What To Do With the Trolls

Submitted by xtramelanin on

Mates,

I am hoping to avoid a 'Lord of the Flies' scenario, but man, we have been infested by trolls lately.  Like many, I appreciate the cool rival fans that post here (e. g. nittany, buckeye chuck and others) and I also don't think we need to be bubble wrapped to protect against the occasional abrasive/snotty remark.  That said, there are some posters that aren't making this a better place.  They come in two kinds:

1.  The aforementioned over-the-top jerk rivals

2.  The more recent multiple account knucklehead(s).

The solutions for each might not be the same.  I guess I'd vote to nuke the rivals who lack self-control, but for the multiple account type(s), I really don't care what they post but enough of the false-conversation volleys.  No matter how many times they are told how silly they look, they persist.

[Insert pic of Gladiator emperor with his thumb out, but not turned either way....but 3.0]

So my question for the board is this:

Assuming our Mgoblog overlords listen to us (and they generally do, at least when we're rational), what would you like to be done with the trolls?

 

XM

Jeff09

September 13th, 2018 at 7:48 AM ^

Wouldn’t mind a quick hook for the obvious rival trolls. There was a bunch of garbage dumped here during the Urban Meyer stuff over the summer, not sure why it was allowed but it didn’t add to the conversation.

As for the multiple account trolls, candidly I’m not sure how people notice that stuff. I’ve never paid close enough attention to syntax and style to identify two separate posters as the same person. But if someone is being an asshole generally they should be banned in any case

TIMMMAAY

September 13th, 2018 at 8:55 AM ^

See, I fall on the opposite end on this. I don't read every thread anymore, but I can't help but notice the multiple accounts, it just jumps off the screen to me and usually right away. It's not something that I consciously look for. I don't understand how so few people pick up on it. It's benn happening for a long time now. Lately I've tried to just not engage the dipshit as much, but that doesn't seem to work either. He NEEDS that attention for some reason. 

I would implore our overlords to MAKE IT STOP, but if they haven't done anything yet then I doubt they will. It is seriously degrading the level of discourse that this place used to be known for. That is sad to me, this community used to have fairly high level conversations. Now some narcissistic dweeb has taken that away because he can't stand not being the center of attention, regardless of what form that attention takes. 

Goggles Paisano

September 13th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^

I think many of us see it immediately as well, but we can only say fuck off to these turds so many times.  Nothing happens and they continue to infest like cockroaches and make the board a not-fun place.  They are given WAY too much leeway around here.  If I were in charge, the Ban-hammer would have come out long long ago.  

nerv

September 13th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^

I don't think that would matter with MichiganMan. Every time the back and forth with him starts he always demands you check his IP to prove who he is or isn't. That just screams VPN to me, he knows he connects with a different IP address essentially every time he uses the board. Really I think a lot of us are on VPN's now since the demise of net neutrality.

Aspyr

September 13th, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^

It was so easy because this troll actually wanted you to know the accounts were the same person. He admitted it back in the Spring. If several days passed and no one called him out he would bring it back up himself.

I wasn't sure if TIMMMAAY was correct about who he thinks is responsible as I don't have as much experience with that individual but I am starting to think that he might be correct.

TIMMMAAY

September 13th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^

It's all about sentence structure, common themes, his world view that he can't help but let leak out, particular words and phrases, and the overarching narcissism. Then there is the pattern that he uses when replying to himself with another of his accounts, it's just predictable, to me at least. I really don't think I'm wrong. 

Goggles Paisano

September 13th, 2018 at 5:17 PM ^

It's stupid shit like shit that is so fucking obvious.  Michiganfan1984, skypanther, this and a few other of his accounts should immediately be nuked.  And every time he comes back, nuked again.  You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this out.  Going forward, it is as easy as pairing the stupid-ass comment together with the join date.  And those with the power on this site don't need a reason to delete an account.  If it walks like a duck....fucking nuke it! 

C Tron

September 13th, 2018 at 10:21 AM ^

In all honesty, the boards here absolutely sucks these days. A lot of quality posters have abandoned ship, and quality discussion is down significantly. These multi account posters and the folks who post just to get their precious MGoPoints are the cause. 

As a result, I frequent the website less often and rarely read the comment section.

I wish the mods would just ban these fools, but maybe they feel it's good for the site. I don't really know.

Obviously ban the opposing  fanbase trolls as well.

UM Fan from Sydney

September 13th, 2018 at 7:50 AM ^

There is one OSU douche who keeps getting deleted but then makes another screen name. I don’t know what he is right now.

ldevon1

September 13th, 2018 at 7:51 AM ^

They don't have to be rivals to be trolls. Some people just like stirring the pot, and the best way to fight this is to ignore them. Every time someone responds it just feed the fire. If you don't like a topic, ignore it. Don't click it, open it up, read it, and then tell the person how shitty it is. 

The Mad Hatter

September 13th, 2018 at 8:24 AM ^

The solution is to fix the blog.  I've heard LSA mention (more than once) that certain tools that made his job easier are currently not available.

I think that's the main reason for the influx of trolls and crap posts.  The mods can't be everywhere at once and the 3.0 conversion made their jobs more difficult.

Brhino

September 13th, 2018 at 9:13 AM ^

Maybe there needs to be some sort of open call for a few more mods?  I'm sure there's some good people you've overlooked with the time and energy to deal with moderation duties

 

I mean, you'd need some kind of screening/interview to make sure the new mods you were signing up weren't going to make the situation even worse, but...