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An Open Question To Mods & Forumers About Trolling


Guest Ant

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I hope it doesn't get closed too soon, as I feel it's worth a discussion.

 

I've visited quite a number of threads in the entertainment section this week where the discussions have been almost entirely fan-orientated. It can get pretty annoying when the same idiots stick their heads through the door, rattle off a dig at the programme, and leave the thread for a few days. Often it's hard to judge whether it's trolling or not, but it is incredibly irritating.

 

Common sense tells me that if I don't like a specific programme I wouldn't waste my time opening the thread up to read, let alone posting on it, but people do (usually the same people, it has to be said).

 

But I was just thinking it over - could we not have "flagged" entertainment threads - for example "Red Dwarf - fans only"? That way it would keep out the borderline trolling. If they then wanted to have a dig, they could open up their own "Red Dwarf - Who Else Thinks It's Garbage?" - which is less intrusive, far easier to ignore, albeit far less satisfying for them.

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I did that once for a movie, and I got seriously slapped for it! >.<

I thought that you can give opinions of a movie and how it made you feel. Regardless of whether it is good or bad?

 

Having said that, I don't normally go on and post about a bad movie. I too prefer posting of like-minded people who appreciates a movie. The recent horror movie thread was a good one.

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hm a tough one

 

i dont normally post in threads about stuff i dont like....unless, i have something silly to say :)

i wouldnt say im a troll.

 

hm its a tough one, is there a difference between a troll and somebody that posts 1 or 2 disparaging remarks in threads about subjects they dislike?

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No, I wouldn't say what you do is trolling either, Mel. Sometimes the odd comment thrown in can really lighten things up.

 

"Is there a difference between a troll and somebody that posts 1 or 2 disparaging remarks in threads about subjects they dislike?"

 

Dunno, that's the question. When it comes from the same characters over and over again, yes, to me it smacks of trolling. Surely it's better to put a sign on some of the front doors to limit access.

 

If I opened up a Most Haunted thread, I'd welcome all comments about the program, so long as they have something intelligent to say. Most of the comments would be negative anyway.

 

But it would be nice in a fan thread to keep the weeds from the garden.

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Last year we had a few 'Big Brother' haters who posted a lot on the Big Brother thread, and so we asked them to post on a separate' 'Anti-BB' thread. That worked quite well.

 

There are soem threads that will never be a debate or a meeting of minds - what we try to do, therefore, is spot threads that are likely to generate 'fans' and 'non-fans' and keep an eye on the thread, suggesting that people respect the views of the OP.

 

So if someone kicks off an 'I love Big Brother' thread, we'll try and make sure that it stays a 'fan' thread, and suggest that other threads setting out the alternative view are set off if required.

 

On the whole, we're tolerant of intelligent and thoughtful commennts from any point of view on these threads, but the 'That sucks' posts are usually teh ones that we'll regard as being posted just to annoy.

 

That's the 'line' that we try to follow.

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You see, I do hate one-liners in a serious discussion, so therefore, I do find it trolling at times. I never used to think of it this way, but the same people always do the same thing. I found myself kind of also trashing their own threads, which is uncalled for really... but until someone see it from your own experiences, they will forever be acidic, or sarky in a way that is unwanted. I think I've been in the dark side and back myself.

 

I've been called a troll before too for simply not abiding by the sentiments of the other posters, when it indeed was a subject which is broad and has various angle to it. Bartfarst was labelled as a troll once, but what he said was similar to what I say in sentiment. Yet, he's been banned numerously times, and I wasn't. Sometimes it does make me think whether I was a token member in some ways.

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The idea that you can restrict posting in a thread to only ones that share your view is unacceptable (to me).

 

I also note that putting suggestions of such a limitation in a thread title only acts as a red rag to a bull.

 

The flip side is that people should have be able to post 'positively' abouta topic without posts going in that are clearly there to do nothing but cause problems.

 

It's a big Forum - people with a diametrically opposed point of view that they are not interested in debating, but just proselytising, can easily set their own threads up.

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The idea that you can restrict posting in a thread to only ones that share your view is unacceptable...

 

I can't see why. That's the idea of the Sheffield Interest Groups section, after all - it's merely focusing various enthusiast threads into one group. Would it be acceptable to post a thread in the Writer's Group along the lines of I can't stand writing, all writers need to get a life, I've never met a writer who doesn't look like the back end of a bus?

 

The incorporating of flagging up threads into forum rules, using "fans only" as an example, would have set the groundrules from the start. It may well act as a red rag to a bull, but in this case, the rules are very clear, and his ass would be kicked for breaking them.

 

Just a thought, born out of frustration.

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