To wonder how to spot a troll so I don't keep investing my time?

[PRILK]

It's not time, really, just emotional responses.

This is the 3rd thread since joining that has been deleted. It's extremely frustrating.

How do you spot these trolls?

Can MN not track their IP and block it if they're repeatedly making new accounts?

Stop getting overly invested in unverified bollocks on the internet. Treat every thread as trolling. Give a genuine opinion on the matter if you wish but that should be the end

The most important thing to learn is that not everyone is who they say they are on the internet.

If you're investing more time and emotion than is good for you then have a rethink about how you use MN. You can't save or rescue anyone. You can their cake in some circs.

So: exercise a bit of critical thinking, don't get dragged in, fun threads are fun, go find them. Let the dramas be.

Here endeth the lesson.

You get the hang of it over time. If something seems particularly 'juicy' it's more likely to be a troll because trolls are here for the attention.

It used to bother me but now I feel if I'm replying in good faith maybe it'll be useful to others, e.g. lurkers. I can't always spot trolls and I've been here a while, but it's getting easier.

Disappointing though to take the time to reply only to see the whole thread deleted. But what really gets to me is reading through 16 pages of posts only to realise it's a zombie thread!

I mean, GOD the Stumpy comment on this thread is deliriously funny. That Flibbert, she FUNNY and modest.

I think they are fairly easy to spot. Firstly, are people in the OP behaving in ways that you’ve never come across before? Secondly, is it told like a story with he said/ she said?IRL people don’t really remember long conversations exactly as they were said. Thirdly, the timing of new information is just enough to keep people hooked. IRL things don’t generally happen that fast or that neatly spaced. One of these alone can be coincidence, but when all three are there then I stop believing it’s true.

Which thread was it?

The best thing is just don’t invest emotionally. You don’t know who anyone is here.

The footner thread is a troll?

Trolls are too good to be true.

No, is a Funny thread.

Are you talking about the racist thread from this morning! I think that’s one of the worst I’ve see

Seen*

I've just been back to one I was reading last night - ltb because he got a cleaner?

Very rude and snappy op. Anyone know why it went?

Polish Tomasz with big bank balance, Mercedes that go like a rocket,and big something else (we think trampoline), looking for a single woman. We don't know if it was a troll but it's caused hours of helpless merriment. Trolls have their uses.

Generally, if things seem very dramatic and surprising, and things are moving very quickly with lots of eventful updates, I’m suspicious.

You can also play troll bingo with things that seem to come up again and again. I’ve found that multiple of these come up, then my troll radar starts beeping:

Twins
Autism
Horrible, specific details of abuse that you would find in a news report
Controversial topics e. Antivaxxers, abortion
Racisim
Social services
Mental illness
Famous people
**having a story about poverty or difficult financial circumstances that are extreme, and are explained away as in no way the OPs fault, often due to domestic violence or abuse and with no possible help available e.g no family, no friends, no food banks, can’t borrow from anyone, can’t use a credit card, can’t ring the council - these are often money fishing trolls who are trying to get people to donate/give money. I remember one who put her PayPal address on the thread!

1. Initial post will be a bit inflammatory/controversial/prurient or otherwise likely to incite comment.
2. Story will be drip-fed.
3. Story will be either too convenient (coincidence abounding) or full of holes.
4. OP will ignore sensible questions.
5. OP might be rude/defensive.
6. OP will disappear for long stretches of time.

@Yellowcrocodile I remember that happening years ago. I can still remember her name.

I think people trusted her as she'd been around for a while. She flounced and never did say how much she'd got.

I just sense it, but I have developed that over a decade of being on here. I do think that quite often many posters actually do know when things are too far fetched and improbable to really be true but they are enjoying the drama/humour/tension etc and don't want to be told. There was a horrible thread about grown men looking at young girls last week and it was immediately clear it was a troll but posters were falling over themselves to share stories of their young family members being ogled by grown men. I did warn on the thread as threads like that are really unpleasant. I reported too but it wasn't deleted and MN didn't even make an appearance until the troll suddenly started being unpleasant and said they'd been trying to get us mummies going , then it went very quickly.

Timescales will be all wrong... e.g. getting professional advice from a solicitor over the weekend. (I even saw one where the poster claimed to be in the US and hadn't realised that it was in fact the early hours of the morning in California, not lunchtime as it was here).

Story is too linear. This happens particularly with the shocking adultery to divorce in 6.3 seconds threads where the troll is getting off on the cheers of "you go, girl, wish I'd been as strong as you and changed the locks/got a shit hot lawyer/got possession of the house" all before lunch rolls round (see above), when in fact in the real world women tend to agonise over "are my suspicions right?/he's come up with an excuse/ I want to give this another go/oh no more evidence has come to light" and round and round in circles for weeks.

Writing style is all wrong. OP claims to be having a teen pregnancy but writes like a 50 something classics don translating Cicero.

Cross posted with Holly - yes, any thread inviting creepy sexualised information about children/teens is pretty much bound to be a troll (and these are the only ones that upset me... someone wants to draw in an imaginary audience for their non-existent divorce, meh, no skin off my nose, but trolls who want to wank over stories about other people's children, really, really foul).

Trolls keep the thread going when it wanes a bit.

Also any thread which includes a text or message on a personal or recognisable situation given apparently word for word. I’m sceptical that people really would publish personal correspondance like that on a large website like MN.

Why does twins make you think troll? I have twins and I'm not a troll, honest!

What is a zombie thread and yes, do we know why the 'end my marriage because of cleaner'? was deleted? I thought it was legit!

Also, some are SO obvious (obviously not, see my sentence above!) - and when you post something like "does anyone think this OP sounds odd' your comment gets deleted for troll hunting. The thread then goes on and on and gets pulled eventually anyway.

Does anyone look at the MNtrollhunter on reddit? Some trolls seem to see it as an achievement to get on there.

I don't understand why people actually troll - whats the point? They get attention but then the thread is deleted. I don't understand

The longer you're here, the easier it becomes. But MN will probably delete this because they don't like to give trolls pointers on how to avoid being spotted.