Might come in useful on here or other forums,

http://www.peorian.com/technology/technology-news/trolls-cyberbullies/1079-how-to-identify-and-defeat-an-internet-troll


Axey

Interesting read. Thanks Axeplayer.

Another semi BS article. He does a good job describing what a troll is but he's not defeating anybody, he just leaves the discussion. Trying to turn the tables on a troll is a waste of time, most know exactly what they're doing and won't bite same as his advice to ignore a troll. Great, you ignore him but nobody else does so what good does that do?

There's no "defeating" a troll which is why his final conclusion is to just leave. If it's a tight knit forum like this one, there is no other forum to go to to discuss PGM related things which is why I'm happy these forums are well moderated. Trolls get reported and nuked pretty fast around here.

If somebody's going to hang out on Twitter or Facebook, good luck the big social media sites are troll central.

Bob

When it comes to trolls the best thing you can do is ignore them, not engage and just report them if the forum or space you're in has rules against trolling and encourage the others to do the same.

Trolls on facebook? Troll central? Only if they are your friends or friends of friends if you’ve chosen that option - or if you have chosen for some odd reason to make yourself open to the public. I know nobody that does that. We’ve been on fb for eight years and have never seen a troll.

FWIW It’s very easy to control what you see and who can see/respond to you on Facebook. You can block someone with a few clicks. If one has issues there it’s because he or she doesn’t understand the privacy settings.

Facebook


Bud

Twitter is a strange bird. It has good blocking & reasonable ads. With a little effort, a guy can build up an interesting stream, actually, in some ways, better than cable. The problems with Twitter, we have heard, come from the people who run it. I can verify that, to a degree. Deleted my account and replaced it with an account that follows six or eight. Enough of that.

There's an old saying "Better to keep your mouth shut and remain a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt". Do trollers really think they are changing anyone's mind? Maybe they think they're just calling in their followers. Who knows and who really cares? Consciousness can't be legislated or forced, it's an awakening that happens and only God can do that.

As the former admin of one board and a moderator of another very busy forum I care. Trolls can ruin a forum quickly because somebody will always feed them. Most folks don’t realize that on many forums admins and mods are constantly dealing with this issue behind the scenes. PG Music is exceptionally well moderated.

Bud

That's true!

On the rare occasion that we see something odd, we users can notify the moderator and it's usually taken care of straight away. One strength of this forum is that we have active users all over the world, so somebody will see nonsense quickly.

At one point a decade ago, we had so many spammers and trolls here that several of us volunteered to be user-moderators, as the first line of defense. Our decisions were to be reviewed by PG Music staff. This was never implemented because it wasn't needed, thank goodness.

Trolling isn’t really about the Troll changing anyone’s mind about. It’s about causing harm or discomfort in individuals. A troll more often than not tries to find something that he feels is going to be a sore point that will illicit a defensive reaction. Once he thinks he finds it he just twists the knife and tries to cause the maximum amount of distress for the folks he is being critical of.

Although it has not always been so, I have to agree that in recent years these forums have been well moderated. We do, however; have an in- resident Troll who has made Trolling such an art form that I think it is difficult for the moderators to even recognize that it is happening. It appears to me that our Troll gleans quite a bit of historic posting information from the forums in addition to information from forum members personal websites to mount attacks heavily camouflaged as “help” or simple narratives about his life and beliefs.

I'd be curious Keith. I have my suspicions as well.
PM if you want.

I guess some people are uncomfortable with others expressing a different opinion and not agreeing with them. I wouldn't really call these people trolls. I think it's a sign of a healthy community when people can be different, have different ideas and discuss them respectfully. I disagree with the name calling and hate when a person can't debate the issues honestly. But I believe everyone has a right to their own beliefs and opinions and we all know that only life experiences and awareness from personal growth is going to change anyone's mind, not disagreeing with someone and calling them names.

In my opinion a "troll" is someone that maliciously calls others names and spouts hateful rhetoric, not someone that just thinks differently.

Fortunately, on this site I have never come across anyone I think would be a "troll", unlike maybe Facebook or Twitter. There are a lot of decent, good hearted folk here who share their love of music. I also enjoy that the discussions sometime get a little lively and stimulating and it's all good.

Another way to identify a troll is that their hair usually looks like they are being electrocuted.

Leave my profile pic out of this please.

I laughed when I saw this btw. You went with the REALLY obvious that no one else touched on. You have a demented; and appreciated sense of humor my friend.

Gee thanx! You stole my punch line!

PS - we must be related somehow!

I just read the article. It was mostly a bunch of nonsense. Only the uninformed would argue with a Troll.

I am not here everyday so I don't see everything that goes on but this site is well run. People are polite and are here to deal with music issues. They are also very supportive of everyone no matter the skill level.

We have a lot of people on this forum who have been here for a long time. There is a sense of community and no post are going to get very far out of hand before someone steps in to put a stop to it. Trolls have a very short life expectancy here...lol

Of all the forums I have ever been on this one is the most polite.

Cheers,

Billy