Hi folks,

The moderation staff over at ETO has seen enough of Billy aka Dexter aka David etc that we (and the community) can spot him in an instant. We used to take time to discuss whether to shut him down right away, but we have seen enough of him to know he's no good under any account. If we're 100% sure it's him, we ban the account right away. No extra discussion necessary

The moderators here at AAC are doing a great job, and are still very quick when they need to be. I greatly admire them for it!

Regards,
Matt

 

From the article that jpanhalt referenced: "Let's start by getting our definitions straight: An Internet troll is someone who comes into a discussion and posts comments designed to upset or disrupt the conversation. Often, in fact, it seems like there is no real purpose behind their comments except to upset everyone else involved. Trolls will lie, exaggerate, and offend to get a response."

I made my living for several years in the 70s playing bass in a night club band in a tourist town....... and we had trolls. In the main tourist season, the clubs would be full of out of towners. Most of the tourists were happy to be there, but there was a small group that got their pleasure in a different way. When you make your living out of a night club you learned to identify these people pretty quickly. These people had the idea that they could be as hurtful, lying, destructive, disruptive, etc as they could be at the club and when they made it out the door, with or without help, they would go back to their home town and none of their wrong doing would follow them. The locals were much better behaved.

Identifying the trolls is a skill. The moderators have a tough job. All of you have my utmost respect.

 

According to Wikipedia, an Internet troll is:

In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,[1] by posting inflammatory,[2]extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into anemotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Are you suggesting that Billy is not a troll? Billy is a troll by that definition and has been called that by other people. In fact, I didn't know what an Internet troll was until that term was applied to Billy on ETO. The current definition appears to be a bit broader than you suggest.

John

 

......Are you suggesting that Billy is not a troll?

Who are you talking to??

 

Who are you talking to??

You. I couldn't tell from your comment whether you disagreed with that label for Billy.

John

 

Let me assist you in understanding my position. Billy is a troll. I wish we could physically launch him, and any other troll, from the forum in the same way the 300 lb bouncers back in the 70s would launch trolls out of the bars I played in.

Clear enough??

 

The wikipedia is just a moniker to define a troll- as the term is made up to full extent there is no such species.

Sometimes anyone arguing is called a troll.

But well, if you can think of an ugly face, somehow ogre like, dirty, with small horns, and a witty grin, just standing there and ignoring everything and keep posting, it probably is a troll.

Sometimes you have it to do with Aspergers, ADHD or full blown autism, or just a psychotic (but still there is determination to work towards a solution).

A troll typically also incites a political discussion in a technical thread, and if there is more than one troll, they will drive it to an excessive conversation pretty quickly. I saw it happen actually.

Some of these maybe do smoke tinfoil and it provides enjoyment to them, the kind of people loitering around in some city districts, beware if you see a group of them in the night.

Troll is actually only a compliment for them. Remind there are no real trolls- even if some behaviours can make one think of a "troll".

It is kind of a nonsense culture even to allow the existence of such a term.
ugly face, somehow ogre like, dirty, with small horns, and a witty grin, just standing there and ignoring everything

Antisocial personality disorder is the medically recognized term.

Autistic, Aspergers and ADHD arent always antisocial, even if they can be agressive (actually).
Maybe you think of Rain Man (the movie) but thats just one kind, there are several kinds, all different.

Those need to be told they need to seek professional help and work on their issues, before using public forums.

 

Those need to be told they need to seek professional help and work on their issues

So what do you suggest the rest of the rule abiding community do about those that don't or won't seek such help?

Bill, keep the ban-gun handy.

 

So what do you suggest the rest of the rule abiding community do about those that don't or won't seek such help?

Bill, keep the ban-gun handy.

Its simple- when they dont admit the obvious issues and agree to work on them and to seek professional help.
A technical forum is not the appropiate place to provide this help, and doesnt have the qualifications to do so.

For me any insulting post/reply without reason is a hint for psychological issues of some kind.

 

For me any insulting post/reply without reason is a hint for psychological issues of some kind.

Only robots do not get over-excited sometimes, humans certainly do.

Surely we need to distinguish between deliberate and sustained obstreperousness and the odd spark that inevitably arises between humans?

It is to the credit of present and past moderators here that AAC has such a tradition of friendliness, not enjoyed by any other forum I have seen.