Ban the Trolls

[Dodger]

Spike and Jinks,

There are 3 trolls who are ruining this forum - their presence being obvious to all. It's time to show them the door. Yes, they will re-appear with new handles, but will find it impossible to conceal themselves - which is when you ban them again and again, and again if necessary. By doing this you can possibly save our forum - with the full support of the overwhelming majority of good members we do have. By ignoring this, I truly believe that the days of SGT are limited.

Ask Smiles to show you his "ignor list" if there's any confusion regarding their identity.

It's not my nature to complain about things like this - and can usually hold my own during troll attacks, but it's simply not fare to the overwhelming majority of forum members who would like to actively participate in our discussions, although don't because of their fear of being attacked and ridiculed by these idiots. Every single time I post a trip report I receive PM's from this silent majority - who always go on to say that they are sending me a PM because they are afraid to post their comments publically. These are guys I've never heard of...total strangers...but have to hide their heads in the sand because of a few mental cases who have figured out how to operate a keyboard...what gives?

I've never once read the forum policies - but don't have to. Any time a person joins a public forum for the sole purpose of insulting, ridiculing and baiting its members into fights is grounds to ban him. If that's not in this forums poilicy -then I suggest you get your pens out and start writing.

Enough is enough.

It's times like this that I find myself really missing the old Pattaya Gay Forum days. I would take Hedda back in a minute as compared to some of the numb sculls we have to deal with now....even Thai Boxer had more substance- and that's reaching deep in the barrel...hehehehehe

[Smiles]

Right on Dodger.
I hate to give these trolls the recognition they crave (trust me, that's all they crave. or need), but this attack is very serious indeed. These pigs don't care about our Board, about Thailand, and anything really ... they care about their ability to create destruction, an ability which is handed to them on a silver platter by an passive Admin and a wildly inconsistent Moderator.
It's hard to believe the number of decent and reasonable Members Sawatdee has lost over the very recent past. These losses will continue.

I wrote a PM to Elephantspike about this situation the other day: his very short reply was to put them on Ignore. This even though he has a set of Guidelines which specifically state that trolling is a guideline violation.

The handles of these trolls are: CastityBoi; Nowvoyager; Homesoon, and Oops He Did it Again

[cdnmatt]

Agreed. And Spike / Jinks, if you guys are that busy, put a couple guys like Smiles and Dodger up to moderators. Would enhance your board, maybe you'd get a good number of new members, increasing your ad revenue. You could probably even find people to do it for free, so they don't have to wade through the bullshit anymore.

Right on Dodger. I wrote an PM to Elephantspike about this situation the other day: his very short reply was to put them on Ignore. This even though he has a set of Guidelines which specifically say that trolling is a guideline violation.

Well said Smiles. I have PM'd my support to Dodger, but will add to the "put them on ignore" comment you received in answer from the moderators. Yes in some cases it helps, but with a certain pair (names not required) who might answer a post an untold number of times, one of them even answers himself, having them on ignore ruins what might have originally started out as a very good post and does not fix the problem. Once another poster quotes with a reply it's all there to read whether the 'ignore' is used or not. Occasional sarcasm and witty comments can be a good thing, and indeed lighten some posts, but trying to be sarcastic or witty when you are clearly not is a different thing altogether.

The handles of these trolls are: CastityBoi; Nowvoyager; Homesoon, and Oops He Did it Again

and please don't forget to ban Beachlover - he replies to every thread, several times. He must be on this board 24/7 writing out his inane bon mots which contribute absolutely F... all to anything.

[catawampuscat]

I am also in agreement with Dodger..
The problem lies in how to define who is a troll and while it seems obvious
to many of us, the line between a troll and an idiot can be very thin..

For reasons beyond my ken, jinks gives everyone second, third, fourth, etal chances
and then the same shit hits the fan and he finally bans and deletes them..
Why it is necessary to go thru this long painful process boggles my mind..
I would end the misery as soon as the troll showed himself but hey maybe that
is why I am not the moderator here..

We can turn to other gaythailand forums but they can be tepid and dull.. Topics
can expand endlessly about trivial points and the same few posters express the
same opinions endlessly and it often turns out to be a big yawn..
The smaller forums are too inbreed and the posters know each other, dine or socialize
together and have their own private humour, which is deadly boring ..
If I want to read a blog, I will read a blog and not an inbreed forum.

