What sort of things make you suspicious of new users?
I’ve noticed that certain things catch my eye and make me wonder about new users.
Aside from the obvious (spam links, for example), things like extremely long, graphic (or sexually descriptive) first questions, as well as users who automatically know to @username always make me raise an eyebrow at them.
What sort of things make you suspicious of a new poster?
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122 Answers
When they ask how to increase flow to their tumblr blogs..when they say something that makes me think they’re just an old user being a coward, for whatever reason.
Any mention of windbreakers or track suits or “how fat am I?” gets me, too.
“Flutherfucker”
“Flutherhater”
“Fuckfluther”
“bullshitfluther”
“assfluther”
“Flutherfelcher”
etc.
joined the collective.
This pegged my troll meter.
I’m suspicious when the first question is a question knocking religion or atheists or saying they’ve had two or three abortions and need another abortion or they’ve been kidnapped by gypsies and sold to the circus. Well, I haven’t actually seen that last one. But if I do, I’ll be suspicious.
Now I kind of want to ask it.
The questions they ask, like:
What’s your first pets name?
What was your mothers maiden name?
What city were you born in?
@johnpowell – I’m not really sure what that “troll meter” means, but I know how to use Fluther.
I was on this site before, I stopped, and I made a new account to ask my question. Is there anything wrong with that?
I don’t want to log into my old Fluther and ask because it’s such a very personal topic to me. That is why I need the privacy to ask my question in comfort without being judged.
I’ve seen a couple that used troll face for an icon. Dead giveaway.
@needadvice your question is what prompted me to ask this. Not because I assumed you were a troll (which is always a possibility with any new user), but because you did seem to know how Fluther worked right off the bat. It lead me to assume that you were probably using an anonymous name.
Not that I would have mentioned that, or singled you out, if you hadn’t said this yourself.
@needadvice :: No worries. It is just very similar to questions that are asked by a certain repeat offender. I didn’t even flag yours and usually I do.
@ANef_is_Enuf – Yes I am using another username and made this account to just ask my question.
All the fart questions…dead giveaway we’re dealing with little people. lol
Other then evident trolls, nothing really. But as people have said already, I kinda go, uh huh, at new users who seem to know how everything works here, whether this is the technical side of Fluther, or its community, from day one.
Doesn’t bother me no, but sometimes it seems those ’‘new’’ people come back just to spite the place, or a certain someone. I find it immature to no end.
@ANef_is_Enuf I feel the same suspicion when I see someone new who knows how things work… until I remember that I lurked here awhile before deciding to join. Don’t a lot of people do that?
And occasionally, I suspect it’s a jelly with an established reputation creating a new persona that can speak more freely on a question or two.
@dappled_leaves I consider that, too. I don’t mean that I flag questions for these reasons, necessarily, or even that I assume the worst. They are just the sort of things that make me go “hmm.” :)
@ANef_is_Enuf I wouldn’t have thought the identity of the jelly would be grounds for flagging the question – unless it was someone who had been banned. Does Fluther ban anyone outright?
@dappled_leaves Yeah, while a banned member can make a new account, I seem to recall Auggie saying that it’s easy to link the two together. I may be mistaken…I think it’s based from IP’s, which can’t be all that accurate, but there was something about this that I remmeber.
I have been suspicious of the young users with boyfriend issues. The boyfriends usually have cutesy names like Mikey. Their boyfriends are always “amazing.” I just have a suspicion that some of them are making up elaborate stories to get a reaction out of us.
@Symbeline That’s what I would have thought… it’s pretty easy to mix up people’s IPs, especially if they’re using public networks, but I guess the broad range of Fluther users makes that unlikely.
@Judi I know – could you even respect a boyfriend if you had to call him Mikey? Yeesh.
@johnpowell that was an interesting verb to use in your first post right after that list that FPCB gave us… just sayin’.
What is a verb? Is that like a noun that can’t get laid?
