Advice about internet trolls

[crazywalrus]

Hi guys - there has been a bit of turmoil on the site in the last period between certain members. There is only one way to deal with this. Ignore them :S I know the natural reaction is to take offence and hit back but this is just giving the troll oxygen and giving them their thrill. Do not try and flame them back on here. This again gives them their thrill and exacerbates it, it brings the forum vibe down. It also has a detrimental effect on your reputation especially if you are a new member.

I have given the following advice in the last 6 months to members, however it has always fallen on deaf ears. In some cases the people being flamed by the trolls have become a troll themselves. My advice to folks "Sometimes it is better to say nothing" and "read back over what you are writing, save it and post it later once you have cooled down". This advice can be used in the workplace with email as well.

Just mt 2 cents worth but I hope the serial trolls can put a plug in it for a while and stop polluting posts.

further reading if interested

/>http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/09/16/how-to-deal-with-an-internet-troll/
/>http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/weirdwebculture/f/what-is-an-internet-troll.htm
/>http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-with-an-Internet-Troll
/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmJTZsnuzuQ

[fishingnut]

[Doobsy]

It's the simple advice that's often the hardest to hear.

Nice work Crazy.

[Terry H]

As the old saying goes "Don't feed the trolls"

[bootyinblue]

If the behaviour appears to continue despite being told, its time address the membership and not the behaviour.

[robin]

I like the idea of mob justice, but untill they make that legal, why not just warn them , and then kick them out, they will come back, but if you make it harder for them to sign up, like lots of fields that need to be filled in on sign up , that will slow them down abit. Also with all new members, put them on a trial basis for 4 months and when I say trial, the status stays as a new member (would have kept kiwiboy out) and within that 4 months, the mods can decide if they want that type of person to stay or go.

Thats just a idea.

[madmullet]

it is only ever a certain couple.

i recon we should settle this the old fashion way..... Mono et Mono... i for one am all up for this... i personally hate keyboard trolls/worriors.... the couple that are the trolls hide behind the law when the annoy people so much they want to engage in physical violence, probably because they haven't got the balls to step up to the plate

... people blaming , u, him, her, its, you, no its you, this is rite, no its not... blah blah blah.... just settle it once and for all....what ever...lol

every 2 week there is something about someone winging.... ffs, everyone just ignore it or dont say a thing....

every emosacon is needed for this one...hehehe

:dry: :cheer: :blush: :S :evil: :whistle: :side: :pinch: :silly: :woohoo: :kiss: :sick: :ohmy:

baaahahahahahahahahaha......ow god

thats all i have to ay about that........( forest gump ) lol

[fifis101]

As the old saying goes "Don't feed the trolls"

That's right. Be the bigger man and just ignore it!

It takes someone pretty pathetic to abuse someone else online and no one should think that they have to stoop down to their level be retaliating.

[fifis101]

I like the idea of mob justice, but untill they make that legal, why not just warn them , and then kick them out, they will come back, but if you make it harder for them to sign up, like lots of fields that need to be filled in on sign up , that will slow them down abit. Also with all new members, put them on a trial basis for 4 months and when I say trial, the status stays as a new member (would have kept kiwiboy out) and within that 4 months, the mods can decide if they want that type of person to stay or go.

Thats just a idea.

Not sure about the mob justice but the warning system is a great idea. Give someone a couple of warnings the they get the boot.

When it comes to a trial, unless you live on this site it would normally take a person more that 4 months to upgrade from "Newbie" ranking anyway. People would probably tread pretty lightly when they join a new site anyway.

[tomca]

Blah, blah, blah until admin starts doing what they say, the bad behavior is being rewarded.

It was only a week ago this was posted:

Moving forward, we would like to focus more on rolling out new features and improvements for the site rather than moderating petty grievances between a minority of members who bring the site into disrepute. Whilst we try to be tolerant, don't be alarmed if members are banned without much warning in the future.

And bugger all has been done apart from moderating the posts and having the moderated members continue the negativity in their statuses.

[JarrydA]

Blah, blah, blah until admin starts doing what they say, the bad behavior is being rewarded.

It was only a week ago this was posted:

Moving forward, we would like to focus more on rolling out new features and improvements for the site rather than moderating petty grievances between a minority of members who bring the site into disrepute. Whilst we try to be tolerant, don't be alarmed if members are banned without much warning in the future.

And bugger all has been done apart from moderating the posts and having the moderated members continue the negativity in their statuses.

100% Agree

[robin]

It's been said before, and knocked back many times, but how about charging a joining fee, even if its only like $5, that way the trolls are paying afo to kick them off, more money for afo, less money for trolls. $5 is nothing to me but if i was to pay that 10 times it starts to add up.

Just think that money could then be used to getting this site onto a faster server, more prizes for events, and people that actually want to be part of something.

[TIM D]

Problem could be too many sooks

I think some people just need a tablespoon of cement. Seem's most guy's on here have no sense of humour and can't take a joke at all.

Elliecat teased me about the goatee i used to have, maybe i should of cryed and reported him.

Ease up people it's just a forum...

cheers tim

[fishingnut]

Problem could be too many sooks

I think some people just need a tablespoon of cement. Seem's most guy's on here have no sense of humour and can't take a joke at all.

