Any chance MN HQ could ban posters who consistently speculate regarding trolls...

oh yes i rememebr her, veyry odd

globetrotter was actually a bit more sinister than your average troll, even more so than the ones like dm/cvq.

She claimed to be blind, and claimed to have set up a NGO in vietnam helping (I can't remember whether it was just blind or varying disabilities) children (they were orphans iirc.

She spent time posting on the sn boards, asking posters about their children, and remembering and bringing up several months later, sensitive details that certain posters had posted about their (vulnerable) children with sn.

Someone emailed me about her because some of the details she posted seemed a bit inconsistent with the disability she appeared to have, and I challenged her on a thread. I didn't accuse her of trolling, but basically introduced myself as a blind person too and related my own experiences.

After that she changed tack and began posting as her mother, and posted a thread A saying that people had no idea what her beloved daughter was going through and how wonderful she was, and B saying how dare I challenge her daughter yada yada.

A long thread insued, during which people challenged her on how genuine she was, she claimed to have a website (which didn't exist) and defended herself, both in her own name and that of her mother and received quite a harsh response.

Later on she started a thread in another name giving details of organizations in vietnam that could help "globetrotter" with the wonderful work she was doing. Lots of other posts followed, from other first-time posters, saying how they were friends of hers and how wonderful she was and how we were all bitches for ever doubting her etc etc.

And then she disappeared.

And then she came back under another name, claiming to live abroad but this time having lots of experience of autism. she was outed again afaik.

She returned again as globetrotter because, as it was later revealed by mn hq, they had taken away her ability to namechange due to her misuse of the function.

It since transpired that she had based her persona on that of a blind german woman who has in fact set up a NGO in the far east somewhere, I can't recall the exact details but she posted wanting people to know of this woman and wanting to know how she could spread the word...

Since then she came back under the name topBitch and iirc it was at that time that she got in touch with 2shoes based on a post she wrote about her dd's need for a computer.

I don't know how that all panned out, I know that the computer was purchased, and subsequent to that she started to try and gain information from 2shoes about her dd's school, but none of her personas have been back since.

TopBitch was banned after I voiced my concerns to mn hq based on the fact she had obtained 2shoes' name and address and the initial delivery of the computer had not materialized.

am sure there's more but this did actually play out over at least a year.

Who was globetrotter?

2shoes why did she want to buy your dd a computer??

oh yes my good friend globetrotter and her numerous aliases.

Itsallabit yes it is tough if you've been through a traumatic experience and you think that you can help someone going through the same thing.

Dizzymare sucked in two posters, both of whom had lost a twin and who could identify with what she was going through.

I sincerely doubt that it's that easy to ignore someone who is apparently going through something like that when you've been there.

Also, not sure why it's acceptable to say "I believe", but NOK to say "I don't believe" or even to ask a simple question to check an oddity and get it answered.

People who want their story taken seriously can usually come up with a sensible answer, attention seekers just fly off the handle and make a huge fuss until lots of posters pacify them and give lots of cuddles.

So, yes, I ask questions, I always ask questions, who doesn't? Do we have to suspend normality because we are communicating in writing rather than face to face?

It's not "tough".

IG-bloody-NORE.

custy the x files theme

WannaBe, that's precisely why I (and the OP, given the thread title) are talking about repeated trollhunting.

And I do think that when MNHQ is confident enough to ban/warn off a suspected troll, there should be some sort of indication on the site so that people know. I'd also really like a 'sticky' thread of deleted thread titles so that I knew what the hell had happened to them, but that's just me.

Really, though, I'm not making a judgement on whether MNHQ's troll policy is correct. I'm saying that it's their policy and their site, and so yes, people who repeatedly and deliberately flout those rules should be banned. I don't see why it's okay to just decide you don't agree with site rules and therefore ignore them. It's not a democracy.

Love the idea of Tales of the Unexpected topic.

I like Custy's idea.

