Page 3 | Why do people troll???!!

KnackeredHag · 2020-08-07T20:46:29+00:00

Why oh why do people do this?! Genuinely struggling to understand why someone would post such a heart wrenching post and appeal for help just for kicks, only for it to be some sick joke. I just can not get my head around this level of psychopathic behaviour. AiBU to ask for other people to tell me why individuals troll, as an anonymous on a forum, not even as themselves?

TableFlowerss · 07/08/2020 22:54

Folk are just weird! They get their kicks out of strange ways that the average person would think was the action of an unhinged person!

I struggle to spot them mind. I think I’m too trusting.

I was told to be cautious as some people have given a sob story saying how much they struggle to feed their kids etc then the kind hearted souls send things to help out.... it was bullshit sob story to get money. Absolutely mental

CokeEnStock · 07/08/2020 23:08

It's attention seeking for whatever reason. I am often reminded of a school friend who had a disabled younger brother and she had to make everything about HER. I understood it to a degree but it was no less irritating. Social Media is not good for certain people. Be it vague booking and U OK hun? stuff on FB. I think everyone knows one of these. Or wannabe influencers on Instagram who post unexciting pics of their coffee or interior decor. Even Twitter when you have to be succinct has those posters who say "yay I didn't kill myself again" and seem to have a huge number of followers. MN is dreadful for these people as you can have a whole narrative and hundreds of followers of a sad or made up tale and posters actually encourage it!

Ginger1982 · 07/08/2020 23:24

There was one the other day by a pet sitter who had apparently thought the dog she was sitting was pregnant. She took it to the vet and had it scanned and there were apparently puppies there. Everyone was incredulous that the owners hadn't told her. Then someone spotted the X-ray scan was a fake and the thread was deleted. She seemed to be a regular normal poster from her history, but I think she had some sort of brain fart that day!

Toni42 · 07/08/2020 23:59

@Ginger1982 that’s interesting. But do you think it might have been genuine but she didn’t just want to put the real scan on so just got from internet?

I’ve done similar Things in past as I’m terrified of being identified by people in RL. It’s just minor things so I’ve got another username which I use for family dramas etc. But I will change the gender and ages of my kids. The stories are 100% accurate but I just change a little so I won’t be identified. Problem is i actually other the ages I made up! I think a lot of people will do this as you don’t want your family n friends figuring out its you.

SeasideMaiden · 08/08/2020 03:00

Briefly dated an idiot who trolled MN, he thought it was hilarious, he said he posed as a parent and gave out parenting advice on threads.

He had a LOT wrong with him.

TheFormerPorpentinaScamander · 08/08/2020 03:07

Boredom. Attention seeking. Seeing how long and how far they can take a lie.
Plus people are weird

Sparklesocks · 08/08/2020 05:11

Because they live small lives and need attention and distraction elsewhere

vampirethriller · 08/08/2020 07:14

They're the people who lie a lot in real life, the ones who make up pointless little things to make themselves sound more interesting. They get a bigger audience on here.

Fallsballs · 08/08/2020 07:22

I have no idea of the mindset of a troll but they are fairly prolific now on MN. The posts may seem mundane but will have everyone frothing in minutes = goal achieved.

elstree2020 · 08/08/2020 07:27

I wonder if it is people letting off anger etc who feel it is easier to do so online instead of in real life.

DPSLB · 08/08/2020 07:29

Tunnocks34
Hope he was reported by your department. Safeguarding issue.
Was he not in breach of Professional code of conduct?

TotalEclipseOfTheHeartAndSoul · 08/08/2020 07:33

OP I really don't understanding it either. Have been on Mumsnet around 8 years now, read some threads where I felt sorry for the poster, offered advice then it has been taken down as it's been a troll! There are some sad people out there.

SummerPoppies · 08/08/2020 07:44

Because...
A. Their solitary brain cell is dying of loneliness.
B. They have boring lives.
C. It makes them feel important.
D. All three of the above mixed into one fuckwitted mind.

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 08/08/2020 07:48

I used to enjoy the plimsoll troll. It was utterly, mind bogglingly boring...

FlySheMust · 08/08/2020 07:51

I nearly always take everything at face value - what else can you do?

