Question: What Are The Classic Signs Of A Troll?

[Dinger]

Maybe not a 100% guarantee, but a good hint.


Just asking.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

1. Oooo.

:popcorn: :popcorn:

[illflem]

5. ***

Truthfully A "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people.

Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. For some reason, they don't "get" that they are hurting real people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind of digital abstraction. As a result, they feel no sorrow whatsoever for the pain they inflict. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the greater their 'achievement' (as they see it). At the moment, the relative anonymity of the net allows trolls to flourish.

Trolls are utterly impervious to criticism (constructive or otherwise). You cannot negotiate with them; you cannot cause them to feel shame or compassion; you cannot reason with them. They cannot be made to feel remorse. For some reason, trolls do not feel they are bound by the rules of courtesy or social responsibility.

Perhaps this sounds inconceivable. You may think, "Surely there is something I can write that will change them." But a true troll can not be changed by mere words.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

7. You mean the trolls right?

[Dinger]

15. Damn Fine Explanation illflem! Thanks!! (nt)

[Joe Chi Minh]

26. On the contrary.

Quite apart from the fact that politics is intrinsically adversarial, what are debated on these threads are life and death matters affecting millions of people in America, Iraq and all over the world. If you consider an over-riding concern not to offend or hurt other posters should be DUers paramount concern, you have not been paying attention.

Personally, I don't like rancour, least of all on a forum, but this is not about socialising, it's about stopping lethal violence, both direct and indirect, domestic and foreign, and there are more than a few trolls from the dark side, here, seeking to confuse and divide Democratic posters, and to obscure and vitiate the force of their message.

[patdem]

27. Damn...you just described ME!..I do not like your description

I have abused freepers cause they were freepers...not 'real people'..now you make ME feel like a troll...and you know what? I think I am. Not here, of course, but on other venues. DAMN, wish I had heard that description before. Thanks!

[stanwyck]

19. Oh CSPAN's Washington Journal, they start with

I used to be a Democrat, BUT....and then they spread their Bush love. And you just know, by what they say, they NEVER were a Democrat. But it's part of the rightwing schtick. And it's totally transparent. They need a new line. But I guess Uncle Karl has been too distracted to think of a new opening line.

[phusion]

2. purple hair

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Posts like this.

[Dinger]

13. Is That So?

Well, I am just curious, and if this post is inappropriate, I hope it gets deleted.
I just wanted to know. Excuuuuuuuuuse me if you were offended.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

21. Yes, it IS so!

Well, kind of.

Actually, not really.

:shrug:

[Kierkegaard]

4. Short, ugly, lives under bridges.

[ET Awful]

28. Has a penchant for eating billy goats gruff. . . .

:)

[sendero]

6. When folks say stuff like..

.... "we Dems would never blah blah blah", I get suspicious.

Generally, I'm thinking "what you mean we, paleface?" :)

[shaniqua6392]

8. One can always spot a troll

by observing the plethora of misspelled words in their posts. They do not even possess the intelligence to click that little "spell check" button!!! They are indeed obviously inferior to us, I must admit.

[Bluebear]

9. "I hate Bush as much as the next guy, BUT...."

[Joe Chi Minh]

11. You gad it!

[tocqueville]

10. freeper troll

[Old and In the Way]

12. There's not a dime's worth of difference between Democrats and Republicans

Oh, sorry, that was Ralph Nader's line...

[tatertop]

17. I wonder if Ralph still believes that

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. 1. RW talking points

2. Can't spell

3. Low post count

[rzemanfl]

16. Lives under a bridge. Likes to eat billy goats. Sings "I'm a troll

foldeerol, I'm a troll, foldeerol and I'll eat you for supperrr." Sorry about your deprived childhood.

[Evergreen Emerald]

20. "flodeerol"

An under-used word here above the bridge.

[rzemanfl]

25. Never quite sure how to spell that, the 78 rpm record did not have

liner notes (like I could read then anyway). I'm pretty sure that I can spell "click-clack, click-clack over the rickety bridge..." though.

[LostInAnomie]

18. THEY FREQUENTLY TYPE IN ALL CAPS!!!

THEY ALSO USE A LOT OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!

[kentuck]

22. They are all "negative and whiny"...

And they don't march in lockstep to what we believe. Sometimes they don't even sound like the type of Democrat they're "supposed" to be. And they really piss off some people. :)

[Protagoras]

23. Hit and run posts

Asking ambiguous questions that are often based on false assumptions or lead to all or nothing answers.

Asking others to commit to a solid position while refusing to do so themselves (fishing).

Posting questions based on false dilemmas.

Leading disclaimers...

Horns and green hair.

[ebayfool]

24. "What I learned on DU: Classification of Freepers" by DUer Faye!

Got this last year from one of Faye's posts - it's veerrrry handy, LOL!

"What I learned on DU: Classification of Freepers"
Posted by Faye

CLASS 1 - "Drive-by Freepers" (*aka* Pre-Skool Freepers)

Drive-by freepers post short, brief, negative and disruptive comments in the middle of threads - usually 'one-liners' followed by one or two exclamation points (!). They are usually the most obvious and easiest to pick out. They almost come off as bratty little pre-skoolers. They last no more than about 30 posts, if they're lucky (they are also aware that they won't last). Their act is more or less, like a drive-by shooting (except it's a drive-by posting).


CLASS 2 - Disinformation Freepers

Disinformation Freepers can be either newer or older members, usually having registered within the last month or two. As the name suggests, they post either straight out bogus or distorted information to confuse or upset the issue or cause being discussed. They usually pound the disinfo like it's fact and no matter what the facts really are, they will put DU'ers out on a pointless hunt for unneccessary research. These guys don't last long either.


CLASS 3 - Sneaky 1000+ Freepers

Sneaky 1000+ Freepers aren't as easy to detect, but we all know they're out there. These guys might post and lurk for months, even years, (also may even be a donator) pretending to blend in with the crowd, only to go back to whatever Freep forum they came from to tell their Freepy friends what DU'ers are up to.


CLASS 4 - Borderline Freepers

Borderline Freepers (we have a good number of these guys crawling around, mostly in Election 2004 forum) are similar to Disinformation Freepers, except they focus more on turning every effort or issue into something negative. They will either purposely misinterpret the law, pretend to 'believe there was fraud in the election' yet try to "debunk" every fact, lawsuit, or piece of valuable information that comes our way. They will argue about almost anything, but not to the point where you piss them off enough for them to reveal that they are a Freeper. These are the hardest class of Freepers to get banned - everyone (probably even mods) knows who they are but they are so deceitful and unrevealing that there is no concrete basis on which to ban them.


And we cannot forget these guys:


CLASS 5 - To-the-Rescue Freepers

To-the-Rescue Freepers are simply freepers who come and post only to back up other Disinformation or Borderline Freeepers. They post to make it look like someone else is agreeing with a Disinfo or Borderline - almost like, hey, another Freeper to the rescue!!!

[ThoughtCriminal]

29. "I'm having trouble responding to my conservative friends.."

"Who Say: the sky is green and we've always been at war with EurAsia"

[ncrainbowgrrl]

30. Locking.

Please do not engage in troll-hunting!

If you have reason to suspect that someone is a troll, please hit the alert button.