So, my unrequested and probably unheeded advice, is to report all offensive postings
using the report feature (it is the red!) and send jinks your thoughts on pms..btw, my ignore list is much larger than those few listed here and oops is not on it..
also beachlover is in my top ten list of best posters..
Like elephantspike, I have also advised using the ignore feature (foe list) but the constant
quoting of the trolls forces one to see their silly nonsense anyway but it is still a good idea.. :idea:

also beachlover is in my top ten list of best posters

Beachlover is in my top ten too, he brings verve to the forum.

[joe552]

I'd like to add my name to this call, for what it's worth. The board has become very tedious lately.

In defence of Beachlover, he may be young and naive, but his heart is in the right place.

WTF did I do wrong?

At least when I post information (ahem, Dodger -- Mr. Mae Sot) it is accurate.

You get my positive vote Oops....

[Beachlover]

The handles of these trolls are: CastityBoi; Nowvoyager; Homesoon, and Oops He Did it Again

and please don't forget to ban Beachlover - he replies to every thread, several times. He must be on this board 24/7 writing out his inane bon mots which contribute absolutely F... all to anything.

Righto... and what about your many different handles?.... Miso, Stop, SilomRimmer, Homintern, CopperPheel to name a few.

[Beachlover]

I had never spoken to hem till he decided to come in to my thread and started telling me (condescending) what his opinion was and what I should post.

You categorised ALL Thai boys with the same characteristics you experience with moneyboys and gogoboys. That's plenty of reason...

How would you like it if they categorised all farangs as dumb old loser farang like LMTU (seen and heard) and Nowvoyager? Even the ones who don't hand about Sunee Plaza or stay in their own country?

Discussions "about the board" it's policy's and moderators' actions should be discussed only in the Posting Guidelines & Discussion Forum, or by e-mail or private message. Squabbles between members are discouraged.

~ 'FLAMING' IS DISCOURAGED. THREADS WHICH DEGENERATE INTO PURE NAME-CALLING "MAY" BE EITHER EDITED, CLOSED, OR DELETED AT THE MODERATOR'S DISCRETION. ( SUCH ACTIONS WILL BE USED AS SPARINGLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE! )
[X] If a poster gets offended it's a case of flaming and not of trolling.

[X] Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. And show the evidence.

[X] An explanation of Elephantspike's and Jinks' behaviour:



Men and women have different online styles

"As a result of these findings, I propose that women and men have different characteristic online styles. By
characteristic styles, I do not mean that all or even the majority of users of each sex exhibit the behaviors of each
style, but rather that the styles are recognizably -- even steoretypically -- gendered. The male style is characterized
by adversariality: put-downs, strong, often contentions assertions, lengthy and/or frequent postings, self-promotion,
and sarcasm."

"The female-gendered style, in contrast, has two aspects which typically co-occur: supportiveness and
attentuation. 'Supportiveness' is characterized by expressions of appreciation, thanking, and community-building
activities that make other participants feel accepted and welcome. 'Attenuation' includes hedging and expressing doubt, apologizing, asking questions, and contributing ideas in the form of suggestions."

"The female style takes into consideration what the sociologist Erving Goffman called the "face" wants of the addressee specifically, the desire of the addressee to feel ratified and liked (e.g. by expressions of appreciation) and her desire not to be imposed upon (e.g. by absolute assertions that don't allow for alternative views). The male style, in contrast, confronts and threatens the addressee's "face" in the process of engaging him in agonistic debate."

Men and women have different communication ethics

Men, in contrast, assign greater value to freedom from censorship, forthright and open expression, and antagonistic
debate as a means to advance the pursuit of knowledge. Historically, the value on absolute freedom of speech
reflects the civil libertarian leanings of the computing professionals who originally designed the net and have
contributed much of the utopian discourse surrounding it; the value on antagonistic debate is rooted in the western (male) philosophical tradition.

