DU Longtimer's: How do you deal with questionable low-count posters?

[PretzelWarrior]

I mean...I don't want to be overly rude to people who are just getting started posting, but we know there are a fair amount who are just posting here and there to bide their time so they can get up to a count where they can start new subjects and cause trouble.

Do you live and let live until they cross the line and have reason to be booted? Or do you try to draw them out for what they are and give them some kind of "litmus test" to see if they are for real?

I just imagine this place is going to be crawling with fake crud meant to throw us into a tizzy by later summer and early fall.

anyone?

P.S. I guess it's possible there are some who are in the 300, 500, 1000 post count who've just been biding their time? who knows?
--------------------------------------------------------
on edit...I guess I should have changed that to ANY provocative posts that seem like they are purposefully throwing out various GOP straw-men and talking points. Based on what I learned in this thread, I guess we just have to work hard ourselves to make DU what we want it to be and be thankful to the folks who devote time to run this thing and keep it sane.

THANKS FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK!

[Liberal Veteran]

1. We toy with them until they go over the edge, then boot them!

It's really fun!

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

2. And goshdarnnit, I was proud of my going over 100 today..

.. until I read your post and now feel insignificant again.

<whine... pour me another beer!!! It's cryin' time!>

[PretzelWarrior]

7. congratulations. Don't feel bad. sorry.

it's just too easy for these layabouts to come on here a couple times a week and post an inane reply and build up their post count.

It would be great if their deleted posts didn't count toward their total.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

17. The FlameStarters...

... come in... strike a flame... laugh as the posts pile up tens on tens and then just fade into the distance.. to strike another flame...

I understand.

Trolls aren't just found in LOTR! <unfortunately>

[kiahzero]

9. I know how you feel

:toast: Congratulations!

[seemslikeadream]

12. Here have a beer on me

[notadmblnd]

44. It's unfortunate that has been created here by disruptors

Infact I think this mis-administration has cast a hostile evnironment throughout this country. You can't trust politicians, you can't trust corporations, you can't trust your neighbor, you can't trust your fellow poster. Disruptors generate mistrust, I refuse to acknowledge them. I think not responding to people who post here only to flame is a much better statement.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. If somebody would bother to post 500 shill posts

just for a "punch line" at least they have been kept off the streets for a while and perhaps a few less children will have been molested or something.

[HornBuckler]

4. Hell, I've Only Got 300+ Posts But I've Been Here

Since The Near Beginning... I Don't Like To Post Unless It Has Some Meaning - Oh Wait, This Post Doesn't Mean A Whole Lot Does It?

[kiahzero]

5. I'm not exactly a "long-timer" but I'll answer anyway

Generally, I go with my instincts, and only call them out a bit if their post seems particularly bad.

[malachibk]

6. Let me just say

that most of the posts that throw ME into a tizzy are by 1000+'ers who bristle at the suggestion that other points of view WITHIN the "democratic/liberal" spectrum exist and are valid.

Where do you draw the line? What's questionable?

[PretzelWarrior]

13. I understand what you're saying which is why I raise the point.

I've seen people go off the deep end on someone even though what they said wasn't inflammatory...maybe just thought-provoking and a fresh take.

I may have even been guilty of that today (though I doubt it based on the person's follow-up to me and others).

Just thinking about how to be a good contributor and not shut down other ideas while not being "played" by people who are just here to raise hackles and sow dissent for the purpose of making us weaker.

[malachibk]

42. I think they make us stronger, if they make us anything at all...

that is, the people who do say truly incendiary, provocative things. Look how riled up we get! Igniting the pasison.

[Bandit]

8. We all had small numbers at one time

I was banned after only five posts when I first started posting. I'm sure there are many here that wish I had stayed banned. Let all voice their concerns and then we either educate or get rid of. Often we are the ones getting educated.

[Amerpie]

10. Gee

I guess there's a class system everywhere.

I'm glad for those who cause trouble. It's better than a mutual back scratching society. I'd rather see a new person challenge a DU vet than I'd like to see a DU vet get vengeful on a newbie who thinks Kerry's pro-occupation policy sucks.

Good god, it's just a damn discussion board.

