How to be more board savvy?

[Angel]

Ok, I have been wanting to ask this for about a year and now I'm really curious. How in the world do you just know that someone is telling the truth and someone is a troll? I've heard some people accused of being a troll in the past...they were not and I never believed they were. I've seen people banned because they were trolls and I kind of had the feeling they were (like the recent one). But I have to admit that in the past year I have had the feeling that there were others that were "trollish" for lack of a better word and yet everyone else obviously thinks not. Do trolls have to be new people? How do you know or suspect? If people know you in real life, does that count? I have been on the boards since 2005 (I think) and still haven't got this figured out. What makes one poster's wild and crazy stories legit and another's not?

 

Bottom line...I want to be more savvy. I have been pondering this for about two months now as I have watched a couple people's threads. All the other stuff that happened just made me want to ask. Thanks guys. I do try to skip over all the mumbo jumbo but sometimes you just get sucked in. :rolleyes:

[Bang!Zoom!]

Seriously listening also. :bigear:

[CarenM]

I think I trust people too much and I am usually one that falls from there schemes.

 

I am really careful now

[5LittleMonkeys]

I'm just learning to look for certain things. Inconsistencies in information, extreme bragging and extreme drama after only a few posts are a few of the things that are red flags for me.

[hsmamainva]

I'm sort of good at spotting trolls. Not just here, but at other boards I've been on (pregnancy boards are notoriously adept at attracting trolls!)

 

1st clue -- low post count -- and the posts they do send contain a lot of melodrama (moving, losing a baby, having a baby, adopting a baby, getting a divorce, etc.)

 

2nd clue -- hard-to-believe stories -- 11,000 sf houses, famous boyfriends / husbands, pregnant with quadruplets, married to an astronaut, 17 children, 7 children + 5 more from my deceased relative, etc.

 

3rd clue -- low post count -- BUT they already know all the board lingo and know how to use emoticons, how to private message, etc., and seem to have "friends" on board -- also with low post counts (usually it's them under another user name trying to lend credence to poster currently receiving surveillance.)

 

4th -- add to the hard-to-believe stories, stories that just don't quite make sense. Like being 17 weeks pregnant just 6 weeks after you posted you were trying to conceive...or being pregnant 2 weeks after you just posted your miscarriage.

 

5th -- being unable to produce any evidence. i.e., we're moving to a new house, but we don't have any pictures, and it isn't listed on the internet, and we have no family photos to back up our claim that we have 17 children, etc.

[Nakia]

Well, so far in my WTM career, I've only outed one troll. It was painfully obvious it was a troll. And I'll tell you it wasn't nearly as exciting as last night's thread!!

 

In short, the answer to your question is: spend less time on housework, homeschooling, and exercise and more time here. That way you will get to know everyone and be able to notice when something fishy or should I say "trolly" is going on.

[Nakia]

I'm sort of good at spotting trolls. Not just here, but at other boards I've been on (pregnancy boards are notoriously adept at attracting trolls!)

 

1st clue -- low post count -- and the posts they do send contain a lot of melodrama (moving, losing a baby, having a baby, adopting a baby, getting a divorce, etc.)

 

2nd clue -- hard-to-believe stories -- 11,000 sf houses, famous boyfriends / husbands, pregnant with quadruplets, married to an astronaut, 17 children, 7 children + 5 more from my deceased relative, etc.

 

3rd clue -- low post count -- BUT they already know all the board lingo and know how to use emoticons, how to private message, etc., and seem to have "friends" on board -- also with low post counts (usually it's them under another user name trying to lend credence to poster currently receiving surveillance.)

 

4th -- add to the hard-to-believe stories, stories that just don't quite make sense. Like being 17 weeks pregnant just 6 weeks after you posted you were trying to conceive...or being pregnant 2 weeks after you just posted your miscarriage.

 

5th -- being unable to produce any evidence. i.e., we're moving to a new house, but we don't have any pictures, and it isn't listed on the internet, and we have no family photos to back up our claim that we have 17 children, etc.

 

I resemble that remark.

[hsmamainva]

I resemble that remark.

 

Oh but I believe you 100% :D :lol:

[WishboneDawn]

My secret is to remain clueless until the brighter folks point it out. Works every time!

[Nakia]

Oh but I believe you 100% :D :lol:

 

 

Oh good. Glad we got that cleared up.

 

 

BTW, I have spent a God awful amount of hours on this dang board since yesterday evening. Ridiculous. Yet, here I sit. DH and the girls have gone fishing, so what else do I have to do? I'm sure not going to mop the floors. It's Sunday, people.

