Dealing with the trolls

[margiebargie]

Lots of people reported the most recent big troll thread, but it obviously trundled on for a while regardless - I presume while you were looking into it behind the scenes. How about a system whereby if you've received a certain amount of reports, the thread is automatically "paused"/locked/hidden while you investigate?

And if a thread is revealed to have been from a troll, delete it (with the message "Yawn" or similar), and keep it up for a day or two but hide it from everyone apart from those who were posting on it (op excluded, obviously), so that they can discuss it among themselves without their discussions being public. I'm sure the trolls get a kick out of being called a sick fucker as much as from the original deception; as it's an attention-seeking phenomenon, the less attention they get, the better, no?

[BurnTheBlackSuit]

LookMa

Thanks, I didn't know that worked. Yes, it does need to be widely known.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

We are asked by mn not to troll hunt on threads and instead to report it. I found it really difficult to sit on my hands on this one and not say something on the thread in case it really was real - I was worried that mn was turning me into a suspicious old witch. I did report, several times and the messages from mn (after the first message I got) reassured me they were taking it seriously. They have to be absolutely sure before zapping threads I think. Locking it might have been a good idea, but had it been genuine, it would have been very upsetting for the op.

I did appreciate the thread being left up for a little bit so that people could vent. A lot of people were hurt and by just deleting, it would be a bit like sweeping it under the carpet.

[LaserShark]

Troll hunting can be problematic if left unchecked though. I remember reading a fairly innocuous thread once and suddenly someone swooped in and grandly announced that they'd reported the OP for being a troll - their evidence for dismissing it as 'bollocks' was that the OP had made reference to opaque tights and apparently 'no one wears opaque tights anymore'. The troll hunting halfwit was deleted, the thread left standing but it then descended into baffled discussion about just what we're supposed to wear on our legs in the winter? Some people get very inflated with an idea of their own importance and I'd hate to see them able to troll hunt unchecked because they'd be all over every thread with any sort of high-emotion content.

That said, I agree it's ridiculous to nurture a sense that the troll hunters are all scum and the trolls are just misguided. I don't like to report and I reported a thread yesterday which turned out to be legitimate so I haven't reported one today which I wonder if may be the one TouCanDoIt was referencing above which seems so like the Oliver troll. I really don't know what the solution is.

[callherwillow]

It doesn't sound old hate; it sounds horrible

I do understand people's frustration, honestly, but I do think the current system whereby we can report threads and mumsnet will look into them is a better system than any forum I've encountered - I honestly don't think there's another workable way.

[emotionsecho]

Yes familyvonstrop is owed a fair few apologies from the members of Oliver's Army, I hope some of them will take a long hard look at themselves and their motivations for being part of that whole fiasco.

[callherwillow]

You can fuckin, I've done so. All you need to do is ask MN to look into it as it sounds odd.

[thefamilyvonstrop]

Sadly, there does seem to be a mutually reciprocal relationship between the trolls and some mn posters - almost a rubbernecking thing happens that feeds the emotional drama even higher.

I think posters do need to take some responsibility for the way they post and the trolls wouldn't get the response they are searching for. Someone defending the thread said any idiot could see it was genuine and asked where the drama was, the drip feed, the subtle hints for finances. This shocked me - that thread had those elements in spades in the very first post. But people don't want to see it because they are on the inside of the gang.

People need to stop perceiving anyone reporting a thread as the enemy - if you saw what you thought was a real life burglary, you would report. If it turned out to be a false alarm, you wouldn't be castigated for being an idiot, a bitch, negative, troll etc as per this thread. But next time this or another troll turns up, the reaction will be the same.

Bizarrely, when a poster is flailing around, not immediately taking advice, maybe repeatedly coming back and not doing what they've been advised, they are bollocked. Yet this to me is a more genuine reaction and much more representative of how people react normally to fast moving traumatic events. It's like the trolls give people the clean narrative that they want, that plays out like a tv show with neat developments that we can half anticipate.

[SouthWestmom]

That one was sooo obvious, so frustrating to see people being sucked in and getting really over excited about being 'part' of something.
All the this is mumsnet at its best stuff usually comes out on those threads.

[TendonQueen]

I've reported threads twice today that I just have a feeling are too dramatic to be true. I've decided that my response for now to increased trolling is going to be increased reporting. At least let's try it. It is all making me sceptical about any discrepancy or sudden acceleration of events.

[Queenbean]

TendonQueen what threads....?

[thefamilyvonstrop]

fuck, you can report just for the tone being "off" - I don't know anything about leukaemia but I reported because it was just set up too neatly. I got a nice response from mnhq but clearly lots of others didn't and that definitely needs to be raised. No one should be made to feel shit for reporting no matter how sensitive the topic.

[WannaBe]

I think the fact that so many posters feel guilty for reporting in the first place is precisely why an automatic lock on a certain number of reports wouldn't be a viable option. It would IMO deter posters from reporting because what if their report was the one which generated the lock function? And what if a poster needed genuine help etc etc?

I report without guilt. I've unmasked a truely spiteful, toxic, vampiric troll on a different forum, and actually the process of proving it was a troll was incredibly unpleasant because I discovered not only one troll but three.
But I take the view that it's far better to report a suspected troll even with just the words "this looks dubious, over dramatisation/inaccurate information etc." than to leave it there for people to be sucked in.

Also, I've reported in the past and MN HQ have admitted that they think it's suspect but have been unable to prove it.

[Asprilla11]

I think MNHQ should include a virus/malware in their emails to the troll (when they know they are a troll but haven't told them they are banned yet),

That'll teach them!