How do you deal with trolls?
Asked by
jonsblond (
44213
)
November 8th, 2009
I know there have been many questions concerning trolls, but I would like to know how you personally deal with them.
Do you feed them?
Flag them?
Ignore them?
I had my first experience modding a troll the other day during my husband’s radio show. I didn’t boot the troll until several viewers asked me to. At what point do you say “enough is enough”?
@mods I would love to hear from you!
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124 Answers
I make sure their hair is standing up and all poofy like it’s supposed to be.
Are we talking about Nick Gerz?
Moving forward, I do enjoy teasing them. Trolling the trolls, as it were. I try not to on Fluther, however. Tend to ignore them unless I’ve got a bug up my ass, or something.
I rarely flag, unless it’s something really out there.
Around here, I flag them and ignore them. Sometimes, however, it’s difficult to determine if someone is truly a troll, especially when it’s a long-time user who seems to be “trolling” me (which has only happened like once). Still, I flag it. I’ve dealt with some pretty bad trolls on other sites before. I’ve even banned some…felt good. :)
I would see people give in to trolls and take them seriously and I’m like “why are you even wasting your time with this idiot? This person is a complete joke. No need to waste time with it.” Feeding the trolls is not a good idea. Don’t give them the attention they crave.
And I’m talking about real trolling here. Just because someone disagrees with you, it doesn’t mean they’re a troll. I’ve seen that happen here too.
If a user is being abusive to others, we refer them to our community guidelines on the FAQ page and notify them that such behavior is unacceptable.
We remove the quips that are in violation of the guidelines and if they decide to continue, they proceed to get banned. We discuss these things at length before acting. Banning a user is not something to be taken lightly and is a last resort.
Heyyy, I know where you got the inspiration to post this question…
@jonsblond Im still trying to handle that same issue as we speak ;)
Ignore or flag. Depends how bad it is.
I have gotten in some hot water with a troll here before, but then I stop and ask myself, ”what the hell am I doing arguing with some loser on the Internet?!”
Now I flag ‘em and GA the good jellies that have a valid reason.
On Fluther, pretty much what @The_Compassionate_Heretic said.
On other sites, flag and ignore.
There are different types of trolls. A “zack” on Fluther or a Nick Gerz, someone who is obviously young and immature, are a bit fun to play with, because often you can push their buttons and upset them while having fun yourself. I have less tolerance for an older troll who posts something that is hateful or someone who posts things that they probably don’t even believe, just to get people riled up.
Outside the Fluthersphere, it’s flag and move on for me.
Everybody needs some of this but if you can’t find yours, just flag and move on.
@rangerr
Indeed, I impale them with a No. 2 pencil.
(Not my Flickr, btw.)
Which means I flag. But I’m usually too naive to recognize a proper troll.
I heard they are quite susceptible to any form of magick.
Publicly shame them! Tell us, who is it?
Mostly I just ignore them, and when I visit an old thread get reminded about one of them. I usually react like: ’Hey, whatever happened to him’ (clicking on the account usually leads to Ben).
For which I guess I should be grateful to the mods, thank you mods!
Expose them to sunlight and turn them to stone.
I answer their three questions, and cross the bridge.
I tell them to feck off!! says the littlest billy goat gruff! I’m going to cross over this bridge and get to the lush new grass on the mountainside for my brekkie! Yes, feck off, I say, you ugly old troll!
Boil ‘em
Mash ‘em
Stick ‘em in a stew.
@gemiwing Stole my Fluther motto ;)
Flag ‘em & Forget ‘em
Although this weekend I felt compelled to call out a boarder line troll/newb by welcoming her and informing her of her mis-step.
If I find myself getting upset by the troll it’s time to stop following the question after flagging.
Come on, everyone knows trolls don’t exist
Even after contributing here, I found myself getting sucked in by a troll again here in Fluther
@jonsblond I think it takes some of us a while to catch on that trolling is occurring.
I don’t believe in trolls, I think you guys just don’t like someone with a different opinion or someone who believes certain things that most all society says is wrong
There are trolls, but I’m not sure those were very good examples?
@bagelface The really “good examples” are quickly taken down by the mods in Fluther. If you want to see great examples of trolling you’d need to go to Y!A or Askville, or any other social site with poor modding.