And I do wish the trollhunters would listen to the MN guidelines. People who rush to yell 'troll' at anyone who has a different life to their own are rather tiresome. FFS, the real trolls have had far more involved, detailed, bizarre threads than 'I met a nutter on the bus...'. Maybe MN should resurrect the JF threads just so would-be troll hunters can go and see what a REAL troll is like?

Can I just say that that thread re bf kicked off because several posters swore and were rather ott to someone who had expressed surprise at the thread. That poster didn't, i believe, say the op was a troll, just said it was strange they'd had it happen to them 3 times. They surely are allowed to express their opinion?

It all got a bit hysterical after that.

thing is some trolls(and sir boobs is not a troll)
play the long game.
remember globetrotter?
I couldn't figure what she was up to,she even went as far as to buy dd a pc.....
then it became clear she wanted info on dd's school.

ooops 'groll' was a typo.

"wannabe, i just want to add that i've reported a certain poster who was going through a hard time, i thought was a troll, i didnt mention it on the thread
and nor did anyone else. and by the end of that day that poster had stopped posting." Don't you think though that it would be helpful if mn hq were to inform us if someone was found to be trolling in such a way? Esp a regular poster.

Part of the reasoning why lots of people don't report to mn hq is because they simply don't have the confidence that hq can do anything. I appreciate that helen said that they were working behind the scenes re DM, but she'd been reported weeks before it all kicked off, and still she was free to post and nothing could be done. And in the meantime she'd befriended people on fb/exchanged mobile numbers with other posters etc.

If Dizzymare hadn't been outed on the boards, would mn hq really have been able to establish whether she was genuine or not? And if so, would they ever have told us? Or would they have quietly deleted her meaning she would have been fre to pursue her off-board friendships on fb, with the occasional "remember dizzymar? she's going through a hard time atm but can't post," thread popping up which would probably go under hq's radar as they can't check all of the boards all of the time. Same applies to cvq, etc who have trolled in similar ways.

"there is a difference between someone like Shiny warning people about someone who was creating a lot of emotion and risking people already emotionally fragile
being embroiled in a situation they cant or shouldnt have to deal with (dizzymare).... and someone popping up on a thread and taking the piss and being
mean simply because its a bit far fetched and filling a genuine thread with rubbish that leaves the OP feeling bullied and upset to the point that they
leave.(sirboob)" Is there though? Someone stirring up emotion could equally be genuine, and them being "outed" on the boards could cause them hurt too? Equally some trolls do start out with the small things that go wrong in their lives and build up to the bigger stuff once they've convinced people they're genuine and gained their trust.

Dizzymare posted a lot of dramatic stuff, but she also responded normally to other threads.

Ethanchristopher didn't live a life of drama, she posted normally just inconsistently. She wasn't necessarily sucking people in emotionally, but she was befriending teen mums off board and planning to meet up with at least one.

But I imagine there would be people who would see no merrit in outing her as a troll because what she posted on-board was actually pretty harmless.

[Thumb & Wannabe - !

Good word though you have to admit!]

As an aside, would also remind people that raising doubts on a thread does not mean that person has not also reported to MNHQ - they are not mutually exclusive actions.

well that;s weird

what tune for some reason i have

bermuda triagle < shit that dates me>
and
tales of the unexpected＜ｓｈｉｔ　ｓｈｉｔ　&# 65364;ｈａｔ　ｄａｔｅｓ　ｍ&#6534 9;　ｔｏｏ＞

are you humming that tune yet?

wannabe, i just want to add that i've reported a certain poster who was going through a hard time, i thought was a troll, i didnt mention it on the thread and nor did anyone else. and by the end of that day that poster had stopped posting.

mnhq do find 'trolls' and do get rid of them, there is no need to shout 'troll' on a thread

strange but true - yes yes

Agree with Custy. Lets ask MNHQ for a 'strange but true' section.

Catinthehat - Wannabe uses a screenreader/writer so it might have misheard the word troll, that's probably all. But I expect she'll come and tell you that herself in a minute.