Trolls

[SilverOldie2]

This is sort of about another thread, but not a specific one. AIBU to say that I simply cannot understand what people get out of coming on here and starting a thread which pulls on people's heartstrings when it is completely false. I've seen posters opening their souls on some threads where they are concerned for the OP and can't imagine how devastated they must feel when they discover that it was all a fake.

I'm not talking about those who post something so outrageous or funny, you sort of know it's not true and can have fun with it

Can there be any acceptable reason why they do it? Have you ever trolled and if so why? What the hell do they get out of it? I just do not understand.

Princess I'm not sure it would help with the troll problem per se, but I think MN is technically supporting so much stuff, I'm not convinced they have the calibre of equipment to handle it all hence the near constant niggles with the site and I think this makes their systems of checking less robust and very slow. There are chinks in the system which are easily exploited by trolls and, as we have seen recently, hackers.

A leaner, meaner site won't stop trolls but might help, along with a change in policy, to spot them and shut them down/deal with them much quicker than is the norm.

MNHQ say they want and, in their words, love receiving reports yet it takes an inordinately long time for reports to be dealt with, if MNHQ want the reports the least they should do is be able to process them fast. I do think some new system whereby if a thread has x number of reports within x time it is automatically hidden until such time as it can be checked properly. Reported and clear as day troll threads that are posted late in the evening or at the weekend are just not dealt with quick enough, I reported a particularly ghastly one one night as did several other posters, it should have been shut down and wiped within minutes so vile was the content, but it stayed for hours. I e-mailed, hit report, flagged the Night Watch, the system is too slow to react unless you hit the spam button and then the thread disappears instantly.

I'm beginning to think that just every thread I've ever posted on is a troll one!

Some obvious troll posts have stood long after they've been 'outed', though. Some might remember a recent "MNHQ have decided there's no reason to think this thread etc etc" post after several pages of an op passing off 'The Fresh Prince of BelAir' as their life story...

And there have been regulars trolling, don't know if it's for fun, spite or some sort of problem they have, though.

There's a particularly exploitative journo conducting fishing expeditions over on 'Media Requests'

She's the one mentioned in this article

Just wondering if she's also responsible for some of the troll threads

Reigniting this thread to say that I've been duped again by another troll - that's two in two days - and I'm normally good at spotting them. Grrrr.

Has it been about 3 months since the sex topic was introduced by any chance?

I would say so, yes.

Sex topic was added about June time iirc.

What's the obvious one in sex right now?

There was one that was deleted then reinstated.

I am shit at spotting trolls.

I think the sex topic was a mistake TBH. I understand why some people like it but quite honestly there is too much potential for misuse. Posters who are motivated to join MN purely to have a female audience to regale with tales of their fantasies, fetishes and conquests. Three months waiting time is nothing considering the nature of the reward. There are plenty of other spaces on the internet for all that stuff, i don't see why we need it here.

I'd be surprised if it's still there in a year's time. I think moderating it to keep out the sad acts and slime bags will too labour intensive.

I have the sex topic hidden so can't comment on the contents of it but I thought at the time that a certain type of troll would think all their Christmases has come at once with the introduction of that topic. The only positive is that at least they will be all in one space which might make it easier to control.

A weekly list of troll threads deleted might help to sharpen users trolldar.

I'm wondering if there are specific boards like, say, AIBU and Chat which get the most troll threads? I haven't been on the Sex board so don't know how popular it is but can see how it would attract trolls. I quite agree with your misgivings about it - previously I think people would have use the Relationships Board.

Maybe MNHQ could identify those boards which trolls target the most and concentrate more on moderating them?

I would hate to see NM type sparkly ticker things but it would be a good idea to add number of posts in the name bar, for example. I don't think it's difficult as lots of other forums do it.

Also agree about the number of boards - there are loads I haven't been on so don't know how popular they all are. I can't remember the name but I clicked on a board the other day that didn't have a single post. Also I noticed a sub group for Scotland. I don't know how useful Scottish posters find it and if they do, I don't understand why there aren't separate ones for Wales, NI and England?. Sorry that's going off tangent a bit.

AIBU is the busiest board on here, closely followed by Chat. I've lost count of the number of threads in AIBU or Chat that should be in a more specific topic that say "posting here for traffic' so I would think those two boards would be a target rich ground for trolls. The thread that was deleted last week was in AIBU presumably for maximum impact.

MNHQ have been noticeably absent from this thread despite someone reporting a post in an attempt to elicit some response or engagement from them on the subject, the silence is deafening so I guess they are happy with the status quo even if the users of the forum are not.

As a quick question to more experienced posters, when someone returns to what seems to be like a dodgy thread with a new username, is it likely that they've been banned from the older one? Or would MN have deleted the thread too?

Interesting - thanks Maryz. Won't comment obviously but good to know.

DeepBreath I think it depends what they've been banned for. Not al banned posters are banned for trolling. So if they've been banned for another reason then maybe MNHQ don't feel the need to delete the thread.

Maybe there could be a separate topic where all the troll threads get moved to. That way people could still see them but would know they were trolls. It might make it easier to spot similar posting styles, etc if the trolls return.

Sorry x post.