@justus2 I think Andrew explains trolls very well in this thread. I don’t know who you mean by “you guys”. What I have witnessed here at Fluther is many intelligent people that for the most part could care less how others live their lives. If someone has a different opinion, they may disagree, but at least they treat others with respect and don’t belittle anyone.
To me anyone who accuses anyone else of trolling is a whiner, somebody has a question and they ask it and if certain people don’t like the question they scream out “troll” like that link up there that said again here in fluther, all it is is a question, if you don’t like the question don’t answer it people. If you don’t like someone’s answer to a question don’t respond, you don’t have to say troll, that sounds just like whining
@justus2 is totally trolling this thread
@justus2 -In more than one thread you’ve said we’re all just a bunch of whiners…Explain?
@bagelface She was trolling my thread yesterday. She’s making her rounds.
@Grisaille That Nick Gertz. It took me 10 minutes before I realized what his name was supposed to mean! Now he was definitely a troll.
@SpatzieLover I think it takes some of us a while to catch on that trolling is occurring
I’m one of those people. I like to see the good in people and give them the benefit of the doubt. It gets me burned quite a bit being so trusting!
Response moderated
I kind of agree with @justus2 to some extent. It’s what I said in my last line on my reply “just because someone disagrees with you, doesn’t make them a troll”. However, a troll is someone who wants to cause trouble, someone who comes and posts inflammatory things on purpose just to start things. Posting information irrelevant to the discussion just to slam the person is trolling in my opinion. Same with posting a question that begins with “hey all you moron conservatives out there…”. A lot of people assume that just because someone has an opinion that differs from the “mainstream”, that they’re trying to be inflammatory, but there’s nothing wrong with having an out-there opinion.
@DominicX Thank you, I don’t try to be mean. I just am very opinionated, wasn’t trying to be mean to @ItalianPrincess1217 yesterday. i said my opinion about something, she replied and I replied to what she said, back and forth, and I was trolling I guess. It didn’t seem too cool to me. Most of my opinions would be considered out there, which in most cases is a good thing because I am not as closed and I think ridiculous as the mainstream, but most people mistake me as a troll as the definition states, me personally would never call someone a troll
@justus2 You called me an abuser in a thread last night that had nothing to do with spanking children. You singled me out. That is trollish behavior and against fluther guidlines. That’s why you were flagged. I didn’t even flag it. Someone else had to tell me what you said because it had already been removed by the time I went back to the thread. You can be against spanking, but you have no right to call me an abuser for spanking my children just a few times when they were young, and to carry it on to a thread that has nothing to do with spanking.
@jonsblond I gotta admit, though. For a troll, that name was pretty clever.
@Grisaille haha. How many of us were clueless until someone pointed that out! :)
Nope they got it wrong, I didn’t call you an abuser, I don’t remember what I said but it was because you went at me first and I just stated that to me what you say doesn’t mean anything to me personally, because of our previous issues and what I think about you, I won’t say it again, wouldn’t want words put in my mouth
@justus2 I didn’t “go at you”. I made a joke. Would you like me to find the link to remind you? It was nothing against you.
Also, @justus2
PROTIP: Saying you don’t “believe” in trolls does not mean they do not exist. They do. Converse opinion is fine, as long as it is presented in a fair, non-incendiary manner.
If you believe that someone stating that “blacks are dirty apes and should be eradicated; anyone who disagrees should be burned at the stake” is not a troll and is simply “someone with a different opinion or someone who believes certain things that most all society says is wrong” then you are – I’m sorry – an incorrect apologist.
GA, G. I was trying to figure out how to say that.
Grisaille, you are on a roll today
@jonsblond just looked at it, and to me that was you just trying to make my opoinion about her attitude look bad, because of our previous issues and because of that it made it to where what you say means nothing to me.
As for my opinion on trolls, I saw the definition, and yes they exist as defined, however I would never call someone a troll, if I don’t like a question I wouldn’t answer it.
@Grisaille
That’s because it’s not absolute. It’s on a scale. That opinion attacks people from two sides.
But not all opinions that go against the mainstream attack people. For example, I believe that an incestuous relationship between consenting adults is fine as long as it doesn’t produce children. That goes against the mainstream. But it doesn’t attack anyone.
And I would strongly oppose anyone who called me a “troll” for having that opinion.
@justus2 It’s completely fine if someone wants to state their opinions. That’s what this site is for. But what you’re doing is different. You lose focus on the real topic in threads and you go off on little rants about random things.