These responses not only evoke an ideal of freedom from external authority, they provide an explicit justification
for flaming: as a form of self-appointed regulation of the social order, a rough and ready form of justice on the
virtual frontier. Thus a framework of values is constructed within which flaming and other aggressive behaviors can be interpreted in a favorable (even prosocial) light. This is not to say that all or even most men who flame have the good
of net society at heart, but rather that the behavior is in principle justifiable for men (and hence tolerable) in ways
that it is not for most women.

Further evidence that flaming is tolerated and justified within a system of male values is the content of
written rules of network etiquette, or "netiquette", such as are available on many public FTP sites and in introductory messages to new members of some discussion lists.

http://cpsr.org/issues/womenintech/herring2/

[Aunty]

Well you see, here's the problem. I consider the biggest trolls on this forum, and hence those with the most negative influence on this board to be Smiles, Catawampuscat, Lonelywombat and Beryl in all her guises. After all they are still here and everyone else has gone. So what' that telling ya? And not only are they trouble here, they are also trouble (or have been banned) from the other boards as well.

Therefore whose list is right?

For a new member who is newly resurrected "Thou doust protest too much!".

Pray do tell us how many times have ye resurrected thy self?

[catawampuscat]

Well you see, here's the problem. I consider the biggest trolls on this forum, and hence those with the most negative influence on this board to be Smiles, Catawampuscat, Lonelywombat and Beryl in all her guises. After all they are still here and everyone else has gone. So what' that telling ya? And not only are they trouble here, they are also trouble (or have been banned) from the other boards as well.

Therefore whose list is right?

I forgot aunty was still out there..without homintern to rile her up, she had quieted down..
I can't belive anyone thinks lonelywombat is a troll and a spoiler of forums but silly
aunty does..and who can attack Smiles, an easy all-time top ten poster and a major
contributor and bastion of sanity, except for silly aunty..
and the lies about banning on other forums, poor silly aunty has lost her knitting needles.
aunty's list is probaby a ruse to try to see if homintern realy did bite the bullet or is out
there under another handle..time will tell if he bites but my guess is he has met his end...

[Dodger]

Cat Wrote...


The problem lies in how to define who is a troll and while it seems obvious
to many of us, the line between a troll and an idiot can be very thin..

An idiot is a person who constantly inflicts harm on himself by saying and doing foolish things.

A troll is a person who constantly makes a fool of himself by saying and doing things that are intended to harm someone else.

Agree...there's a fine line here - but a line none-the-less.

[Aunty]

Well you see, here's the problem. I consider the biggest trolls on this forum, and hence those with the most negative influence on this board to be Smiles, Catawampuscat, Lonelywombat and Beryl in all her guises. After all they are still here and everyone else has gone. So what' that telling ya? And not only are they trouble here, they are also trouble (or have been banned) from the other boards as well.

Therefore whose list is right?

I forgot aunty was still out there..without homintern to rile her up, she had quieted down..
I can't belive anyone thinks lonelywombat is a troll and a spoiler of forums but silly
aunty does..and who can attack Smiles, an easy all-time top ten poster and a major
contributor and bastion of sanity, except for silly aunty..
and the lies about banning on other forums, poor silly aunty has lost her knitting needles.
aunty's list is probaby a ruse to try to see if homintern realy did bite the bullet or is out
there under another handle..time will tell if he bites but my guess is he has met his end...


I rest my case!

[bao-bao]

We've been running around this tree so long it's amazing we haven't turned into butter like the tigers did. I too don't understand why Spike doesn't give jinks approval to clean house if he doesn't want to do it himself, but my current guess is that hits are hits and he wants the counts to keep accruing for purposes of income at some level or at some point.

If nothing else it gave me the impetus to start the blog back in March - although I pay my dues and could do one here, I guess. It's a shame that SGT has been allowed to go to hell, though.

Yes, one COULD put the trolls on "ignore" each time they come back, but who has that kind of time?

What homesoon is upset about above was a comment I'd made about his claim to be nothing more than a sex tourist in his own thread about things he would never do for a Thai boy, and all I said was:

A suggestion for your list of things not to try again, then:
Don't start a thread on something you know little of and don't care about. It's insulting to those of us who visit for other than prurient reasons, and makes you appear to be shallow and condescending.

