Stop Calling New Members 'Trolls'

[SpikesBluBlooded]

Now that I have everyone's attention (or those that at least felt the need to come and read this):

I am consistently seeing the word 'Troll' being used whenever a new member, or any member with less than 100 posts or so, says anything that is disagreeable. This needs to stop, folks.

First of all, there are several posters out here that use the term way too often, and I think it truly is offending some new members, and scaring away others.

This site seems to pride itself on being above the petty bickering that occurs on other forums, and instead tries to provide positive information, feedback, and knowledge on the Blu-ray format. There are several new members starting to post every day, and I think that we have our fair share of trouble makers, don't get me wrong, but not all of them.

I'm sure that everyone is aware of how to report trolling, FUD, offensive language, and the like. It's that little red and white triangle with '!' in the center you see under every posters name, at the bottom of their post. That's what you use to report their behavior to the mods, and it is the mods who will do the research, if necessary, to identify that true offense was intended, and then to ban them and remove their posts. I've seen it happen more than enough times to know that it is effective.

That said, why take the time to insult and give a newcomer the feeling that questions can't be asked? Calling someone a troll (that actually is) does nothing but to let them know that they got under your skin, and only encourages them to keep coming back. And they do. Why not just take a moment to hit that little triangle and type the word 'troll' and hit send, instead? Let the mods do their job, and let's quit acting like a bunch of rabid fanboys that can't be open to differences of opinion and honest questions regarding our format of choice.

I find it more impressive to actually answer their questions, use facts and links to disperse their doubt and uncertainty, which happens very often, rather than resort to name calling and starting a shouting match. In case you haven't noticed, that's exactly what they want, they know they will be banned, but they're getting the reaction they so desperately want, and it makes us look petty and bickering in the process.

So again, use the 'REPORT POST' button rather than giving trolls what they want. It will only make this site better, and when they don't get the reactions they want, they're going to stop coming to this forum to cause trouble.

Thank you to all the members who have taken the time to read this. And to you new members, welcome, and please post responsibly.

[Steverhcp02]

Originally Posted by SpikesBluBlooded

Now that I have everyone's attention (or those that at least felt the need to come and read this):

I am consistently seeing the word 'Troll' being used whenever a new member, or any member with less than 100 posts or so, says anything that is disagreeable. This needs to stop, folks.

First of all, there are several posters out here that use the term way too often, and I think it truly is offending some new members, and scaring away others.

This site seems to pride itself on being above the petty bickering that occurs on other forums, and instead tries to provide positive information, feedback, and knowledge on the Blu-ray format. There are several new members starting to post every day, and I think that we have our fair share of trouble makers, don't get me wrong, but not all of them.

I'm sure that everyone is aware of how to report trolling, FUD, offensive language, and the like. It's that little red and white triangle you see under every posters name, at the bottom of their post. That's what you use to report their behavior to the mods, and it is the mods who will do the research, if necessary, to identify that true offense was intended, and then to ban them and remove their posts. I've seen it happen more than enough times to know that it is effective.

That said, why take the time to insult and give a newcomer the feeling that questions can't be asked? Calling someone a troll (that actually is) does nothing but to let them know that they got under your skin, and only encourages them to keep coming back. And they do. Why not just take a moment to hit that little triangle and type the word 'troll' and hit send, instead? Let the mods do their job, and let's quit acting like a bunch of rabid fanboys that can't be open to differences of opinion and honest questions regarding our format of choice.

I find it more impressive to actually answer their questions, use facts and links to disperse their doubt and uncertainty, which happens very often, rather than resort to name calling and starting a shouting match. In case you haven't noticed, that's exactly what they want, they know they will be banned, but they're getting the reaction they so desperately want, and it makes us look petty and bickering in the process.

So again, use the 'REPORT THIS POST' button rather than giving trolls what they want. It will only make this site better, and when they don't get the reactions they want, they're going to stop coming to this forum to cause trouble.

Thank you to all the members who have taken the time to read this. And to you new members, welcome, and please post responsibly.