Frankly, I’ve never actually seen a troll here. It always bothers me when people point fingers at others just because they find the story to be unbelievable for one reason or another. Maybe I’m much more credulous than most, but I have found all of these stories plausible enough, so far.
And even if they are trolls, what’s the problem? Between us, we have to be a gazillion times smarter than anyone who is trying to troll. We know how to ignore people who are just being assholes. NO need to reply. Let them stew in their own words. We don’t have to play. Right? I mean, we don’t have to have the mods take action, do we? We can just walk away from idiots.
I’m suspicious of everyone until I get to know them, so to speak.
I find it very unlikely a user would have a cactus stuck up his butt. That made me a bit suspicious. I just play along with questions like that though if I’m in the mood.
I’m kind of with @wundayatta though. It’s a waste of time to argue with a legitimate troll, and it’s kind of a shame to run off someone who isn’t trolling but it may appear that way. We aren’t the troll police here, are we? As long as a user isn’t attacking anyone I say ignore it.
@jonsblond Aww, now it’s being modded – but it’s so hilarious!
Sigh. What would janets say?
I tend to become suspicoius when a new user have too many grammar, construction or spellng erors or use to many run on sentences that go on and on nonstop and add irelvant and not productive details that do not share any information that can’t be summairized in five words or less structured a lot like this sentence.
Wait, knowing the @username is a sign of a troll? I thought it was pretty standard on the internet, what with Twitter and all that… The more you know, I guess.
I never said that I was suspicious of just trolling. If someone seems to instantly ‘get’ how Fluther works, and the little nuances… I usually assume they are a past user, or current user, incognito.
Spammers, trolls, sneaky jellies… just, new users that make me wonder, not necessarily something bad. Period.
@dappled_leaves my name is Michael and all of my girlfriends have called me Mikey :-(
Instant hostility & the colour green.
Questions about Boy George, wind suits, pink panties, farts, and repetitive questions requesting that only “the nice people” answer. << All of those are returning trolls.
Questions about Air Jordans, wedding dresses, Ugg boots, replica handbags, vista print, diet products, wrinkle creams and crushing machines. << All of those are returning spammers.
Suspect usernames, knowing how things work, outrageous claims, etc, make my antennae quiver, too.
Guess I am not paranoid enough, I have never suspected new users of anything.
Existing usually makes me a little suspicious.
Posting here tends to make me a little more suspicious as it proves that you have an agenda that I don’t know about.
Being an obvious ass-clown actually makes me less suspicious… or rather, less anxious since my suspicions have been confirmed.
I just came here to laugh, because I knew someone would give an example of a troll. The cactus butt guy was hilarious.
@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Is that true? I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. You don’t strike me as the type of man who would have a cutesy name in general life…
When they create a new account and their only activity is to send me PM’s telling me I’m a c**t. Come on, I know I am, but if you want to tell me that at least have the decency not to hide behind an anonymous account.
@dappled_leaves, totally true. Actually… It depends on who it is. Most of them call/called me Mikey, but one called me “Mikah” and another one insisted on calling me by my full first name and she had very specific reasons why. Most everyone else calls me by my last name. And I’m super offended. You should come tend to my tears. ;-p
@Blackberry yup. New account. No questions. No answers. Just PM’d me with abuse. For all I know they PM’d other people as well but their account is still active so I’m assuming not that many people complained about them if they did.
@dappled_leaves And an adorable Mikey, too! But, warning, he’s not a cute kid eating cereal… He got some fangs hidden somewhere on him, that Mikey!
@Lightlyseared you’re like… one of the least controversial people on here. Why in the world would someone go out of their way to call you that numerous times?
I don’t really get suspicious of new users on here. My attention might be drawn to a person’s screen name that seems familiar from another site or seems familiar from when I had recently joined. It may also be drawn to someone’s screen name if he or she posts content that I find interesting. I don’t really spend enough time here to see all that big of a difference between new users and old users. As for @ing people, that came naturally to me before I even found Fluther (if I recall correctly). It was pretty obvious to me what it meant when I first joined.