In my (somewhat biased) opinion - regardless of how many times you've visited and what you may have done other than patronize the clubs, you've got a lot to learn about Thailand, homesoon. Perhaps you want to stick more to the "how much to tip" topics.
Evidently it hit home. You can check my unedited post in that thread. Note his OP has been, though.

PS - Although Oops can be an aggravating bitch sometimes (it was he who dealt me my first insult long ago) but damn it - he's often correct and a useful member when he chooses to be. I'd check ten of his posts before I'd read any of the nonsense the others inflict upon us.

[Beachlover]

I suppose GTT is the book burning mob then...

[Bob]

One man's troll is another man's treasure. That, my friends, is why there is an IGNORE button.

You see, some people want to burn books that offend them. Others simply...don't read them.

Congratulations, Oops, you made Smiles' list. Given his fairly high toleration level for uncivil dickheads, that's quite an accomplishment. My only disagreement with Smiles' list is it's simply too short.

The statement that most hit home for me was Bao Bao's statement/lament that "It's a shame that SGT has been allowed to go to hell..." and it was the word "allowed" that struck me as the most important. Other than the direct cause of having some alleged adults act worse than bratty children, the indirect cause in my view is the Owner's choice to do nothing about it. That, of course, is your right, Spike - no different than the rights of others to choose not to participate.

[Beachlover]

Oops gets my vote... as do Cat and Combat.

I see one of the three trolls - Boycastity - has been deleted already.

[gcboyz]

the line for me is very clear. there are many who post an informative article, (sometimes with pictures) which i delight in reading. there have been some fabulous stories and blogs that have increased my knowledge of thailand. to those who i shall call CONTRIBUTORS , i thank you.
there are others who only wish to abuse and argue. the usual list of suspects whose contribution is actually zero.
it is time to put out the trash.

Gents I am not going to get into finger pointing or accusations,it achieves nothing positive on THIS forum ,that is not to say there are no problems here..there are ..and many. In any arena ,where there is debate,competition, or where there is conflict,there has to be an adjudicator. In sports a refereee,in politics..usually the speaker of the house,in court rooms a judge....it is essential for the proper funtioning of the "contest", otherwise .....breakdown....as is happening here.
Now if I, and I think it was Bao Bao ,can see this you can be sure JINKS and SPIKE can see it, but they are either powerless to do anything about it or they do not want to. And so it continues ....ad nauseum!!!

The handles of these trolls are: CastityBoi; Nowvoyager; Homesoon, and Oops He Did it Again

and please don't forget to ban Beachlover - he replies to every thread, several times. He must be on this board 24/7 writing out his inane bon mots which contribute absolutely F... all to anything.

Righto... and what about your many different handles?.... Miso, Stop, SilomRimmer, Homintern, CopperPheel to name a few.

You have demonstrated my point perfectly. Already on this thread you have made 4 postings.

and I don't use any other handles - you sad prick. Get a Life.

[Beachlover]

...

Fair call...

[Beachlover]

and I don't use any other handles - you sad prick. Get a Life.

Oh don't get too worked up, bald man. It makes your face redder than it already is and the wrinkles on your forehead become very visible...

Now 6 posts on this thread ... any of them worth reading ... :dontknow:

Beachlover :::: Filling the forum with garbage so that nobody else has to

[Beachlover]

Seems like you're in the minority here, homintern.

Why haven't you logged in as CopperPheel, Miso or Rene for so long? Forgetting your own handles? I'm sure they're somewhere in that big bald head.

7

Beachlover :::: Filling the forum with garbage so that nobody else has to

7

Beachlover :::: Filling the forum with garbage so that nobody else has to

And you have made 5 post in less than 24 hours about your obsession with Beachlover posting, get a life!

[Smiles]

It would be nice for the Admin and/or Mod to chime in with some thoughts. Silence deafening as usual.

[travelerjim]

It would be nice for the Admin and/or Mod to chime in with some thoughts. Silence deafening as usual.

Yes, Smiles...I agree! :protest:

The silence from the Moderators and Owner of this board is deafening :hiding:

Maybe it is time to "ABANDON SHIP"...
and let Captain Spike go down with his Ship of Trolls...

