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Does trolling work?

  • sleeper
    And if so, why does it?

    What are your thoughts regarding trolls? Are they good, bad, necessary, unnecessary, etc.? Are they racist?

    I think trolls are important. Without trolling, we would have lame discussions and the forums would be a continuous circle jerk of the same dogma Often times, a consensus is built around an idea which typically is only the consensus because its politically correct. For example, if you attach "Breast Cancer Awareness" to any argument, the person cannot be against said argument for they will also be against Breast Cancer Awareness. That's what trolls do. Since trolls do not play by the PC nature, and do not care if the opinion of said troll offends someone(QQ), we can generate discussion that would never take place in real life.

    Also, thoughts?

    Since OSH and jmog have publicly admitted that I am on their ignore list, I would rep anyone who quotes this entire post. Thank you in advance.
  • justincredible
    It works in turning a website to shit, if that is what you mean.
  • ernest_t_bass
    justincredible;1150619 wrote:It works in turning a website to shit, if that is what you mean.
    Says who? People with thin skin? It's teh internetz.
  • ernest_t_bass
    sleeper;1150613 wrote:And if so, why does it?

    What are your thoughts regarding trolls? Are they good, bad, necessary, unnecessary, etc.? Are they racist?

    I think trolls are important. Without trolling, we would have lame discussions and the forums would be a continuous circle jerk the same dogma Often times, a consensus is built around an idea which typically is only the consensus because its politically correct. For example, if you attach "Breast Cancer Awareness" to any argument, the person cannot be against said argument for they will also be against Breast Cancer Awareness. That's what trolls do. Since trolls do not play by the PC nature, and do not care if the opinion of said troll offends someone(QQ), we can generate discussion that would never take place in real life.

    Also, thoughts?

