Trolls

Stolen from MCF

Good advice indeed. The recently departed Platinum will need to go on a crash diet after being excessively over-fed while he was here!

Platinum left?

Yes - on Wednesday I think.

Oh what a shame, it was nice to see a completely different opinion to the majority of posters. Afterall what's a debate when everyone has almost similar views! I'm probably one of the few who will miss there intriguing posts.

He lasted a little longer than his mate forencicist though.

I'm sure there's lots of 'sleepers' waiting to start up....

What does the last one....

. Disguising their headers

mean?

I too support open minded debate. Sometimes I like to test my own beliefs and conclusions against someone who thinks differently, and it's refreshing to find a literate poster who writes well and doesn't invoke insult or the Almighty to press their views. Trouble is, the genuine posters are quite scarce, and frequently turn into trolls after a few posts intelligently debating.

Recognising trolls in the first few posts is a challenge, and it's one to which I am not equal.

nospinnaker wrote:I too support open minded debate. Sometimes I like to test my own beliefs and conclusions against someone who thinks differently, and it's refreshing to find a literate poster who writes well and doesn't invoke insult or the Almighty to press their views. Trouble is, the genuine posters are quite scarce, and frequently turn into trolls after a few posts intelligently debating.

Recognising trolls in the first few posts is a challenge, and it's one to which I am not equal.

Morning nospinnaker.....I wouldn"t recognise a troll after a 100 posts.

I agree with you about open debate but too often the "debates" end in insults.

pennylane wrote:What does the last one....

. Disguising their headers

mean?

Some forums allow you to see information on a post's "origins". Using proxy servers or remailers hides the true origin.

Velvet wrote:Oh what a shame, it was nice to see a completely different opinion to the majority of posters. Afterall what's a debate when everyone has almost similar views! I'm probably one of the few who will miss there intriguing posts.

I rather think many of us welcome a broad range of views - that wasn't the issue, though, but rather the manner of the "debate".

Chris wrote:

pennylane wrote:What does the last one....

. Disguising their headers

mean?

Some forums allow you to see information on a post's "origins". Using proxy servers or remailers hides the true origin.

Thank you Chris xx

So when I submit a post, the "true origin" would be the area where I live, or something more? Sorry I don't understand proxy servers etc, it's all a bit of a foreign language to me.

Velvet wrote:Oh what a shame, it was nice to see a completely different opinion to the majority of posters. Afterall what's a debate when everyone has almost similar views! I'm probably one of the few who will miss there intriguing posts.

Initially I thought that, as propositions need to be challenged in order to keep things just and balanced, but it became pretty obvious that Platinum had malicious intent.

The End Is Nigh wrote:

Velvet wrote:Oh what a shame, it was nice to see a completely different opinion to the majority of posters. Afterall what's a debate when everyone has almost similar views! I'm probably one of the few who will miss there intriguing posts.

I rather think many of us welcome a broad range of views - that wasn't the issue, though, but rather the manner of the "debate".

I don't believe the manner of the debate was all down to platinum, there was some rather rude comments made to him which went strangely unnoticed by others on here.

No doubt - people are only human and not everyone can be broad shouldered in the face of an unpleasant onslaught of rapid-fire posting that demands far,far more than it gives.

I thought that particular poster was female, though, not that it matters.

But as for getting through the trees as far as the wood, these episodes help mightily in reminded the open-minded just how incredible the utterances and behaviours from those who insist Madeleine was abducted were (and still are).

Velvet wrote:Oh what a shame, it was nice to see a completely different opinion to the majority of posters. Afterall what's a debate when everyone has almost similar views! I'm probably one of the few who will miss there intriguing posts.

Hi Velvet, I fail to see the point in joining a forum in which the members express complete and totally opposite opinions to ones own... other than to gather information and/or disrupt the subjects being discussed.

pennylane wrote:
So when I submit a post, the "true origin" would be the area where I live, or something more? Sorry I don't understand proxy servers etc, it's all a bit of a foreign language to me.

But it's not very specific you can look up your own computers IP address and mine is 50 miles away from where l live!

malena stool wrote:

Velvet wrote:Oh what a shame, it was nice to see a completely different opinion to the majority of posters. Afterall what's a debate when everyone has almost similar views! I'm probably one of the few who will miss there intriguing posts.

