Is Fluther forgiving of the past?

I don’t know who you are or what you did, but as long as you’re not a jerk anymore, I think we’re cool with that.

Of course, that’s just me. I’m sure others (who were around last time) might feel differently.

My credo is:

1 crime
1 punishment
1 clean slate

Its probably left up to the mods/admins whether you get to stay. But I would have to say I have noticed a more polite fluther lately and I would like it to remain so. Questions get answered respectfully and disputes are in a more adult fashion.
If you truly have changed than I have no problem but I have no desire to see fluther go backwards. Just yesterday I noticed there were several religious questions that were answered by atheist and believers and neither turned cujo on each other. They each seemed to be making their own point of views without attacking anyone personally.
If you can do that, then I see no problem with you staying. I like Grown Up Fluther.

I don’t know you, but I don’t think the moniker ‘troll of hearts’ is going win too many people over. If you want to rejoin fluther I suggest going with a different screen name.

Frankly, I find it rather worrying that you feel the need to ask if it’s ok to rejoin…
In fact it, seems rather trollish, of you to do so.

If you have changed, you’ve changed, and don’t need to bring up the past in this way. I will now automatically doubt the validity of any you post under @TrollOfHearts, because of this question and your sn. If you’ve given up your life of trolling, go and troll no more.

Take this up with the mods, not the community.
I will not follow this question. So don’t respond to me.

@Pandora Thank you for the response. I understand that Fluther is a very mature community, which is what attracts me to it. I don’t plan on partaking in any religious debates, I’m simply here to ask, contribute, and most importantly – learn. I can turn around and leave just as easily as I came if that’s what Fluther would like.

I’m only here to learn.

Why ask? Just come back and behave yourself.

@Jude I want to know that I have approval first. I caused Fluther a lot of trouble in the past and would not want to come back unwelcomed in any way.

If my username bothers anyone I will gladly create a new account and contribute anonymously.

Were you banned? This is something you would have to take up with the mods. I kind of agree with @everephebe. If you were sincere, why draw attention to yourself. Come back with a different username and be kind.

@TrollOfHearts I would have come back with a new screen name and behaved. You don’t need approval.

I’m not understanding how anyone could cause Fluther trouble unless you had the power to close it down. Just come back, have fun and receive the lurve. You absolutely don’t need our approval.

Do my yard work and I’ll think about it. ;)

Fluther is forgiving of the past, but I agree with @everephebe that you shouldn’t post under a name involving trolls, and there was really no need for this question, except to draw attention to yourself.

Make a different name and begin contributing in a positive way.

I think that what you should do is approach @augustlan and tell her who you were and that you have changed and you want to come back.

absolutely totally agree with @marinelife x

If you were banned for life, it’s for life. If you’re readmitted, it will be under whatever conditions our community manager sets. Meanwhile, I’m with @everephebe and others who voiced the same sentiments.

And anyway, how would we know if our feelings are the same or we’re cool now, unless you tell us who you were?—which it sounds like you’re itching to do.

@AmWiser, if you haven’t seen a troll in action around here, or even just a deliberately annoying constant irritant, there’s a small gap in your education that I sincerely hope can go unfilled. You don’t have to bring the site down to make everyone angry and edgy and drive good people away.

I don’t know who you are. Perhaps I knew who you were. How can I forgive someone I don’t know? I don’t know what you did, why you were banned, what you think changed, etc.

Am I the only one who is really curious to know who @TrollOfHearts was in a previous Fluther life?!

So nu – now that you’ve asked the question, let us know who you were and we’ll let you know if we can “forgive” you.

What exactly is a ‘troll’ anyway?

@Leanne1986 No, you’re not the only one. It was rather coy, wasn’t it?

There are certain names from the past that will make me flinch if I even just see them mentioned, so maybe it would be best not to know. A clean slate is not a clean slate if there’s a foot of history right beneath it.

@TrollOfHearts wrote that he/she already had approval, presumably from @Augustlan. So this question is about testing the waters regarding the community in general. My guess is that he/she wants to know whether he or she should come back under his or her old name, or just be someone completely different.

Well, @TrollOfHearts If you want to be forgiven by the community, you have to use your old name. If you don’t want forgiveness, you’re wasting our time. You should just be someone new, as far as we know. Please don’t waste our time. Tell us who you were and be honest about your reform. This smacks of the kind of manipulation you must have done before.

