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

[Arnold_Winkelried]

*Originally posted by Munch *
I would assume e-mail would be the desired form of communication for this?

Gotcha ya! No problem, Arnold. You rock!

Actually, let’s assume this situation:

TROLL X - You are all bleep! Kiss my bleep motherbleep! bleep bleep bleep

POSTER Y - Well bleep you bleephole! bleep bleep

Along comes Munch, trying to do the right thing. It would be OK for Munch to remind POSTER Y of the rules publicly in the thread, to prevent POSTER Z coming along and also feeding the troll. So this is good:

Munch (in the thread) - SDMB rule is DNFTT (see ATMB guidelines for posting FAQ)

Then when POSTER Z comes along and FTT, Arnold will do this:
e-mail to Munch - I love you man!
e-mail to POSTER Z - Why did you feed the bleeping troll?! bleep you! bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep

As far as “rocking” - I view myself more as a roller.

[Forbin]

Hamadryad
I agree completely with your OP.

My response to those who say that ignoring threads of trolls will cause them to redouble their efforts:
You must be joking.
Think about when you start a thread.
You go back to it to see if anyone can answer your question, share your grief, or just chime in with a response that assures you that you’re not the only one that notices that/feels that way, or whatever.
DNFTT is troll food.
So too, is a clever put down, or condescending remark.

Remember that the opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
I deal with trolls in what I consider to be the most effective manner.
I refuse to acknowledge them at all.

They’re still fighting, but hopefuly they’re not winning. Deny them what they need to get their jollies, and they will have short life spans.

[DocCathode]

Does this apply to all trolls or only the ranting-profanity-spewers and the bigots?

I’ve never fed those two types of trolls.

However, I find it almost impossible to resist the I’ve-discovered-one-of-the-great-secrets-of-science-that-the-conspiracy-hides-witnesses.

When a troll starts a thread about the government supressing free energy and perpetual motion, I love crafting a post going into great detail as to how the troll’s science is in error and detailing my own perpetual motion device.

Is that now verboten as well?

[Arnold_Winkelried]

DocCathode - no, it is not verboten. In that case, the “troll” is usually someone that sincerely believes what they are posting, so I wouldn’t say that they are posting only to irritate people.
I will quote from the Staff Report, What is a troll?:

On the SDMB, Cecil’s goal of fighting ignorance is generally the guiding principle. If somebody posts misinformation, other users feel obliged to point it out. I’m sure some trolls delight in getting others to respond in this way, but the choice is either that or let a troll’s posts stand unchallenged. Ignoring obvious nonsense has some advantages, but what about naive users who may read the falsehood and, seeing nothing to rebut it, believe it?_ To prevent that, some advocate responding to trolls once and only once. You refute the misinformation and that’s that._ Of course, this is often easier said than done, and many people (myself included) simply cannot sit idly by while the troll gleefully continues to post BS.

The other option is to pounce on every last falsehood and fabrication. This can lead to a classic flame war. We’ve had threads on the SDMB with close to a thousand posts as users attempt to get in the last word with an obstinate troll. These battles can be exhilarating but also exhausting. Inevitably at some point you ask yourself: what’s the point?

In short, you’ve got two possibilities–ignore the troll or argue with him. My recommendation is as follows: If the person is a well-known troll with low credibility, post once to point out the flaws and then ignore him. If there’s a real chance he may fool people who don’t know better, knock him down with facts.

[AncientHumanoid]

I liked what the Mods did with one particular bozo that was posting a ridiculous question about the space shuttle, time travel, and Superman. It had turned into pretty much a flame war, and the Mods closed it down. Then, get this, the dimwit opened a NEW thread, same question, reworded slightly. The mod caught it on the 1st post, iirc, and shut it down. Since then, the member listed a couple of other threads and realy got beat up in one. Haven’t seen much of that member since.

But, man oh man, that time travel thread was wild in that it was so hard to tell if the bozo was trolling or just really amazingly stupid. I’m glad the Mods keep watch on us.

[World_Eater]

FYI NoClue, the poster you are referring to was banned. Perhaps in the future he will travel back in time and remedy this, but he has yet to.

[iampunha]

*Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried *
Posters, if you see someone feeding a troll, I would be appreciative if you would remind that person that the ATMB FAQ discourages such a practice.

Something like “TF, DNFTT”?

::RUNNING::

[Kwyjibo]

*Originally posted by manhattan *
2) The little messages some of you guys put in the “report this post” message field are priceless! I love 'em, and like 'em, and want to read more.

It’s not fair to keep them to yourself! Post them! (Sans Names of course.;))

[Siege]

OK, I hereby repent me of my sin and do abjectly apologize for feeding this last troll. I tried to resist, but couldn’t. I’ll await to learn what my penance will be from our noble Moderators.

CJ