Coping with Trolls and Derailers

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

There have been some very persistent posters on here recently - some of them funny (unintentionally), and some of them not - dragging threads off track so we have to go back and explain something over and over again. I'm all for a lively debate, but there always comes a point when you realise that they are not listening at all, are on a blatant wind-up mission, or are just insulting posters with no intention of debating the original issues.

If we don't want this to happen, and bearing in mind that some people spot the pattern quicker than others, I was going to suggest that we have something like a warning word/phrase that could alert other posters to the fact that they are wasting their time. What do you think? Is this a stupid idea?

Saying "ah, a troll" just adds fuel to the fire you see. But if you were to say "I blame Princess Michael of Kent" or something, and then everyone disappears...well it might work?

I think the best thing to do is ignore, if possible.

So.

I know that MNHQ have ruled out a hide poster option in the past. I'm really not sure what the best thing to do is.

I'm not sure the greyscaling would work, as if you're wound up enough to press the greyscale button, you're probably too wound up to stop reading the posts IYSWIM.

Thank you.

ive been following the threads and i would of liked to have commented on the SH one but it got too bizarre.

when i first saw it i just thought-"groan-a man hating thread".
i also thought"omg-someone with a placard near a funeral"

since following the thread i feel that its given me a lot to think about and for me the biggest thing that come out of the thread was-i understand what misogny means now.

a lot of my arguments in life has been based by what i thought was "society"but in fact after a lot a thought-i now feel thats its down to misogny.[a lot is]

i still stand by some of the things ive said-
ive changed my mind about other things.

its a pity that i didnt understand this before as i think there could of been more interesting discussions on other threads.

so-no-i dont think that trolls should be not listened to as in a funny kind of way the SH thread has really made me think/understand.

well done Kate.

Nice to see you again sparky

I think that's exactly what a few posters were getting at earlier - that the discussions that these trolls raise can lead lurkers and posters to change their views - which can only be a good thing.

I think on balance I think the best idea is ignore/maybe greyscale/but keep the arguments going for new people to read, or more regular people to still have their ideas challenged and think about new ideas.

sparky, yes that's what I've been thinking.

The misogynists who actually prove to lurkers, or people who might be generally interested in feminism, that it's not "all in our mind", that it's real: misogyny exists and that's what women are actually getting wound up about.

I've read Lundy Bancroft (a man BTW) and his work is fascinating. He says that abusive men tend to project their own traits onto their victims.
So an abusive man will generally hold the view that women dominate the world, for example, or that they have a disproportionate amount of power in the world compared to men. Whereas the cold, hard facts show the opposite to be true.

YDWTK made a post with a 10 point list of traits an oppressive power structure uses (like the Nazi regime) and he believed our MN discussion was ticking all the boxes of an oppressive regime. IN fact, the reality is that mumsnet is one of the few rare spaces under patriarchy that women are actually allowed, and able, to speak their minds.
And even here, people come to try to shut us up and silence us at every turn.

the misogynists "can" actually prove to lurkers

But. I'm still a female.

Nazism and Fascism are two different formats.

How strange that self proclaimed feminists are being anti free speech toward other women and trying to shut them up and silence them at every turn.

You brought it up in this thread. Not I.

Do you mean to say that people here would be happy to have a conversation with me as m=long as it meets the required propaganda agreeeeeeement standards and does not color out side the coloring book lines?

YOu may be female YDWTK, I believed you until you started posting your more extreme misogynistic posts and then the default just goes to male.

But a woman can be misogynistic, just as a man is capable of being sympathetic to women and can actively help the women's movement.

There is a thread here discussing why women may be misogynists

Oh yes. I agree. They can be. Down right ugly hate filled and sexist as the next.

Why do you thikn this is propaganda, when most of the views on this feminist section are unheard of out there in the real world, in the media, law courts, etc. In fact many of the views expressed here are actually formulated here on the spot through discussions.
All of these views are outside the party line.
YOur views are the party line; you are inside the colouring book lines.

No thank you. I have seen enough of the standardized anti HUMANIST to have a pretty good idea what the format thought directive control mechanisms would be in that thread. I have no need for that kind of thing. Just more abuse.

Because it is feminist propaganda.

And the other half of the source and problem.

You haven't paid one blink's worth of what my views are. You just close your eyes and look at the pre scripted requirements that meet what you need to be happening for you to justify continuing.

Ah. manipulating viewer opinions with emotionally based propaganda belief planting. Quaint.'

But again, it fits the cycle profile perfectly. Yes.

pre-scripted requirements...

on MN?

YOu clearly are a newbie if you think MN has pre-scripted requirements. This is one of the few places on the web that feminists can have robust debates. Most other forums heavily censorship comments.