z")
Ah, hell. That last post was going a little too far. Sorry, **Maureen** , assuming you come back and read this. Strike the whole thing and replace with, “I disagree strenuously.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-calling-anyone-a-troll-rule-is-dumb/325676.md?page=7)