Trolls

[seriouschanger]

How do you spot them?

As peed off now!

Am I looking at a good writer that just draws me in?

Any tips on spotting one before I foolishly put heart on sleeve?

I can usually tell because the problem presented is too 'perfect' - too well written, too textbook or too extreme.

Also there is a lot of drip feeding, especially if other posters are not buying it.

And the header is usually very compelling (for want of a better word)

Hello
Just a gentle reminder about our troll and troll hunting policy.
If there are any specific posters/posts that you're worried please do report it - it's in complete confidence and we know it sometimes feels uncomfortable to question the veracity of a poster but we'd much rather hear earlier rather than later.
Please be assured that we certainly never allow anyone to be knowingly "sucked in" by someone who is less than genuine.
Thanks
MNHQ

Maybe MNTowers could take

Seriously, I'm starting to get better at spotting the unlikely threads. I just leave them unless they seem really "off" and then I'd report them. Hard to report on just a feeling though...

I just watched that trailer...movie looks amazeballs

Good morning deemented & thanks so much for posting, I had forgotten that it was you and didn't want to search back. Please accept sincere apologies from me, I hope you understand that it was a request for clarification and not an accusation. My memories of that time are a bit hazy as I was postnatal and not very well with anaemia and recovering from pre-eclampsia & a c-section, which is probably why I got sucked in. I needed rest and could ill afford to be supporting someone else, although it was my choice to do so. So sorry you did too, and in such a direct way. Hats off for keeping your name - I change mine every few months :)

I still offer support to just about anyone though and don't think I've ever called troll. To me it's no different to "real life" - offering respect and an open mind to those I come into contact with, and if they turn out to be a twat later then that's their problem, not mine.

S'ok

On the subject of "alerts" - my first inkling that something was wrong was when a group of us were offering support on a very chatty thread one night, when a very well-known MNer (can't remember who, just that it was a familiar poster) posted a very simple message that they would be sending a CAT to one of us offering support. They didn't acknowledge the issue at hand in any way and I initially thought "how cold." It did me a favour though as it made me start to question the whole thing.

Sorry Xposts - thanks for being gracious x

"Am I missing something? Did the thread with the DP walking out on his pregnant partner disappear? A troll?"

I had a gut feeling with this one - but the OP seemed to write in a convincing manner. But something about the DH emptying his wardrobe and leaving a note saying "sorry" had a book of fiction ring to it. A movie image of empty coat hangers left swinging.

I am hoping that the thread was removed for other reasons - that perhaps things resolved and she wanted it removed. I try to look on the good side of human nature; I am too battered by the bad side of it at the moment, to be honest. What is sad is that I met a lot of other women on that thread, with whom I shared something in common and could support.

Every day I wake up in tears and hurting. If hearing about that after posting a fake story gives someone a thrill.......well where are their souls? I don't think even a troll trip-trapping under a bridge would do that.....

just came back on to appologise to Arkadie for mixing you up with another poster with a similar ish name.

Punkatheart - I heard your story - I know you're having it very tough. The other women who have had similar experiences to you are still here... you can carry on talking to them - perhaps start a new thread.

And yes you're right, we don't know anything for sure about the OP - she may have just pulled the thread.

Dizzymare (and she has several other MN names) fooled myself and many others on the bereaved Mums thread

@BelleDameSansMerci

Maybe MNTowers could take

@BelleDameSansMerci

I just leave them unless they seem really "off" and then I'd report them. Hard to report on just a feeling though...

We don't mind reports based on just a feeling - we'd rather these than none at all.
Thanks again
MN Towers

With some kinds of trolling behaviour I think it's their neediness that sucks you in. They are quite needy and lonely, and have a way of hooking you in. And once you're hooked they can be very draining of your time and energy.

dee, do you honestly think if someone had emailed you and said 'this is a crock of shit' you'd have believed them and held back. i think you'd have shot the messenger.

i didn't get involved with Dizzymare at all but watching her updates was like a slow moving carcrash. if anyone had dared raise an eyebrow there'd have been all sorts of bunfights on here with people defending her\accusing the dissenters of being evil and nasty.

From what I can remember myself and Dee were pulled in - hook, line and sinker for quite a while. One or two things didn't quite ring true and we would message each other. When you are in that 'dark place' (loss of a child/children) yourself you really dont want to think that someone is making up a story. Even when everybody started shouting 'troll' I clung on to the hope that they were all wrong. DMare had her story perfectly planned.

The part that got me most angry was when MNetters accused Deemented of being Dizzymare - that was the part that angered me to the point of no return.

i think in cases like DM you just have to accept that they are mentally ill.

(this is TSC by the way) i've namechanged for a bit.

I think there's a difference between the serious long term trolls, and people who are around for a single post or for a couple of days. The long term ones are really difficult, because they've built up a persona and a history and something about them is real.

The other ones, sometimes easier to guess. Personally I am wary of posters with inconsistent writing style - where they use complex sentence structure, the correct use of apostrophes, and then they pepper their post with 'yoof' speak. I also at any post that is clearly fishing for explicit sexual advice. There is a thread on this board at the moment, and narkypuffin has given the most hilarious reply.

Public If someone had said that to me though, i might have been able to take a step back and think..'Hang on..' Yes, i probably would have been annoyed and would have asked what made you think that, but at least the idea would have been planted in my head, iyswim?

I think the worst thing, for me anyway, to have come from all this is that i know there are people on MN who do think i am/was DM. And that when i post, especially about sensitive or dramatic things that are going on for me, people are reading and thinking 'Yeah, right. Whatever'

I know it's annoying to be sucked in by these people, especially when we've invested emotional energy or shared a personal experience to try and help an OP, but in reality they probably do need help, just not for the fictitious situations they're posting about on here.

There are some mixed up people out there.

HAHAAHA narky was it a pervy troll with tissues at the ready I wonder

Festi It's fine, don't worry! I was just amused by the twitchiness my post produced. wonder who has a similar name to me though