[sassenach]

Well, so far in my WTM career, I've only outed one troll. It was painfully obvious it was a troll. And I'll tell you it wasn't nearly as exciting as last night's thread!!

 

In short, the answer to your question is: spend less time on housework, homeschooling, and exercise and more time here. That way you will get to know everyone and be able to notice when something fishy or should I say "trolly" is going on.

 

That was my first thought. :lol: I just let other people spot them for me. There are some sharp ladies on here, if there's a troll they'll squirrel them out!

[chepyl]

Sometimes it is easy, they post things just to get people upset and arguing. This happens A LOT on the dance forums I use. People will find youtube videos of completely inappropriate dances from competitions and get people going about what is and is not appropriate.

 

Their postings can also be inconsistent. There was one on the dance forum, in the baby and pregnancy board. She was pregnant with twins, having a hard time with family and boyfriend....went on and on. Then it was close to the due date and she had the babies and they both died. There were things she said about the babies' births and deaths that were completely outrageous! Things that would never happen. There were several women who had experienced difficult miscarriages and still births who were hurting for this girl. People started questioning and looking closer at her pictures. I think she eventually confessed.

 

Things get crazy and unbelievable, or just inconsistent.

 

I hope that's not to much rambling...I have to boys playing Boom Blox in the room :tongue_smilie: It prevents my brain from functioning properly.

 

ETA: She had been a member for years, had a couple thousand posts.

Edited August 7, 2011 by chepyl

[Ginevra]

Ok, I have been wanting to ask this for about a year and now I'm really curious. How in the world do you just know that someone is telling the truth and someone is a troll? I've heard some people accused of being a troll in the past...they were not and I never believed they were. I've seen people banned because they were trolls and I kind of had the feeling they were (like the recent one). But I have to admit that in the past year I have had the feeling that there were others that were "trollish" for lack of a better word and yet everyone else obviously thinks not. Do trolls have to be new people? How do you know or suspect? If people know you in real life, does that count? I have been on the boards since 2005 (I think) and still haven't got this figured out. What makes one poster's wild and crazy stories legit and another's not?

 

Bottom line...I want to be more savvy. I have been pondering this for about two months now as I have watched a couple people's threads. All the other stuff that happened just made me want to ask. Thanks guys. I do try to skip over all the mumbo jumbo but sometimes you just get sucked in. :rolleyes:

 

 

TRUE! I just posted something very similar!

[forty-two]

I see it as similar to how you know if someone irl's wild 'n' crazy story is legit or not - some people are good at it, and some people are less so. And some people are just better and more personable liars than others. And others just can't present themselves as believable even when they *are* telling the truth.

 

Mostly it seems to be a matter of noticing that things are "off" - both in that liars generally have inconsistencies in their stories over time, and that the personality who gets some sort of pleasure from lying about (usually horrible) personal circumstances is a bit off from the norm themselves. And whether you notice the inconsistencies, and how you interpret them, is affected by your life experiences, too. If you know someone irl who suffered the same thing, you are both more likely to believe the poster and more likely to notice inconsistencies if they are lying. And if there was a similar story that was the work of a troll, you might be less likely to believe this one, even if it is true.

 

In short, it's an art, not a science ;). (Coming from someone who is at the level of stick figures in troll-detection :D.)

[Angel]

Well, so far in my WTM career, I've only outed one troll. It was painfully obvious it was a troll. And I'll tell you it wasn't nearly as exciting as last night's thread!!

 

In short, the answer to your question is: spend less time on housework, homeschooling, and exercise and more time here. That way you will get to know everyone and be able to notice when something fishy or should I say "trolly" is going on.

 

:lol: Don't know if that was helpful but :lol:

[Negin]

I need to read this thread a few times, since I am known to be quite gullible.

 

My question, and I don't want to hijack, is why? Why on earth do such whack-jobs/trolls do all this? They must have waaaay too much time on their hands or something ... I just think it's crazy and really immature, as well as quite sick. :glare:

 

I wish I was better able at figuring these things out.

[Lolly]

There is no rule. It often involves just noting when someone contradicts themselves a lot. They do often have a low post count (the bad liars/get caught fairly quickly) or a high post count (often the good liars/these are the scary ones). The ones with a high post count often have a "fanbase". I think some of that base might be themselves. Having people who "know" you outside of the boards does not mean you are not a troll. It means you might have alternate accounts. One common trait of trolls (the scariest ones) is that they lead very dramatic lives but hugely likable. They often invoke sympathy from the board. Most people do not put it all out there for the world to see. (This is not saying that some don't. Some do.) Motivation? Usually seeking attention.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Maybe having been on several board of various types. The current troll had my spidey sense tingling because I had heard almost that exact story before.

