A note about trolling

Lestraveled

Joined May 19, 2014
1,946
The ignore button only works if I choose to use it. It does not work when a Mod tells me to use it. Instructing someone to use the ignore button is not a tool for the mods to resolve issues. In life, if someone told you to ignore something you thought was a problem, would you ignore it?

The individual in question has certainly disrupted this forum. How many locked threads, deleted posts, and member bans has this person been associated with? Their nature is not openly aggressive, yet their posts are inflammatory, in the same way a child knows how to push their parents buttons and get them angry. This person is intelligent and must be aware of the effect they have, yet there is no change in behavior. If 10 or 20 of my posts were locked and I was getting negative responses and reprimands from the moderators, I would try to do something different, wouldn't you???

So...................
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Moderators have emphasized the need to be "nice" to the principal individual being discussed for lack of a better word. That individual has also indicated a strong need and desire to get a job. He has considered NASA in the US and other prominent employers and has asked for advice on "how to " get such jobs. I have commented before about the ease with which employers today can and will check an applicants presence on the Internet.

Let me be a little more blunt. Does being "nice" in this instance mean letting a misdirected individual destroy any change of getting any decent job? I don't think so. It is like bystanders urging someone to jump off a bridge.

AAC is not in the business of providing psychological therapy, nor am I aware of any members who practice that, nor is it appropriate for this site. However, in the instance where an individual is clearly hurting himself (i.e, jumping off a rhetorical bridge), it is generally accepted in our society that bystanders have an obligation to help within their capabilities, and most important, they must not facilitate that self-destructive action.

I am disappointed that AAC and its moderators don't see the importance of not facilitating RRitesh's behavior.

John
 
I have commented before about the ease with which employers today can and will check an applicants presence on the Internet.
As expressed in posts to other threads, I share your concern in this regard! -- Howbeit protecting adults from themselves - in spite of themselves -- entails a 'slippery slope' that (ultimately) can lead nowhere good... My $.02

Best regards
HP
 
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mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
But it still does not change the fact there are a few polluting this forum, but at least now I don't have to see it.
I don't see it as "polluting" at all..
I just see that the level of knowledge (awareness of the world) of those few is far..far..so far below the majority on here..
I assume thats because of their location and what they haven't been exposed to so far in life..
I ignore because I personally like to help people learn BUT I decided I must set a line in the sand for myself/my sanity.. I would spend hours "trying" to educate them and my attempts/level of frustration would more than likely not be worth the time spent.. So I just ignore..

Doesn't make them bad at all and kudos to them for "trying" to learn.. But personally I just can't justify the amount of effort I would need to put into those users. So I ignore..
 

dannyf

Joined Sep 13, 2015
2,197
it is generally accepted in our society that bystanders have an obligation to help within their capabilities, and most important, they must not facilitate that self-destructive action.

I am disappointed that AAC and its moderators don't see the importance of not facilitating RRitesh's behavior.
That is a difficult one.

There are many reasons a person behaves the way s/he does. It could be illness, it could be cultural, it could be language, or it could be planned, ...

In a free society, it is better for us all if a person is offered the opportunity to express him/herself, even in seemingly destructive ways (to others), unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

That's why our justice system tends to let criminals go free, vs. to jail potentially innocent people.
 

OBW0549

Joined Mar 2, 2015
3,566
Does being "nice" in this instance mean letting a misdirected individual destroy any change of getting any decent job? I don't think so.
I don't think so, either. I've commented before that in my opinion, any prospective employer who reads this individual's posts here on AAC is going to have severe reservations about hiring him, and that those who have been indulging him by entertaining his often-trivial questions here, far from helping him, are actually harming him by encouraging him to continue his self-defeating behavior-- specifically, his habit (call it lazy, call it clueless, call it disruptive, it doesn't matter) of seeking information from other people without first making even the slightest effort to obtain that information on his own (through Google or Wikipedia, for example). Who wants to work with someone who does that? Who would want to employ him?

This individual will not learn anything, nor will he become employable in anything approaching a professional capacity, until he conquers this habit and learns to develop resourcefulness and initiative. And current AAC policy is discouraging him from doing that.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
I do not attribute the behavior to any malevolence and have not seen any evidence of that in any of his posts. In fact, once you filter out the posts of concern, I have seen him try to be helpful to others. I think it is simply attention seeking, but way misdirected. Which get to the question of helping...