It is sad for me to say this....
after many good years of board participation and contributions...
from the original PattayaGay to this Sawatdee Gay Thailand....
but, indeed, the mood on this board has changed ...much for the worse...

The Captain of the Ship is no where to be seen or heard... :dontknow:
and there are welcome mats out on other boards...
awaiting us .... :hello2: .........without all the trolls :tard:

tj

It would be nice for the Admin and/or Mod to chime in with some thoughts. Silence deafening as usual.
Maybe it is time to "ABANDON SHIP"...
and let Captain Spike go down with his Ship of Trolls...

It is sad for me to say this....
after many good years of board participation and contributions...
from the original PattayaGay to this Sawatdee Gay Thailand....
Yes, Smiles...I agree! :protest:

The silence from the Moderators and Owner of this board is deafening :hiding:


Without sounding facetious have you just woken up from your weekly sleep.
Lets do without the inuendoes about Seen and Heard and post about things interesting like the Weekly Report ad nauseum! I am also in agreement of certain things said in this thread. Not all but most and there is no need for you to add yourself as a TROLL!
Maybe it is time to "ABANDON SHIP"...
and let Captain Spike go down with his Ship of Trolls...

It is sad for me to say this....
after many good years of board participation and contributions...
from the original PattayaGay to this Sawatdee Gay Thailand....
but, indeed, the mood on this board has changed ...much for the worse...

The Captain of the Ship is no where to be seen or heard... :dontknow:
and there are welcome mats out on other boards...
awaiting us .... :hello2: .........without all the trolls :tard:

tj

Without sounding facetious have you just woken up from your weekly sleep.
Lets do without the inuendoes about Seen and Heard and post about things interesting like the Weekly Report ad nauseum! I am also very much in agreement of most things said in this thread. Not all but most and there is no need for you to add yourself as a TROLL!...
and let Captain Spike go down with his Ship of Trolls...

[colmx]

Just want to add my vote to the Ban the Trolls call

As a long term member of all the message boards for the last 10 years i have to say that Sawatdee is now almost finished in my opinion and my lowest priority when looking for my daily dose of Thailand news/repots/gossip/updates...

Gay TingTong and GayThailand may be run under a tight leash... but at least you don't have to wade through tonnes of drivel, insults and bitch fights to find interesting posts

I won't say RIP Sawatdee yet... but at this rate it seems only a matter of time...

[goji]

Disregard the posts by trolls & there are very few good posts left here nowadays. So ban the trolls.

Disregard the posts by trolls & there are very few good posts left here nowadays. So ban the trolls.

Is that supposed to be an example of a "good post"?

:dontknow:

[giggsy]

Just want to add my vote to the Ban the Trolls call

As a long term member of all the message boards for the last 10 years i have to say that Sawatdee is now almost finished in my opinion and my lowest priority when looking for my daily dose of Thailand news/repots/gossip/updates...

Gay TingTong and GayThailand may be run under a tight leash... but at least you don't have to wade through tonnes of drivel, insults and bitch fights to find interesting posts

I won't say RIP Sawatdee yet... but at this rate it seems only a matter of time...
Thats interesting that you say SGT is your lowest priority.I can't wait to sign on in the morning to see the latest slag fest.
I read :-
1st SGT
2nd Gaythailand ... more slag fest usually by the mod.
3rd Gaytingtong .. a bit boring but some useful info
4th Bahtstop ... god there are some boring people over there.They are even discussing this very thread..

[cdnmatt]

Disregard the posts by trolls & there are very few good posts left here nowadays. So ban the trolls.

You do realize that such a suggestion is not ultimately in the best interests of the web owner, who depends on page views for his minimal subsistence?

Face it, trolls are good for business.

For the short term, maybe. Long term, he won't be making a dime.

Put some hours in to make this place a quality community, and obviously, good posters will show up, and revenue will increase.

[cdnmatt]

You really do live in a fantasy world, don't you?

So you're saying if they cleaned up the board a bit, it wouldn't entice some good members to return, and post more frequently? And maybe some people who read, but don't post, to finally register an account?

[Beachlover]

How long term are we talking about here? These trolls have been around for years. The robust nature of discussion on this board is what seperates it from all the other board... and probably why it's still the leading board on gay Thailand.

