Question about trolls.

[PETRUS]

For the most part: Do they know better, but go ahead and cause trouble anyway? Or are they seriously misguided and in need of an education?

Whaddaya think?

[MADem]

1. Both. They like to poop in the punch, and they're stupid, to boot!

:hi:

[nenagh]

3. & some just swallow the propaganda, whole...

and they cannot understand why we just don't see it Rush's way.

They are creations of the dark force.. :) .. a zombie lot..

Of course, others are just playing..

[JFN1]

2. Lots of anger, lots of fear, lots of blame to be laid at any "easy" target's feet

And agent provocateurs, looking for cracks in which to pour vile thoughts, sometimes do the stirring, too...

Most trolls, I think, are scared, and in deep denial, for DU is not exactly easy pickins' for trolls; DUers are way to smart for that...which is why trolls, do not truly gain a foothold here...

[MedleyMisty]

5. I had to laugh at the Occupy Portland troll

Came on while we were all watching the Portland livestreams, both user-generated and the local news, and tried to paint a story that completely contradicted what we were all seeing. So of course the troll got an immediate smackdown, but they wouldn't accept defeat and kept trying to convince us that what we were seeing on the livestreams wasn't real.

[CJCRANE]

11. They think "perception is reality"...

So they try to force their perception on everyone else.

[iris27]

40. That one was hilarious!

Kept insisting over and over that protestors were saying things totally contradictory to what anyone could hear on the livestream.

[nenagh]

6. It is really interesting what you say.... about DU & trolls ...

They do stick out..

Whereas a format like Daily Kos.. sometimes I just given up reading, because the interference is so great & I'm unwilling to spend the time to sort out troll or concerned DKer.

That way, the trolls win..

[GoCubsGo]

24. They've pretty much overrun all news/politics sites.

Huffington Post is a prime example Their comments section is nothing but trolls these days. I rarely waste my time there these days. But, that's pretty much true regardless of where you go. It's not just the news sites, either. I have seen them crap all over comments sections on stories about baseball. I'll go to TVPC to watch a ball game, or the Food Channel, or some other innocuous network, and the same asshole wingnuts are spewing their shit in the chat window. I rarely even look at the comments anymore. Not worth getting my blood pressure up over their stupidity. Let them earn their nickles per post. They're going to need them if their masters get their way.

[MH1]

29. Your last sentence - you really think that?

We wish.

[eShirl]

4. One man's "trouble" is another man's "entertainment."

[JFN1]

7. Indeed. "Ah, what a piece of work, is man..."

[The Genealogist]

8. There are many different kinds of trolls

I suppose one could break down the varieties, pigeonhole them into various categories. Perhaps there are PhD dissertations to be had, in defining them, doing comparative studies of them. But, they are all united by one thing. As MADem so accurately and elegantly put it, "They like to poop in the punch."

[pinboy3niner]

10. There sure are...

[ellisonz]

9. Alex, I'll take "Poopin' in the Punch" for 2000.

:puke:

[SpiralHawk]

18. .

[Skittles]

12. stupid people, easily swayed by bad propaganda

and there are a LOT of them

[SidDithers]

32. +1...nt

Sid

[MichaelMcGuire]

13. .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMEe7JqBgvg

[Scuba]

14. +1 Thanks for posting, and welcome to DU.

[Kingofalldems]

15. A small group who show up I call Teaching Freepers

Here to school us on the wonders of the free market.

[pinboy3niner]

16. Of course, most of them don't know...

...that they've been sent on a suicide mission. :)

[GoCubsGo]

23. I call them "Tools"

Here to do the dirty work of their masters, and not realizing they will never, ever benefit from their efforts.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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

[Tunkamerica]

19. your board will be a model of tolerance. there are rules here however.

[pinboy3niner]

20. Welcome to DU, as_Isee it

Speaking as someone who owns a few Senators... :rofl:

But seriously, you make a good point about the echo chamber that exists on any political website. Sure, it happens--even here--but we have a diverse community in which even that echo chamber often is called out. Maybe not always, but nobody's perfect. :)

Hang in there, and have your say.

[GoCubsGo]

21. They're both.

Most of them are here (and HuffPoo,and elsewhere) to stir up trouble. One of their aims is to discourage people here, or lull them into complacency in hopes that they'll stay home next November. It worked in 2010, and in some of these special elections. They also come here to pit moderates and liberals against each other. Divide and conquer. If you repeat something often enough, people start believing it, and that's what they do.

There are a few naive ones that come here thinking they might actually change some minds. I don't see too many of those here. But, they're ALL stupid. Anyone who carries water for the people who are screwing them is stupid. That goes without saying.

[Jamastiene]

22. Half and half

or something like that. It is most likely some other percentage, but still a mixture. Some know they can get away with trolling for a good long while before they will get banned. Others honestly don't seem to know better and need a good education.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

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

[blueamy66]

26. and why do those that are on "ignore"

still bother to respond to the people that have them on "ignore"?

Guess they are anal.....depressed.....or just stupid.....

[Edweird]

27. Maybe because there's no way for people 'on ignore' to know that they are being 'ignored'?

[RZM]

38. Actually I think that usually makes the person doing the ignoring look worse

By not responding, they look like they are conceding or unable to come up with a rebuttal.

Of course, maybe I say that because I don't like the whole concept of the ignore list. I can understand using it if you find somebody's style to be overly abrasive or rude, but I get the impression it's often used because of simple differences of opinion, which seems odd to me on a board that's all about exchanging ideas.

[HopeHoops]

28. No job. No life. No sex. What else do they have to do?

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. The one who posted in my thread last night

said we didn't have anything meaningful to say.

But she just had to come here and tell us that. :eyes:

[freshwest]

31. Well, ain't that special! How many posts did it have? Was it Theresa something? TS'd after 6 posts.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. Yep. That was her.

[freshwest]

37. She sounds like she was a lonely freeper. It. Will. Be. Okay!

[SidDithers]

34. I like the ones that keep coming back over and over again...

and who still obsess about DU on one of the spin-off boards.

Hi Naja / arcadian / Jara Sang / Goathead / corki (and probably a few others) :hi:

Sid

[hootinholler]

43. Zombies

Why call them zombies? when you kill a zombie they stay dead. I think we need a better term for them because they just keep coming back.

[RagAss]

35. +1....I remember when cretins knew enough to keep their mouths shut....

but that was before they were drafted by the %1 into the fascist army.

[EFerrari]

36. They're not smart enough to game and they're too broke to bowl

so they come here.

[Nye Bevan]

39. To many DUers the definition of a "troll" is "someone who disagrees with me"

or "someone who unrecs a thread I started".

[PETRUS]

41. You're probably right.

During a bought of insomnia, I logged in to discover some odd and uninformed comments from people with low post counts - these comments also contained criticism of DU and DU-ers. I actually responded on the issues (disagreements are fine with me), but messages and threads were deleted.





Hey... wait... are you unrec-ing my post? :P

[Major Hogwash]

44. That's simply not true.

:rofl:

[Brigid]

42. What I wonder about . . .

Are the ones who have high post counts. I just ran into two of them in a thread about armed teabaggers. Defending teabaggers? Around here? Really?

[Nye Bevan]

47. The ACLU defended the KKK's right to march.

You can despise certain groups but still defend their constitutional rights.

[tsuki]

45. The New Depression's Dime-A-Dancer. Everyone needs a job. nt

[Zorra]

46. The unreccing crew is on the job.

Why would they unrec a thread about trolls?
:shrug:

[UnrepentantLiberal]

48. This thread is stupid. Mnaaaaaaa

Sorry, couldn't resist :-)