Also you better not be Stranger in the Strange Land. There I said it. Because if you are, I don’t want you here.

I think you should either…
(a) Use your old name and face whatever comes to you.
(b) Use a completely anonymous new name, without using the word “troll” in it, start from scratch, totally anonymously and without making any reference at all to your past.

Coming here with a name like the one you’ve chosen, and starting with a post like this, just proves you’re still trolling. You are engendering a negative reaction right from the start by being deliberately confrontational and making people uncomfortable (by implying that they have cause to be).

If this is not your intention then I suggest you delete this account and take either option (a) or (b) above.

@wundayatta Where did @TrollOfHearts write that she or he already has approval?

“Also you better not be Stranger in the Strange Land. There I said it. Because if you are, I don’t want you here.”

Yep. The thought makes my stomach turn.

She/he wrote: “I want to know that I have approval first.” When I first read that, I saw “I want you to know that I have approval first,” but that was my misreading.

Stranger hasn’t been gone for two years. I can think of others who have. I won’t be listing their names, though. No reason to stir up those feeling again, and if this person is one of them and really has changed, that’s certainly a denial of forgiveness.

Well said, @downtide.

If you are asking forgiveness you will have to reveal yourself. I can’t forgive you if I don’t know what you’ve done or who you are.

Yeah, tell us who you are. You’ve already got the room all teased and ready to go.

The more I think about it, the more I think we should just flag this question and have it blown away. But I’m hesitating with my finger on the trigger because I’m curious too, even though I do think this user is messing with us.

I took the original post to imply that @TrollOfHearts does not have moderator approval but is asking for it. Though why he/she should ask in the community rather than a private message to the mods, I have no idea. Unless… well, see my other post above. I think we’re all being strung along on a hook here.

So, how many of us ( @gailcald @Jeruba, @janbb, @mariinelife aka marina. @Blondesjon and @jude aka ?) were here two years ago?

Remember @JackAdams Wed. 6:47 PM EST April 27, 2011 ?

I did think of him.

I was, @gailcalled, and I can readily think of several other names besides his that I don’t want to see again. Including one who was banned for (among several things) viciously attacking one of my favorite jellies in private, while maintaining a charming enough public persona that some old-timers are still saying they miss him. I, for one, do not.

@Jeruba:PM me immediately, or in an hour when I get off the treadmill. I need to know that there is a treat waiting for me.

If you were banned, you need admin approval to come back. Please message me and tell me who you were. At that point, the mod team and I will discuss your situation and make a decision.

Welcome back. Don’t act like an asshole this time, ok?

Fluther is not particularly forgiving, but having said that, there is not much of a downside.

@90s_Kid, is that you?!

I’m joshing

@cprevite: Ooh, I had forgotten about him. Coincidently, another old-timer mentioned him in a PM this evening.

I would have simply returned incognito and begun fluthering. Now everyone, including mods and founders will be looking out for you. You have drawn attention to yourself, unnecessarily.

Or deliberately. Because that’s what some folks have always done.

I think it’s just the way he/she is. Everybody is different. Maybe he’s sincere.

I can tell you it isn’t a user that had a black and white animal as part of his username. He told me he would never come back here. Even if he did, it wouldn’t be this way. Not his style.

Never say never.

@seazen_ That’s why you never show your pic. You’re him, aren’t you. ;)

^^ four for fore four

Yes, I am writing to myself here. It’s fun and lurvey.

@jonsblond, that’s one of the ones I don’t miss, but I agree that this is totally not his style.

@all Where has the OP gone?

;)

Not yet to Poseidon.

Oop, now he has <gulp>.

@Jeruba – And what was that gulp? <gasp> @Jeruba is Poseidon!

Not I, my dear. I am only too happy to see that responsibility in the hands of others. I trust them to execute it faithfully and fairly, being thankful that I don’t have to.

For the record, I did find out who this was, and they left of their own accord.

It’s always “of their own accord”, never “of their own accordion”.

Now that would be a fun way to go.

And you’re not going to share who that person was?! Oh no, you have to!

It was Fluther’s first known troll, a persistent one. He started before I was even a member. It wasn’t any of those speculated about in this thread.

Troll number one is kind of an honor. That’s kind of cool in a dark and twisted way. Maybe there should be an award?

