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.

I read that thread and thought 'bollocks!'. The fact she had found out she was pregnant last month and had already found out it was a boy and girl was just too Coupled with the bizarre emotionless posting style, it was obvious it was a troll.

Then I got the reply from MNHQ saying "sorry for the mass email" so I knew others had seen through it.

I posted on the thread 'your mothers behaviour is unbelievable' which could be taken either way

I think in truth that a lot of people almost don't see the internet as real though, and so use it as a platform to write out story - but one which is interactive. I'd like to bet that there are probably even fairly mundane topics which aren't all real i.e. someone just having met the love of their life/falling pregnant/having twins/just landed the dream job because it's like living out fantasy and people identify with them.

Its just that there is then this element of people who go too dark with illness/death/violence/abuse that kind of thing and those are the ones who prey on people who have been through real life horrors which they then feel compelled to share because it may help that person.

I read somewhere that nine out of ten deaths reported online are in fact fake. And in fact, death is an easy way out of becoming honest - if you die then no-one is likely to question it, and you can't come back to answer because, well, you're dead. So when trolling gets borind you just kill off your persona and find a new hobby.

And in all seriousness, how many people would think to tell their partner to go and report on mn when they die?

Oh that was a troll then. That's really sad. That post upset and angered me, feeling sorry for the OP. I'm torn between being pissed off, wtfing over why someone would get off on posting that sort of thing and being relieved it's not real.

I've never trolled. I've been trolled before on a previous website when it became infested by what could have only been spiteful teens and it's hurtful and fury inducing.

Some people like to troll and be very goady for the sake of being a prick. Others like to post things with inflammatory comments that will rile and anger. But pretending something like this comes across as fantasisit and sociopathic to me.

I think there are also the slightly less vampiric people writing the lives they would like to have. Unfortunately there have been a couple of cases of people holding themself out as a medical professional that have caused real concern. I reported one who accidentally outed herself by posting that she was just about to start her training on one thread when she had been saying she was a fully trained HCP on another thread I was also on.
Other posters may well have embellished their lives to make them seem more wonderful than they are. (BTW I live in a 17 room mansion, buy all my food from Fortnum and Mason and holiday on Mustique )

Hmm, I knew which thread this was about before it was even alluded too. I rarely post on AIBU anymore as I think a vast percentage of them are fake but I do wonder about the people who create them. I can deal with the 'totally hilarious' incidents (usually done better by Miranda Hart/Larry David etc) and the laboured "I sent this text to my boss/mother/maiden aunt" but the misery merchants are particularly galling.

(Oh, and a helpful hint to the next troll with multiple children - do your maths first!)

I didn't realise that thread about the bereaved mother whose own mother was being horrible to her was a troll. How terrible, it must be triggering for people who have been through something similar. I thought it was a bit out there but just thought her mother was really OTT, I was actually worried for the family's safety. So sad that someone would make something like that up. It upsets people unnecessarily and makes genuine people less likely to be believed.

On another forum a few years ago I was taken in by a 'friend' who claimed to have a life threatening illness. I was a bit upset and totally shocked when I found out she was a total bullshit artist and that she'd been lying about all kinds of things for months. She had a fake fb page and everything

How can you be sure she is really a troll though? What if someone is going through a really bad time like the lady with the early baby and then gets accused of trolling at a time she really needs support. Isn't it better to just ignore the thread if you think its a troll, rather than accuse someone who may not be??

Ooooh that poor woman who was blocked as a troll when she was really going through the most awful time. That's really sad.

sometimes it is possible to know if someone is a troll because of e.g. technical detail, or if they're linked to other usernames which might have trolled, or similar.

I don't know the outcome of the poster who appeared on obem and whether mn hq apologised and admitted they were wrong, iirc they just said they were looking into it, but I suspect that if she was banned then there was something fairly sufficient to show that she was not all that she said. Remember this was a long-standing poster not a one-off one, so it's possible that there was other history linked to her account which made the suspicion a reality. It's worth remembering that just because something bad happens to someone doesn't necessarily mean that they have always done good throughout their lives.

There was a poster on mn who lost a daughter (sassysusan) and tbh there is still some disagreement over whether she was real or not. But assuming she was, before she took on the name sassysusan to post about her dd she was posting under another name and was a vile and vicious troll.

The troll I unmasked on another forum campaigns for equal rights for the disabled etc, is fairly outspoken on public social media etc, and yet she has had at least four alter ego's all of which have been extremely damaging, vampiric trolls...

The thing to remember is that you're generally not all that invisible online, and that sometimes even if you change your name etc don't ever assumed that you can't be traced back to your real identity. Most trolls slip up at some point....

wannaBe HQ have admitted that they made a mistake with the mum who appeared on OBEM and they sent an e-mail to apologise. They admitted to that on the thread I linked to on my last post.

Also I didn't see the episode but according to someone who did see it there a scene where it looked like the woman was on MN on her phone.

is a scene.

HQ admitted their mistake on the post at Fri 31-Jul-15 11:41:32

Do you think trolls BS in real life too? That's something I've wondered before and it made me think about it again after seeing MissHoolies post.

There was a poster who was banned about a year ago for starting a thread that was decided wasn't genuine. Said poster has posted on and off on a support forum I frequent since she was banned from here. Without giving too much away, she has posted things that don't necessarily mean she is genuine however the things she has posted do prove that if she is a liar then she isn't just lying online about it but is in fact lying in real life about it too.

Unfortunately what she is claiming can't be easily proved.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude
(BTW I live in a 17 room mansion, buy all my food from Fortnum and Mason and holiday on Mustique wink)

Don't we all darling

Hmm I think there are people who troll in real life sadly - I can't imagine how bad their lives must be to do so. There's been a recent article in the newspaper about an American comic who claimed he was involved in 9/11 which was apparently untrue. And if I recall, there was a woman who got really involved in running a high profile group of 9/11 survivors - meeting with the NY mayor etc and it was finally discovered that her whole story was a fabrication.

As I said before, I feel for those people who have shared things about their own lives which may be painful when they realise the person is a troll but it's also the fact that each troll chips away at our acceptance of what people write and we may doubt when someone may really need help.

I have no trolldar but I immediately thought it didn't ring true from when she said she fou d out she was pregnant last month and this month it's boy/girl twins. You would never know that until 20 weeks and you would know you were pregnant with two s before 16 weeks. I wanted to ask that but given the emotive subject, I didn't think it would be appropriate and assumed I would get jumped on. Then the update came and it was obviously. I posted after just to see if my suspicions would be confirmed.

There was no way someone who suffered something so tragic would have posted in the detached matter of fact way that person did.

Sorry for typos, bloody tablet!

Is that flouncy friend one not true then? I saw a pp on this thread make a reference to it. Some people are total attention seekers so I can believe that one.