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Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

I was going to write a lengthy article about trolls, with clever definitions cut and pasted from dictionary.com, peppered with wise comments, but I've decided not to.

Berka's job is tough. He is moderating the site's active content. Admins like JJJ and I can ban, deduct points, etc. Users can easily create new accounts over and over ad nauseum, poking and prodding at others.

Everything is about how one responds to torment. In many cases, explosive violence may be the answer. However, I suggested IP tracking long ago and that didn't work out. Furthermore, I'm much calmer these days, because my testosterone has undoubtedly begun its gradual decline, until finally my muscles will become withered and I will be stooped and broken, a shell, really of my violent, youthful self.

Hmm, I seem to have digressed. Everything is about how one responds to torment. When I look through the forums, I see constant, petty bickering. I see people immediately attacking new users because they imagine them to be the incarnation of some annoying past user. Everyone may very well be right.

But try to put yourself in the mind of the troll. It doesn't care what the response is, as long as the response is immediate and visceral. Good or bad. I should have taken my own advice and not attacked the troll's character, and I apologize for that. As I said, IP tracking and subsequent death at my hands is now out of the question, due to technical limitations and my rapidly decaying body.

Therefore, what is to be done? Short of upgrading the site into modern forums, such as SMF or PHP, and hiring several moderators (like a larger site such as Gamespot or Facebook might do), we have to rely on our moderator, Berka, to delete wildly inappropriate posts, and perhaps even more importantly, we have to moderate ourselves.

You, the users, have to behave in a rational, mature manner. This means respecting others and not personally attacking others. We've all heard this before, since kindergarten.

The blame is surely not on any of you, but there are ways to respond. If, for instance, we simply deleted troll posts and never acknowledged the troll, it may go away.

It is very easy for an online forum, and I mean that literally, a forum where one cannot see the other and there seems to be no penalties, to descend into a bickering pit of flaming and tongue-lashing.

We must prevent this. While we cannot keep out all undesirables, we certainly can come together as a community, and rise above it.

That is the most positive speech you will ever read from my fingers, and I am only now realizing that I sound like an adult. It is disturbing.

Let me be clear. Any posting of child pornography WILL be reported to the FBI. This site is equipped with a way for admins to see IPs and it is very easy to call the internet provider and demand to know the user's name. When a claim is based on child endangerment, the FBI is required to follow-up, and the cable/DSL corporations release the information very easily, and without a court order. EU law is similar in this regard.

So, everyone, ignore the troll(s). Playing their game means you lose.

Play nice.

There is your lengthy article, after all.

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

*Please note that it is best not to reply to troll posts or post off troll posts; as they all get deleted along with the troll posts themselves during clean-up.

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

Basically you should follow these rules when dealing with a troll. *Based on above article by Madglee and my own rules.*

1. Don't look for trolls in new people, respect them as you would a normal member.

2. Behave like you would without the troll. Never acknowledge the troll once s/he starts 'trolling' the site. (Refer to rule 4.)

3. Look to the moderators for help but try to do so in private in possible so the troll won't go after you directly.

4. Work together and don't troll the troll. (Refer to rule 2.)

5. Seek outside help such as the police/FBI if needed.

6. Don't let the troll win. They will go away eventually due to boredom or other things in Real-Life.

 Ultimately a community can easily die because of a single troll if they don't follow these rules. I don't know if Madglee has ever had to deal with situations like this on other sites or not.

Rule 4 is very important for this. I've been to a few communities that I either left before it died or left after it died because they failed to follow this basic guidelines. 

I don't want that to happen to CYS so I'll stay here to the death. ^.^

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

Try not to get too emotionally engaged, try not to be stupid, try not to care too much about others being stupid. 

Understand that you can be wrong, and anyone else can be wrong.

Sometimes you need to take up an 'I don't care' attitude, which means you will NOT be posting "I don't care", or "who cares?"  on the forums.

Keep your head cool and your heart steely, and maybe you can survive the internet.

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

Act too cool towards everything, though, and you'll be viewed as some heartless fucker that doesn't have a life besides laughing at any and everything.

Oh Internet, how I love you so.

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

What? No, dude, you're missing the point. This discussion is about how to act towards trolls, not in every conversation to every member.

Just don't feed the trolls!

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

Ofc, though there are SOME people in this world that might find this site that might go fundamentalist on these words, so just as a safeguard...

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

I'm not quite sure what your saying or how to respond to it.

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

If someone's going to obey EACH AND EVERY WORD Jather posted, we'd have a bunch of...wannabe freaks who translate "cool = jaded."