Great post. I experienced this firsthand in the Nielsen thread when i said i was skeptical of the 130k numbers. It bothers me because we never had this problem before and this is one of the ONLY places BD owners can come without having to worry about the HD DVD mantra leaking into EVERY thread.

Its not even always a newcomer asking a question that people think is a plant to start a ruckus. I've seen people pointing the finger at others recently for merely suggesting that BD should make better decisions or something of the such. this isnt a crazy "If you dont like the war, leave the country" type of place, and i dont think it will ever turn that way due to the great mods we have here....but it is sad to see new or even current posters have to put up with people insecurities and witchhunts.

This is a wonderful post Spikes, and i hope everyone reads it and it should even be stickied with the holidays coming up.

[Joe Cain]

I tend to agree with everything said...

Except that the report field is clearly labeled:

Note: This is ONLY to be used to report spam, advertising messages, and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts.

---none of which behavior may necessarily be exhibited by an obvious troll.

I present Exhibit A, the post history of one BRFB. At the time of my posting this here, BRFB has logged a total of 4 posts in about 36 hours; in the first he says he's thinking about buying an HD-DVD player, and in the last he claims he broke down and did just that.

Is this guy a troll? You be the judge. Is there a reportable offense in the body of any of his posts? Doesn't look like it.

[SpikesBluBlooded]

Thank you, I hope that it gets read by the right people...

[Terjyn]

If all regulars stop responding to trolls, there will be no indication whatsoever to other new people that what they are reading is FUD.

This is far worse than the situation we have now.

The mods do a wonderful job, but it takes time for them to do it. Furthermore, if a mod deletes a post, nobody is going to realize it after they've already absorbed the information contained within it.

Are people too quick to use the 'troll' word? Probably. But ignoring the trolls, while not giving the trolls what they want, hurts everyone else reading the message.

I'm more than willing to feed one troll in order to prevent thousands from believing the FUD.

[Porscheman]

luckily i didn't experience this, but good post!

[Steverhcp02]

Originally Posted by Joe Cain

I tend to agree with everything said...

Except that the report field is clearly labeled:

---none of which behavior may necessarily be exhibited by an obvious troll.

I present Exhibit A, the post history of one BlueRayFanBoy. At the time of my posting this here, BRFB has logged a total of 4 posts in about 36 hours; in the first he says he's thinking about buying an HD-DVD player, and in the last he claims he broke down and did just that.

Is this guy a troll? You be the judge. Is there a reportable offense in the body of any of his posts? Doesn't look like it.

Thats the mistake. Buying an HD DVD player doesnt make you a troll. There is no way after 4 posts unless its ridiculously obvious you can know if someone is a troll.

Those the witch hunt im talking about. A troll will say stuff to evoke responses and continue responding...or he will post something so absurd (a picture perhaps) that it incites a riot.

Going through posters history with a fine toothe comb to try to "out" them is something this place should never turn into. Are we really that insecure here?

[SpikesBluBlooded]

Originally Posted by Joe Cain

I tend to agree with everything said...

Except that the report field is clearly labeled:

---none of which behavior may necessarily be exhibited by an obvious troll.

I present Exhibit A, the post history of one BlueRayFanBoy. At the time of my posting this here, BRFB has logged a total of 4 posts in about 36 hours; in the first he says he's thinking about buying an HD-DVD player, and in the last he claims he broke down and did just that.

Is this guy a troll? You be the judge. Is there a reportable offense in the body of any of his posts? Doesn't look like it.

This is exactly my point (by the way, trolling is harassment), and is why you have to give people the benefit of the doubt. By his second post, I think you could have reported him, and the mods will watch him to see what else he says. But to call him a troll from the very beginning just adds fuel to the fire.

I'm familiar with who you're talking about, and have already reported them myself (and for the record, let this be the last time we call someone out by name, this is not the intention of this thread), as by the time they reached number 4, it was pretty obvious.

But that's just it, they're going to hang themselves, if we just ignore them, and report them silently, they go away. This is much better than responding to them and taking up 20 some odd posts attacking them, rather than staying on subject. This is what they want, and when other members see this rhetoric happening, they just ignore the thread. That is not good for any of the members.

[SpikesBluBlooded]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

If all regulars stop responding to trolls, there will be no indication whatsoever to other new people that what they are reading is FUD.