Of course, you can always go too far in that direction...

[Beachlover]

The Captain of the Ship is no where to be seen or heard...


The silence from the Moderators and Owner of this board is deafening

But normal... Have you seen how many other discussions like this have been ignored in the last year?

Spike couldn't care less, as long as the dollars keep rolling in.

Jinks would rather continue with his 'take it as it comes' moderating style so he won't butt in on deep and meaningfuls like this...



Maybe it is time to "ABANDON SHIP"...
and let Captain Spike go down with his Ship of Trolls...

Abandon ship then... We'll keep sailing.

[Beachlover]

You really do live in a fantasy world, don't you?

So you're saying if they cleaned up the board a bit, it wouldn't entice some good members to return, and post more frequently? And maybe some people who read, but don't post, to finally register an account?

But wouldn't that just be making this like many of the other boards?... How many 'good members' are posting on those boards and how much impact has that made on their clicks, traffic and active members?

It would be like Ryanair deciding they now want to offer good service, inflight meals, free check in etc... they would just be competing with all the other full-service carriers or less extreme budget carriers.

[Smiles]

You really do live in a fantasy world, don't you?So you're saying if they cleaned up the board a bit, it wouldn't entice some good members to return, and post more frequently? And maybe some people who read, but don't post, to finally register an account?
But wouldn't that just be making this like many of the other boards?... .
Agree with Beachlover ("will wonders ... ?"). It's not at all about good, bad, or indifferent members/contributors. It's about the Admin/Mod recognizing a troll, and then deep-sixing him very soon thereafter . . . and keeping him off the Board permanently by banning the troll's next handle, and the next one after that, and the next one after that etc etc.
A message board troll's methodology and general goals are well-described on the net. Perhaps the Admin could actually look those qualities up, and use them as tools to identify true trolls ... then shove ├иm rudely over the side without a second thought. Too much to ask.

http://curezone.com/forums/troll.asp

Another website has some good insight into what makes a troll tick:


The term "troll" can have a double meaning, related to fishing and ugly monsters. Both are appropriate.

"Troll," in the context of message boards and the like, describes somebody who is posting just to be confrontational or to raise hackles. One example might be a teenager who finds a Jewish message board and posts, "The Holocaust never happened." The teen may not know or care one way or the other--he just wants a reaction. He wants to piss people off. He is a troll.

There are more subtle trolling techniques as well. One Internet dictionary (http://www.whatis.com) gives a real example in which somebody posted about "the discovery of an ancient African carving containing a list of prime numbers." The poster listed some of the prime numbers supposedly on the carving, some of which weren't actually primes. People who saw the message, thinking he was serious, responded with corrections. The troll then announced that those who spent their time responding to him had been "hooked."

That suggests how the term got its start. Trolling, to those who don't spend all their time in front of the computer, is a method of fishing where you trail bait through the water from a slow-moving boat hoping to hook an unwary fish. An online troll does much the same.

The other meaning of troll--a brutish monster who lives under a bridge--likely didn't have much to do with the origin of the term. But at an early stage it was conflated with the other sense of trolling for obvious reasons: if you've dealt much with trolls, you know you're dealing with some pretty ugly minds.

To be fair, not all trolls are slimeballs. On some message boards, veteran posters with a mischievous bent occasionally go "newbie trolling." On the Usenet newsgroup alt.folklore.urban, as of a few years ago anyway, it was fairly common for pranksters to post known urban legends as fact in hopes of getting novice users to go, "No, REALLY?" Gotcha, sucker.

The main point about trolls is that they intentionally mislead others. As the Free Online Dictionary of Computing (http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.c gi?troll) notes, "Trolling aims to elicit an emotional reaction from those with a hair-trigger on the reply key. A really subtle troll makes some people lose their minds."

"Troll" is often flung about too casually. If somebody is simply ignorant or obtuse, it's incorrect to call him a troll. Admittedly, it's not always easy to distinguish between someone pretending to be wrong and someone who is wrong and doesn't know it or won't admit it.

How does one deal with trolls? That depends on your personality, the overall disposition of the message board, and the type of message board you're using.

