Internet trolls and the Dark Tetrad

TimCallahan said:
I'm trying to think of tactics to avoid entanglement with trolls. Right now I'm at the point of considering leaving jref altogether, since I seem to be a sucker for getting pulled in by trollish ploys. Does anyone have any other ideas?
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I think you have to let go of the need to have the last word. And trust that the arguments you make are worthwhile. If you make a clear, convincing argument, and some troll acts ridiculous about it, most others who come along and read the thread can see the troll for what it is. You don't become more convincing by adding more posts. And not every silly comment from a troll needs answering.

Maybe give yourself a limit, like 3 posts per day or per thread. That way you start to budget them; if you only have 1 post left for the day, you'll get a lot pickier about how to use it.

Or, get up and walk away from a hot thread. Give it a couple hours and see if the urgency to post has lessened. (I do this a lot. And usually find that whatever point I was going to make, has been made before I get back.)

Also, put people on ignore! If you have a hard time not responding to someone, then remove their posts from your line of sight.
 
Take advantage of one of the main features of a message board. It isn't time dependent.

Anything you can respond to right now you can respond to tomorrow or the next day. Probably more coherently. Certainly more cautiously. If it's worth the trouble to respond at all it'll still be worth it after a cool down.

Move the post (or posts) that's got you about to pop into a tab of its own and let it sit there for a while. The thread isn't going anywhere (Yay, message boards.), and quoting keeps relevancy fresh.

Meanwhile some other sucker might take the bait and save you the hassle.
 
Every time I come to a conclusion that someone on JREF is a troll, I put them onto Ignore list. By now it is quite long.
 
Lisa Simpson said:
Honestly, I don't get it either. If one recognizes that a person is trolling, why respond? You know he or she is only doing it for the reasons listed above. Reminds me of the classic XKCD comic:

[qimg]http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png[/qimg]


The simple solution, rather than leaving (because honestly trolls are not unique to the JREF) is to stop feeding them. Before you post a reply, ask yourself if you are feeding a troll and if so, don't post.
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And dat is de troof!
I see page after page of well-meaning people trying to open the eyes of some obvious troll, who just blathers them on and on and on...
 
Delvo said:
Put trolls in your Ignore list. You can also have threads Ignored. They won't be visible. It will be like they don't exist, or at most, like they're present but mute.

You'll still see the non-trolls and non-trolling threads.
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But, but... if the thread is ignored, how can you get your jollies watching all those trollees in essence playing with themselves, that's all the troller is looking for.
 
I'd like to see a daily limit on posts per thread. Maybe they will stop wasting their posts on petty niggling.

Too often a thread ends up as a spat between two posters, with no new knowledge being exchanged.

Or maybe "wait until (x) number of others have posted before jumping back in.
 
Not with anything Tim has contributed to, naturally.
This forum needs persons with a great depth of theological knowledge.
Tim and Hans come to mind first.
As for "last word threads", these usually result in a mass movement to AAH, and/or a yellow card/suspension/ban for the most egregious offenders.
I'd point to some of these threads, but they're of so little significance I disremember any specific examples.
Oh... 2nd Amendment... lots there! :)
 
Here are some general suggestions for anyone posting on any forum:

1)Please be respectful of the other posters, even if you disagree with them

2)One way to do #1 is to practice the skill of putting oneself in another's shoes, practice empathy and understanding.

3)Be open minded. This is a skeptical forum. Saying you know this or that is being a bit disengenuous. You can provide all the 'facts' you want, but the bottom line is that it is your statement and not the word of the Almighty flying spaghetti monster. ;)

4)As pointed out above, avoid the urge to have the last word. If you really have nothing that truly advances a key point, let it rest!

I think these four things would go a long way towards minimizing the painful experience of some of the longer threads here. I might be tempted to actually participate more if i didn't have to wade through pages and pages of largely irrelevant trolling, responses to trolls, and petty disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing. My three pennies as an infrequent contributor, semi-lurker, but non-troll. :)
 
stanfr said:
Here are some general suggestions for anyone posting on any forum:

1)Please be respectful of the other posters, even if you disagree with them
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This can't be stressed enough. I'm often amazed at the abrasive behavior expressed by certain posters, one of whom, who seems to think he's some sort of "judge," I have put on ignore. I suspect this sort of childish behavior is abetted by the anonymity of the internet.

stanfr said:
2)One way to do #1 is to practice the skill of putting oneself in another's shoes, practice empathy and understanding.

3)Be open minded. This is a skeptical forum. Saying you know this or that is being a bit disengenuous. You can provide all the 'facts' you want, but the bottom line is that it is your statement and not the word of the Almighty flying spaghetti monster. ;)

4)As pointed out above, avoid the urge to have the last word. If you really have nothing that truly advances a key point, let it rest!
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I really do have to work on stifling that urge.

stanfr said:
I think these four things would go a long way towards minimizing the painful experience of some of the longer threads here. I might be tempted to actually participate more if i didn't have to wade through pages and pages of largely irrelevant trolling, responses to trolls, and petty disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing. My three pennies as an infrequent contributor, semi-lurker, but non-troll. :)
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Thanks for these points.
 
turingtest said:
I think there comes a point where you just have to be satisfied that what you've said is enough to speak for itself. And never mind the troll- speak to the lurkers.

I think I know the poster Tim C. has in mind (from this thread); and I'm not so sure he fits the definition of a troll, when the central characteristic there would be insincerity- stringing folks along for the lulz, without really believing anything he's posting. FWIW, my impression is that the poster in question is quite sincere. The effect is certainly the same- utter imperviousness to rationality, ignoring and/or misrepresenting counter-arguments, etc.- but the intransigence is at least, in its way, a more truthful one. It still can't be reasoned with; but, as I said, that's where you target the lurkers, the folks who may be listening, not someone you know either deliberately isn't or sincerely can't.
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Fails Turing Test (not you!!!).
 
The Dark Tetrad? Are they the new rivals to The Guild of Calamitous Intent?
 
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