# Why do people insist on posting to troll/spam threads? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 7, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981 "2004-10-07T04:12:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/1 "2004-10-07T04:12:46Z")
I’d link, but I’m sure the thread will soon be deleted and the link will be useless, so there’s no point. But there’s currently a thread in MPSIMS that is your every day, garden variety spam, touting free products etc. When I see a thread like that I tend to just report it and move on. But there’s always a handful of people who go in and make wise-ass comments about the fact that it’s spam, or a few posters who pretend that they’re interested, meanwhile, keeping the stupid pointless spam on the front page instead of letting it die off to page 2 until a mod gets around to taking care of it. I don’t understand the logic behind this. We don’t want spam on our boards, so why acknowledge it when it shows up? I have to wonder if the same people actually answer the spam that they get in their email. I’m also curious as to what percentage of people who post in such threads actually report the friggin thing in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/2 "2004-10-07T04:47:27Z")
I would like to make sure everyone understands that the thread I started a couple of weeks back about the Oakley “Thump” (sunglasses with an MP3 player built in) wasn’t supposed to be a plug. I think they’re a horrible idea; moreso now that a few people noted that the processor isn’t as good as that in most normal MP3 players. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/3 "2004-10-07T05:04:32Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > I’d link, but I’m sure the thread will soon be deleted and the link will be useless, so there’s no point. But there’s currently a thread in MPSIMS that is your every day, garden variety spam, touting free products etc. When I see a thread like that I tend to just report it and move on. But there’s always a handful of people who go in and make wise-ass comments about the fact that it’s spam, or a few posters who pretend that they’re interested, meanwhile, keeping the stupid pointless spam on the front page instead of letting it die off to page 2 until a mod gets around to taking care of it. > > I don’t understand the logic behind this. We don’t want spam on our boards, so why acknowledge it when it shows up? I have to wonder if the same people actually answer the spam that they get in their email. I’m also curious as to what percentage of people who post in such threads actually report the friggin thing in the first place? Becasue I found it fun and it suited my mood at the time to do so. What do you care? It’s gone, just as we all knew it would be. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/4 "2004-10-07T05:12:24Z")
[I don’t know.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=153501) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/5 "2004-10-07T11:41:48Z")
Same reason point and yell, “WITCH!” when they see someone turned into a toad. 'course, I never understood \*that \* either. I mean, if someone can turn you into a toad, why’d you want to piss 'em off? I think it’d be fun if we could all agree to break the rules and, whenever someone posts an obvious troll thead like “I hate retards” a while back, start making one word posts: TROLL ! ! ! And see how long it takes Tha Mods to lock it down. 😃 That’d be kewel. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/6 "2004-10-07T11:49:42Z")
I want to know if these trolls have tried C.I.A.L.I.S yet. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/7 "2004-10-07T12:12:18Z")
It’s not such a big deal with spam, spammers don’t care who replies. But it is **very annoying** when it’s a troll, because trollers really care. They want the attention. That’s why you **Do Not Feed The Troll**. It doesn’t matter how wise-assed/funny/insulting/dismissive you think you are being. You are feeding the troll and that means the troll knows where to come back next time. There’s been a couple of troll threads here recently, and despite what everyone says and are told, people have fed it. Why do they do this? Because they are idiots who should know better. They think they have the killer quip, or the funny retort that hasn’t been cracked a hundred times before. They think they’ll make the troll go away by devasting it with insults. :rolleyes: Meanwhile the troll is eating it all up. Yum, yum, great rewards for my trolling, lots of attention, must do this again. You _can not_ demonstrate how much smarter or wittier you are than a troll because they either just don’t care or it’s over their heads. And newsflash; no-one else thinks you’re being smart either. You’re being the kind of fool who wastes their time feeding trolls. When will people learn this? DNFTT! ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/8 "2004-10-07T12:40:27Z")
I bet a large number of people on this board have been on other boards that have been ruined by trolls and spammers. One of the very first BBS boards I was one was ruined by a stupid troll. Just “report this post” and move on. Do not feed a troll. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/9 "2004-10-07T12:43:08Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > C.I.A.L.I.S. Maybe I should already know, but what is this? ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/10 "2004-10-07T13:06:13Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > Maybe I should already know, but what is this? A herbal pill that makes mountains out of molehills, supposedly. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/11 "2004-10-07T22:26:48Z")
Sometimes being part of the dogpile on a trolling wabbit can be fun! The **Beaver Cleaver** thread was quite amusing, I thought. Reading the posts of other dopers delivering an eloquent smackdown to that loser was more entertaining than the sunday funnies. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/12 "2004-10-07T22:49:44Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Becasue I found it fun and it suited my mood at the time to do so. What do you care? It’s gone, just as we all knew it would be. I agree with this. It’s the same reason I post to pretty much every thread. Personally, I find the DNFTT theory to be unrealistic and impractical, as we are not a hive mind who can simultaneously reach collective agreement on where the line between irritating/foolish newbie and Troll lies. I also find people who sternly post DNFTT lectures to be far more tiresome than trolls or the people who feed them. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/13 "2004-10-07T23:02:30Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > Maybe I should already know, but what is this? I think it’s a play on the word “Cialis”, an erectile dysfunction drug. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/14 "2004-10-10T19:27:35Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I think it’s a play on the word “Cialis”, an erectile dysfunction drug. You don’t get much email spam, I take it. Spammers often insert strange characters to get past filters. C~iaL iS ci\Al^^is Ci.aLI.S etc. Not so much a play, as a technological trick. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/15 "2004-10-10T19:38:48Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t understand the logic behind this. Ever picked at a scab, blister, or pimple? Scratched poison ivy? People do not do pleasurable things for rational reasons and rational thought frequently is unable to overcome the urges to do something we _think_ will be pleasurable. Why do people frequently post in the Pit, demanding to know why other people do things that annoy the poster when they know that they will basically get a lot of responses either mocking their question or deriding them for being offended? Same impulse. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-insist-on-posting-to-troll-spam-threads/267981/16 "2004-10-10T19:42:46Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Why do people frequently post in the Pit, demanding to know why other people do things that annoy the poster when they know that they will basically get a lot of responses either mocking their question or deriding them for being offended? > Same impulse. For the pleasure of the me-too’s.