Agreed upon signal that OP is a troll?

[SinclairSpectrum]

I have been here a while but still get caught out by troll / goudy fucker threads sometimes.
I end up feeling a right tit when the penny drops.
I realise that a thread can be reported and the MNHQ sleuths then get to work but can't we agree on a universal 'heads up' signal to post that suggests all may not be as it seems?

I'm a regular but have no idea whatsoever what penis beaker or Pom bears refers to!!!

I do remember cod & Judgeflounce though (now there was a troll!!!)

JF nit cod.

Oh and by the way if I want opinions on something but don't want to post precise details, I will often create a similar scenario. I'm sure sometimes there are minor inconsistencies, but I'm not trolling. I genuinely want to hear posters opinions.

No it doesn't frustrate me any more.

To be honest, if someone wants to sit there chatting to what appears to be an obvious troll that's up to them.

They'll either learn the signs eventually or they won't and to be honest, plenty of people don't care. They'll carry on giving advice regardless and when troll is called, they'll still carry on and say 'Well I'd rather give the benefit of doubt'.

"If someone is being particularly nasty or malicious post them."

I meant 'report' them, not 'post' them.

I love the lists of various nouns people use as a NC credential.

I often feel like name changing just so I can go

"Namechanging regular - spinning mushrooms, cloud soup, Ford Camembertina, sunburnt coccyx."

Just to see if anyone would call it out.

The worst troll I came across was a poster called Keeralou on Babyworld. Teen mum of twins with tragic story. Got s lot of people emotionally involved & turned out to be fake. It was a live chat room which sort if made it worse.

There was a very popular thread recently, in fact it had a sequel.
Turned out to be total fiction.
After MNHQ shut it down there were loads of posters stating that they knew all along etc.
This is the scenario I am thinking of - hundreds of people took time to post when others had already twigged.

As a side note, I tend to get annoyed by name-changers who declare in their opening posts "I'm regular.. pom bears, penis beaker etc etc" There's no-one at the door checking credentials fgs!

I think there are many posters who do check credentials though.

People go back through previous posts... 'Oh that's odd Ihavegottheclap because on November 12th 2007 you said that you didn't own a green hat'

Or I had a poster say 'This is only your first post OP so you don't understand MN' after I'd name changed. Bastard.

"Namechanging regular - spinning mushrooms, cloud soup, Ford Camembertina, sunburnt coccyx."

After MNHQ shut it down there were loads of posters stating that they knew all along etc.

I think you can take that with a big pinch of salt. Everyone's an expert after the game has finished.

I've been taken in by trolls before (the recent stepmother not wanting to buy anything for her non biological kids totally fooled me) and it is annoying to see she was a troll but I enjoyed following the thread, seeing other people's opinions and contributing to the discussion even if the actual situation was totally made up.

If you say in your head 'oh my goodness' or 'yeah right' then it's more than likely to be a bag of shite.

I thought there were already a couple of phrases that signify "I don't think you are legit"

Terry Wogans cock

AF sent me a pm once giving me a heads up on a troll, but I guess she can't sit there doing that for everyone/every thread!

Half the time on threads the OP disappears after the first couple of pages and the debate continues on with posters swapping opinions, experiences and insults. So regardless of whether the initial story is true, the debate ends up being a real one.
I just can't get worked up about trolls. I find the continually rude, aggressive posters who have no scruples about completely twisting an OP's words in order to have a go at her far more annoying and dislikeable. There are some names that, before you even read their post, you are pretty sure it's going to be disagreeably worded and designed to put the OP down.

The "troll pretending to be a teacher" was me.

I am not a troll and I am happy to send proof of who I am and where I workto an established Mumsnetter.

I am angry that I have been accused of being a troll.

Appropriate?

I understand why there can't be a 'signal' but what are the signs to look out for for a suspect thread? I just can't spot them and I've been on here for several years now.

As a side note, I tend to get annoyed by name-changers who declare in their opening posts "I'm regular.. pom bears, penis beaker etc etc" There's no-one at the door checking credentials fgs!

Ah but there is, have you never seen the "welcome to MN OP" or "Strange first post OP" comments by snideys trying to insinuate the OP is a troll....

Just follow my handy guide.

After MNHQ shut it down there were loads of posters stating that they knew all along etc.

Agree with a PP - there are those who insist that they are somehow 'in the know' about all sorts of things once the word is out. I think those posters need to be taken with as big a pinch of salt as the trolls. Personally, I find troll hunting more disruptive than the trolls themselves - pages of people coming up with increasingly 'witty' ways to accuse someone of lying, keeping the thread active and filling it with 'in jokes' instead of reporting it and denying the poster the oxygen of responses.

greytartan
I am not a troll and I am happy to send proof of who I am and where I work to an established Mumsnetter.

You see that's the problem grey, you shouldn't feel the need to send any sort of personal information to anyone on an anonymous public forum. This isn't a court of law. No-one here is judge and jury.

Did the thread where a teacher was sending work home end up being fake then?

Oops! Cross post!