Why trolls make up threads on here ?

[Happyone8]

I’m fairly new to Aibu and have been on two troll threads recently. One was about dating and was three threads long , where I took time giving lots of advice over several weeks . Ends up it was someone making it up and she/he had several other threads running too. Another thread from someone else has been shut down this morning for a similar reason .
Just wondering why someone would make stuff up ? It must be so boring and pointless! Also now don’t feel like investing time to freeing advice as feel that it’s all made up .
Is there a way to spot these people ??

@WorraLiberty

It's the 'Live' threads that make me laugh.

They're so obvious and the OP has a million and one excuses why they can't do/ask something right now, that'd bring the issue to a conclusion. They're literally setting up a whole thread to run to 1000 posts right before your eyes.

But the excitable happy clappy posters, blindly squealing "UPDATE PLEASE!!" are even funnier.

And of course they're the reason attention trolls exist.

So true.

Trolls frequent this site because there is a very willing, attentive and, I hate to say it, fairly significant amount of gullible posters for an audience.

The absolute worst are troll threads involving made up ill, dead or dying children or partners, the circus of posters that surrounds them all trying to outdo each other with their compassion by crying and competitively grieving for the troll are awful. Trolls know they will get this reaction, they feed off it and into it and that's why they do it. I suspect most of the posters weeping and wailing on these threads are doing it more for themselves than anything else, signalling to all reading just how wonderful and caring they are so are gaining as much from the thread as the troll is which is why they react so badly when the thread is removed.

Excellent post Bronwen

@Hobnobswantshernameback

And trolls make stuff up because people believe them and keep begging for updates and waving their Pom poms The hysteria on some threads and the competitive "I care the most" behaviour it's no wonder the trolls enjoy spouting their bollocks Yes, some people's lives are chaotic and difficult But if it reads like a soap opera, is updated more often than a soap opera and has cutsie character names like a soap opera It's probably bollocks

Exactly this. All the attention is what keeps them coming back.

I think some people are bored with a lot of time on their hands so do it to waste time.

Others like getting a rise out of people so will poke the bear until they get the response they want.

And others are clearly unsatisfied with their own lives for whatever reason so use MN to be a fantasy version of themselves - big house, lots of money, perfect family, exotic holidays and the rest. They’ll create fake threads or reply in ‘character’ to pad out their narrative and hopefully convince others it’s real too. There used to be a poster who apparently lived in a picturesque village (in a farmhouse I believe) with charming hilarious kids who provided many ‘funny’ anecdotes. I think the narrative began to unravel and holes emerged when they managed to view, purchase and move into a new house within a 2 week period. Apparently the village solicitor just moved really quickly!

I agree with you OP, it’s so annoying. I’ve wasted time on these threads too giving what I believe to be genuine advice. It baffles me some of the stories they make up witch no clue to the impacts it could have on people who genuinely could be going through those problems.

Fine if people are bored make up some fun chat threads, loved the conspiracy theory one, or make up something that people would know was fake and started for fun.

My example - I’ve been having an illicit affair with a stranger during lockdown.... we meet up in the park and have sex in the bushes, my DH keeps asking why I come back with mud on my hands and knees. I love my DH but this man is amazing, I always know where he will be as there is always a blue box right next to our rendezvous spot, he’s a big talker making me laugh and talks about amazingly clever random things, he likes to make up stories like once he said he met cleopatra and got into a sword fight with an alien when his hand got chopped off then it grew back. He has a few fetishes I like too, he wears those cheap 3D glasses when we are doing it doggy style and likes me to call him Master in a robot voice... WWYD I don’t want to stop seeing him, he said when lockdown is over he will take e places I couldn’t imagine and I won’t need a vaccine passport....

I fell hook line and sinker for the book guy one! I mean, who wouldn't send someone they'd seen twice a ribbon-bound book? slaps self

Because too many posters are over invested, and desperate for drama, particularly now during lockdown. This encourages trolls to invent stories, or exaggerate something that has a basis in truth.

It does sometimes lead to false charges of troll hunting, but this is hardly surprising.

I know the Sistine chapel thread was a troll but that was comedy gold.

Snapped and farted just irritated me. Too try hard.

Anyone remember the cake one? That really sucked me in, I can't remember the full details but I was so invested

That dating one!!! So glad it was a troll she was obsessed!!! How could one person post 300 messages about a couple of texts and two dates!!! Mental!

@BronwenFrideswide

Trolls frequent this site because there is a very willing, attentive and, I hate to say it, fairly significant amount of gullible posters for an audience.

Spot on.

