To think that quoting past threads/quiches on MN does not prove you aren't a troll?

[salmonskinroll]

You know when someone says 'name changed but not a troll - missing toaster, poo troll etc'. It doesn't really prove anything, does it? Any lurkers could read all that and still be a troll of some sort, no?

Am bored, can you tell?

I don't feel sorry for them at all.

I've seen the aftermath of the damage they do. I have seen people genuinely upset by the death of someone they perceived as a friend, even if it was an online friend, or people revealing their very own personal stories of loss and tragedy and bereavement.

These trolls are calculated. They know just who to target and how . The one I mentioned above knew exactly how to escape detection for years - she slipped up just once and it was pure coincidence that she was found out - I'd only just become a mod and was still over keen. Had it been a few months earlier or later she probably would still be there and we would be mourning the death of her latest persona on the boards.

So while I agree they clearly must have sad lives I have absolutely no sympathy for any of them.

There there. Just don't put me back in your sock drawer, it's scary in there.

Haha, this is quite good fun. For reference, I really am not GetOrf just messing around.

Or AM I?

Psammead I have known of a very similar situation but the gender was reversed. A man pretended to be a woman for well over a year on a forum I moderated and to be honest he hid it very, very well as he had some of the bitchiest put downs I've ever come across. However, he was very popular with some of the most outspoken members.

One day he made a post about how 'he' was actually a team of students doing research on the internet and posted a picture where he circled the face of one of a group of people and claimed it was him.

It later transpired there was no team, just himself, but he was testing the waters to check the reaction of other posters. It didn't go down well at all. His close friends were astonished and he upset them greatly. I was one of the people who didn't get along with him at all but still, I was shocked and a bit dazed.

I think he quit the forums not long after that, otherwise he name changed and I didn't notice. It was actually very sad imo as he also made some very good posts and was a frequent visitor.

I see no reason to try to be someone else. At times I like to hide things if I feel a bit insecure, but I'd rather be honest and get honesty in return.

It's worrying because it's so easy to trust people on the internet, especially when you want advice.

...sorry for posting again so fast but my fiance and I used to play an online game called World of Warcraft together. When he died I didn't make a huge announcement because I knew it would attract responses I didn't want to read. I simply logged in and told the people in our guild. I'm sure half of them didn't know whether to believe me or not, but the ones who knew us well knew I wouldn't lie about that, even though my fiance kept his illness to himself to avoid being treated differently.

When I see threads about someone dying I steer well clear because you just don't know...

Quite scary when people are asking advice from people who are obviously not in great mental shape.

It's pretty awful, isn't it? I've modded a few places and I have seen and heard so much utter crap that as soon as I see posts referring to death and terminal illness, or tragedy of one sort or another, alarm bells start to ring, especially if certain wording is used.

It's one reason I will never mod again - I don't want my first reaction to be suspicion, that's not the sort of person I am.

And it makes me paranoid about posting any kind of misfortune about myself.

at stayonyourwater

Its horrible isnt it, everlong? I really feel for the grieving mothers who give asvice to them. What pattern do you notice?

Sorry, that was me being StayOnYourWater. Bad Psammy.

Salmon, I have noticed in the past it tends to be slight dramatic flares in the writing style - like it's a story and not just real, revealing a plot. Also a tendency to be trying to put on a very brave face.

Horrid, at best. When done in the company of actual grieving mothers - beyond sick.

It amazes me that people have the time and the dedication to be bothered with all that. Like that woman who for years lived a lie by pretending that she was a survivor of 9/11 and had been working in the twin towers when they went down. She ended up as a bit of a minor celeb, giving interviews left right and centre, setting up survivor support groups, helping the police piece together what happened in the aftermath etc, and it transpired years later that she was just a bored and lonely fantasist who had never even been there, had no such job, etc, and she had finally found something to liven up her dull life and something to get some attention over. Very very odd. I bet that woman who threw that cat in a wheelie bin would do something like that as well.

TSC How do you get to know for sure that someone on MN is doing that? Surely you just mean you have your suspicions?

Haha stayonthewater you fucker.

Completely agree that there are regulars merrily trolling away amongst us all the time. Sad.

But how do you know Bibs?

I'm starting to think I must be really unobservant.

Sometimes we are told that people get banned for one thing, when it is actually for something else

Wannabe - I agree about being unsympathetic to emotional vampire trolls. Most people manage loneliness/mental health difficulties without playing cruel mind games on the internet.

If I wanted to namechange I'ld just say I was a name changing regular, and it's up to the reader to believe me or not, quoting cod/red rug etc wouldn't prove anything, I could just be a trolling long time lurker.

I've known long-term MNers 'troll' as in do a funny thread under another name. I can't see the harm in that as everyone has a laugh and they are blatantly wind ups.

I know of one long-term, well known MNer who I'm as certain as I can be (without access to IP addresses which would be cool but slightly wrong and stalkerish) is a troll, sockpuppet, etc.

We should compare notes TSC

Yes, how do you know that someone who is a "regular" is not all they seem to be? Can you know? I remember that story about the Twin Towers lady, I can't even begin to imagine what kind of a mind engineers that sort of fantasy.

And while we're on the subject, can I ask why someone who I liked (as a poster) was banned? I didn't even realise they had been until I saw it mentioned on a thread a while ago.

i must say though that compared to other forums, MN gets off very lightly in the trolling game

there are some really vicious people about, not to mention deranged and they can wreck havoc

ow!

LeBof....do you mean told by the guvnors one thing when its really another, or informed by random misinformation and rumour?

I remember reading about the Twin Towers woman. Bizarre.