Trolling

[robertdreed]

Mother, an Internet "troll" is a type of Internet poster who relies on repetitive aggressive personal attacks as their favored style of posting. Often, they don't give any awareness of having read any of the comments that precede their own "contributions." When they express opinions about ideas rather than other posters- a rarity- they usually sound like broken records from Cliche Hell. Sometimes they're "space hogs" who expend huge amounts of discussion space with lengthy cut-and-pastes of articles by their favorite "opinion leaders." Often, they don't give any indication that they've paid any attention to those who respond to them. And their usual goal seems to be to drag a given discussion into a "flame war" of hurled insults.<br><br>Trolls often make it painfully obvious to most everyone reading how stupid they are, obliviously parading their ignorance. Sometimes they're more clever.<br><br>Given the freedom of the Internet, trolls can be hard to get rid of...perhaps the most reliable solution is to ignore them. Talk around them.<br><br>LOL = "laughing on-line". Although I've also heard the acronym interpreted as "laughing out loud." <p></p><i></i>

[BlueCherub]

What I liked about this board from the beginning is the TOTAL ACCEPTANCE and RESPECT of peoples thoughts, opinions and experiences. What I have noticed in recent days is a snippy sort of judgemental attitude that wasn't here in weeks past. Even a hint of that kind of attitude is what should be banned on this board.<br><br>Just my .02 cents. <p></p><i></i>

[mother]

Thank you Robertdreed. You have performed an act of corporal mercy:instructing the ignorant. I had just written a reply to another thread, "Why are we here?" and somehow botched it, lost it into who-knows-where. It is pathetic to be so interested in what people are saying and thinking, be conceited enough to think that one has formed an interesting comment, yet thwarted time and again by technical ignorance. Which reminds me of how frustrating it is to have no idea how to cut and paste. Now, proldic, since mother insults are your favorite ammo, go right ahead. But you must wait your turn, as I have 6 very churlish little thugs eager to insult me on a moment's notice. robertdreed, I think, has been the only one to show me the slightest bit of mercy all day. <p></p><i></i>

[robertdreed]

you could at least give partial credit to Ted the dog. <p></p><i></i>

[robertdreed]

you could at least give partial credit to fellow internet poster "Ted the dog."<br><br>"Ted the dog" is an example of what's known as a "screen name." Contributors can pick any one they want.<br><br>Another hint about the Internet: starting personal disputes early and often is a mistake.<br><br>And you can never tell another poster's sense of humor, right off the bat...so it helps to keep in clean, direct, and avoiding sarcasm, which probably leads to more minor misunderstanding on the Internet than anywhere else.<br><br>Anyway, "Ted the dog" helped too. <br><br>The names are often put in casual Internet conversation without quotes. But sometimes it's less confusing if quotes are used, to sort things out. <br><br><br><br> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p097.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=robertdreed>robertdreed</A> at: 8/6/05 10:21 pm<br></i>

[Sweejak]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>What I have noticed in recent days is a snippy sort of judgemental attitude that wasn't here in weeks past. Even a hint of that kind of attitude is what should be banned on this board.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>Oh yeah, noticed that too, and in fact people have become reluctant to post. Very hard to police though and it would be an unpleasant job to put so much effort into managing a forum when your trying to run a blog of the consistent quality that Rigorous Intuition is. <br><br>I've also noticed on the boards that I visit a general wave of gatekeepers but that's more of a hunch. However, I do know as a fact that the military is watching some and that there are groups out there that plan and launch attacks on certain forums with the intent to disrupt and degenerate a board hidden behind the front of what is in fact good information. You may think your facing one person in a debate when in reality there are 4 of 5 of them.<br><br>On highly moderated boards it seems that personal attacks and attacks on "the messenger" are quashed early on, and probably more important, no questions are allowed to remain unaddressed.<br><br>I've only seen a few forums that are highly moderated... you'd have constant cries of bias as eveyone has different tolerances. Given time forums seem to develop their own culture and since there are so many you can always be a nomad.<br> <p></p><i></i>

[Avalon]

Mother, we all start somewhere, and the culture of the Internet is still developing. Each board has its own flavor that comes from the subject matter discussed, the rules of the road at that particular board, and most importantly the mix of personalities who are there at any given time and how they interact. <br><br>At its best it's like the best party you've ever been to, where all the guests are bright, witty, and warm. At worst, it's the sandbox, and the bullies are acting like they need snack and naptime and maybe time-out. It's always good to just listen at a board for a while and then ease your way in. The rabbit understands the dynamics better than the fox does.<br><br>If you are using a PC (not an Apple product), you'll probably find that you can cut and paste in this way: keeping your left mouse button pressed down, put the cursor at either the beginning or end of the word or passage you want to cut or copy, and move the cursor along until you find the whole part has been highlighted.<br>Let go of the left mouse button, press down on the right and you'll get a menu which will let you pick "copy" or "cut." Click the appropriate one, which will put the highlighted material on your invisible "Clipboard." Then move your cursor to where you want the material, right click again to pick "paste," and it should be there. You can also do this via the "edit" menu which is probably at the top of your page.<br><br>If there's a reply I've worked hard on and don't want to lose, I open up another window and work on it in my mail program or just stick it into another document I'm writing. Your machine can crash, a branch hit the power supply, or the cat jumps into your lap and knocks your hand into a key that sends it prematurely.<br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[Sweejak]