Hi Velvet, I fail to see the point in joining a forum in which the members express complete and totally opposite opinions to ones own... other than to gather information and/or disrupt the subjects being discussed.

So you don't think its good to have an open debate with different opinions? I can tell you my opinions are very different to many on this forum but I joined because I originally thought that this was welcomed and that its good to look at other opinions to test your own views. I enjoy a good debate with opposite opinions, otherwise like I said it's not a debate, just people agreeing with each other.

Velvet, different opinions are not necessarily opposite. That's the point: You seem to think that most here speak with one voice, but that isn't my experience at all. People may have some common factors in their views of the issue as a whole, but there is wide debate and disagreement at detailed level.

I chose this Forum because of how pleasant most contributors are and how well it is run, not because I agree with every word that everyone writes.

Velvet wrote:

malena stool wrote:

Velvet wrote:Oh what a shame, it was nice to see a completely different opinion to the majority of posters. Afterall what's a debate when everyone has almost similar views! I'm probably one of the few who will miss there intriguing posts.

Hi Velvet, I fail to see the point in joining a forum in which the members express complete and totally opposite opinions to ones own... other than to gather information and/or disrupt the subjects being discussed.

So you don't think its good to have an open debate with different opinions? I can tell you my opinions are very different to many on this forum but I joined because I originally thought that this was welcomed and that its good to look at other opinions to test your own views. I enjoy a good debate with opposite opinions, otherwise like I said it's not a debate, just people agreeing with each other.

Debate is fine, but not to the point of disrupting the forum by allowing insulting and obnoxious behaviour by those with differing views to the majority of the members.

margaret wrote:

pennylane wrote:
So when I submit a post, the "true origin" would be the area where I live, or something more? Sorry I don't understand proxy servers etc, it's all a bit of a foreign language to me.

But it's not very specific you can look up your own computers IP address and mine is 50 miles away from where l live!

Thank you margaret xx

So one's 'true origin' is really not that critical, unless one us up to no good, and pretending to be different people?

This is all a bit like a foreign language to me! I think that people can use a proxy server to access sites which would normally be unavailable to them if they're in certain countries. People who have been banned from sites can also rejoin in another name. There was an example of this on another site (Penny Lane, you'll know the one) where a banned troll rejoined posing as a very friendly contributor. After a while he started to wreak havoc and for some reason changed his IP address back to that of the banned troll which is how it was realised they were the same person.

Not Born Yesterday wrote:This is all a bit like a foreign language to me! I think that people can use a proxy server to access sites which would normally be unavailable to them if they're in certain countries. People who have been banned from sites can also rejoin in another name. There was an example of this on another site (Penny Lane, you'll know the one) where a banned troll rejoined posing as a very friendly contributor. After a while he started to wreak havoc and for some reason changed his IP address back to that of the banned troll which is how it was realised they were the same person.

Indeed I do know who you mean! By george I think I've got it at long last! Thank you, NB xx

From my point of view, I welcome a discussion with someone of a differing opinion to mine and use their presence as a 'tool'.

I have no time, and ignore getting into discussion with the disruptors. They feed off the attention and manage to change the direction of the thread.

However, it can be very 'telling' about the original topic of the thread involved and, depending upon the agenda of the disruptor, could give an indication as to the importance of the topic.

Some have discussions, and although it may be to intimidate (its typical for them to tell someone their opinions are silly etc) I find them interesting. If they try to negate my opinions, I use that as information as to the importance of the topic and also to second guess my thoughts. If they continue to have validity after they have been challenged then I consider that to 'confirm' that my opinions have credibility.

Something I find interesting, is, if they tend to use an unusual word or they misspell a particular word, a quick 'Google' adding 'madeleine' 'forum' and possibly 'aimoo' (Madeleine forum with several old threads) will bring up any previous comments on forums and highlights another possible ID they have been using.

A little trick, but it keeps them on their toes!

I just googled a disruptor on another forum and found them using the name they used on an old 3A thread in Madeleine Forum and using a reference to a particular person as back then. Curious..

Yes I agree with what you say HiDeHo that trolls appear on the scene when a topic is of particular significance and needs to be disrupted. I used to think it was possible to discuss things with professional trolls but I know different now. I am sure that Platinum was on another site before he was here and so I soon rumbled him. I have a feeling that he might have returned to the other site now he's been banned here!