Elliecat teased me about the goatee i used to have, maybe i should of cryed and reported him.

Ease up people it's just a forum...

cheers tim

Hes a bully in real life too

[rayke1938]

Saw another post that I reported but apparently it is ok to try and sell a yak TROLLy.

Cheers

Ray

[tugger]

My advice is not to call anyone a troll or any other name for that matter there is no need for it is anyone on this forum that perfect they can rise above the rest and insult people here (he who is without sin cast the first stone) if you can not make your point without insulting or belittling others you are only bringing down this forum. I think this thread is going about it the wrong way right from the start just my 2 cents worth

[bootyinblue]

Tug, how would you suggest that AFO deal with any undesirables on here then?

[robin]

My advice is not to call anyone a troll or any other name for that matter there is no need for it is anyone on this forum that perfect they can rise above the rest and insult people here (he who is without sin cast the first stone) if you can not make your point without insulting or belittling others you are only bringing down this forum. I think this thread is going about it the wrong way right from the start just my 2 cents worth

I agree with you there, people should really be able to take a joke and I think most people do take a joke pretty well, but there are some people that go out of there way to bait that person into fighting back, and I have noticed that alot of new members are doing that and that makes me suspect that they know the person that they are trying to bait.

As much as I would hate to say it, I think the person on here with the most tolerance is Sari, he gets nailed with almost every post he makes , but he still bounces back with out fighting back.

I still think a small fee would help weed out these trolls.

[tugger]

That is for AFO admin to decide not for me to interfear and was not the point i was trying to make

Tug, how would you suggest that AFO deal with any undesirables on here then?

[Wahoo2]

Tug, how would you suggest that AFO deal with any undesirables on here then?

Booty I think as far as undesirables go it depends who you talk to and what you know. I admit that a few of my posts the last 2 weeks have been off color and I shouldn't have let abusive PM's drop me to those particular peoples level. For that I apologise and will be the bigger man and ignore the nonsense from now on.

From a new members point of view the thing that gets under my skin is the fact that some people can post what they want but if it were someone else it gets deleted and moderated. What's good for one should be good for all.

That's all I have to say on the matter. Ellicat please don't delete this as I am only trying to be a part of the conversation and share my opinion.

Now can we just talk fishing and leave the silliness out of it??

Cheers,

Kane

[tomca]

I agree, maybe too many sooks.

Unlike ^^^^^ I have been around a long time and that elliclown always deletes my posts. Do-boy too is skating on thin ice

[bootyinblue]

No it was a legit question, you said the thread was heading the wrong way from the outset, so was interested to see what your slant rectifying the issue was.

I am pretty much black and white and if you screw up, your gone. But I am interested to hear your idea on solving the issue.

[crazywalrus]

There is nothing wrong with having a friendly joke with someone or having a friendly debate. Having a differing opinion to someone is not an issue. The problem occurs when people make it personal. There has been cases where members have spent a considerable amount of time stirring each other on here and on other media streams. Most people do not want to see this on AFO. This does not make us a bunch of sooks. Infantile exchanges are for instant chat and facebook. AFO is a great forum and has been a great site and has created a welcoming community. It only takes a few trouble making individuals to bring this down reducing participation in posts and events. In my opinion these individuals are selfish and are only concerned in getting their trills and stuff the rest of us.

There are only a few individuals concerned with this and it is selfish on there part to continue it. You will find that the majority of moderation results from certain individuals. Give it a break as you are effecting the enjoyment of the majority.

[Binder]

You will find that the majority of moderation results from certain individuals. Give it a break as you are effecting the enjoyment of the majority.

Yes, but often not those causing the original problem, usually those who want to whinge and carry on about it, long past when the Mods have dealt with the original problem, require the most moderation.

[bootyinblue]

So based on that, does the site need to address the membership privileges of those members?

[max pwr]

I love AFO because its a real community with real people who love to fish and share that passion with others. I've met all kinds of people through the site and had some great experiences and the rubbish that's too often posted on the forum is contrary to what I believe most members are here for.

If you're that much of a spastic that the only way you can feel better about yourself is to pick holes in other people's views or the way that they express themselves then I personally would prefer you open a twitter hate account and take your rubbish elsewhere.

Otherwise I'll see you at the BRC

[Binder]

So based on that, does the site need to address the membership privileges of those members?

Good luck with that.

[rayke1938]

What are we really talking about.

Someone threatening to punch someones lights out?

Non fishing threads?

Misleading threads.

Malicious threads bagging products/firms/people?

The mods are there to sort most of these issues out and 99% of the time do this well.

We have a very varied base of members with all different standards and beliefs and in general respect each other.

I do have a few pet hates such as targeting fish out of season or bagging a firm /product without attempting to resolve the issue before posting and tend to fire up over these issues.

I really hate the latter as this can do untold harm to someone because a lot of people will only read the initial post and not see a subsequent happy resolution and these people will only remember that there was a bad report about Fred Nurkes lures and tell their mates that Freds lures are r/s.

We really need some code of ethics or posting guidelines attached to the forum rules.

Cheers

Ray