I remember the first board I was on, a bunch of long lost high school friends. Being military,CIA, and diplomatic brats we were destined never to ever meet again, our high school having been dissolved and long gone.<br>Then came the internet and we all rejoined, mostly to compare notes and convince ourselves that yes, those things really did happen.<br>Then came 9-11 and oh how I spun my wheels trying to fight the trend toward the The War on Terror. That is where I cut my teeth, but what a hard way to 'fight' with long lost friends. Eventually the board broke into the very same patterns that you observed at high school. The "hippies" and the "straights". If nothing else, very fascinating to watch from a sociological standpoint and I still speak daily to my old friends.. the "hippies".<br><br>BTW the process of cut and paste is identical on a Mac. <p></p><i></i>

[Avalon]

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>WHY DOES IT MATTER?<br> "Some people -- particularly those who have been online for years -- are not upset by trolls and consider them an inevitable hazard of using the net. As the saying goes, "You can't have a picnic without ants."<br><br>It would be nice if everybody was so easy-going, but the sad fact is that trolls do discourage people. Established posters may leave a message board because of the arguments that trolls ignite, and lurkers (people who read but do not post) may decide that they do not want to expose themselves to abuse and thus never get involved.<br><br>Another problem is that the negative emotions stirred up by trolls leak over into other discussions. <br>Normally affable people can become bitter after reading an angry interchange between a troll and his victims, and this can poison previously friendly interactions between long-time users.<br><br>Finally, trolls create a paranoid environment, such that a casual criticism by a new arrival can elicit a ferocious and inappropriate backlash.<br><br>The Internet is a wonderful resource which is breaking down barriers and stripping away prejudice. Trolls threaten our continued enjoyment of this beautiful forum for ideas." -- Timothy Campbell </em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm#WIAT">members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm#WIAT</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>It's probably better to concentrate on the verb "trolling" -- the behavior -- rather than labelling and demonizing somebody who doesn't appear to have very good social skills.<br><br><br><br>-- Timothy Campbell <p></p><i></i>

[Sweejak]

Can't argue with the effects that you point out. Intent is another issue. Good idea to stick with the effects rather than labelling.<br><br>I suppose there are good effects as well. You get pretty good at being accurate with what your trying to say, you learn how to parse...if that's a good thing.. which words to italicize, where to put a question mark. Too much of that though leaves you reading between the lines. <p></p><i></i>

[robertdreed]

"Malign intent" is perhaps the most difficult thing to judge about another's Internet posts. And even when it appears painfully apparent subjectively, it's generally a very difficult sell to the third party "neutral observers" that read such accusations. Therefore, accusations are to be avoided, that's my rule of thumb. <br><br><br> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p097.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=robertdreed>robertdreed</A> at: 8/7/05 6:22 am<br></i>

[Sweejak]

It's a good rule... there is always consensus but that isn't necessarily right either.... and even trolls and disrupters probably have "good intentions". <p></p><i></i>

[mother]

Thank you for the technical advice and insight into Internet culture. This seems miraculous to me, this method of communication, all this information. One of these days you're gonna see some cutting and pasting, it may cause a stroke, but I remain grateful. <p></p><i></i>

[robertdreed]

Two different commands.<br><br>You have a computer "mouse", right?<br><br>It has two buttons in the front- left and right.<br><br>To "copy", find the beginning of the text you want to excerpt and click on the left button while moving the mouse. This will "shade" a given amount of text. When you have the part that you want shaded, stop and leave it. It should stay shaded. Then, click on the right button ( this is called "right-clicking" ) . A small "menu" of commands will appear. One of them will say "copy." Select that with a mouse-click. <br><br>(If you right-click without shading text first, you will get a menu, but it will be a different one, without a "copy" or "paste" command. )<br><br>The text is now "copied." Then, return to your message and place the blinking vertical line- the "cursor"- where you want the text to land. Then right-click again, see the menu, and hit the "paste" command. This may take a few tries, but eventually- <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>voila!</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.<br><br>It'a all very miraculous, and it probably took me a year and a half of being on the Internet before I learned how to do it. I was wearing my fingers out typing before I did that. I'm horrible at typing. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p097.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=robertdreed>robertdreed</A> at: 8/7/05 6:19 pm<br></i>

[Fearless]

attacked, though, than ignored. <p></p><i></i>