Should we be tougher on trolls?

You just joined and you’re complaining about trolls? Have you been here before?

I think many of the long-time jellies have a love/hate realtionship with some aspects of Fluther…but really, it’s the Internet.

Maybe get outside and soak up some fresh air and sun.

Otherwise, simply participate in the discussion and void out the responses from the couple of users you think are trolling.

I’m more than happy to leave such decisions in the capable hands of the mods/manager here, they have a proven track record of weeding out unwanted scum.
Which is good to know, means I can carry on regardless.

If you suspect someone of being a troll, then you should flag them. Bona fide trolls on here are usually swiftly dealt with. I feel like you may be using a different definition of trolling.

I can vouch for certain that if you report trolls here, they are shot down, pronto. I have never once seen a troll here and I’ve been on a fair bit. I am looking forward to going on my first troll hunt, though. I got my troll gun, troll bait, and troll moose ready to go, first thing in the morning.

I don’t think @ro_in_motion is talking about actual trolls. It sounds to me like there are specific jellies in mind from the description

As @Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard said, if you think someone is a troll, it’s best to just flag them, allow the mod team to take care of it, and move on. Accusing them of trolling tends to make matters worse and often only encourages the true trolls even more.

What exactly is your definition of trolling? If someone has been here for a long time and you feel like they are a troll, perhaps that user is not really a troll and you just view them as one. If that’s the case, the best thing you can do is send a PM to Augustlan or the mods and ask them about it in private. That way you can get an answer and know for sure what’s going on.

Some users are less popular than others, and so are many viewpoints on here. A difference in opinion or posting an unpopular viewpoint does not make one a ‘troll’.

We are all free agents, you can either bite or ignore or report. Your choice.
I think the mods do a good job of ridding the pod of those billy goats tripping over the fluther bridge. Personally, some of the best humor ever has come from trolls. They are usually short lived, sooo, I wouldn’t get my panties in a twist over things. Flag ‘em and move on. :-)

get a bigger goat.

I think that the mods here take care of the trolls quite well. I don’t ever see any hanging around for very long.
Perhaps you just don’t agree with what another user is saying? If you want a place where you always agree with the other members, then I don’t think you will be very happy here. I don’t think that that is the purpose of Fluther.

I can think of one rather outre user who has been responding like a troll a lot lately. I have wondered if the moderators were going to ask this somewhat long-time user what was going on.

I have no problem with differences in opinion. I thrive on them.

What I am talking about are people who gainsay with no evidence when others go to great length to buttress their sides with logic and supporting documentation.

Simone: If you’re serious, let me know why either here or in private. Peace.

It’s not that serious, we deal with trolls pretty well here. It’s kind of fun, actually: we mess with them for a bit, then we ban them, lol.

I visit other websites where trolls are a permanent part of the site, and I’ll be modded for being sarcastic to the trolls.

@ro_in_motion Meh. I don’t have any strong feelings about trolls and if you’re one, pming you is one too many steps for me, at this point. Sorry.

I have no problem with differences in opinion. I thrive on them.

What I am talking about are people who gainsay with no evidence when others go to great length to buttress their sides with logic and supporting documentation

@ro_in_motion Logic & documentation? It sounds to me as if you’d like to control other people’s thought patterns and expressions.

What if the other person thinks in a more black & white way? What if the person just comes in here to give one liners? Maybe the other person prefers succinct answers?

I, for one, might answer completely based on my own personal experience.

I don’t think we have an issue with trolls. Check out other Q&A sites; I’d be willing to bet that most of them are much worse. I think trolls are dealt with fairly quickly here. The Fluther mods do a great job. No, I’m not sucking up ..but do I get a cookie? :P

@Plucky Will a Milk Bone be okay?

Sweet, that’ll do!

We mods eat trolls for breakfast. (Also for lunch, dinner, midnight snack, after midnight snack…)

There are a large spectrum of jellies here and each has a unique personality and passion. Sometimes users might come off as stubborn or unhelpful. We do try to keep things on track here though.

As others have mentioned, rather than getting upset over posts just drop an email to Auggie or flag a response if they seem to be trying to derail the conversation (in General)

:D Any more milk bones left?

You don’t have to be a troll (in the sense of someone who is purposefully stirring up shit just for the lulz) to fail to use logic and evidence. Sometimes, those are just assholes, and Fluther has no rules against assholes. Having said that, the way to deal with them is the same as with trolls: ignore them.