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

"You, the users, have to behave in a rational, mature manner. This means respecting others and not personally attacking others. We've all heard this before, since kindergarten...

..It is very easy for an online forum, and I mean that literally, a forum where one cannot see the other and there seems to be no penalties, to descend into a bickering pit of flaming and tongue-lashing.

We must prevent this. While we cannot keep out all undesirables, we certainly can come together as a community, and rise above it."

^Madglee's words.  Years ago, the behavior displayed today would not have been tolerated easily.  Even today, I do not tolerate this kind of behavior.  I will notify him if this goes on.  As a waste of space some storygames are on this site, I'm thinking less and less of the site's regulars that are here.

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

Well, I certainly never really meant to hurt Mousepaw's feelings, and I believe I only made any half-real insults towards her in Briar's thread in that last part, but I understand it was cruel and uncalled for. However I've also made the assumption a long time ago that you probably didn't think [very] much of me to begin with for whatever reason. Still though, I was an arsehole and I clearly understand that. Mousepaw didn't deserve the bashing she got, (I don't even know how it really got to that point) even though she was unclear on some concepts. I guess Drakoblare's hate rally and some of the more enflamed comments (namely mine) in the Spring Thing discussion thread got us a bit too riled up and desensitized to know exactly how much we were hurting people, although I can't say exactly if that's true.

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

Your apology and promise to future restraint is good, but it's not you I'm looking at directly.  Make-believe banter and fictional wars are tolerable (to an extent), but the user in question (in my own opinion) is more intolerable than a Malkalack.  (<---google this asshole up if you want to)

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

He has a pie that needs stealing, and has done a few things on newgrounds that I can't see through the thick fog of iprism. He has a villainous name and people hate him enough to want to steal his pie, so I can only guess he's yet another downright stupid evil self-entitled and immature creature, like many Newgrounds users.  I don't think Jihelu was being that cruel today. Unless you're talking about zachjohnson. that was borderline sadism right there, although I guess everyone has said more or less the same thin in different words to different people at one point or another.

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

You suck SenPen! Get off the site and go back to your own country! Tell Santa I said "hi" when you get there cheeky

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

Santa doesn't live in Scotland, ye dingus! He lives in the South Pole!

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

Penguins don't live in Scotland... Imposter!!! surprise

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

Penguinites live in Scotland. Don't insult my beautiful culture

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

You haven't digged deep enough.

For example, one poor writer...here.

And here.

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

I'll post my actual opinion in a few moments when I've broken through school block to read it. I will return shortly.

ADDENDUM: That guy is a fucking shitbag. The site actually looks awesome, but seriously... Dear god...

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

Everyone just needs to relax.

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

I wonder what he's talking about... *Shifty eyes*

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

The only vendetta I have on you is not undoing that ribbon on your hair and letting that mane flow as it should be, really.  :P

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

He's basically saying he doesn't like the new flood of members we have had recently. 

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

^

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago
I feel as though I don't really have a say in the matter since I haven't been here very long. However, if that is the case then I agree that the flood of new members has brought the intelligence quotient of the website to a lower generality. (viewed especially in recently made storygames)

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

Before the kitty storm, most of the storygames even then were bad.  :P

Idiots and Our Sad Community

10 years ago

But they were easier to ignore due to the large amount of good stories compared to the bad at the time.

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

As any organism - particularly a virtual community - expands, there is a certain amount of chaos injected. Well, there could be complete order our tiny brains can't comprehend behind the chaos, but that's irrelevant. Currently, we seem to have a lot of very young, energetic people with a lot of time on their hands, who aren't here to read or write or engage in any meaningful way, and that's unfortunate.

But predictable and measurable! JJJ is pretty good at running numbers, I suspect. It would be interesting to have all quantitative data about the qualitative measure of a person's helpfulness or hurtfulness to the site, charted over time and population of the site. So, 2003, 35 members, 500 negative comments per month about 3 users. 2014, 600+ members, 20 negative comments per month about 6 users.

Of course, it might not be interesting at all, but rather as boring as the word "interesting." Such an action would also possibly start a blood war at CYOA. So forget I said anything.

And quit hijacking my troll post thread, which you'll note quickly derails into talking shit about another user who is talking shit.

Now I just hijacked it back. 

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

Hi Jack ^_^

Trolls and Our Happy Community

10 years ago

Yes. That is amusing. I will not remove it. No one else respond to this thread unless one has something applicable to say regarding some sort of vague advice about trolling.