This is far worse than the situation we have now.

The mods do a wonderful job, but it takes time for them to do it. Furthermore, if a mod deletes a post, nobody is going to realize it after they've already absorbed the information contained within it.

Are people too quick to use the 'troll' word? Probably. But ignoring the trolls, while not giving the trolls what they want, hurts everyone else reading the message.

I'm more than willing to feed one troll in order to prevent thousands from believing the FUD.

That's the very mentality that's causing the problem. Trolls are like the neighborhood cat, you feed them once, and they're just going to keep coming back. Worse yet, they bring their friends. I'm not saying not to respond to their negative comments, I'm saying 1) don't call them trolls, and 2) answer their comment with data and links showing them that they are incorrect. This has always been a more effective method of controlling them. Name-calling just turns into a shouting match, and now you've given them two points to argue: their original FUD, and the fact that they're being attacked for having a differing opinion.

[Moefiz]

I experienced this over at AVS when I first started doing reserch on HDM.Its difficult when you ask a simple question and you get smart remarks that make you feel stupid.

Its different over here and we should try to keep it that way.

I agree with you .

[Paden]

Originally Posted by SpikesBluBlooded

Now that I have everyone's attention (or those that at least felt the need to come and read this):

I am consistently seeing the word 'Troll' being used whenever a new member, or any member with less than 100 posts or so, says anything that is disagreeable. This needs to stop, folks.

Thanks. Great post.

[Terjyn]

Sorry, but this has never been my experience.

Any web site this large and this popular is going to attract trolls. It doesn't matter whether you call them that or not.

Even well-reasoned posts containing facts which contradict them feed them.

Ignoring trolls, much like ignoring bullies, is a wonderful theory which doesn't ever pan out. Many of them will take a lack of encouragement as a sign to try harder.

As I said the first time the troll word is used too much, and it should be at least 15-20 posts before someone even thinks of using it.

But ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away.

I've been a forum moderator before. I've watched countless websites go down in flames to the point where they were worthless, or even closed entirely. Not once has ignoring trolls been "the savior of the board", or even helped.

[bootman]

Originally Posted by SpikesBluBlooded

Thank you, I hope that it gets read by the right people...

Now that you have been regulated to the feedback forum, good luck.

[Terjyn]

I actually think I agree with the spirit of your post. Be nice to new people, don't assume they are trolls. Give them the benefit of the doubt, and answer their questions with facts and honestly.

But the specifics is where I'm getting hung up on it. You are advising a blanket "rule" which I don't think works.

[Sonny]

This Site is a very fare & helpful place with quick up to date information and is 2nd to nunn with all the HDM Site's on the Net, we just have to keep it that way, & I know where your coming from.

[mystiksuicide]

Very well said. I too have asked questions and one thing I am not is an hd dvd lover. Let's give the new members a chance to speak

[badboi]

Don't know about you guys, but I think the OP is a
TROLL!

Just kidding. Hopefully they won't come here as often now that Troll Mecca has reopened.

[blu-ray-one]

I can't create a new thread to troubleshoot a problem I am having with my Sony Sony BDP-S1. Please help.

[badboi]

Originally Posted by blu-ray-one

I can't create a new thread to troubleshoot a problem I am having with my Sony Sony BDP-S1. Please help.

Only if you say "Help me. Somebody please help me" like Little Richard did on that commercial for the car insurance company.

What's the problem? What type of player?

[SpikesBluBlooded]

Originally Posted by blu-ray-one

I can't create a new thread to troubleshoot a problem I am having with my Sony Sony BDP-S1. Please help.

If you go the the forums section, under players and recorders you will find a sticky thread for the BDP-S1. If you post your problem there, I'm sure you will find the help or answers you need.

The reason you can not post a new thread is two-fold: 1) Many new members are posting new threads for discussions that are already under way in another thread, and 2) Some new posters are indeed trolls, and post new threads to get a reaction...

By the way, I have a BDP-S1, so if all else fails, shoot me a PM and maybe I can help you find the answer. I would first check your firmware, and then sonystyle.com for help as well. Good luck!