[malachibk]

11. AMEN!

[PretzelWarrior]

19. I agree we need to be challenged. I've learned the most when

I'm arguing with someone who disagrees completely with me. Such as, modifying my understanding of gun debate when chatting on the old CNN message boards. Or gaining more depth of knowledge about Taiwan/China debate in similar discussions back then.

I've had to admit a lot about this...I guess it's a non-issue. Perhaps we can kill with kindness all of the newer posters (don't like the term newbie) and see what they are really up to.

Thanks for your view

[candy]

20. Your post made me feel better---

I'm new and I may have opinions different from some of the long time posters,but what does that make me? A moron? A traitor? A Republican? A troublemaker?

As you put it so well,Gee,"Good God,it's just a damn discussion board"

[alittlelark]

34. Hi again Candy!!

Glad you aren't impugning disabled people in this post!! Like you did last night to the man who puts out the O'Reillysucks website. You charmer you!!

That's what I do.

[devilgrrl]

14. I call them out immediately...

much to the chagrin of the mods. Most aren't clever enough to make to 25 posts or so it seems.

[Catch22Dem]

15. I give them the respect they deserve

Unless they betray my trust. We attract a lot of new people. I swear it was almost a year before I hit 500. I had more fun just reading posts. I've been much more active over the past 18 months or so, but there are others who do laps around me. I just don't have the time.

So, like I said, I treat them with as much respect as they treat me. I don't think it's fair when people pile on low posters. You gotta remember, some of these cats are recent converts too. Believe it or not, a lot of folks here aren't life-long dems. But, they're new dems who have decided ours is a better platform. Treat them with respect and show them, first hand, why we're the party of inclusion.

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. Heck, I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Anything else is paranoia. :hi:

[kaitykaity]

18. The dumb disruptors usually reveal themselves

right away, so there's usually no subterfuge
involved.

There's just a smell to a conservative who tries
to infiltrate this board. I hate to seem so imprecise,
but there just is. Once you get a whiff of it, you know
exactly who the person is and what they're trying to do.

[Stew225]

30. Well I guess this is as good a time......

to offer my first post? Uh, sorry, maybe not. Some of you sound as suspicious and cynical as I am. Good for you!
God/Allah/Buddha/doorknob sure knows that these are the times that try men's Xtians. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

May I conclude my initial contribution here by sharing with you my fervent belief that our current selected President has the credibility of a rodeo clown. It is the anomaly of my lifetime (not to mention my previous ones) that so many people accept this clown (rodeo). The only viable job that I can see for Chimpy is to be the driver of the car with the orange light on top that leads the wide load caravans.

If Smirky (how bout my adroit picking up on the terminology, eh?) is re-selected our republic has about as much chance as Lynddie England at a debutante ball.

Nice to be here, hear?

Stew

[kaitykaity]

38. Welcome to DU, Stew!!

:hi:

[Stew225]

47. thanks kaity

[hippiegranny]

43. welcome! humor is always appreciated

'cause damn, if we don't laugh a little at all this insanity, we'll surely go insane ourselves.

[PretzelWarrior]

50. good to have you around! judgin from your style...post more!

I disagree with you however. I think the best job Chimp could have is driving at high rate of speed those cars with the yellow and black tape markings on them. You know the ones.

[Arkana]

51. Very eloquent, Stew

I remember my first post...it was awhile ago. The mania wasn't as strong then. As for trolls, I have the bad luck of viewing most threads after the trolls have been booted and their messages removed. It's a shame, because there's nothing I like more than baiting them until their heads explode.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

21. I let the mods handle it....

....if I see someone suspicious I use the alert button and let the moderators make the decisions.....

[PretzelWarrior]

thanks. good idea. I've never even used that feature

and I've also never used the "ignore" option or "hide" option. I view it as censoring info from myself which I don't like.

Oh well, I think from message boards of all types...there is sometimes an appetite for someone to come in here with a purposefully strange perspective so we can dump 10 tons of "knowledge and enlightenment" on them that we've gained since studying up on what's been happening these days.

[JitterbugPerfume]

27. I have been here almost from the start

and THE MODS and Skinner do a bang up job

when in doubt hit ALERT

it's fun

[turiya]

22. why are you paranoid that someone might have a different opinion?

