As troll hunting season seems to be upon us once more and MNHQ have tried several times to outline their troll policy over the years I've been here and it has had little affect. Is there a way that troll hunting can be discouraged?
on threads like this where someone name changes to accuse OP of trolling.
This seems wrong because:
a) if the OP is trolling then surely there is no harm caused. They are not asking for people's money or contacting people offline (afaik)
b) if the OP isn't trolling there is a great deal of upset caused to them.
c) the only reason for calling 'troll' seems to be that their posting style seems familiar to one or two mners.
It seems that trolling accusations are now being thrown at people who have been round a while posting, not just newbies.
Also while I appreciate some trolls do cause posters a lot of upset and problems (I have seen a few) these are rare and tend to be more obvious than a thread on a sensitive asking purely for advice and nothing else.
Plus as MNHQ are unlikely to be able to tell if someone is trolling unless extreme and repeated. And even then not 100%
Would it be a good idea to have a policy of deleting posts crying troll? They cause upset and are offensive to those accused at difficult times. Any serious concerns re trolling can still be reported to MNHQ via the report this post function.
It seems that asking people to stop doing it isn't having any affect and I for one think it is damaging MN because it does put people, especially newbies off posting for advice on serious issues.
Anyone else got a view.