[Peela]

My secret is to remain clueless until the brighter folks point it out. Works every time!

 

 

Yep, thats my secret too. I mean, who am I to suspect that someone new with 17 kids is a troll? I tend to just presume the best of people...but then, I don't tend to get very emotionally involved either, even though I care...so I don't get "hurt" by trolls (ok, whenever I say something like that, the opposite is going to happen, so we'll see!). Some people were really involved with a troll episode on the old boards, and I think it made many much more savvy about the issue.

[i.love.lucy]

My secret is to remain clueless until the brighter folks point it out. Works every time!

:iagree::D

[Ellie]

I'm just learning to look for certain things. Inconsistencies in information, extreme bragging and extreme drama after only a few posts are a few of the things that are red flags for me.

:iagree:

...especially when I see those same people (or the same stories with different names) on more than one forum.

 

My spidey-senses kick in regardng spam, too. :glare:

[Spryte]

Oh my. I opened this thread thinking it would be about abbreviations or something along those lines. Oops!

 

Am I reading this right? The person with 17 kids wasn't real? ...I only read her first post, but I shared it with DH, because, well, the thought of 17 children was simply ... daunting. We were cleaning up the kitchen at the time, and just chatting. That story had us pondering how many dishwashers we would want, with 17 kids! I'm embarrassed to share with DH that it wasn't a true story.

 

Feeling very naive.

[KidsHappen]

I just wait for someone else to tell me because even if things sound a little off to me, I am never sure if it's just that I have a bad memory or if the person really did say something weird.

[Mama2Many4]

Link on this troll thread please! :D

 

Some of us were planning for the week last night :glare:

[stripe]

Also weird gibberish threads with random links or posts in Chinese! Or I guess that's a spammer.

 

I find the idea of a troll beyond weird.

 

I'm really mad because I asked the "mom of 17" for pelvic floor stengthening exercises and only was told to do pilates. I need more details. That, I think was the first red flag!

[4wildberrys]

 

In short, the answer to your question is: spend less time on housework, homeschooling, and exercise and more time here. That way you will get to know everyone and be able to notice when something fishy or should I say "trolly" is going on.

 

:lol::lol:

[indigomama]

There is no rule. It often involves just noting when someone contradicts themselves a lot. They do often have a low post count (the bad liars/get caught fairly quickly) or a high post count (often the good liars/these are the scary ones). The ones with a high post count often have a "fanbase". I think some of that base might be themselves. Having people who "know" you outside of the boards does not mean you are not a troll. It means you might have alternate accounts. One common trait of trolls (the scariest ones) is that they lead very dramatic lives but hugely likable. They often invoke sympathy from the board. Most people do not put it all out there for the world to see. (This is not saying that some don't. Some do.) Motivation? Usually seeking attention.

 

But there are some very high count, high drama, highly loved people on here who would never get accused of being a troll. How exactly do you know the difference, when they've been on forever and most threads are crisis. Do you just assume some people really do have that much drama and like to share?

[Stacia]

Use this?

 

 

;):lol:

[Parrothead]

With the latest one, my BS detector went off and I decided not to pay any attention to her. I wasn't thinking troll, just that she and I would never be friendly. I didn't get caught up in house thing because by then I'd already written her off.

[Parrothead]

But there are some very high count, high drama, highly loved people on here who would never get accused of being a troll. How exactly do you know the difference, when they've been on forever and most threads are crisis. Do you just assume some people really do have that much drama and like to share?

Most people have seasons. It could be that currently there is lots of drama, but that isn't the norm. Take my battle with the hives a few weeks ago. Normally I simply talk and really have no life so I post a lot. (I don't consider myself well loved, BTW. More like infamous.) Then all of a sudden it was nothing but drama and health problems. I posted a lot about it here because there was no one else to really talk it over with because my IRL peeps were out of town or having their own problems.

 

Currently Joanne and Aubrey are having big troubles. Neither of them have such huge issues normally. But to a new comer it may seem problems are all they are posting about.

[LuvingLife]

I'm sort of good at spotting trolls. Not just here, but at other boards I've been on (pregnancy boards are notoriously adept at attracting trolls!)

 

1st clue -- low post count -- and the posts they do send contain a lot of melodrama (moving, losing a baby, having a baby, adopting a baby, getting a divorce, etc.)

 

2nd clue -- hard-to-believe stories -- 11,000 sf houses, famous boyfriends / husbands, pregnant with quadruplets, married to an astronaut, 17 children, 7 children + 5 more from my deceased relative, etc.

