w00t, time for another round of....troll-feeders!

Trolls seek the path of most resistance.

This is actually a really good idea .
**

Heh!

Fenris

Hmm. I was analysing this troll while chatting in irc, and I came up with the following:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=276883
odd thing was, that Ultimate Pung started out reasonably normal, if you look at that link above
the first couple of posts were quite rational
one about artificial plants, then one about coke/sodas
then he participated in a royalty thread with a valid point
then he did a couple of jokey posts, in response to the “stay in your own league” thread and the “sex toy cancer?” thread
then suddenly: kaboom!! total troll offense
I think maybe because he didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for from his “humourous” posts
or he just got bored of trying to play it straight.

So on balance, and I was active here all the while he was posting, I don’t think ignoring or not ignoring would have made much difference to him. If anything, he originally flipped from not getting enough attention.

The pattern of his trolling seemed to be to troll as many threads as possible with offensive one-liners. He didn’t even respond very much at all to actual “feeding” of him.

Frankly, I think that entire threads like this sparked by and concerning a particular troll are far more likely to feed it. I understand the rationale behind this thread, but given that it was posted during the troll attack, it has become part of the whole feeding thing.

My personal opinion would be to wait for some time after a troll attack - say half a day at least - when the troll has fully gone away - to post an anti-troll advice and information thread.

From the OP:

It happens every time an obvious troll hits the board. The particular troll you are referencing has had his threads deleted already…does that mean this thread is now appropriate?

You mentioned that you had dated a troll before, Hama. I’ve never known one personally. I don’t understand the thought process that motivates them. Can you tell us about your ex-troll? Is the on-line behavior reflected in their off-line personality? Do they say things to people just to get a reaction IRL?

I just don’t get it.

This just sounds nice.

A suddenly feel like having a Corona

My guess is that trolls simply don’t take the medium as seriously as non-trolls do. They see a message board or usenet group as a wall in the bathroom, and their keyboard as a Sharpie. Non-trolls see it as a medium for meaningful communication.

Well, his offline personality…he was very charming to me, but a jerk to waitstaff. I’ve also known trolls who were perfectly delightful in person, and who used the anonymity of the Internet (or just of the BBS) to amuse themselves by provoking strangers.

And yeah, it’s just about the reaction. It’s about having people pay attention to you. It’s about hitting “refresh” every five minutes and seeing people respond.

It’s seeing someone come up with an obscenity-filled paragraph about you, and laughing your ASS off that you had an effect on them even though they don’t know you from Adam.

It’s debating with someone about something even you find wholly indefensible, just because it’s so amusing to watch other people become frothingly angry about something a total stranger has said.

Guilty as charged your honor!

But GOSH DARN ITS JUST SO MUCH FUN!

** istara ** wrote

BINGO! But this sums it up for me even better!
** pseudotriton ruber ruber ** wrote

So, OKAY I’ll lay off with the:

Which I have never seen a response to BTW.

::Janx mopes off to take his wet noodle lashes::

What criteria are you using to determine whether someone is trying to get a rise out of us or is simply a clueless asshole?

A clueless asshole says:

“i not a rebulpican im a calafornian”

A troll says:

“FUCK YOU, BITCH!!! YEA YOUE!!! YOR ALL WHORES!”

Why do I always miss the trolls?

I have no idea who the most recent troll was, or what threads were deleted.

It’s like taking a safari on the SDMB and not seeing any animals.

I want my money back!!!

This link reveals the horrors.

Hama, I’m going to have to disagree.

First, one of the principles that I operate by is “Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by ignorance.” There are people who sincerely think that some things are true simply because “I read it in a book” or “somebody told me once…” and their apparent trollery is not.

I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, correct their misunderstanding, and provide cites if convenient. (It’s not my life work to prove to every clown on the planet that his casual ‘fact’ is wrong, and I reserve the right not to research something unless I have the time to and/or I’m asked for a cite.)

If the person then continues in his bassackward attitude and refuses to learn or even debate, he’s demonstrated intent to troll and I might just lay into him for his obduracy – not because it will do any good to him, but because I’ll feel better getting that irritation out of my system.

Obviously, when someone is clearly trolling for the purpose of stirring up trouble, DNFTT and a “report this post” is the appropriate response. But there are a lot of times when that is not.

Thanks istara.

Simple. You check is birth certificate to see if he’s 12 years old or not. Now, granted, there are a good deal of 12 year olds online who are both trolls and clueless assholes so this particular test may not be the most effective in weeding them out.
That’s why we move onto step 2: Looking around for the Three Billy Goats Gruff and seeing where they’ve gone off to. If you cannot find them, it’s a pretty good indication you’ve found yourself a troll. It’s true that a clueless asshole may just pick those billy goats up not knowing who they belong to, but I’d say the probability lies in them being within the category trollus maximodia.
When in doubt, move to step 3: look under bridge. Admittedly, there are a good deal of innocent 12 year olds who like playing under bridges. But the combination and confirmation of steps 1, 2, AND 3? Troll.

Secure in your knowledge, you may then procede to ignore them.

Thanks for doing the work, istara. That poster looks like a royal POS.

Until NTFTT comes a firm board rule (along with a compelling explaination between garden variety moron and attention starved troll), this is just a peeve.
I would rather see a few other annoying things offed first, but that’s a whole nother peeve list. . .

And from

we can glean

Interesting. Some possess the power of extrapolation a hell of a lot more then others.

I disagree with your disagreement. I think that what you say and what she says are complementary.
a) If you think that a person is a troll, don’t respond to them - use the “Report this post to a moderator” button.
b) If you don’t think that the person is a troll, then answer them as you would a regular poster.

But this Administrator’s take on the issue is:
If you think someone is a troll, don’t answer the post. Use the “Report this post” button again. I don’t care how much fun you think it is. That goes for new posters and old-time posters alike.

Cite please. Or, in other words, I think it’s just as valid to say “If they get no reaction most of them will eventually give up.”