There’s trolls and then there’s trolls. What I see as a troll is a person who’s purpose is nothing but insulting specific users/people/types of discussions/subjects, making pointless threads with the sole aim of pissing people off. Say I go and make threads that basically insult people who don’t like zombies. Several threads. I’m a troll. Say all I do on here is bash theists and I add nothing constructive or intelligent to anything I say that sucks, I’m a troll. Say I encourage and hail the rape and murder of little girls, I’m a troll. Say I make threads designed merely to bitch about some incident on Fluther, I’m another type of troll. Say I’m twenty six feet tall, my name is Grklmnlttpkrldflk and I swing around tree trunks, I’m…uh…
At least that’s how I see them. These kinds of people do not last here, usually. I really don’t see it as an issue. Your example sounds a little different. While it may be annoying, what you describe isn’t necessarily a troll, and people do have the right to debate and present their opinions as they see fit, as long as the guidelines are respected, am I right? We don’t all think and process shit the same.
Maybe they don’t add anything useful, maybe they do…but what you’re saying kind of sounds like personal opinion and maybe some misinterpretations. Looks to me like ye olde ’‘well they’re assholes cuz they don’t agree with me’’ routine. Some people here can get on my damn nerves, but that doesn’t make them trolls, or their activity here any less legitimate than someone I might favor.
Lots of folks here are fairly argumentative and have strong opinions yes, but I’ve never quite seen any user, on a regular basis, negate and belittle people as a hobby. Sure, it does happen, I’m pretty sure I’ve done it myself. But you can’t let stuff like that get to you, or call it an epidemic, since it’s not very common, and is usually taken care of if you ask a mod. Maybe people just get bad days, or voice things wrong. Or understand them wrong. I don’t see much trollery here. Sometimes people do get mean and insensitive…but we are a community, and none is perfect. (until, that is, I take my place as world leader, of course) As @Aethelflaed above me said, there may be true assholes. But do you really think that there’s so many that we should change some things about how it works around here?
Thing is, personally I find that the peace here is being quite well maintained, while still allowing users to express themselves fully, and talk about a wide range of topics freely.

Anyone remember the cactus Q.? lolol
The person that claimed they fell on a cactus and were uh, rectally impaled….funniest thing ever.

Rectally impaled…I’m gonna have to remember that. XD I wish we could have user titles on here

Classic @Coloma. That and Green Poo. Man, those were funny trolls

Why are they trolls? We need the comic relief. We should pay them to put stuff here.

Found a suitable avatar.

I do think we’re using different definitions of troll. Blatant trolls are dealt with swiftly. Sometimes there are very subtle trolls, and they take longer to sniff out. In either case, though, their purpose is the same: to rile up the community for no good reason.

I’m pretty sure what you’re talking about is people who just have a very set-in-stone ideology, and will not be swayed by anyone’s arguments, no matter what. We don’t consider that trolling. If they get your blood pressure going, it’s probably best to not engage them in debate.

“Give me what I want, buddy! I only want nice people to answer.”

That’s my definition of troll.

You must follow the magic formula of asking three times, then I’m FORCED to answer you!

Hey guys, the other night my wife kissed me, do you think she likes me?

What about the guy that took a dump in his uncle’s basement? He wanted advice on whether to try to sneak back into his uncle’s house to clean it up or not…Someone should find that one and link it, I’m not doing it justice.

edit: found it!

http://www.fluther.com/102595/should-i-tell-my-mom-that-i-pooped-in-my-uncles/

got any nekkid pictures of yer sister? Want some?

@Blackberry For some reason, I’m having trouble picturing your wife. Do you think she likes me? Purely tectonically, I mean?

@wundayatta Well, one time we were having a steamy night and she said something about an orange tree.

I came here as I was told this was a great place full of great people who talked about interesting things. For the most part, that’s be wonderfully true.

Here are some of things I think of as ‘trolling’.

1. Someone accused me of being a troll. When encouraged to discuss this with me, the person said they wouldn’t.
2. Some people ‘game’ questions by adopting an anti-intellectual stance. They cut down other people/arguments without providing any substantiation. Here, I don’t mean once or twice in a thread.
3. People who encourage a minor to have sex with an adult.

I know there are people here who support what I have said. There are many who don’t. Thanks for your feedback.

@ro_in_motion Can understand your objections to certain behaviors but I think where some of us differ with you is the definition of a troll. Many people on here object to what they feel is over-modification rather than under. Personality conflicts do not necessarily mean the other person is a troll; as has been said, they may just be being an ass. (Although it is frustrating to have someone accuse you of something and then not be willing to discuss it.) And some “anti-intellectuals” are just not very smart people. In the third instance, you can either disagree with the person giving bad advice on the thread or if you feel they have crossed a line, flag it and discuss it with a mod.

@ro_in_motion “an anti-intellectual stance”… I’m not exactly sure what you mean by this.

Oh, I got moderated! was i the user @marinelife talking about? I’m glad the mods listened. i’m getting so out of control, apparently.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Nah, it’s just that we’d rather members not accuse each other of being trolls (publicly).

I was called a troll once, right up there with being called “bourgeois”...I found both to be highly humorous.

@Coloma bourgeois? I don’t know about that. Petit bourgeois, perhaps. Maybe petit troll, too? What do you think? You could be a heartbreaker. ;-)

@wundayatta Heh! :-)

edit: oops, read an answer wrong, therefore my post didn’t make sense.

@FutureMemory Well..take off the shades dude! lol

@FutureMemory And turn that frown right upside down! :-)

The “Future” is so bright, he’s gotta wear shades.

Thank you @FutureMemory for taking the time to find the cellarshit story.

Yes, wow..how’d I miss the box of poo in the cellar story. Hilarious. I am suppressing an urge to come up with a trollish Q. I’ll behave, but it’s tempting. lol

I may just keep this avatar for a while.

