# w00t, time for another round of....troll-feeders! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 4, 2002, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418 "2002-12-04T13:02:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/1 "2002-12-04T13:02:39Z")
Okay, I understand that making an entire thread about feeding the trolls is sort of meta- in its troll-feeding capabilities, but I’m not mentioning any. This one’s not for the trolls. What IS it with long-standing members who seem to find it nigh impossible to ignore the damned trolls? How hard can this be? Here, maybe it’s just that some people don’t understand how troll-feeding works. Troll posts. Troll gets responses. Troll is FED! This response: “What an asshat. Go home and play with the other 12-year-olds.” …feeds the troll. This response: “Whoop…I wonder where the Three Billy Goats Gruff have gone off to?” …feeds the troll. _ **This response** _ “DNFTT” _ **…feeds the motherfucking troll.** _ Don’t y’all get it? _Any response at all_ feeds a troll. Calling him names. Questioning his hygeine. **Mentioning you’ve spotted him**. Don’t you get it? ANY response feeds a troll! When you respond to the troll, point out the troll, taunt the troll, you’re not coming across as witty and cosmopolitan and quick on the uptake; you’re coming across as someone who has pudding in place of brains because you are _feeding the goddamned troll_. Why is this so very difficult for so very many people to grasp? ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/2 "2002-12-04T13:10:00Z")
The impulse to respond when someone writes “I am an asshole, please taunt me” is very, very strong. I usually wind up typing something, chanting the DNFTT mantra and hitting back. ---
**Author:** ![iconoplast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3d9bf3/32.png) [@iconoplast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iconoplast)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/3 "2002-12-04T13:15:55Z")
I find it easier to click “Report this post…” and say “Oh look, a troll!” there instead of in this little box. Redundant it may be at times, but it’s just as satisfying to me and the trolls go hungry. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/4 "2002-12-04T13:16:16Z")
Get off the high horse Hama. Are we not allowed have fun at his expense anymore? ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/5 "2002-12-04T13:21:26Z")
Some people like playing with fire. I like playing with trolls. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/6 "2002-12-04T13:26:27Z")
Hehe - sequential threads - How many times does it have to happen? w00t, time for another round of…troll-feeders! Shame I’ve just ruined it. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/7 "2002-12-04T13:32:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*Get off the high horse Hama. Are we not allowed have fun at his expense anymore? \*\* 'Snot necessarily a high-horse. Are we feeding the trolls or aren’t we? People keep on saying not to…but then people keep on doing it. I understand that it’s not a Hard And Fast Immutable Rule. But…same with “think twice, post once,” and when people post while their brains are obviously disengaged, they hear about that, too. Which is it? Feed them? Don’t feed them? It’s NOT fun at his expense. Might be fun for you, but don’t imagine the “at his expense” part. That’s the thing. For a troll, ANY response is **payoff**. Compliments, insults…even “my cat’s breath smells like cat food” in a troll’s thread is product, because it’s in _his thread_. I’ve KNOWN trolls. I DATED a troll. Not one of the ones on here…but a troll, nonetheless. I have to assume that people keep on feeding them because they honestly don’t understand that _any response at all_ is validation. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/8 "2002-12-04T13:40:41Z")
I think it feeds one’s voracious ego to have spotted the troll. Basically, it’s the same as any other acquired discipline, quitting smoking, quitting interrupting. It makes you feel good, though people often rightly point out how unproductive it actually is. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/9 "2002-12-04T13:40:54Z")
I’ll stop responding to anything you post, then. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/10 "2002-12-04T13:47:32Z")
I’m with **Hamadryad**. Every response, regardless of what it says or how slamming a put down you think it is, is a pat on the head for the troll and gold trimmed RSVP invitation to come visit again. You’re not having fun at their expense, you’re not putting them in their place. This joke’s on you, you’re giving exactly what they want. Attention. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/11 "2002-12-04T13:49:00Z")
Well, whatsisnames’s recent threads have disappeared, though he’s still listed as a member. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/12 "2002-12-04T13:51:45Z")
