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?

Sorry I don't know who Nick Griffin is? All I'm saying is that if you are polite and don't do anything to upset people you don't deserve to get abused for your views.

so, woodston, coming straight onto the currently most controversial thread on a site as a newbie, then spitting out the dummy when you don't get the red-carpet treatment is the way to win friends and influence people is it ?

goodness, I got absolutely slated for some of my first few posts

and then when I realised this was a robust place, and the fluffy-bunniness was nowhere to be seen, I got to like it

you have to elbow your way in, sometimes, but to expect "respect" without earning it is kinda arrogant, dontcha think ?

and slating a site, that are new to, is not exactly the height of good manners

I don't get the whole "treat my views with respect" thing.

Does that mean if you strongly disagree with someone you shouldn't say "I think you are talking bollocks", you should say "No disrespect intended, but you're talking bollocks", or "you're spouting a plethora of erroneous slaptrap" or what?

It's OK, I kinda gathered I was the one being slated before I posted on this thread.

Differences of opinion are clearly not tolerated.

If you think my views are rubbish, please give a reasoned view as to why you think they are rubbish rather than just slag me off!

Thanks

Amy

woodston, i have never "seen" you before

I saw that other thread and ran away screaming, so have no idea what views you expressed on there

it's best, I think, to stick with one thread at a time, and I was responding to you on this one

don't give up on MN...if I had given up in the first couple of weeks I would have miseed out on a lot of stuff

oh, and don't take it so seriously

it's not generally a serious place

that thread is actually bonkers, and not representative

LOL this place is nothing but differences of opinion.

No one has slagged you off. Read the thread. They've asked you direct questions which you haven't answered.

But you won't get kid glove treatment here, especially if people suspect you of merely being on a wind up mission.

Yes that thread has been de-railed by some loons and now we're all just taking the piss.

Not v. representative at all.

Well... I'm taking the piss, anyway.

and now, woodston, I have given you more of my time than anyone gave me when I was a persecuted newbie, so you are on your own now

the best place to test your mnetiquette probably isn't a prostitution thread in the feminist section tbh. that's honestly a friendly piece of advice. particularly a thread where There. Are. Some People. Who. Are Being. A Bit. Weird.

there's another two hours until mn call time-out. it's making me laugh now, the loons are clearly winning. just when it all settles down and everyone posts a nice reassuring or 'well done', mners who should know better have another snap at the dangling fly. it's j r hartley for beginners.

Nick of Time, it's just great to be called a "loon"! Why can't you just be nice?

I don't think NoT is calling you a loon. What makes you thinks/he is referring to you?

Do you feel loonish? :)

Of course not. I am a highly educated girl with a 4 year old daughter called Jessica.

I do wish there was an Ignore Poster button, but the thing about the FOSH thread is that by the time I decided to ignore the trolls and just engage with people making actual points...there was nobody left making any substantive arguments. So, yeah, I don't know.

Woodston, you put forward a view that we should treat SH with respect because the Bible says so. You were asked how the Bible looked upon men who use prostitutes, and you didn't answer. Tell me, how are we disrespecting your views if you won't engage in actual debate? Or were you expecting to come in, say your piece, have it agreed with, and that's that?

Well that's alright then, don't rush to lump yourself in with the lunatic fringe.

People do disagree with each other on here, it's a board for discussions after all. If you feel someone is being unfair you should pick them up on it - I have started doing this and often people will backtrack or realise they've gone a bit OTT. You can report a post to MN, if you think it's really offensive or breaking site rules, by clicking on the button to the right above each post.

I certainly didn't start this thread with you in mind, btw.

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Plus I suspect that there is a bit of a cultural gap, I get the impression that in countries like the US people are used to using the Bible as the default truth source without question.

I think an ignore poster button would be a good thing. It would be lovely because you could have the option to read them if you want to, but if people are being insulting or just plain daft as a hatful of monkeys you aren't forced off the thread.

Maybe they could pilot it?

What have MNHQ said about it in the past?

Someone once said something to me that helps, actually: First they dismiss you, then they laugh at you, then you fight you - and then you win. Something like that, anyway. I take real pleasure in the knowledge that we're enough of a threat to be fought.

Am just wondering if, by the very fact of its existence, this section can't help but attract trolls and 'derailers'? Please bear with me while I elaborate...

You know how sometimes on other MN boards people say things like 'Oh, posting about [a sexual topic] just draws in 14-year-olds who want a wank'? Yes, it probably does. But so what? What about those (many more) posters who genuinely want to talk about that topic as adults? Is that debate to be forbidden because of the annoying 14-year-olds who want to highjack the thread?

Similarly, it seems obvious that the very fact of having a feminist/women's rights section is bound to attract certain people who are just spoiling for a fight, who want to disagree with feminist debate just because it involves discussing feminist ideas.

This is no reason to either abandon the topic, or to 'protect' it in some way (e.g. by banning certain current or future posters). Surely the answer is just to carry on with the discussions here, ignoring people who simply want to derail, and continuing to engage with those who do want a genuine debate. Otherwise we are signalling to the derailers that they have put us outside the mainstream, that they have pushed us to the margins; in other words, that they have won.

um, i was referring to the Posters. Who. Post. In A. Very. Odd. Manner. but happy to have obliged if you feel like appropriating for the 'hard-done-by' hat.

over here, 'loon' is quite an affectionate term though. they're on the money and everything.

and before we have any more cultural misunderstandings, a loon is a bird, and i have a child with a disability. . the feathered sort. avian.

but i've got to feed the kids. (10, 8 and 6 if you're curious, amy, but i'm not sharing names on the www, however nicely you introduce yourself.)

seeing criticism where there was none. i could bang on about the inadequacies of net-based communication and the potential for misunderstanding, but it would be really boring.