A suggestion about identifying trolls on here. Probably rubbish but just a thought

[TskullsScreaming]

How about this..

If you are a regular poster and haven't been told off/banned for trolly behaviour you earn a star after a period of time or maybe say after a certain quantity of posts.

Even if you name change you keep the star.

So if you wanted to name change for a sensitive reason or for fun, the star would indicate that you have a credible history on here.

Now, new people could still join in any time of course, but would need to be posting regularly to earn the star (bit like a badge of honour).

We would have to be welcoming and kind to new posters (no hint of being cliquey and leaving them out ) But the lack of a star would clearly show they were new and we could make the effort to be inclusive towards them which would make us come over as more welcoming.

But, if they play up ie trolling they could be identified faster.

Of course this doesn't cover the possibility of a regular poster suddenly turning trollsome, but in such a case we would all at least know it was a regular on here instead of all the wondering if we may or may not have ever had any regular contact on here with that poster.

I'm not saying this is foolproof, but it could go some way to restoring some credibility and confidence.

Just a suggestion. Probably totally unworkable.

[lucykate]

maybe a simpler version of the stars would be to colour code chat names, eg newbies in green, after 6 months name turns yellow, after a year turns orange and so on. colour coding remains as is even during name changes. mn is large enough to allow people to name change for personal reasons and the colour of the name not give them away, but like skulls says, someone who had joined just to troll would be instantly identifiable from a regular trolling with a name change.

colour just refers to time been registered rather than number of posts etc, to take away the competitive angle

[MonsieurHHTruqueur]

Here you go, DragonButter

[ConnieDescending]

its a nice idea but don't think it would work. Alot of MN'ers like the drama a troll brings as well.

[giggleBirthdayWitch]

lol at this lot. some fantastic suggestions

pmsl @ like macdonalds

[stayinbed]

what on earth is a troll?

[kneedeepinthedirtylaundry]

excuse my ignorance, but can you tell me what Troll means? I'm serious, I don't know. I suspect if you think I do know but am pretending not to, I'm being a troll???

[MOrticiaAdams]

For those that don't know, a troll is someone who posts delibarately to cause offence, wind people up, start an argument or generally be a complete PITA!

I think the idea of profile pages saying when you joined is good. It doesn't have to mean that everyone has to have a profile, just that everyone has a clipboard icon and if they don't want a profile it just says something like, 'Mo has not made her profile public, but has been a member since 2005.'

That would a least give people a chance to see if a suspected troll had just signed up for a fight.

[Dragonbutter]

haha, thanks for that.
so relieved it wasn't the bat.

[SorenLorensen]

I worked in McDonald's and I didn't get a single star - I only ever had a newbie, green star-less badge. Mind you, I barely lasted two weeks I had a nice baseball cap...

[SorenLorensen]

And some crimpelene slacks...

[Dragonbutter]

niiiice

[CatIsSleepy]

ooh i haven't had a star since I was in primary school