When a new user seems to be giving a lot of lurve to one particular jelly (perhaps more noticeable when I’m on in my morning and there’s not many active users)...
^ Yep, the “pet fart” idiot is back. You know, if you’re going to troll, couldn’t you at least come up with something clever, controversial, original, or shocking? “Hey, I’m a retard” seems hardly worth the effort.
Like the Mikey’s and the Liam’s that are in the new users stories recently that just felt suspicious to me.
When they add me to their Fluther and I have never seen their username before.
I’ve been on/off of this site for 2 years now and I have never seen an actual troll personally on here. I was on sodahead for a year so I know what a real troll is. There are some questions that I’ve found strange because they seemed to ask for info that was either too personal or just odd.
If they ask a question in the general section that sounds exactly like something my teachers would give me. I hate people who think we’re here to do their homework.
@HungryGuy I thought it was about his cat…
@johnpowell I love how the only person they followed was Adirondackwannabe.
Mother I’d like to Fluther – MILF
@Judi OH! Now it makes sense. You know it, baby.
I think that it is sort of depressing that 1/5 (20%) of all the times that I have been followed are because of my response this question.
@PhiNotPi The other 4/5 can’t be trolls, surely…
@PhiNotPi Well, I don’t think that’s too bad as a proportion then… I think almost all of the jellies following me are doing so because I followed them first. And not many do that.
Any consistent use of poor English, anybody asking about their husband/boyfriend hooking up with a “kind hearted woman” or having any problems with other people’s husbands talking to other women, while treating them harshly or igoring them completely, or anybody asking if it’s OK to have an affair with a married man (especially if that man’s wife is pregnant). Or anybody that’s had a “steamy evening” with a man they met online and then asking what that man meant when he said, “X, Y or Z.” Or anybody professing that English is their native language, when they can’t string together a coherent sentence in English.
Or if you ask them a direct question, they simply ignore the question (or accuse you of racisim for asking if they’re native language is English) and say, “LOL” to anyone who replies to their Q with something cute and innocuous, like “Do what’s in your heart!”
Or anyone who gets offended or defensive when asked to clarify something.
@Lightlyseared You should totally tell me who that was. Via PM, of course. I want to know who this asshat is!
If a person’s first question is “does this boy/girl like me?” or “what does this dream mean?” I tend to assume that person probably won’t stick around for long!
Ok-I’m a newbe. I looked for a new place to interact with other like beings, who want to ask and answer well thought out, intelligent questions. I have just gotten tired of the websites that want to be the “well I just got out of bed” or “just sitting here picking my nose” go-to sites. In the couple of days I have spent with other Fluther inhabitants, I have found some interesting insights into the world, some different some the same, as mine. So, here I am folks. Jab away.
Well, @annewilliams5 , welcome, but why the invite to “jab away”? Is that your early impression of us?
No. Actually, you all seem pretty fun. I meant it in the thought provoking sense.
We never jab. We pull out machetes and swords and other pointy things. We’ll endeavor to provoke the hell out of your thoughts! Have some fun, here… ;-)
Ah machetes are, indeed, my favorite jabbers. I like to dig deep and ask the thought provoking question. May I ask? Define Troll? I guess when I joined it was an impulse based on some pretty good questions.
I just want to assure you that I never EVER pull out a machete.
I prefer a shovel.
@annewilliams5 Don’t let @JilltheTooth tell you I’m scary, because I’m not. Yes I am. I’m really not! I really am. Don’t let her tell you that I hear voices shutup! or that I have conversations with myself dammit chocolate, I said shutup because none of it’s true! If she tries to tell you that I’m mean to her it was only that one time, I swear don’t listen to her. She lies to everyone no she doesn’t and lets people think that I’m this awful, crazy person which is totally true which is totally untrue!
Is there a medication…that you may have skipped this morning? In all seriousness-thanks for the definition.
Ummm, nope, I took my medications. All 34 of them. I’m okay. I think.
You finished that fruitcake, didn’t you. Shoulda saved some…
What fruitcake? There was a fruitcake? Wait… what is today?