 

3rd clue -- low post count -- BUT they already know all the board lingo and know how to use emoticons, how to private message, etc., and seem to have "friends" on board -- also with low post counts (usually it's them under another user name trying to lend credence to poster currently receiving surveillance.)

 

4th -- add to the hard-to-believe stories, stories that just don't quite make sense. Like being 17 weeks pregnant just 6 weeks after you posted you were trying to conceive...or being pregnant 2 weeks after you just posted your miscarriage.

 

5th -- being unable to produce any evidence. i.e., we're moving to a new house, but we don't have any pictures, and it isn't listed on the internet, and we have no family photos to back up our claim that we have 17 children, etc.

 

:iagree: these are a lot of things you need to look out for and my dad has taught me well!

[lovelaughs_times_three]

Well, so far in my WTM career, I've only outed one troll. It was painfully obvious it was a troll. And I'll tell you it wasn't nearly as exciting as last night's thread!!

 

In short, the answer to your question is: spend less time on housework, homeschooling, and exercise and more time here. That way you will get to know everyone and be able to notice when something fishy or should I say "trolly" is going on.

 

:lol::lol::lol: BUSTED!! I have SO been doing that lately!!! But, I'm still not good at catching inconsistencies! I've been impressed with those who do!

[stripe]

But there are some very high count, high drama, highly loved people on here who would never get accused of being a troll. How exactly do you know the difference, when they've been on forever and most threads are crisis. Do you just assume some people really do have that much drama and like to share?

 

I think it's crisis / drama for the sake of it, out of nowhere, vs. a real crisis.

[nono]

I must be really odd (Capt. Obvious, reporting for duty!). But see, I just don't really care. Hey, occasionally, I've been fooled in real life. I have no doubt I can be fooled here. Eh. C'est la vie! I get a lot of fun, camaraderie and cool info here. So, the plusses way outweigh the minuses. :) I have no desire to invoke my inner Columbo while on the boards.

[Angel]

There is no rule. It often involves just noting when someone contradicts themselves a lot. They do often have a low post count (the bad liars/get caught fairly quickly) or a high post count (often the good liars/these are the scary ones). The ones with a high post count often have a "fanbase". I think some of that base might be themselves. Having people who "know" you outside of the boards does not mean you are not a troll. It means you might have alternate accounts. One common trait of trolls (the scariest ones) is that they lead very dramatic lives but hugely likable. They often invoke sympathy from the board. Most people do not put it all out there for the world to see. (This is not saying that some don't. Some do.) Motivation? Usually seeking attention.

 

This and

 

But there are some very high count, high drama, highly loved people on here who would never get accused of being a troll. How exactly do you know the difference, when they've been on forever and most threads are crisis. Do you just assume some people really do have that much drama and like to share?

 

This!!

 

I am obviously very BAD at picking up trolls because my "spidey-sense" has been tingling for months about a poster and I am the only one that's feeling it :D

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer. We've at least established that a) I need to be on the boards more and b) I stink at troll hunting. :lol:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

While there are some posters whom I perceive vividly, I'm always surprised at how many posters I will notice for the first time, only to realize that they have several thousand posts.

 

There is also really no way to know if someone's 1k posts are mostly wise observations about homeschooling and living gently with others or if they are mostly vents about broken vacuums or if they are :iagree: and :lurk5:.

 

I guess I have just learned to take any given comment with a grain of salt. If it seems wise and helpful, then I'll research the idea more. Helpful ideas can come from people with low post counts and antagonistic and pot stirring comments can go with high counts.

 

I also like to take a peek at sig lines. I know that I knew infinitely more about the right way to homeschool and all the right books to read back about a decade, before I really had to do it myself. Now that I'm entering my 9th year of homeschooling, I'm much more aware of the fact that I don't know everything. I've noticed over the years (I've been on the board for at least a decade now), that there is a tendency for people to post heavily about what they are "going to do" but that slows down some when they are busy in the fray. (A look at the workbox or filing threads might be an example.)

 

I guess that is a really round about way of saying that there can be posts that I find inciting rather than inciteful and that they may come from posters with high post counts. Would I label someone who hangs out here, posts a lot but who doesn't homeschool yet as a troll? Probably not. But I would keep that box of salt nearby when reading those dictates about the right way to do everything.

[Angel]

While there are some posters whom I perceive vividly, I'm always surprised at how many posters I will notice for the first time, only to realize that they have several thousand posts.

 

There is also really no way to know if someone's 1k posts are mostly wise observations about homeschooling and living gently with others or if they are mostly vents about broken vacuums or if they are :iagree: and :lurk5:.