@ro_in_motion if you are looking for a place where discourse is heavily regulated to maintain an objective and fact-oriented perspective, might I suggest AskScience?

Go on yahoo answers, and then come back and tell us how fluther has a troll problem XD

On Fluther I report the trolls, elsewhere I troll the trolls.

Sometimes I’m a little sad that trolls are so swiftly dealt with. A couple years back the cake was in the frizzer all night on a troll question. It was hilarious. I think Simone made Jean-Paul log in for the lulz. And then it was gone. Le sigh. If any one’s got that one bookmarked I’d love a link. I think it was about drug use. Whatever it was the asker was hilariously high when he posted.

I saved this gem before it was scrubbed.

@fundevogel A gem indeed.

@fundevogel I think I might still have a link to the frizzer Q. Let me check.

@fundevogel I knew it seemed trollish to me but I had to answer in a non-troll manner, I almost asked if it was a joke :P

@fundevogel From that thread you saved;

Are straight girls straight just because they aren’t good looking enough to get a girl?

Fuck did I ever laugh like a maniac just now lmao. XDXD That was the greatest conclusion to anything I ever saw. Lol. XD I’m bi and I never get any pussy. Wtf does that make me?? Lol nice find. I just have to say it again;

Are straight girls straight just because they aren’t good looking enough to get a girl?

We have the frizzer q, its actually a lurve item so no linkee!

@Symbeline I know – every time this guy asks a question to the effect of “damn, bi women/lesbians must get so much pussy, that’s why I’m not getting any”, I think “what the fuck is wrong with me that I have to put so much work into getting pussy?”

@Plucky When I checked that question in the morning and it was modded I was so glad to see your answer. It made me happy to know at least one other person had gotten to see that nonsense. I kinda think that it wouldn’t have been modded if it hadn’t been a new member question. Because you’re right, it was hilarious. It’s the not knowing the poster that makes its intent unclear.

@XOIIO I don’t mean the frizzer question. Just that a party was going down. There were at least 30 jellies hanging out and you couldn’t type out your responses before two or three more comments were made. It was fluther’s anwer to dancing on the table and hanging off the chandelier.

@Aethelflaed I guess it means that we’re all fat nerds at the bottom of Darwin’s list. :D

@Symbeline Basically. But those are the best kind ;)

I saw that one and thought it was hilarious. I thought I had posted on it as well.

@Symbeline I know right? I love that question.

Ahh

@janbb It was posted multiple times. I was first poster on one of them:

http://www.fluther.com/142763/are-straight-girls-uglier-than-bi-and-lesbian-girlsnsw/

@FutureMemory Aha – that explains it. Guess he wasn’t getting the answer he wanted.

——————Signed, An Ugly Straight Girl

@fundevogel Can’t find it. I had hoped someone else who actually posted on the original thread might have come forward. Sorry.

@Trillian Thanks for checking. It was so long ago it would be impressive if anyone could lay hands on it. I didn’t start saving at risk questions until last year.

Edited by me.

@fundevogel and @Trillian If anyone remembers the title or approximate title, I might be able to find it.

@augustlan it was the one about the kidnapped or murdered little boy that was in the news. The OP asked if they had looked in the “frizzer”. Mayhem then ensued, and a good time was had by all. Except the OP who was never heard from again. I have an award related to it.

Psst. If you google “Fluther frizzer”, it’s the second result.

@Trillian That’s the original frizzer question, which you can find here. But I don’t think that’s the one @fundevogel is talking about.

Another one bit the dust. @ro_in_motion is gone.

@augustlan I wish I could remember the question but it’s fuzzy. I’m pretty sure it involved drug use, but the asker was so clearly trashed that people responded in friendly amusement at his state and then it went pretty thoroughly off the rails and became a jocular bout of what hilarious nonsense will be posted next? It was the first and most wild example of a real-time thread party I’ve been a part of on fluther.

@augustlan Question: If a comment I made in a modded question got lurve would the comment still show up in my lurve history? I’m wondering if wading though it I might be able to find the question. I know I’d recognize it immediately if I came across it.

Hmm. I’m not sure, @fundevogel. Do you happen to remember any of the comments you made? I might be able to find it that way.

Nope. I just remember that I’ve had individual comments modded, but still had their lurve in my history so I thought the same might be true of comments in modded threads.

Oh my god, I almost cried from laughter at the question that was just deleted.

“Shit you son of a bitch…”

“I only want nice people to answer.”

“Get off your lazyballs”

This thread is truly the gift that keeps on giving. lol

We should give “Randy” diplomatic immunity. C’mon mods…...

@Blackberry LOL…I forgot about “Randy”...classic, really he/she is star troll material!
I remember the time I told “Randy” that the odds of him seeing me naked were about as good as being attacked by a Mountain Lion while simultaneously being struck by lightening!

@Coloma He was asking how to see the inside of a store online. Then he expressed his frustration with people shopping online and not going out to the actual store. And of course after that is the inevitable “hurry up and give me my answer.”

@Blackberry haha..well, you know, some crackers aren’t even aware when their cheese has slipped off. lol