If we all agreed on everything it sure would be boring.

[PretzelWarrior]

25. not really paranoid. just haven't thought about it much...

and I remember being frustrated in 2000 when people pretended to be supporting Gore or Democrats in general and used it to slam GOre in their own way.

So....it was a question. Am I paranoid? I don't think so. If I thought the CIA was going to track my posts and melt my hard drive down through a trojan virus...that would be paranoid.

More like just asking for their experiences on how best to let those things not become a problem.

This is such a high post count board and so many participate that it's hard to imagine any success at following the old adage of ignoring something that is probably meant to provoke an angry response

don't worry. I want more and more to join and feel welcome. that's why I'm asking the question.

got it?

[RandomKoolzip]

26. Hooo boy......

Here we go with the "liberals hate free speech" thing again.....

[Eurobabe]

23. I 'x' their threads if they reek of "troll juice"

[leftofthedial]

24. if they are an obvious disruptor

post a scathing, rapier-like response and hit Alert.

If they are just ignorant, inform them.

If they are just a jerk, hit Alert.

[Padraig18]

"Presumption of innocence"

Everyone was a 'low count' poster, at some point.

[TiredTexan]

28. I've been here for over 2 years now,

but don't post a lot.

Sometimes, I write something I consider innocuous, and will get flamed for my efforts. For example, just last week, I responded to a thread where legal issues were raised by correcting several inaccuracies, and got repeatedly flamed with personal insults by a poster with over 1000 posts. I finally politely pointed out that I really did know what I was talking about because I was an attorney with 15 years experience, and the response from the DU veteran was that I must have gone to some podunk law school (I went to a top school and did well). This experience is really offputting, and convinced me that there are several veteran posters who love to cause dissention among us and to run off newbies, if possible. Stealth disrupters perhaps.

In any event, you'll know them by the content of their posting. I've taken to reporting anyone that seems to be inviting trouble and try to post only when I think I have something to add to the discussions.

But don't assume that because someone has a low posting count that they are newbies.

[Thew]

31. Been here...

(and giving money) since nearly the beginning, and post hardly at all. I do remeber getting some flak early on when asking for responses to a right-wing email I had recieved.

Enjoy reading more than anything.

[PretzelWarrior]

33. good input...I'm sorry for your experiences in that way

I've been fortunate. I've only gotten into real trouble with other posters when we were in the primaries part of this election year. That was nasty and I'm glad it's over.

I guess that's the thing. I got a lot of good advice from people on this, and I'm glad I asked the question.

Plus, you should call someone out if they mistreat you in their posts no matter how many posts they have made. When I see people piling on others I try to mention it to the offender.

You probably will admit that a person with 10 posts is more likely to flame on in some replies than someone with over 1000 posts

[KoKo]

49. Yeah right....right! n/t

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissRegina]

36. Wow.

They have really thought this through. I'm a newbie but that's only because I've been going to school full-time and just now started to post on a regular basis. I had no idea having a low post count made me a second class citizen in some posters' eyes.

[Egalitarian Zetetic]

41. I have been acused of being a troll already in my second post

I've tried to be as cautious as i can, and its hard considering i am an in your face socialist. But i understand the paranoia, especially in light of the elaborate freeper tactics. Its almost as if its a cointelpro tactic of pitting the left against the left

http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/cointel.htm

COINTELPRO is an acronym for a series of FBI counterintelligence programs designed to neutralize political dissidents. Although covert operations have been employed throughout FBI history, the formal COINTELPRO's of 1956-1971 were broadly targeted against radical political organizations. In the early 1950s, the Communist Party was illegal in the United States. The Senate and House of Representatives each set up investigating committees to prosecute communists and publicly expose them. (The House Committee on Un-American Activities and the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy). When a series of Supreme Court rulings in 1956 and 1957 challenged these committees and questioned the constitutionality of Smith Act prosecutions and Subversive Activities Control Board hearings, the FBI's response was COINTELPRO, a program designed to "neutralize" those who could no longer be prosecuted. Over the years, similar programs were created to neutralize civil rights, anti-war, and many other groups, all said to be "communist front organizations." As J. Edgar Hoover, longtime Director of the FBI, put it

The forces which are most anxious to weaken our internal security are not always easy to identify. Communists have been trained in deceit and secretly work toward the day when they hope to replace our American way of life with a Communist dictatorship. They utilize cleverly camouflaged movements, such as peace groups and civil rights groups to achieve their sinister purposes. While they as individuals are difficult to identify, the Communist party line is clear. Its first concern is the advancement of Soviet Russia and the godless Communist cause. It is important to learn to know the enemies of the American way of life.