If someone really craves attention, they won’t be put off by the fact that they are being ignored. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/13 "2002-12-04T13:52:06Z")
So we can’t post “pie” or “my cat’s breath smells like cat food” or other things? Then the trolls have already won. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/14 "2002-12-04T13:53:56Z")
Please refrain from whipping the masochist. Thank you. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2002, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/15 "2002-12-04T13:58:27Z")
This is one of those famous internal debates that’s been going on on the Usenet for years. The problem is not “Feeding the troll” vs “Not Feeding the Troll”. The problem is (IMO) “Warning newbies” vs “Not warning newbies”. I don’t know how many newbies we get per day, but while we old hands recognize the recurring trolls and can just :rolleyes: at them, newbies won’t necessarily know the score and WILL respond. So, the choice isn’t a thread filled with quips and jokes at a troll vs a quietly ignored thread that drifts off into oblivion: the latter one will NEVER happen. The real choices are: warn newbies and just mock the troll\* or let newbies get suckered in and toast marshmellows by the heat of the flames. Fenris \*Yes, I agree this feeds them, but not as much as a psychotic flame-war will. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/16 "2002-12-04T14:02:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*If someone really craves attention, they won’t be put off by the fact that they are being ignored. \*\* I disagree. If you’re after attention why hang around someplace you’re not getting any? It’s not as if you find trollers besoted with SDMB, after attention from Dopers alone. Trollers will take it from anywhere they can get it. You must know yourself, there’s nothing more depressing than seeing a thread you started drop like a rock off page 1 with no takers. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/17 "2002-12-04T14:06:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > **So, the choice isn’t a thread filled with quips and jokes at a troll vs a quietly ignored thread that drifts off into oblivion: the latter one will NEVER happen.** There’s another board I frequent whereon the trolls are NOT fed. I’ve seen several occasions on which a troll has appeared, and everyone’s managed to resist the impulse to jump in. They’ve emailed the moderators, who’ve locked the threads, and it’s over. It’s not as big as this board, but it’s pretty large and has an intelligent and very active user base. If the folks on here could do something like…the first reasonably intelligent poster who happens across a troll’s thread **does** post, and says, “This is a troll. Newer folks, it’s generally good practice not to post in threads like this. I’ve already alerted the moderators” that would be one thing. BUT…it’s one old hand after another calling the troll names, speculating on his hygeine, and patting themselves and each other on the back for spotting the troll…which is usually about as difficult as spotting a white sheet at a Klan rally. ---
**Author:** ![ultress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7c8e57/32.png) [@ultress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultress)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/18 "2002-12-04T14:10:55Z")
Oh my, I feel so dirty now. I fed one this morning. I couldn’t help it. He was so cute and it’s been so long. I’ll return to my normal, hateful, sarcastic self and resist in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/19 "2002-12-04T14:11:36Z")
Hamadryad wrote: > [@](#): > > When you respond to the troll, point out the troll, taunt the troll, you’re not coming across as witty and cosmopolitan and quick on the uptake; you’re coming across as someone who has pudding in place of brains because you are feeding the [vulgar expletive deleted] troll. That makes sense to me. For what it’s worth, you’ve convinced at least one long-time poster to change his ways. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418/20 "2002-12-04T14:14:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Futile Gesture \* > \*\*I disagree. If you’re after attention why hang around someplace you’re not getting any? It’s not as if you find trollers besoted with SDMB, after attention from Dopers alone. Trollers will take it from anywhere they can get it. > > You must know yourself, there’s nothing more depressing than seeing a thread you started drop like a rock off page 1 with no takers. \*\* ah, but herein lies the difference. to you and I who start a thread that drops off the face of teh earth, it may be depressing because we started it for a. Persuit of Knowledge or b. Widescale entertainment of all. a troll starts a thread to try to offend and provoke. And if you get no reaction, most of them will simply come back and try harder. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/w00t-time-for-another-round-of-troll-feeders/140418.md?page=2)