John
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
Had one of mine disappear this morning. It was in no way derogatory or hurtful. It was to the point and truthful. Yet it just disappeared.
As of lately if I don't see an average of one or more of my posts disappear per day I start feeling like something's not right here. :p

Let me be a little more blunt. Does being "nice" in this instance mean letting a misdirected individual destroy any change of getting any decent job? I don't think so. It is like bystanders urging someone to jump off a bridge.
I disagree. :eek:

There are some people whose absence would be an improvement to society so who am I to stop them from doing their part to make the world better by their own views.

I was a member there for years. I asked for my account to be blocked and never went back because the site refused to enforce their own rules for rude and abusive behavior. I know what I'm talking about.

BLARGGHH!! HA HA HA!
Inside word over their said otherwise. A former boss of mine once said he quit the place I worked at which was his 'official story in public' however those of us in the know on the inside knew it was a either leave or be fired situation and they just gave him the option of saying he quit to save face. ;)

My point is everyone knows that anyone can simply leave a forum on their own and never return for any reason they feel. Saying you asked to be permabanned is just a weak attempt at saving face because you were being kicked out anyway. :p

If I decide I don't want to participate in a forum anymore I can simply stop posting and delete their site from my favorites list to which effect if I ever see that the site has changed to a atmosphere that I can tolerate I can go back. Getting Permabanned is a pretty obvious way of the site saying they want to make sure you don't come back and on their terms not yours whether you say you asked for it or otherwise. :eek:

(Most likely to be deleted or heavily edited but meh.. It was worth it.)
 

ronv

Joined Nov 12, 2008
3,770
Personally, I have witnessed no intentionally disruptive behaviour on the part of the individual in question! -- Note also that he has demonstrated earnest application, and, I might add, attained significant achievement (I draw your attention to this thread) -- Thus it seems that a patient, individually tailored, approach was/is the sole requirement in his case!:):):) --- I think I will never understand the attitude held by many (including, shamefully, some bona fide educators) that 'ignorance' of a subject should debar one from education thereon!?:confused::confused::confused:

With genuine respect
HP:)
I think @The Electrician gets a gold star!
I would never have believed it.
I mean it! I am totally impressed. Kudos to @JohnInTX for the save. :D
 

JohnInTX

Joined Jun 26, 2012
4,787
Thanks, @ronv. I should point out that @Hypatia's Protege and a couple of others graciously responded to my request to give the thread a try on @The Electrician's terms. A few others were not so gracious (nor TOS abiding) and had to be kicked out. Predictably, some are complaining bitterly about that and efforts to contact a few about it via PM have been met with silence.

HP and a few other kind members have also been diligently working on RK's behalf in other threads. I don't know if its a long term solution or if he is salvageable (RK just got a 3 day ban because of flurry-posting again) but all of them provide a great example of what can be accomplished when the rancor stops long enough to actually proceed to completion. This issue has transcended RK. A few members are missing the point that these courtesies and efforts should be available to ALL members and those that choose to help the weaker ones should be allowed to do just that without interference. As engineers, I don't understand why some others don't seem to get that concept but the mods team is working on that as well.
Keep the faith.
 
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Brownout

Joined Jan 10, 2012
2,390
Inside word over their said otherwise.
I have extreme doubts about that. You've made that claim many times, yet have never shown any proof nor has anyone associated with that site backed up your obfuscation. If in fact what you say it true and widely known there, someone would have been able to back you up. Truth is, you repeatedly make unsubstantiated, unwelcome comments here about other members and fail to offer the slightest proof each time.

My point is everyone knows that anyone can simply leave a forum on their own and never return for any reason they feel. Saying you asked to be permabanned is just a weak attempt at saving face because you were being kicked out anyway
I never said I asked for a permban. I said I asked for my account to be blocked, meant to write "locked", and this was the administration's response. Their comment was this is the only way to do it, and that story has been backed up by moderators on this site. Had I known that would be the result, I wouldn't have asked for it, due to the opportunity for trolls like you to misrepresent the events that took place there. You brought your garbage from ETO and infected this site. You are responsible for much of the degradation of the fellowship and community that existed here.
 
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Sinus23

Joined Sep 7, 2013
248
I've never had to use the ignore feature on here and only used the report button 2-3 times. That was only because I spotted spam before the moderators did and they are pretty fast when it comes to deleting spam.

If I feel something should be ignored on here. I just do it like I would have to do offline.;)
 
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