    Since OSH and jmog have publicly admitted that I am on their ignore list, I would rep anyone who quotes this entire post. Thank you in advance.
    I didn't quote your whole post. So screw you.
  • sleeper
    ernest_t_bass;1150621 wrote:I didn't quote your whole post. So screw you.
    reps.
  • sleeper
    justincredible;1150619 wrote:It works in turning a website to shit, if that is what you mean.
    Interesting. This forum has quite a few trolls; are you implying this website is shit?
  • justincredible
    ernest_t_bass;1150620 wrote:Says who? People with thin skin? It's teh internetz.
    Perhaps. All I know is that it annoys the hell out of me and is burning me out from even reading the site any more. And with me it has nothing to do with thin skin because I don't care about the things that get trolled (religion, ND, etc). It's just really annoying sifting through the shit to find actual discussion.
  • justincredible
    sleeper;1150624 wrote:Interesting. This forum has quite a few trolls; are you implying this website is shit?
    It's going that direction quickly, yes.
  • jmog
    sleeper;1150613 wrote: Since OSH and jmog have publicly admitted that I am on their ignore list, I would rep anyone who quotes this entire post. Thank you in advance.
    Show me where I said I put YOU on the ignore list. I just said the ignore list cleans up a thread nicely. I did NOT say who I ignored.
  • sleeper
    justincredible;1150628 wrote:It's going that direction quickly, yes.
    What do you propose as a solution? I disagree obviously.
  • Raw Dawgin' it
    justincredible;1150628 wrote:It's going that direction quickly, yes.
    you have the ability to trim the fat by using the ban hammer.
  • sleeper
    jmog;1150630 wrote:Show me where I said I put YOU on the ignore list. I just said the ignore list cleans up a thread nicely. I did NOT say who I ignored.
    Sounds like something LJ would post.
  • ernest_t_bass
    justincredible;1150627 wrote:Perhaps. All I know is that it annoys the hell out of me and is burning me out from even reading the site any more. And with me it has nothing to do with thin skin because I don't care about the things that get trolled (religion, ND, etc). It's just really annoying sifting through the shit to find actual discussion.
    It's funny, I was thinking this very thing this weekend. Not so much trolling, but thread derailing. What do you think about creating a forum where posters MUST stay on topic. It can have its own set of rules, where the moment that a poster PURPOSELY goes off topic, he/she/it is suspended, or moved to the basement. That way, anyone who wants to have an on topic discussion, and have said discussion protected, they go to that forum.
  • justincredible
    sleeper;1150631 wrote:What do you propose as a solution? I disagree obviously.
    Keep the "dickhead troll act" in the basement where it belongs?
  • justincredible
    ernest_t_bass;1150635 wrote:It's funny, I was thinking this very thing this weekend. Not so much trolling, but thread derailing. What do you think about creating a forum where posters MUST stay on topic. It can have its own set of rules, where the moment that a poster PURPOSELY goes off topic, he/she/it is suspended, or moved to the basement. That way, anyone who wants to have an on topic discussion, and have said discussion protected, they go to that forum.
    Not sure why that can't be every forum except the basement. And yes, the derailing of threads is brutal, mostly caused by trolling.
  • ernest_t_bass
    justincredible;1150638 wrote:Not sure why that can't be every forum except the basement.
    Enforcement.
  • Raw Dawgin' it
    ernest_t_bass;1150640 wrote:Enforcement.
    lol this is going to turn into a "mods are shit discussion"
  • sleeper
    ernest_t_bass;1150635 wrote:It's funny, I was thinking this very thing this weekend. Not so much trolling, but thread derailing. What do you think about creating a forum where posters MUST stay on topic. It can have its own set of rules, where the moment that a poster PURPOSELY goes off topic, he/she/it is suspended, or moved to the basement. That way, anyone who wants to have an on topic discussion, and have said discussion protected, they go to that forum.
    If this rule were implemented, discussion would cease even quicker. Threads going off-topic are typically more interesting than the initial topic; especially since the initial topic is probably pretty boring in the first place.
  • ernest_t_bass
    sleeper;1150643 wrote:If this rule were implemented, discussion would cease even quicker. Threads going off-topic are typically more interesting than the initial topic; especially since the initial topic is probably pretty boring in the first place.
    Not really. I said one forum, not the entire site. Read everything.
  • justincredible
    sleeper;1150643 wrote:If this rule were implemented, discussion would cease even quicker. Threads going off-topic are typically more interesting than the initial topic; especially since the initial topic is probably pretty boring in the first place.
    There are different levels of "derailing." One where the discussion naturally progresses to another topic. Another where people just start bitching back and forth making it an unreadable mess. One of those is great. The other is shit.
  • sleeper
    justincredible;1150636 wrote:Keep the "dickhead troll act" in the basement where it belongs?
    I think a lot of the true trolling does take place in the basement. Simply disagreeing with someone and calling them out for their shit is not trolling. They are often confused. Trolling is posting something to incite a certain response. Simply calling out ND for being terrible or religion for being BS, is not trolling. If anything, saying religion isn't BS is going to elicit the same emotional response, but someone that isn't considered trolling.

    There's obviously a fine line between trolling, discussion, and trolling, etc.
  • sleeper
    ernest_t_bass;1150644 wrote:Not really. I said one forum, not the entire site. Read everything.
    Reading comprehension isn't my strong suit. Although one could argue the Politics forum serves your idea to a "T" and its probably the least active forum besides Women's High school soccer.
  • sleeper
    justincredible;1150645 wrote:There are different levels of "derailing." One where the discussion naturally progresses to another topic. Another where people just start bitching back and forth making it an unreadable mess. One of those is great. The other is shit.
    Right. But the difference between the two is sometimes hard to distinguish.

    For example, I post something about how my Mac is having problems, can anyone help me with installing Adobe. Dlazz will post "I have a PC, hope this helps". A mildly funny, half-hearted attempt at making a joke, but it gets the lulz because that's an "inside joke" on this forums, and that's what Dlazz does. Next user goes, "Yeah, because PC's never have viruses :rolleyes:". Typically this will incite a flame war, and completely de-rail the topic. Who's at fault here? If my question ultimately ends up getting answered, what's the harm in the thread becoming something it was not intended for?
  • sleeper
    Plus, what would be the fun of this forum if you couldn't post an inside joke about another user? I mean, without LJ and his shit, I probably wouldn't post here(I would still visit and lurk assuming Con_Alma still posted).
  • dlazz
    sleeper;1150649 wrote: For example, I post something about how my Mac is having problems, can anyone help me with installing Adobe.

    Adobe blows on all platforms (Mac, PC, whatever). #realtalk