There are two kinds of message boards: moderated and unmoderated. On unmoderated MBs such as most Usenet newsgroups, no one is in charge and there is no way to prevent a troll from posting short of persuading his Internet service provider to cancel his account. Moderated boards like the Straight Dope Message Board offer more control--truly egregious trolls can be banned and their posts deleted. But most board moderators, including those at the SDMB, reserve that sanction for extreme cases. A post I consider trolling someone else may find thought-provoking. Too quick a finger on the "delete" button and you open yourself to charges of censorship.

Besides, this is the Internet, the closest we've come to a free marketplace of ideas. The prevailing ethic here is that it's best to let everyone have his say, and rely on the good sense of other participants to sort out sound ideas from stupid ones. Which means it all comes down to you.

Many people feel trolls should simply be ignored, and some message boards have evolved their own private codes to warn off other users. (On the SDMB, one such code is DNFTT, "do not feed the trolls"). But others dislike the idea of giving trolls free rein.

On the SDMB, Cecil's goal of fighting ignorance is generally the guiding principle. If somebody posts misinformation, other users feel obliged to point it out. I'm sure some trolls delight in getting others to respond in this way, but the choice is either that or let a troll's posts stand unchallenged. Ignoring obvious nonsense has some advantages, but what about naive users who may read the falsehood and, seeing nothing to rebut it, believe it? To prevent that, some advocate responding to trolls once and only once. You refute the misinformation and that's that. Of course, this is often easier said than done, and many people (myself included) simply cannot sit idly by while the troll gleefully continues to post BS.

The other option is to pounce on every last falsehood and fabrication. This can lead to a classic flame war. We've had threads on the SDMB with close to a thousand posts as users attempt to get in the last word with an obstinate troll. These battles can be exhilarating but also exhausting. Inevitably at some point you ask yourself: what's the point?

In short, you've got two possibilities--ignore the troll or argue with him. My recommendation is as follows: If the person is a well-known troll with low credibility, post once to point out the flaws and then ignore him. If there's a real chance he may fool people who don't know better, knock him down with facts.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... is-a-troll (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1764/what-is-a-troll)

[Diec]

Smiley, is your favorite word "troll"? You go on and on about it. You had control of this board and chose to give it away. So shut up with your self righteous ideals and give it a rest.

"troll" is a word used to describe those whose activities, opinions or statements the user disapproves. Period.

[Impulse]

Oh brother.You went thru much expense to put down two of the best posters on here.And don't burst my bubble of the image I have of Beachlover,he is hot! Look at his picture....thats what I'm talking about!

What I find amusing is that a large number of those posting to ban the trolls can't wait to reply to one when it raises it's ugly head. And so the cycle continues. Banning solves nothing as they will always reconstitute themselves in a new guise. If you bunch of fuckwits would stop feeding them they would wither away and die.

Yes but you must agree since тАЬSanookтАЭ The Master troll, with his cohort тАЬHimeтАЭ who give nothing but abuse as тАЬBeachloverтАЭ it getting, now sanook has been banned permanently, it has been much better and you can put the others on Ignore, if your so inclined. LetтАЩs give some thanks to Jinks for that? :headbang:

You rather than any other member, past or present probably holds the record for being deleted more times than anyone in the history of SGT for breaking forum rules only to return again, and again. So beware of calling the kettle black!

[Cees-Holland]

I have a suggestion for the webmaster: make the forum more self regulating.

Maybe there is a MOD for this, I looked for it but couldnтАЩt find it.

But this is my Idea (I hope I can convey my thoughts correctly in English).
Give every member a rank (like what u have now: new member, Advanced Member etc) but the new rankingsystem should be more intelligent. (I think the current rankingsystem is only based on number of postings).

Let every member collect Appreciation Credits by adding Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in тАЬnew topicsтАЭ and тАЬrepliesтАЭ. Thumbs Up from a High Ranking member gives more Appreciation Credits then someone with a low rank. The same goes reversed for Thumbs Down.
Ranking should depend on:
The time a person is a member * average posting/time* appreciation credits*something I didnтАЩt think of.
Some arguments should weight more heavy then the other.