[PretzelWarrior]

46. it doesn't. sorry. I think I've learned a lot in this thread.

one....screw the post count. there are rascals all over the map on this...and we just need to embrace a lot of different ideas...and not bicker too much.

I mainly look at this place as a forum for information I don't have time to go out and research on my own. And of course...as a place to vent and be heard/understood.

Glad you're here

[Momgonepostal]

39. How completely repulsive

Geez, guys, get a life. I can't imagine sticking around on a message board you hated just to stir up trouble. Aren't there more enjoyable things in life to do?

I've lurked on conservative boards but get bored fast. I have a low tolerance level for bigots and nut jobs.

(For the record, I'm new but am the real deal :-) )

[PretzelWarrior]

40. see? this is what I was afraid of. but also laughing at.

because when they post their little strawman arguments it can kind of work like a Socratic method of learning with some back and forth on an issue that is well-worn but perhaps a new one for people who are just digging in.

I have to say...that is really pathetic. I mean, I kind of understand someone pretending to be a DU lover for a bit just to not get banned and play around for awhile. But to go to this level? It is more a commentary on their lack of real purpose except to oppose something than to stand for something.

Well, thanks for that thread. It is amazing how some people will waste their time.

Okay all you lounge lizards...you're under suspicion. LOL. JUST KIDDING!!!!

[mike1963]

32. It's a hard call, and I'm sure we're collectively guilty of running off

some newbies who may have been genuinely interested but lacked the netiquette to state their cases in the tentative way we often expect. ;-)

All we can do really is keep a sharp eye out, but really it isn't all that huge a deal. Look how long it has taken America to figure out what a dumbshit Chimpy is!
:D

[notadmblnd]

35. I don't , I ignore them.

I'm a long time Du'er. My post count is not that high. It's because I spend much more time reading and learning here than posting. Most of the time people post what I'm thinking better than I can. But there are a lot of people here with high post counts that I find questionable too. I ignore them also. It the wonderful thing about that ignore button.

[robbedvoter]

37. What liberal-veteran said. And it depends on content. Low count in itself

is no reason to doubt one's credibility. The trolls usually come with their poor spelling skills and idiosyncrasies that belie them. many a time I recognize a dormant troll (see the freeper moderator guidelines). I have a few on my watch list. Waiting for them to show their red ass.

[KoKo]

45. Hey "bransonfu!" I had a problem with YOU when you were a newbie!

You won't remember, but I DO! I posted about loving old "Charlie Chan" movies and you trashed me up and down and left and right over that.

Even when I pointed out to you that "I" as a Causcasion, Southerner back from the time when the "burned crosses on lawns" was so entralled with Chan Movies that I was forever loyal to Asian-American Causes because the "Chans" (three different actors in series) were a MODEL of Intelligencia in America! Chan's kids where "highly educated" and Charlie was a Major Detective!

But...bransonfu...you attacked me saying that "Chan Movies" were "stereotypes of Asians and that that the "Chinese Community was Humiliated" by these "Minstrel Boy interpretations of Asian Americans!"

I argued with you much about this, but so many DU'ers agreed with you I gave up on my argument.

:shrug:

[PretzelWarrior]

48. I remember that! Started because of adverts. on FauxNews

LOL. I was pretty amazed something so not related to politics of today ended up being such a barnburner. Pretty entertaining thread.

I'm glad you remembered. I enjoy your posts too. I've been away for awhile and back several times. Always depends on my work/play schedule.

[Moderator]

52. Locking.......

If you feel that someone is a disruptor,
please use the alert feature so that the
mods and Admins can evaluate the situation.

Thank you.


DU Moderator