What To Do With the Trolls
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
September 13th, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
but there's a "right way" and a "wrong way" to disagree. Look at my Points... clearly I did it the "wrong way" once upon a time and I dont post often or even log in to comment except during a football season. I just like to read the articles and look at pretty graphs.
September 13th, 2018 at 12:58 PM ^
What was the point of the thread though?
Any sane person could look at the QB/OL situation the entire 1.2 years DPJ has been here and see that that is going to seriously affect a young wide receiver.
I mean, the guy might have caught a half dozen bombs last year if there was anyone to get them to him.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:12 AM ^
Don't they shove a stick up the fat kids butt in Lord of the Flies? that could work...
September 13th, 2018 at 8:22 AM ^
Trolls around here would smile and push back.
September 13th, 2018 at 3:29 PM ^
NTTAWWT
September 13th, 2018 at 8:18 AM ^
I can't believe it has to come to this but we could create a sticky thread for Troll Banning. Us normal users could go into that thread and post a user that is a clear troll or multiple account and request a ban.
This would help the mods easily identify troll users instead of having to wade through tons of threads to find them. They could obviously look through their post history and make a choice on banning or not. It might help expediting bans.
There is still some work for mods to review a user but at least the identification would happen faster.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:34 AM ^
This is already in the Moderator Action Sticky, isn't it?
September 13th, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^
Well fancy that. I've never looked into that thread. Thanks for pointing that out. Nevermind my suggestion. I don't know how to read message board topics.
After reading the comments, its nice to see that MichiganMan, MK, etc put me on his hit list. Apparently he didn't like me making fun of his love for pizza rolls.
September 13th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
Well, the mod sticky seems to be kind of an echo chamber right now. Used to be they were lightning quick on banning trolls and responding to issues. Since 3.0, not so much.
September 13th, 2018 at 4:33 PM ^
Like a sticky for snitching? The problem with that is it would immediately devolve into a sticky for tattling on a commenter that has an opinion differing from the majority of the board.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:25 AM ^
This is one of the nice things about Discus - you can block users from your feed. That type of feature would make it so the trolls end up yelling at an empty room.
September 13th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
Benn begging for that for a while.
September 13th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^
My guess is the vast majority of Mgoblog users don't log in, or post, to do anything like blocking trolls. This based off some comments about user metrics, so a tool like this would be more useful for the more active few (rather than passive hoard)... but still useful, especially if nobody bites.
September 13th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
Just stop.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:27 AM ^
I think there is far more bad behavior by so-called Michigan fans than rival fans on here.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:33 AM ^
I agree that it's getting to be ridiculous. If I had a rubber hose....
September 13th, 2018 at 8:35 AM ^
When a 100-comment thread has 50 posts from the same guy replying to himself on 4 accounts we've reached a whole new territory.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^
I can't understand how hard it would be to make the points worth something again AND that that includes negging topics.
If you start a terrible thread (see the DPJ one below) and it reaches a -20, it should just disappear from the sidebar.
Likewise, people who reach -10 in replies should have their comment folded up (zero idea what the technical term is).
September 13th, 2018 at 8:52 AM ^
I disagree. I liked it when the site showed both positive and negative votes, instead of the sum of both. I've posted comments here in the past that got 50 downvotes and 50 upvotes. Today that same comment would appear to have gotten no response (positive or negative) from users.
September 13th, 2018 at 9:07 AM ^
That would be fine. What I'm saying is the obvious troll posts that receive 37 downvotes and no upvotes would just be folded up so that you have to click on the arrow next to the date to see it.
September 13th, 2018 at 9:47 AM ^
yeah that was good, because it tended to show that whatever you said, while controversial, was at least likely well thought out.
September 13th, 2018 at 3:13 PM ^
Or was upvoted by your other twenty accounts.