@DominicX or me I believe that it is ok for 2 people to have consensual sex, and I don’t believe in statuatory rape, i believe that is a load of crap, that is not a troll, that is an opinion that most people wouldn’t agree with.
How do you deal with trolls is the original topic of this thread. Because of @justus2, we are now discussing whether trolls exist.
And now we are even further off topic because of that.
I answered about trolls, how do you deal with them, well I don’t because I never call someone a troll
Then by your own logic, you should not have even answered this question, because you clearly do not like nor agree with it.
I can answer any question, the way I feel like answering the question, which is that I feel they don’t exist, only by definition
now you are going off topic, telling me I shouldn’t have answered this question, stick to the subject about trolls
@ItalianPrincess1217 went off topic also, didn’t answer the question, just stated that she knew where she got the inspiration to ask this question.
Back to the original question:
Ok, sometimes I play with them. =)
The question gives a list of topics, I stuck to the topic of trolls. I didn’t go off topic
@DominicX And I fully agree. As I said: “Converse opinion is fine, as long as it is presented in a fair, non-incendiary manner.”
I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t provide an opinion with absolute disdain or in a way that you know would rile the audience. People do that, however, and that’s the point I was trying to make.
@Tink1113 I lurve you!
@justus2 I asked this question because I just started moderating the chat room for my husband’s internet radio show. This past Friday was the first time that I had to deal with trolls. They do exist. People that come in just to disrupt. We can boot whoever we want because the chat room is ours. I wanted to ask Fluther, and the mods especially, how they deal with trolls. At what point do they considered someone a disruption. I’m new at modding and I was looking for guidance.
I think the best way is just to ignore them. They feed on attention.
If trolls do exist then they must be good because everyone says I am one, so a troll must be a good thing then
Excuse me while I pass out from laughing.
:-) was meant to be funny
Response moderated
[Mod Says] Quit it. We’ve already had this discussion yesterday and now it is spilling into other questions.
I’d like to reiterate what I said earlier: We warn, they ignore, we ban. ::POOF!:: Troll-be-gone. See for yourselves! ;-)
That is what I love about Fluther. Not only do folks explain things but they give examples too!
How the hell did you italicize your name, and stuff?
Update: After talking with a certain banned member tonight, I have agreed to make it a two week suspension rather than a ban. She has agreed to come back with a new attitude. When/if she comes back, please give her a chance. Thanks!
And wtf is up with the italics?
It was a “she”? I really thought he was a guy…lol
srsly wtf is up with the italics??
markyy broke it. It started happening after his post.
@DominicX I’m pretty sure she is still a ‘she’.
@bagelface Stop tilting your head to the right, or do you live on a boat? Oh wait I just sat on Fluther, let me fix it up again, there! all better.
Hmm,.... Nope. Still broken.
Is this some kind of troll test that I horribly failed? Am I a troll?
You know I just had to try this. Yeah- it is freaky!
I am a pretty princess. A pretty vanishing princess. A naughty princess messing around with the site.
you all left me speechless ;)
I mean, we love you too Pete.
Well, crap. I unbroke it.
I see it happening in Firefox, but not in Chrome, maybe it’s time for y’all to get a real browser ~
It wasn’t broken.. now it’s all italicized on my browser too.
@markyy My entire screen looks like a “screen shot” but only on the answers to this question. What did you do?
@rangerr No for real…it was “normal” for about 2 mins. Now it’s back to looking like a screen shot.
@SpatzieLover Mine goes normal whenever I post something new, but once I refresh, everything is in italics again. The entire damn page. I’m confused.
@jonsblond:
”That Nick Gertz. It took me 10 minutes before I realized what his name was supposed to mean! Now he was definitely a troll.”
Ever since reading that I kept trying to figure out what his name could mean.
I finally got in while lying in bed last night.
@petethepothead If someone hadn’t pointed it out to me that night, I’d probably still be clueless. ;)
didn’t you just try pronouncing the name? It sounds pretty clear to me.
I kept saying it in my head, over and over. Didn’t click for me. I kept hearing “knickers.”
i am laughing so hard that i have tears running down my cheeks. . .and not on my face.
WHY IS THIS STILL ITALICS?!
I don’t see it in italics. You must’ve taken a bad dose of something.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love you all? :D
All better! Thanks, Andrew. :)
I wish we had a downrate button for @augustlan‘s second to last post. :P
The member in question is no longer with us, again. For good.
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