Now you have 2 extra parameters that can make the board more self regulating.
If a тАЬnew topicтАЭ gets a number of Thumbs down, from members with a high ranking, then auto block/hide this topic until further investigation.
The same goes for a тАЬReplyтАЭ.

If a (new)member gets X-number of negative Appreciation Credits, he can be restricted from starting new topics and/or replies.

[Beachlover]

sanook has been banned permanently, it has been much better and you can put the others on Ignore, if your so inclined. LetтАЩs give some thanks to Jinks for that? :headbang:

No he's still around. No one has ever been banned permanently. But you would hold the record for being banned the most number of times. In fact the mod has talked about wanting to ban you permanently many times.

Let's see some of the handles you've had banned... let me tell you... bottoms up... jenny (or whatever handle that was)... just a moment... prince charming... seen and heard... so many I can't remember them all.

I have a suggestion for the webmaster: make the forum more self regulating.

Maybe there is a MOD for this, I looked for it but couldnтАЩt find it.

But this is my Idea (I hope I can convey my thoughts correctly in English).
Give every member a rank (like what u have now: new member, Advanced Member etc) but the new rankingsystem should be more intelligent. (I think the current rankingsystem is only based on number of postings).

Let every member collect Appreciation Credits by adding Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in тАЬnew topicsтАЭ and тАЬrepliesтАЭ. Thumbs Up from a High Ranking member gives more Appreciation Credits then someone with a low rank. The same goes reversed for Thumbs Down.
Ranking should depend on:
The time a person is a member * average posting/time* appreciation credits*something I didnтАЩt think of.
Some arguments should weight more heavy then the other.

Now you have 2 extra parameters that can make the board more self regulating.
If a тАЬnew topicтАЭ gets a number of Thumbs down, from members with a high ranking, then auto block/hide this topic until further investigation.
The same goes for a тАЬReplyтАЭ.

If a (new)member gets X-number of negative Appreciation Credits, he can be restricted from starting new topics and/or replies.

Or you could do what your unsporting, violent and dirty football team did and kick, trip and punch people to earn yourself yellow and red cards.
Lovely people, the Dutch! 9 yellow cards and 1 red card in a short game of soccer ... and they still LOST.

[Cees-Holland]

Or you could do what your unsporting, violent and dirty football team did and kick, trip and punch people to earn yourself yellow and red cards.
Lovely people, the Dutch! 9 yellow cards and 1 red card in a short game of soccer ... and they still LOST.

Although your remark is not related to this topic, I would still give a Thumbs Up cos' your remark is funny. People who actually watch silly soccer games would maybe give a Thumbs Down

"Yes but you must agree since тАЬSanookтАЭ The Master troll, with his cohort тАЬHimeтАЭ who give nothing but abuse as тАЬBeachloverтАЭ it getting, now sanook has been banned permanently, it has been much better and you can put the others on Ignore, if your so inclined. LetтАЩs give some thanks to Jinks for that?"

If there is a coherent thought in any of the above I'll be buggered if I can suss it out. We know you are not the sharpest pencil in the box LMTU, but come on - this is bad even by your standards. Not quite sure what we are supposed to thank jinks for but he would have my undying gratitude if he could get you stuffed and mounted on top of his taxi.

[Impulse]

Or you could do what your unsporting, violent and dirty football team did and kick, trip and punch people to earn yourself yellow and red cards.
Lovely people, the Dutch! 9 yellow cards and 1 red card in a short game of soccer ... and they still LOST.I don't think the Dutch went far enough with those dirty Spaniards.Should have thrown a few spears at them,let them see how it feels.

[Impulse]

the true trolls are those that troll along never posting a subject and only jumping in when they have nothing to say but are here to play, prime examples of this are combat/Sanook and catawampuscat....Beachlover just likes to hear himself talk even if it means talking to himself. But why be bothered by any of this as it remains a good source of entertainment.Cat a troll? I don't think so.And Beachlover knows what he's talking about.Plus he's young so he brings an added dimension to the forums.Sorry to drag this thread up,but I felt the need to respond to one of em.

[cdnmatt]

You know you're talking to a bunch of old, bitter queens, when nobody can even agree on what a forum troll is...

[Beachlover]

lol... you haven't had sex for a while have you?