 

I guess I have just learned to take any given comment with a grain of salt. If it seems wise and helpful, then I'll research the idea more. Helpful ideas can come from people with low post counts and antagonistic and pot stirring comments can go with high counts.

 

I also like to take a peek at sig lines. I know that I knew infinitely more about the right way to homeschool and all the right books to read back about a decade, before I really had to do it myself. Now that I'm entering my 9th year of homeschooling, I'm much more aware of the fact that I don't know everything. I've noticed over the years (I've been on the board for at least a decade now), that there is a tendency for people to post heavily about what they are "going to do" but that slows down some when they are busy in the fray. (A look at the workbox or filing threads might be an example.)

 

I guess that is a really round about way of saying that there can be posts that I find inciting rather than inciteful and that they may come from posters with high post counts. Would I label someone who hangs out here, posts a lot but who doesn't homeschool yet as a troll? Probably not. But I would keep that box of salt nearby when reading those dictates about the right way to do everything.

 

I need to remember this AND just stay away from posts that seem "too" much. For awhile I was only looking on the general board for our Book a Week threads and ignoring everything else. I think I'm going to go back to that for awhile. When I start getting worked up about something or somebody I don't even know, well, I think that is a cue for myself. Thanks for helping me see this.

[Liz CA]

Well, so far in my WTM career, I've only outed one troll. It was painfully obvious it was a troll. And I'll tell you it wasn't nearly as exciting as last night's thread!!

 

In short, the answer to your question is: spend less time on housework, homeschooling, and exercise and more time here. That way you will get to know everyone and be able to notice when something fishy or should I say "trolly" is going on.

 

Sounds like I missed something good again! Sigh. :tongue_smilie:

[Kirch]

I think a lot of trolls get off on knowing they've pulled the wool over so many people's eyes. It actually reminds me a bit of stories I've read about psychopaths and how part of their motivation for/enjoyment of their crimes is thinking that they're so smart that the police will never catch up with them.

[hsmamainva]

Some folks aren't exactly grateful! On the homeschool review forum, they're disgusted by how mean the troll hunters on the WTM boards are! And we should be ashamed of ourselves...or something to that affect.

 

Hmph! Next time, I'll just let them swallow it all, hook line and sinker. :glare:

 

Think I'll stay here where our skills are appreciated. For the most part! :lol:

[Negin]

I find the idea of a troll beyond weird.

 

:iagree:

Someone with way too much time on their hands and a bit of a sick mind. :glare:

 

I'm really mad because I asked the "mom of 17" for pelvic floor stengthening exercises and only was told to do pilates.

:lol: :smilielol5:

I am not laughing at you. I'm laughing at the situation and I totally empathize because it does sound like something I would ask also :grouphug:.

[Jeannie in NJ]

so are these trolls like AM maybe patholoigal liars? I am asking because I have known one path. liar in my life and I knew her for years before I figured it out. The stories and drama just got way too much and started becoming easily figured out so our family dropped her as a friend as her family would not agree that she was a path. liar and actually got mad at us when we pointed out all the outlandish lies.

 

Still I fell for AM's story, even welcomed her. I even told my family all about her and then last night had to tell them that she is a troll. Will be really had to believe any newbies any more, or heck according to what some of you are saying, some trolls could have been here for years and could still be here.

 

Guess I'll mostly stick to answering questions about cats and posting about my humdum life lol.

[Lolly]

But there are some very high count, high drama, highly loved people on here who would never get accused of being a troll. How exactly do you know the difference, when they've been on forever and most threads are crisis. Do you just assume some people really do have that much drama and like to share?

 

Noticing major inconsistencies helps. The rest is intuition. There are some posters here that...more than one of us...has serious doubts about. Others are totally taken in. No undeniable proof. Just major inconsistencies and intuition.

[stripe]

I saw a troll on another group. It did not involve a personal sob story at all. It just involved "starting something," lots of dramatic arguments, and finally someone discovered she (? it?) had a history of such behavior and in fact was somewhat notorious and had a web page.

[awisha.]

Wasn't there a thread a little while ago which was about AM and her 17 kids??? That AM had been on here years ago and gave really good advice and another lady on here had saved AM posts??? That's when AM replied with the post about all her kids doing chores as a race and they get prizes etc.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread btw

[NorCalMom]

Huh! I rarely come over to the general board unless I see a title that grabs my attention from the main page overview. I wanted to learn how to be "board savvy". I didn't even know trolls existed. I'm going to have to drop in over here more often... :lol: