to not really understand the whole troll thing?

[ihatecbeebies]

I'm fairly new and have heard the phrase 'troll' used a few times but am quite clueless.....do they just start threads to cause arguments, I don't really understand the whole point of it?

To be fair Maryz, I'm not** a concern troll, though was accused of being one!

**At least I dont think I am one, but as Im not raelly sure what one is I cannot gaurentee it!!!

According to that article I fall into the YerATroll category for starting this thread!

What's sock Puppetry? It's all very confusing.

I think that is when more than one troll logs on and they support each other......or is it when a troll pretends to be another member of their family/friend and backs up what the troll has said...... I'm still a bit confused about that.

yep, sock puppeting is where a troll has multiple accounts/names and uses them to back up. Emma Bowyer is a famous case of this.

re troll hunting, I think it depends on the sbject matter. not long ago there was a troll who had "lost" her fiance, needed brain surgery, and had a zillion other problems. it became fairly obvious that she was trolling, and posters were getting sucked in, offering help, PMing addresses/phone numbers and generally supporting the op. a few more seasoned posters tried "subtley" suggesting that people be more careful, then out and out accused her/him of trolling. they got rounded on, which was (imho) unfair.

trolls like this do a great deal of damage and can effect people profoundly (look at Hillllls and the effect it had on some fellow anorexics, and the CVQ palaver - the amount of time and effort that some posters put into helping her, and reliving their own ordeals, and SS nearly lost us some fabulous posters) in these instances its better to call troll (once you are pretty sure) and report. if one poster (cant remember who) hadnt hunted DM and subsequently found pictures, she would probably still be here.

then there are the ones who throw a lit match and watch it burn. they post contentious threads, then sit back and watch the fight. in these cases report and ignore.

Yes there are regulars who start threads - that is why "newbies" are attacked when starting contentious threads, they are assumed to be regulars but namechangers.

Not very welcoming for Newbies then is it. Anyone should feel free to start a thread without it being assumed they are a troll.
I remember a troll thread about costs of birthday parties.....didn't realise it was sposed to be a troll until later, but didn't find the subject matter offensive in the least...quite an interesting topic actually.

I was called a Sock Puppet myself once. Not true...but does the truth actually matter here. I let it go...but wouldn't next time.
I have one name in use..and that's this one. However if I chose to change my name (as so many do) I could...at will. The site allows this.
The owners of the site could very easily determine if I was a sock by checking my IP address.

As for posting a thread myself...can't see that happening for a very long time.

But it isn't just the "problem" that makes people think troll. It is the way of posting, and the sock-puppetry, and the insistence of innocence, and, and, and.......
Seldom are people called trolls who aren't - even though I don't like the calling, I recognise that those calling troll are usually right. The reason I don't like people calling troll is because those with genuine problems might read the troll-hunter's posts and be put off asking genuine questions.

I see the "problem" as being a little different.
I think that often it's long term members such as yourself (not necessarily yourself) who have a problem with anyone new who comes onto a forum like this who expresses strong opinions on a topic - whether or not they resort to personal attacks and it's these members who feel they have a right to know whether that person is a regular or not. They are labelled "trolls" or "socks" and may indeed protest their innocence as you say....but as you have expressed, that alone is not enough. They may be perfectly truthful and honest...but aren't going to be believed even if they say they are innocent. THAT is a huge problem.

Yes innocent people are labelled socks and trolls all the time on forums like this..and I'm glad to see that this forum does not encourage so-called troll hunting.

I can see why (on this forum) people would take advantage to regularly name change, seems that many do it for particular threads (as the names relate specifically to the thread). Who could blame them if it means that the bullying of a single handle is a lot harder...that's very good thing.