[Fractal Trader]

ping

[muawiyah]

A soft word turneth away wrath. Bide your time and you’ll get your shot at an effective ambush. Take the battle to his home and destroy all his friends in his sight.

[camerongood210]

ping

[UCANSEE2]

Best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them.

The list given here seems more applicable to how to give responses on anything, anywhere, to anyone.

Treat the other person with respect. Compliment them, if you can. Ask questions rather than force your own opinion. No personal attacks.

[piytar]

Sorry, that technique doesn’t work in the realm of politics, not without a LOT of time and a LOT of disruption of the forum, not to mention compromising on issues.

We’re not here to be an open forum. We’re here to be a conservative forum. Jim or one of his trusted mods throw the hammer, and Trolls ride the lightning.

[libertarian27]

Aw, come on - it’s more fun to play with the trolls -keeps you on your toes and it burns calories...

[Billthedrill]

We don't really get much trolling on FR. You can usually recognize them right away, for example, the impotent losers who shoot .45 APC and are gay just like Robert E. Lee, who clubbed baby Harp Seals for the upholstery of his Japanese car and rooted for the Boston Red Sox while he was writing epistles to Charles Darwin about Global Warming, Mormonism, and his secret pal William Tecumseh Sherman, who may have worn tutus to his Satanist church but at least he wasn't a Marine.

(Sound of BtD's flameproof hatching closing quietly...)

[LucyT]

Dealing with Internet Trolls - the Cognitive Therapy Approach

Thanks, Fractal Trader.

[UCANSEE2]

A NOOBS GUIDE TO POSTING ON FR

Relax: don’t worry if you don’t get everything exactly right.

Communicate clearly: write in the best spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalisation, idiomatic speech, etc. that you can, no matter how bad anyone else’s posts are.

It may be a good idea to avoid too high or complicated words, because many foreign speakers of English often have poor English vocabulary. Use words that suit the level of the discussion and the poster you are commenting to.

Don’t let the way a poster says something get in the way of the information. If their way of saying something is objectionable, others will likely help you deal with that poster.

Avoid logical fallacies: I.E. Don’t outwit yourself. It’s all on record, so it’s too easy to prove exactly what you said.

Especially avoid ad hominem: “You’re under age and much younger than me and not a lawyer, so you’re not qualified to give your opinion about open-source licences.” Assuming you really know anything about the person on the other end of a post is just silly.

Be polite and friendly.

Don’t be too terse. Write coherently, and explain what you want.

Proper human communication has a lot of redundancy, but people prefer it this way. Even in Information Theory, you cannot compress an arbitrary amount of data to a message which is too short.

On the other hand, don’t be too verbose, as people won’t bother reading you. THE LESS YOU SAY, THE MORE EASILY IT IS COMPREHENDED. It may be better to put a claim and reiterate.

Don’t selectively trim the message without leaving enough context. Remember, people other than the person you post to are reading as well.

Don’t mis-interpret or jump to conclusions - ask the other poster what he/she means if you don’t know.

Try to avoid using aphorisms, proverbs, “famous” quotes, rhymes or verse etc. Instead use free-form, coherent speech and say what you want in your own words.

The problem with aphorisms, and their ilk are that they tend to project authority, and usually backfire because a person intuitively knows that.

Sometimes they may lead to an aphorism war or for “correcting” the aphorism or discussing its larger context and origins.

All of these can sometimes spice up a friendly conversation and add humor to it, though, but your mileage may vary.

Don’t make fun of another poster, unless it’s a consensual exchange. Respect others and try to avoid unnecessary humor, especially the below the belt kind of humor. Be pleasant - not funny.

Don’t be rude; use soft words such as “I think”, “I believe”, “In my opinion”, “I find that”, etc., when giving your opinion, and facts when you are actually quoting facts from a source.

Don’t label: Unless you like being labeled back.

If possible, thank a poster for responding to you, or providing the opportunity to respond to him. If the poster’s responses are well written, acknowledge that, even if you don’t agree with what it says.

These things go a long way towards providing good communication on an Open Forum Website.

[MestaMachine]

Darlin’,
Trolls are kitteh food.
We plays wif dem...
(sometimes using all or some of your above advice,)
before we preys on dem...
and den we let loose wif da lightnin’
and voila!
Crispy critters!
(Witch are bery good wif mustard.)

[dila813]

Nah, zot him ..... lol

kitty power ... purr purr ... hzzzzzzzz

[fr_freak]

Honestly, this whole thing sounds like a bunch of emasculated touchy-feely crap. Gosh, we wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, or fail to be inclusive. This kind of passive nonsense thinking is exactly the reason that communist lunatics have been allowed to take over this country.

In my opinion, at least on FR, the best way to neutralize trolls is to identify them as such, or to tell them they are idiots in the most direct terms. Why? Because the average troll on FR is trying to sow confusion, dissent, and false information, and that effort is dependent on people not knowing that they are trolls. Once you say "Piss off, troll" the little infiltrator says "Darn, I thought I had them" and then runs off to DU to giggle with his homosexual buddies. Sure, we get the occasional troll who posts some inane thread that is easily recognizable as a troll, and we deal with that type exactly as we should: we leave their thread up for ridicule.

This article suggest a spineless and ineffective method of troll control. It may be valid for the old ladies' flower garden forum, but here and most other places, let's just get it on.

[Lazamataz]

What a freakin weenie of a message this doctor has.

[bgill]

1) Ignore them
2) Let the Vkitties play with them
3) Ping the Zots

[paulycy]