Let's talk about trolling

knapplc

knapplc

Active member
We've always had a few goofballs on HuskerBoard. People who view the world a little differently, speak a little differently, act a little differently than the majority of posters here. But in the past six-ten months, there's been a change in the tenor of our odd members, and we're beginning to see a pattern.

Typically they have under 100 posts.

Typically their views are extremely negative of Pelini/A Player/The Offense/The Schedule... whatever.

Typically they come across as... not geniuses, to put it in a friendly way.

Typically they have almost no reasoning behind their anger - they just hate Bo/A Player/The Offense/The Schedule... whatever, and they have almost no supporting argument for their dislike.

Typically they dive in like gangbusters, as if they know what they're doing. It never appears that this is their first time on a message board and they're feeling their way around before dropping bombs.

I could go on. Guys like FLU do not fit this pattern. Guys like Caine Mutiny and Maxconvert.

What if this isn't just a random bunch of people who all happen to post similarly, who all happen to have huge gripes?

Our regular members are getting turned off by this deluge of derp. Some have stopped posting, some are talking about it. Wouldn't that benefit other places if we lost members because conversation here got just so, so stupid?

 
Trolling is a tough word to define because it's taken on a lot of evolving meanings, but I think I would generally only consider a case of 'trolling' to be where someone is not representing their real viewpoints, and only purposefully stirring trouble for the sake of doing so. So, it would have to fall under "this isn't just a bunch of random people" category to constitute that. Is this what you mean by the theory you wanted to float around earlier?

I would say only that these are somewhat tense and divisive times in Husker football. It happens when there's a split in the fanbase regarding the head coach. While most do and would continue to support Bo, there's a not-insignificant minority who completely do not. I would draw a parallel to 2007, where we slowly shifted from a time when anyone who didn't love Callahan would be considered a troll at worst, or a bitter griping dissident at best. Over the course of that fairly venomous season, the fanbase did roughly a total 180, and it wasn't a smooth transition.

So, I would generally go with the assumption that these are a lot of passionate, angry Husker fans. I would agree they don't often come across as the sharpest tools in the shed. I don't feel like there is anything sinister going on, but the bigger problem I have with them is their combativeness. There's no place for that here, even if it isn't trolling. It's unpleasant and it turns people off. Good job shutting down the Caine thread, because he clearly fell under that category.

 
Yeah, I'm getting a sneaking feeling this isn't an accident. Like some of these people - not all, just some - are pretending to be dense and angry.

 
Oh, I just re-read and see where you are going with this [sabotage attempts from another board]. That's an interesting angle. The only other board I read regularly is HuskerOnline, and I can tell you that one is far, far more venomous than this one, and a lot of prominent posters there are vehemently anti-Pelini. That's my basis for thinking this is a broad symptom of a fanbase that has always shown itself to be really touchy (just look at the ripping of players on any in-game thread...), and is going through some tumult. Bo wins out and it quiets down. Bo gets blown out against Michigan and it will get painful.

I guess I wouldn't really put it past another message board to try and do this. But I would have no basis for drawing that conclusion myself. Regardless, I think we should be more vigilant than we have about shutting down the combative posters. Welcome opinions all around, as long as they are civil about it. Give longstanding members some extra rope as we have been doing, with brief suspensions instead of outright bans; the same leniency not generally granted to new guys here causing trouble.

 
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In, I think, 2005, we had an invasion of Husker Power Hour. Someone tipped us off, and Chad paid the $5 to get an account. Each of us would periodically log in a take a view. Turns out HPH made a habit of targeting other Husker boards for invasion and trolling. They never suspected - until far too late - that we were monitoring them. They even would announce on HPH what usernames they were going to us. So, as soon as they signed up, we'd nuke the account and IP. We eventually grabbed quite a few screen shots of their plotting and filed a complaint with their ISP. The trolling miraculously stopped.

This feels different to me. This feels like a bunch of angry people venting their frustrations. They want to b!^@h, so that's what they do. They state an opinion, with no real reasoning behind it. But I don't see what they're doing as an attempt to drive off posters - if they were doing that I'd argue they'd be a lot more like the HPH crowd - more organized. If the "regulars" would do as we ask and ignore them, they'd eventually get tired and leave. Trouble is, everyone wants to moderate and take matters into their own hands. When they do, it just escalates.

Having said that, I also agree we need to jump in and shut these down. When we see something like this, confront. That is, inform them that we appreciate all opinion, but if those opinions are simply nothing more than venting then we'll consider them to be trolling as they are not constructive and don't contribute to a discussion.

For what it's worth, I've PMed Caine Mutiny and done just that. I've also copied all of you. If he's smart, he'll apologize and move past his anger. If not, we ban him.

 
I notice Mr. Caine Mutiny hasn't read the PM you sent him, Frank. I don't know if this is a factor of him just ignoring it or if he didn't get a notice that he's got a new message.

 
AR Husker Fan said:
In, I think, 2005, we had an invasion of Husker Power Hour. Someone tipped us off, and Chad paid the $5 to get an account. Each of us would periodically log in a take a view. Turns out HPH made a habit of targeting other Husker boards for invasion and trolling. They never suspected - until far too late - that we were monitoring them. They even would announce on HPH what usernames they were going to us. So, as soon as they signed up, we'd nuke the account and IP. We eventually grabbed quite a few screen shots of their plotting and filed a complaint with their ISP. The trolling miraculously stopped.

This feels different to me. This feels like a bunch of angry people venting their frustrations. They want to b!^@h, so that's what they do. They state an opinion, with no real reasoning behind it. But I don't see what they're doing as an attempt to drive off posters - if they were doing that I'd argue they'd be a lot more like the HPH crowd - more organized. If the "regulars" would do as we ask and ignore them, they'd eventually get tired and leave. Trouble is, everyone wants to moderate and take matters into their own hands. When they do, it just escalates.

Having said that, I also agree we need to jump in and shut these down. When we see something like this, confront. That is, inform them that we appreciate all opinion, but if those opinions are simply nothing more than venting then we'll consider them to be trolling as they are not constructive and don't contribute to a discussion.

For what it's worth, I've PMed Caine Mutiny and done just that. I've also copied all of you. If he's smart, he'll apologize and move past his anger. If not, we ban him.
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Oh the 2005 invasion was historical.

 
knapplc said:
I notice Mr. Caine Mutiny hasn't read the PM you sent him, Frank. I don't know if this is a factor of him just ignoring it or if he didn't get a notice that he's got a new message.
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Still unread, and I believe he's been logged in since I sent it. That means to me he's ignoring it. So - next time he posts crap, ban him and let me know, and I'll get the IPs.

Also, Lance - loved the thred you started. And I like the idea of a "Fire Bo" thread in Rumorville where we can dump all those posts. Then, when someone starts another, we merge it into the "Fire Bo" and warn the member to post that kind of thing in the Fire Bo thread. They don't, we ban.

 
I've noticed alot of this activity as well and it's fairly annoying, I believe I warned this guy at some point as well, but can't be for sure because it was in the thread.

 
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