September 13th, 2018 at 11:27 AM ^
I think this illustrates why I’ve never been into the upvotes and downvotes. Most users use these functions to express agreement or disagreement with the post. I think it’s more useful to upvote informative posts with rationale (even if you disagree with the conclusion) and downvote clear trolls. It helps guide the reader on which comments they don’t want to miss.
September 13th, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^
Here, have an up/down vote
September 13th, 2018 at 8:44 AM ^
I have said it before, but with this new format you no longer accrue points. So if you ban them, even if they create a new account they will always be at zero points. They will never be able to create a thread. They will also be more easily identifiable with their comments in other threads due to the zero points and join date.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^
A block feature that makes their post invisible and so they can’t see your posts would be awesome. Just block the trolls you don’t like and then, in your reality, they are gone.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:48 AM ^
They created another account last night. I think it's called stupid chicken or something like that. Suggest nuking that one too
September 13th, 2018 at 9:20 AM ^
Scared Chicken but Stupid Chicken is more applicable
September 13th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
Stupid chicken was already taken.
September 13th, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^
ha ha... even trolls can be funny at times
September 13th, 2018 at 10:06 AM ^
He has a couple of (pre 2018) accounts in this thread and I'm not talking about the obvious one. Hopefully, he will chill for a while.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:50 AM ^
Give us a mute option for users and we can mostly solve the problems for ourselves and make it easier for mods to identify those deserving a ban.
When we capture the trolls we should put them in the tackling drill tires.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:52 AM ^
If this site gets money through clicks, and if the board is the source of many of those clicks, in a weird way, trolls are trolling themselves by helping the site.
To retain the benefits they bring to MGoBlog, but make sure they're known to the board, I suggest a 'scarlet letter' of sorts from accounts with known IP addresses.
September 13th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
In the short term, sure. But I'm pretty sure dedicated message boards that don't deal with trolls (keep them around for arguments, therefore clicks) lose users over time.
September 13th, 2018 at 2:01 PM ^
Good point, though I'm hoping the scarlet letter allows users to steer clear of jokers. I also like the mute button idea.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:54 AM ^
Castrate them.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:54 AM ^
This is tricky. I am definitely not a troll but some of you would define me as such. There can be honest disagreement here-even between those who have been there and done that. The fact is that, here, folks who know virtually nothing about the athletic endeavor hold as much sway as those of us who are much more expert. Otherwise, the whole "ban them" call is very small-minded.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:57 AM ^
One of the features we requested that haven't been built yet will definitively fix the multiple account issue and many others.
September 13th, 2018 at 9:03 AM ^
Seth why don't you guys just outsource the message board that has all these canned features? Just seems expensive and burdensome (for you guys) to pay to have this Drupal one tweaked constantly. You should be able to utilize a 3rd party and hook it seamlessly into the MGOBLOG header?
September 13th, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
Please let it be two factor (phone) authentication for new accounts.
September 13th, 2018 at 8:59 AM ^
Welcome them. Make them feel comfortable. Maybe even make some tea.
September 13th, 2018 at 9:08 AM ^
3 grande pulonoiums, to go!
September 13th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
Is it possible to institute an IP check? Instead of block by username block by IP? This should eliminate people from making new accounts after being banned...also do a check for username vs IP...help cut down the people with multiple usernames playing games?
September 13th, 2018 at 9:08 AM ^
IPs change constantly and multiple users share the same IP if they're on the same network. this is not a solution.
September 13th, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
Exhibit B - should be deleted w/o question.
September 13th, 2018 at 9:29 AM ^
All in favor say Aye.
Aye!!
September 13th, 2018 at 11:43 AM ^
1. for what reason/offense?
2. what's wrong with answering the user's question about IPs?
September 13th, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^
you dont even try to be a good troll
September 13th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
define troll? Mgoproud asked an honest question, i gave an honest answer, on topic. this is crazy. i'm starting to wonder if all the people advocating to delete/ban me for actual, on-topic, board contributions are all the same person using different accounts. you all sound a lot alike.