I mostly find it amusing but then I sit and think about the fact these gullible posters are mostly parents. Parents who are responsible for teaching their kids how to be safe and savvy online.

That's when it becomes a lot less funny.

70% threads and posts are fake. MN is entertainment, very little reality.

I often think that most of these gullible idiots have far more internet savvy children

@WorraLiberty

Also now don’t feel like investing time to freeing advice as feel that it’s all made up.

The internet is full of trolls, not just Mumsnet.

Honestly, if you feel like that then don't invest time. There are plenty of others who will.

I'm cynical about everything I read on here. Sometimes I reply, sometimes I don't but either way I don't feel as though I've 'invested' anything, as it's passed the time for me and that's the only reason I'm here.

Same here. I take a lot of threads with a major pinch of salt.

I don't understand posters getting so deeply into other people's threads that they are crying, shaking, fuming and the rest, on behalf of strangers on the internet.

@Hobnobswantshernameback

I often think that most of these gullible idiots have far more internet savvy children

At least one hopes that they have. Not sure though.

I think it’s pretty rude to keep suggesting I’m gullible . As I mentioned repeatedly- the thread was one in which the person experienced something I experienced. So you don’t have to get on your high horse and look down on others - cheers

The cake one was done by the zoo lady. She claimed childminder took her child to the zoo and tried to claim money for it or something,fake ticket was produced.

The hysteria on some threads and the competitive "I care the most" behaviour it's no wonder the trolls enjoy spouting their bollocks
Totally agree, they are just as sick as the trolls sometimes.
There are posters that keep NC and coming back who are genuine, but they have either vary poor MH problems or theres the attention seekers who think by NC and changing the details a little nobody will recognise them they are just unpleasant drama queens with no self awareness

@Hobnobswantshernameback

I often think that most of these gullible idiots have far more internet savvy children

I often recoil in terror at the fact that people with so little capacity to filter obvious bullshit are able to vote!

I don't understand posters getting so deeply into other people's threads that they are crying, shaking, fuming and the rest, on behalf of strangers on the internet.

"Any update, OP? I couldn't sleep last night for worrying about you ..."

Thankfully the curriculum around internet safety in schools is pretty decent
But I concur about the having the vote thing

The absolute worst are troll threads involving made up ill, dead or dying children or partners, the circus of posters that surrounds them all trying to outdo each other with their compassion by crying and competitively grieving for the troll are awful. Trolls know they will get this reaction, they feed off it and into it and that's why they do it. I suspect most of the posters weeping and wailing on these threads are doing it more for themselves than anything else, signalling to all reading just how wonderful and caring they are so are gaining as much from the thread as the troll is which is why they react so badly when the thread is removed.

Yes, totally agree. I'm ridiculously cynical about any thread with a critically ill / deceased partner or child, it has to be said. Which is sad, really, given that a proportion will be real with a grieving person needing support.

Another topic which I'm dubious about is surprise pregnancies discovered at a late stage.

I remember the thread where someone claimed their child was newly diagnosed with cancer
The hysteria was horrific to observe
Worse still when posters who knew it was bollocks because the clinical information being spouted by the OP was bollocks they were venomously rounded on by the competitive "aunties"
It was vile
Posters changed their names to include the imaginary child's name, they became an "army"
Seriously that's not normal behaviour

And often if you read a lot of these types of threads the posting style is weirdly similar

@BigBadVoodooHat

I don't understand posters getting so deeply into other people's threads that they are crying, shaking, fuming and the rest, on behalf of strangers on the internet.

"Any update, OP? I couldn't sleep last night for worrying about you ..."

If you are having sleepless nights due to the worry about a random on the internet it's time to have a word with yourself I think.

All the 'hope you're ok OP' posts when the fast moving live action thread goes quiet for day are just a way of saying 'Come on OP you owe us an update'.

@WorraLiberty

Some also start with a grain of truth but the OP probably gets carried away with all the attention and then they over-egg the pudding.

It's interesting though, seeing them trip themselves up.

Liftzilla (as with many many many zilla threads) was a classic example of that. Possibly started with a grain of truth. OP was tired of giving a co-worker lifts, and changed shifts in order to break the pattern.

And that's when it went wild...
OP ignored all reasonable questions about the major inconsistencies in her tale. The cheerleaders shouted for updates as the whole thing grew more and more improbable and then imploded like the troll tale it was.

If you are having sleepless nights due to the worry about a random on the internet it's time to have a word with yourself I think.

I think It's just code for "I'm a nosey bastard but I should probably sound caring, so I'll say I'm worried".