@augustlan Oh come on, pleeeeaaaase? Peer pressure, peer pressure! Come on, gossip!!! :P

I want to see an award for First Troll! Or at least for finding and adding to a thread of the First Troll. How about calling it the Kraken Award?

Or at least, at least, an award for wheedling the name of First Troll out of Auggie. How about that?

(Great idea, @Adirondackwannabe.)

In practical terms, of course, revealing the name would put a lot of speculation to rest and allow us to stop worrying about others we don’t want to hear from. And besides—why protect the guilty?

Maybe we could just have the first letter.

Is there an Auggie award? We could immortalize her.

Or play Twenty Questions?

Is it a male?

Yes! A guessing game!

Yes! Twenty Questions! Let’s play.

Yes, it’s a male. I’ve been around long enough to remember this troll who certainly was persistent.

20 bucks that my response above that was removed was correct and that it was Zack. Or oneeye.

^^ Ding, ding, ding! ^^

I will confirm that it was Zack.

@augustlan :: He is a tenacious little shit. Just be glad you didn’t have to deal with him in the chatroom before the accounts were tied together.

@math_nerd So I’ve heard. I always wonder why the persistent trolls are so, well, persistent. Do they not have better things to do?

Wow. So this was 5 years ago? That is persistent. lol

Listen, guys, remember this thread. Bookmark it. That way whenever First Troll returns, we’ll be right there, on top of the puzzle. We’ll be up on the lowdown. We’ll have the inside dope. We’ll all get Kraken awards.

@Jeruba Kraken award – was that intentional? Besides the obvious reason it is appropriate?

There was a jelly called Kraken – he isn’t here (user can’t be found) but I found a question of his:

http://www.fluther.com/39429/did-you-like-the-kraken-from-pirates-of-the-caribbean-better/

Mysterious horrible sea monster from the depths. Ocean theme for jelly awards. That’s it. Am I missing something?

Edited to make sense.

Oh—no, not thinking of a jelly at all (or a movie), only of the meaning of the word.

Remember him? He attacked you and Matt in a thread and I was, er, a little upset with him.

He was a friend from years ago in wis.dm. I haven’t seen him since – and he hasn’t identified himself here since. So he is either here under a new name and hasn’t told me – or is fluthering about the web. He was bit, shall we say, troll-like. In fluther respects. Auggie?

Afraid I’ve forgotten him. Just as well.

For sure.

<— persistent troll

Were you a troll or were you someone who was labeled a troll because others didn’t like what you had to say? I don’t know if fluther is forgiving or not. Some people here are and others are not forgiving.

Zack would intentionally spout stupid crap to piss people off. He didn’t actually believe what he was typing. He just wanted to get in a fight or start other people fighting.

And that’s pretty much the definition of a troll.

Some people actually join websites with the intention of bringing them down by spreading discontent and starting flame wars. Some of them succeed. I remember seeing a link to a site where people who do this for fun would go to brag about their triumphs to other self-acknowledged trolls.

<<< is droll and sometimes a droll troll.

^^ Yes, but are you a droll troll on a roll? :-)

With his whole soul.

…while eating a jelly roll

@cprevite Or for you – perhaps a Toll house cookie?

@janbb: Fo’ Sho’ my penguin friend.

And @Dr_Dredd, I meant to ask what kind of roll that would be—French? sesame? rye?—but I guess @cprevite has the answer.

Oh look, another meta question turns to food!
A warm toll house cookie. Mmmmm…

…with vanilla ice cream

. . .two chocolate chip cookies with the ice cream in the middle making an ice cream cookie sandwich.

Ahhh, so it was someone named Zack? I guess I wasn’t here then. From what I’m reading, that’s probably a good thing.

@zen There was someone here named Kraken that was with us on wis.dm?

If you go to Search and put in ’@zack’ and “see all,” you’ll see a bunch of usernames, many (but not all) of which seem to have been his. That alone is a big clue to what a pest he was. Also notice how few points most of them earned before they were sent to the depths.

If you search on ‘zack’ (without the @) and, again, “see all,” and poke around a little bit, you can find a number of threads discussing this person and the annoyance he caused.

It would be nice to think that someone like that would really change and could return in a spirit of goodwill toward the community, but my imagination doesn’t seem to be elastic enough.

They always turn into foodthread – it’s an age old tradition since the days of cakes and frizzers.

@WillWorkForChocolate Yep.