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.

Agree Maryz that is a lazy and cruel argument that someone else may benefit it ignores the harm done to the poster who shared their own personal experience and their feelings about being duped and manipulated.

Oh the grieving competition one

I didn't post on it, I saw it when it was only a few posts but didn't know what to say.

I did wonder why someone would post that in AIBU and not on a more specific board, bereavement maybe.

maryz people who have invested in a thread and posted with emotion will be comforted to know that their words will help someone else. It's important to remember that when a thread is deleted due to trolling.

That's not the same as saying LET people troll at all.

I wish I had had the same thoughts as you Weathergames, I just thought it was heartbreaking and it has really not only pissed me off a lot to be taken in, but I feel massively sorry for those who shared parts of their own lives which must have been painful to satisfy some little shit smirking anonymously behind a screen. It has made me feel really angry for those people.

Unfortunately every time this happens, it makes people more cynical and not so trusting of what they read, which may result in someone genuinely needing help not getting it.

And I get that troll hunting is not allowed here but I got a post deleted the other day merely for saying "yeah it's a bit chinny reckon"

Maryz - I really don't think the argument of "it might help someone" is any reason to allow an emotionally vampiric troll to continue.

x posted again i think, but no, they shouldn't be allowed to continue. Just be comforted, if you've given a lot of yourself on a deleted thread, in the knowledge that it wasn't a total waste of effort.

Everyones different i guess. It's happened to me in the past. On the subject of MMC.

Eponas I disagree, several posters who have been drawn into threads such as this and shared their own devastating experiences very often come back and say the exact opposite to "feeling comforted that their words will help someone else", again you are completely ignoring the harm done to those posters.

I very nearly reported that thread last night as I just couldn't believe how awful the supposed grandmother was being. It was the update that did it for me, it just didn't ring true. The only reason I didn't was that it was really late, I was knackered and couldn't find the right words to explain my unease.

I just find it baffling. But then bullies have been around for centuries and it's a similar motivation, I suppose. Humiliation of others for what reason? Power trip? Attention seeking? Awful.

goindown the fact it was in aibu was a red flag and something about the matter of fact almost jaunty writing style for such a harrowing subject. The op had to be expecting twins, not just one child, little details like that stand out.

I acknowledge that there can be harm done.

What more can be done to stop trolling?

Yes, Eponas everyone is different which is why the catch-all 'well someone will have been helped, so that's ok' is inappropriate and dismissive.

I didn't see the update can anyone enlighten me?

I was after the OP but shut the thread down after the update. Was too awful to be true and while I've read some dreadful things on MN, you're right, the writing style was "off."

Some people must lead exceptionally boring lives.

Do you think it's a teen with an over active imagination?

I used to write hoax letters to an agony aunt when I was about 11/12 - still feel mortified about that....

I have to admit i'm crap at spotting troll threads. Even after 7 years here. The update on the one in question was just too hysterical for real life. And yes, no emotion in the OP.

I see, laffy. By the update I just meant when the op came back and said what her mother had shouted to her DD. Awful - and I believed it

I came back into the fold recently, after a lengthy stint away, and am amazed at how much more cynical people are - with good reason!!
In my previous incarnation (deleted the email account that my old username was registered to so just started afresh when I couldn't remember passwords etc) I remember us investing a lot in real problems from real people - one was a mumsnetter who was being emotionally abused by her H but living abroad. A small group of us rallied round with support and contacts and she managed to leave him. We became friends in RL and it was lovely to be part of helping someone get out of such a shitty situation.
Nowadays I would be really wary about venturing into the emotional investment that such situations require as I have seen so many people make up stories for attention. It is quite sad really, clearly their real lives are lacking if they feel the need to attention seek/gain notoriety online.

laffy which details made you think it was untrue

Can't speak for laffy but it was the way one of the opening lines was phrased which set red flags off. The bit about had an accident which wasn't my fault. It just felt off and like it was a plot device - you know in a film when the camera pans to an unrelated character, or there's a bit of emphasis on a particular line or whatever and you know its flag marking a future plot point? It just felt like that.

Volunteer moderators could be a part solution to the troll issue, not that it'll ever happen.

It was when she said that her mum was coming over in an hour i got suspicious. Posts that leave people waiting are a dead giveaway.

Theres another one running at the moment that is screaming troll. I was sucked in at the beginning but as the drip drip drama continues, it's becoming more obvious.

I don't know what we can do about Trolls, but I think the policy of no troll hunting needs to be looked at, MN is self moderated but posters who are canny and experienced enough to spot trolls are shut down in order to appease the give people the benefit of the doubt, someone may be helped mantra.

I've not said ''it's ok'' though emotion. That's an important point.

I've said IF someone has trolled, and IF someone else has posted with a lot of thought behind it, and IF they are upset to find out that the OP was a troll, then try to take some comfort to think that someone reading at the time took something from their words.

That's all.

If you cannot take comfort from that thought then ok. But that doesn't make it ''inappropriate and dismissive'; to offer the thought.