To Be Pissed Off By Troll Hunters?

[DioneTheDiabolist]

They feed trolls and disrupt the flow of threads.

Troll Hunting breaches the Talk Guidelines, if you believe that someone is a troll, use the Report button and ignore the thread. It really is that simple, but repeatedly I see people accusing posters of being trolls.

So why do they do it?. Does it make the hunter feel superior, that they have been so insightful and feel the rest of us, mere mortals need their wisdom or do they live such sheltered lives that they cannot imagine anything outside the realms of their own personal experience?

I have recently seen it happen on threads regarding child abuse and suicide. I understand that these are sensitive, triggering topics, but they are real problems for some people who come here seeking support.

So AIBU to be pissed off by Troll Hunters and wish they would stop it? After all, if it really is a Troll thread, all the hunters do is push it back up the Active board and give it more traffic, thereby feeding it.

Maybe there should be a colour change when the report button has been hit to give warning and once MNHQ has investigated they can change it back.

Do once then dont get sucked back in. And once one persons done it theres no need for a hundred others to also say theybe reported and think the ops a troll

@FreudiansSlipper

but people don't

i do not always read a thread through can take ages

really why add to an obvious troll thread the still come on again and again its what happens in public forums

the best way is a post along the lines of I AM REPORTING THIS THREAD I BELIEVE OP IS A TROLL is the best then to leave it unless you have nothing better to do with your time

Actually, no, that post would break our site rules, FreudiansSlipper (as we've outlined earlier in the thread).

Best not to post at all. Or, in cases of the perves out to encourage folk to post the kind of stuff that turns them on, to post a general and unspecific message reminding folk that it might not be wise to post on a publicly accessible forum such graphic detail about particular subjects.

ok thank you

shall remember that

Do once then dont get sucked back in. And once one persons done it theres no need for a hundred others to also say theybe reported and think the ops a troll

Its much easier to see lots of posts than one in the middle.

@bruffin

Rmind people if necessary to be aware eerythibg theyre posting is on a public site and is available for everyone - nice and less nice people to read

how can you do that without bumping

You don't HAVE to do it. Obviously.

We were just suggesting it for those who felt not posting was not an option for them because they felt a need to alert others.

Clearly, the fewer times a thread is posted on, the fewer people it will draw in.

But it won't be in the middle if there aren't a load of trollhunting posts after it!
And if it needs saying again after twenty more posts then fine. But in theory the thread should stop there - the sharers will be warned and the trollhunters will stop

And as i said above you cant guarantee that at all.

Can't guarantee what?
If the reminder needs saying again, say it again. But the thread does not need to be bumped by "Troll", "Me too" =, "I thought so right from the start" "why would a genuine poster have said x,y,z"

Which I was as guilty of as anyone else btw

If a thread has been utterly derailed and descended into silliness do they stand or get deleted?

Or is it on a case by case basis?

You cant guarantee that nobody else will be drawn in before MNHQ gets round to deleting it.

I agree that MNHQ should give us some credit and treat us as adults - as actually they usually do.

I've been known to mention hairy feet and bridges and wot not on the very rare occasion and find it quite amusing and helpful when others do too.

But obviously I'd not do it on a suicide thread, I'm not an idiot!

But there's been a recent one "Am I living in a bubble in my £million a house village where there is no sign of any poverty" (or some such thing)
The OP has never been back, but just lit the fuse and stood well back.
IMHO there's very little danger there of mentioning bridges in passing.
It's just saying OP where are you, really, isn't it ?

Sometimes it's not that big a deal whether OP is genuine or not.
In which case I think it's fair enough to raise the possibility that not everyone will be posting in completely straight-forward ways.

I only report to MNHQ when I feel their input is needed.
Sometimes I feel it just isn't really.
Then other times I just flag things up to them because I think they might find something interesting.

I like to think we have an understanding

@Souredstoneshasasouredpebble

If a thread has been utterly derailed and descended into silliness do they stand or get deleted?

Or is it on a case by case basis?

Deffo case by case.

It depends on the nature of the troll in question. (If indeed they are a troll.)

The truly revolting perves and suchlike, we tend to zap.

But occasionally, if the troll is not positively nasty/pervy/boaksome, and the thread is hilarious/interesting, we may leave it.

As in Brian from Hull and his yoni massage...

so if the reminder needs repeating, repeat it. It should be at least as effective as cries of troll

Brian was a troll???!

@ Frances

@FrancesDeLaTourCoughngIntoABin

Brian was a troll???!

Oh dear. See, trollhunting only upsets and disappoints.

What I think doesn't help, is the length of time some nasty troll threads are allowed to stand...from the time of the first report to actual removal.

Some threads started on Saturday nights, are still there Sunday lunchtime.

@WorraLiberty

What I think doesn't help, is the length of time some nasty troll threads are allowed to stand...from the time of the first report to actual removal.

Some threads started on Saturday nights, are still there Sunday lunchtime.

I think that has been true in the past Worra (and I know you've suffered personally over that, which we're truly sorry for) but I don't think that would happen now.

And we have more plans in the offing to ensure more efficient night-time oversight.

Helen, would you consider recruiting volunteer Moderators/stewards?

Vetted forum members who don't have the power to delete threads, but perhaps, have warning posts show up in a different colour as yours do, or to suspend posting on threads?
Sorry if these ideas have been mooted before, I'm still relatively new.

Oh no I didn't suffer Helen, in fact the whole thing kind of brought some of MN together in a way

But there have been lots of threads/posts/personal attacks that I've seen, totally breaking MN rules...yet they've remained until afternoon the next day.

I can understand why some would remain overnight, but I would expect them to at least be zapped the following morning.

Oh and this thread isn't fuelling anything...

Why didn't you follow the talk guidelines and report it instead of starting a thread about a thread.