Trolls.....

[BertrandRussell]

Does anyone know why people do it? I don’t mean the big dramatic twitter/stalkery/death threat type trolls, or the ones looking for sexual kicks- I know why they do it. But the ones on here who make up perfectly feasible stories. If they just want engagement, surely there’s something real they can talk about?

I truly haven't a clue, bert.

We'll never know. Folk are strange.

I guess they're just super-bored people with boring lives.
It's very bizarre.

Goodness knows

I'm stunned at how many get sucked in though.

I must have reported about 10 threads last couple of weeks alone.

I suppose it might be quite fun to make up a scenario and see where it takes you. Like being someone else for the day. My son publishes (is that the word?) a lot of music online-and has two completely separate identities- his real one and a completely made up one for different styles of music and he enjoys being the other him....

Bert

You thinking of giving it a go....

How do you know I haven’t already?

I knew it

It could be a future situation that someone is worried about and they post a hypothetical question and then they don’t want to back out so go along with it being real.

Or just boredom I suppose and attention.

I can only guess that there’s something missing in their life. Boredom, loneliness, the need for a bit of attention. MH issues probably pay a part too.

It’s getting to a point in MN though where I think that there’s more trolls on here than genuine posters. Every other thread I read I think hmmm.

I am very poor at spotting trolls! Some are obvious nonsense even if they are funny, such as elderly Korean lady. I was however taken in by Mexican house thief! I was gutted when it turned out to be fake .

Ive been accused of trolling this week for contributing to a thread.

I am most certainly not a troll although my point of view was the opposite of the person who called me out!

@Somersetlady I’m a Trump supporter and if I mention it they lefty’s start frothing and call me a troll! It’s hilarious.

Well, i’d give you the benefit of the doubt- it’s certainly better to be a troll than a Trump supporter!

I can't spot a troll to save my life 😳
Sometimes I read something and I think, surely that can't be real, can it?
But I suppose as they say, fact is stranger than fiction, so I get sucked in.

@BertrandRussell

Mexican house thief is fake?!

I haven’t seen the Mexican house thief as being called out as fake either!

I think there have always been fantasists - people who tell lies and make up stories to make themselves sound interesting. I've got one in my family (lucky me). Internet anonymity just makes it a whole lot easier and safer - no one knows who you are, so no one is going to go around everyone you know saying you are a bullshitter.

Some are obvious fetishists (The 'does anyone wants to share stories of when you wet yourself at work' brigade)

Some make up totally ludicrous things that fall apart after a couple of posts (I remember one troll posting two different OP's as different sides of the same story ,something about a kid being attacked at school, then posted as the bullies mother> they came unstuck when they got their name change muddled up ) - I presume their motivation is attention seeking/ general weirdness/ goadiness.

Some make up really really mundane stuff - and they are the ones I find most unathomable - you've got to be seriously bored to make up something extremely boring -it's barely even trolling - more drivelling on about nowt.

I dont really get all the outrage with it though. Even if some bloke is mashing one out at the other side of the screen, it literally doesn't effect me in anyway what so ever. And sometimes other posters have really interesting conversations on those threads. The troll hunting is very boring. Is now at the point where posters come across something that is slightly different to how their life is so just assume it cant be real.

I made up that I had a baby once. I was in a german lesson and and I was bored of saying “ich habe einem bruder und einer schwester”

Boredom, maybe?

I was however taken in by Mexican house thief! I was gutted when it turned out to be fake blush.

When was that a fake?

I'm rubbish at spotting trolls so I just take every post as being genuine (however far fetched some seem to be!). I tend to think, ok if it's a troll it doesn't hurt me, and maybe they are genuine and need advice. I sometimes wonder about the "PBPs" ok they were banned for something at one time but that doesn't mean their current situation isn't genuine. Some of the deleted threads have been quite entertaining and I'd have liked to see the "end of the story" even if it was made up! The only thread I ever regret clicking on was that stupid so called riddle about the man called boss, who went up the post office steps! (It was something along those lines). That was annoying!

I think it's probably 50% attention seeking and 50% boredom.

The troll count always rises during the school holidays too, so we'll no doubt see more of them from next week onwards (I know Scottish schools are different).

I find that interesting because they're obviously bored parents.

Kids/teenagers really aren't going to bother trolling a parenting website when they have the rest of the internet to play with.

I knew of a woman who was sort of a troll. Her husband had died the previous year and she just posted as if he was still alive. Just posting mundane things about daily life with her husband. Completely harmless. Having recently lost my husband, I kind of see the appeal.