Me thinks the use of “troll” is applied less than genuine. In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. Soooooo…….if a person ask a question that is plausible or has more than a tinge of truth or realism to it, even it highly unpopular in view, it is still the main topic so the person asking it cannot be trolling. If it came off incendiary, inflammatory, etc, I think that is more the fault of the reader not the asker.
But…but… Auggie! <sigh> Okay… if I have to.
Yeah, good luck with that… ;-D
I would ask you to help keep me in line, but you’re just as insane and smart-alecky as I am! :P
Somebody once called me “soothing”. I laughed, but I’m gonna go with that! :-P
Me? Scared off? Never! I laugh at fear! HaHaHaHa
Behaving is really overrated!
Oh, dear, we’ve created yet another monster… Welcome aboard, @annewilliams5 , you’re in for a ride…
@annewilliams5 I like you. You think just like me.
So, what have we learned from this thread.
1) Not all new users are bad.
2) @WillWorkForChocolate is crazier than originally thought.
I feel like my question gave the wrong impression.
Yes, we have returning trolls and spammers, some of which are easy to spot because they have a “theme.”
Sometimes “new” users aren’t actually new, but are returning users, or current users visiting incognito. Which is not good or bad, just an observation.
Being new isn’t enough to raise anyone’s suspicion, from what I can tell. I’m fairly sure that I’m not speaking only for myself when I say that I’m excited when new people join. :)
But it gave me an excuse to resurrect the snake and shovel thread!
Haha, I remember when I first read that question. I was ready to call the cops.
“Hi yes, we have a murderer. She’ll probobly look like a hampster in a hoodie.” :)
ROFL, a hamster in a hoodie?
@ANef_is_Enuf I’m happy when new people join too, for the most part. There have been a few who just started off on the completely wrong foot and never moved past it, lol. It’s nice to see new “faces” around here!!
Someone photoshopped human features onto a cat’s face, and I’m assuming that blue thing is a scarf? I have quite a few “Nuclear Kitteh” avatars that have human features superimposed onto a cat’s face. :D
I like the “shark kitten” too…
Yup, I’m pretty sure that joining this group is going to be fun.
Funyuns? I’ve not heard of that type of jelly…Can I google that? Is google a bad word to use on this site?
No, we rarely google. But we often oogle! Especially us dirty old man jellies oogling these fine lady jellies—especially those with enough years in their bones to become utterly fascinating individuals!
See Flirthing: flirting while fluthering.
You’re just a couple of flilthy jellies!
@Kardamom Better saying for us; We put the fun in dysfunctional!
I think this is being taken too seriously. Who cares if someone knows how to use Fluther, it shouldn’t be anyone’s concern because this site is free and open to the public. Unless someone is being very downright rude then they should be taken off. Is Fluther supposed to be an exclusive club only meant for a few people ? Or is Fluther meant to ask questions and get answers?
Why does everyone seem to be under the impression that this question is about users that shouldn’t be here? I am not sure what it is about the way that I worded it that makes it read like ‘get rid of everyone, new users are the devil.’
Clarification.
@partyrock Ummmm, I think you were taking other jellies comments too seriously, actually. All this question meant was basically, “what can new users do that make you suspicious of them?”
When we talk about someone who “knows how to use Fluther”, what we mean is a brand new user who somehow already seems to know all the @ and link copying quirks and things. Makes us think theyare a former jelly who is coming back under a different name.
We didn’t say all new users are unwelcome. Just the ones who are obviously spambots or trolls.
@partyrock it doesn’t matter, but sometimes it is noticeable.
Ha ha ha, @ANef_is_Enuf , did you think the Q would go all these places? It read to me like it was asked with a casual curiosity…
@partyrock : Wouldn’t you be curious and wonder what was up if someone seemed familiar with a club you were part of yet didn’t admit to having been there before? It’s just a point of curiosity, that’s all.
@JilltheTooth yes, that’s the perfect word for it. I was really just curious. There was no malicious intent, I swear.
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