to think that posters who self-importantly "call 'troll'!" at perfectly realistic thread scenarios, are the bane of Mumsnet?

[PadDad]

If there is a thread that deals with something quite likely and pertinent to quite a few people's lives, who cares that you personally don't think it 'rings true'? Not everyone lives the same kind of life as you.

Just don't contribute! If you're that bored, don't bore me.

some folk love squawking troll just so they can post inane links and obvious gags

has someone skelped you on AIBU etc that you think seemingly plausible, long term, attention seeking posters who have been the REAL trolls.Miaow.did you have a virtual fight a scrap with someone.

well dont worry about it.live to post another day and all that

I basically couldn't give a fuck if anyone's a troll or not. It's not a good idea to invest more emotional energy - or give money - to internet posters than you can cope with writing off.
Though funny troll threads (the wedding&wine one springs to mind) are great and there should be more of them.

how would you know that PP ?

okay, okay now I'm getting it

still think it's weird

scottishmummy, Pics like this can sometimes be helpful in identification though

oh bollocks
f'ing links, I hate them!!!!

another example of popular troll links

eek that is a scary nudey doll.jesus wept put some drawers on that doll

i'd say that as a general rule, if the poster is getting something out of it and no one is getting hurt, i'd leave it well alone, but determining who's getting hurt and how much is so difficult.

there was someone very recently who behaved like a classic troll (slowly eking out details of a traumatic story, posting the 'i'm going to kill myself' threads etc) and yet still she managed to reel in and hurt some very established posters (by which i merely mean that they'd seen it all before). i was surprised, i must say, that they didn't see the situation for what it was but then we all have our blind spots.

tell you what, though, there was also a pram thread recently that uncovered the fact that the poster had, well, some difficulties and was taking care of a teddy bear rather than a baby. it was a masterclass in how to handle a troll, the women on the thread were kindness itself. by and large, imo, the ones who reel people in must be a bit fucked in the head... poor sods.

a teddy bear!!???

did you ever see that ch 4 doc My Fake Baby? I live in fear of falling into conversation with one of those women at the park.

i've said it once, last week actually....i got thrown off the thread (nothing new)

yes depends on the troll motives.as adults we need to exercise a modicum of caution/savvy too.

have seen many trolls come and go
undoubtedly many more will crawl up

bottom line is they post for inflammatory and provocative reasons.they seek outrage and reaction from others just because

in my experience sm ...trolls usually want sympathy/attention

ooooh.

Have just realised that I did a troll thing.

Posted a ridiculous name on the baby name board just to see how people would respond.

That's bad isn't it?

re:the teddy/baby lady.she alleged conned MN and got xmas parcel.many cross posts about her

yes, later on. but not when it became apparent, on the first thread it was well handled. later on some people couldn't stop themselves from putting the boot in... meh.

sympathy/attention are evocative emotions that generate response so yes most likely

hardly likely to be a self effacing gracious troll.where is the contention in that.given they usually seek argy bargy

What I don't like about certain trolls, is when they assume an identity of say a young, teenage mum for example.

This will naturally attract other mums of a similar age to the discussion.

This happened fairly recently and it was supposedly a mum of a teenage mum, posing as her daughter. I could be wrong, but I'm sure there was a suggestion of meeting up with other young mums.

What if this wasn't someone's mum, what if this was an older man?

you post in such a confucian style, sm, i rarely know what you're saying.

yes, flappy, that is a worry, that's true. gah, it's hard to know what to do. my personal preference is for ignoring people who do this, but then i don't really get that personally involved either, it's not my thing.

that's the thing that annoys me..i've been called a troll more times than i can remember...even though i've been here over a year??...some new poster turns up with crazy thread, and everyone falls for it.

yes...what the hell are you on about sm?

oh diddums poor ole daft punk

at SM being Confucian. Very true.

I wonder if some of our attitudes towards trolls/troll-spotters have to do with how we generally see the internet. Is it a place where you behave pretty much the same as you would in real life? Or do you take the anonymity as licence to do things you wouldn't normally do?

I've met a real life sociopath, and another who was a compulsive liar. They'd be the people I'd expect to get on chat sites and tell plausible but entirely made up stories. But maybe there are loads more people who don't see the internet like I see it, as an extension of real life.

I would have an extremely hard time coming on MN and telling lies, and I suppose that makes me think it doesn't happen that often. But then I am guilty of the same thing as some recent troll-spotters. Their logic says they wouldn't behave the same way as an OP, so they shout 'troll'--forgetting we are all different and react/behave in different ways.

Waffling here and having flashbacks to my 'Women in Cyberspace' class years and years ago....

Some of the 'troll' threads I've seen have led people to share very difficult experiences. When the truth is outed it can have a very negative effect on already vulnerable people. I have no problem airing their suspicions but I do think they should also be reporting those suspicions to MNHQ.

i don't believe 80% of what i read on here