If I'm writing about something personal and identifiable I alter a few unimportant details. I think a lot of people do that. It's self preservation.

tanstaafl · 08/08/2020 08:01

@Tunnocks34

No idea. We had a supply teacher once in our department who (proudly) told us he was a troll - he used to post insulting and vile things on like, the memorial pages of dead children etc. He said he once commented on a Madeline McCann page ‘I’ve got her in my cellar’ or something similar. Vile but the worst part was he seemed pretty normal to talk to previous to admission.

Erm, could this post be a troll? I mean , hide in plain sight n’all that?

Emeeno1 · 08/08/2020 08:05

I begin to realise that quite a lot of these posts are probably fake and trying to produce a reaction.

In some ways it is probably a challenge, 'how can I make this sound dramatic but realistic enough for people to be hooked?' There appears to be a template, the initial dramatic post, then another interaction after a couple of comments, then sporadic engagement to make posters feel important, like they are being listened to.

It's probably amusing from their point of view because they know no one is in danger or heart broken.

It isn't helpful to those genuinely seeking support. But then you would have to be bat shit crazy to come here for support.

KatherineJaneway · 08/08/2020 08:09

Basic attention seeking and a bit of feeling powerful I suspect.

Tlollj · 08/08/2020 08:12

Perhaps they think it’s funny.
Light the touch paper and watch everyone explode.

Bluntness100 · 08/08/2020 08:38

I don’t mind a troll where it is genuinely entertaining, like the Sistine chapel one possibly was, but thr 999 one last night I don’t understand. Because whomever made it up knows that people need to go on the side of caution in case someone is in trouble, even if they think it’s a troll, it’s just such disturbing behaviour to sit there and think I know, I wonder if I can get someone to call 999 for me.

I do assume some of them are sitting alone doing this stuff and would be horrified to be outed in real life that that’s what they did. I guess they’d try to pass it off as a joke, but no one would find it funny.

So for me if you’re imaginative and have writing skills and will entertain everyone, fair enough, but if you’re just going to post mundane or sick stuff then you need help.

NerrSnerr · 08/08/2020 12:58

I remember the one from a few years ago. She pretended to be a nurse and had nurse in her username. She gave regular medical advice and insights into nursing. One day there was a post started with another username asking for advice as they were about to start nurse training and I think they were asking for logistics. They had a name change fail and it was the nurse who had been giving medical advice for months! Must have been trolling all along.

The problem with many troll threads on here, the long ones, usually cheeky fucker or people leaving their partners is they get a haggle of cheerleaders begging for updates so they continue the charade,

Ginger1982 · 08/08/2020 19:46

[quote Toni42]@Ginger1982 that’s interesting. But do you think it might have been genuine but she didn’t just want to put the real scan on so just got from internet?

I’ve done similar Things in past as I’m terrified of being identified by people in RL. It’s just minor things so I’ve got another username which I use for family dramas etc. But I will change the gender and ages of my kids. The stories are 100% accurate but I just change a little so I won’t be identified. Problem is i actually other the ages I made up! I think a lot of people will do this as you don’t want your family n friends figuring out its you.[/quote]
I don't know...she posted a photo of the dog who was quite clearly pregnant. She could have just said 'yes been to the vet and she is pregnant!'

VettiyaIruken · 08/08/2020 19:49

Some bored, some nasty and some sob story scammers hoping for cash.

x2boys · 08/08/2020 19:54

I think some are obvious ,but some I think have a grain of truth in them and the poster gets carried away with all the attention and everything gets blown out of proportion ,theses types tend to run to several threads

TableFlowerss · 08/08/2020 19:55

@Bluntness100

I don’t mind a troll where it is genuinely entertaining, like the Sistine chapel one possibly was, but thr 999 one last night I don’t understand. Because whomever made it up knows that people need to go on the side of caution in case someone is in trouble, even if they think it’s a troll, it’s just such disturbing behaviour to sit there and think I know, I wonder if I can get someone to call 999 for me.

I do assume some of them are sitting alone doing this stuff and would be horrified to be outed in real life that that’s what they did. I guess they’d try to pass it off as a joke, but no one would find it funny.

So for me if you’re imaginative and have writing skills and will entertain everyone, fair enough, but if you’re just going to post mundane or sick stuff then you need help.

Was the one last night a troll? Where someone didn’t call the police?

I’ve just the one where the 26 year old daughter was still at home has been removed as it was a troll.

I replied to that one too!

People are so strange.....