A troll is someone who comes here for the sheer purpose to pass on misinformation or take up the boards time with meaningless banter. they have no interest in helping people. Often times they work for a CA.
A [TROLL] comes to the board with the purpose of disrupting the board with 4 letter words and such and calling people names and saying all the previously proved ways are wrong...
Well, I'll share my opinion here. People tend to have different tolerance levels for what is a troll though. According to Cnet, they have to violate their Terms of Service. I consider it someone that uses more than mild potty language, or someone that attacks someone personally in an argument (rather than arguing the issue), or someone under the guise of being nice gives intentionally blatantly misleading information. BTW - I have been called a troll because I questioned someone's information. I have seen people called trolls here for being new and appearing pompous, or believing strongly that their way is the right way, etc etc. I personally don't agree with that--but thats just my opinion. This is the typewritten word, and we are all aware that we are missing the ability to read someone's body language, which IMMHO tells alot more than what is coming out of someone's keyboard. I mean, how many of us actually believed the Iraqi Minister of Information when we saw him talking. LOL - I do miss that guy, he was great for a laugh. You do have the ability to "ignore" someone thru your account setup. I don't waste my time with it, because I'm also nosy (hee hee), but I try not to jump in too often. Again, its my opinion, but real trolls are like two year olds. If you ignore their stamping feet and tantrums they will eventually go and play with their own toys.
Trolling is a method of catching fish. A "troll" in the internet sense is someone who enters an online community with the goal of stirring up trouble - usually by inciting pointless debates that take up bandwidth and prevent any useful discussion. You would be a "troll" if you, for example, visited a Star Wars message board and posted that you were SURE that Darth Vader is Han Solo's father. Or if you stopped by a religious message board and said you were a priest who was certain that Romans 2:8 authorized the clergy to practice cannibalism. Maybe you could even visit the Miller Lite message board and insist that it "tastes great". If you've ever listened to the Phil Hendrie radio show, you know he's a big time troll. If you are a native of the online community and you participate in the pointless, never-ending debate then you have been "caught" like a hapless fish by the troll. In times past it was fun to troll for newbies on Usenet every Fall as the incoming freshmen were getting their first internet access. Nowadays so many people have access that it's a little like shooting fish in a barrel. It's frustrating to deal with the pointless chatter, and I've been caught a few times too. But the best advice is to ignore the hook and swim away.
I like DaveLV's definition, lol. I posted the following little essay awhile ago, but this seemed like a good thread for a repost (pardon the redundancy). --- My Little Paranoia Lesson Dr. Dr. help me please, I know you'll understand There's a time device inside of me, I'm a self-destructin' man There's a red, under my bed And there's a little green man in my head And he said, "you're not goin' crazy, you're just a bit sad 'Cause there's a man in ya, knawin' ya, tearin' ya into two." Silly boy ya' self-destroyer. Paranoia, the destroyer -- The Kinks, 1981 Given the momentous events that have occurred during the life of this board (to wit, Bobby, pulse, "The Board is Being Watched," and so many others), I think a bit of paranoia and self-protection is justified. On the other hand, we shouldn't be sloppy about it, or else a few hapless innocents will surely be falsely accused. Consider what follows to be akin to bird-watching tips. Watch out for the following signs that may help us to differentiate the deserving seekers of truth from the malevolent forces of evil, lol. Of course, these are only my opinions, and others may disagree or offer better guidelines. Trolling Possibility Tips: 1) If a person suddenly appears who believes that our collective goals are to hone our skills at being irresponsible with debt and demonstrates a desire to debate us about that mistaken conclusion, then beware their motives. 2) If a person suddenly appears with a terrible tale of self-destruction that befell him or her mostly because they attempted to exercise their federally-guaranteed civil rights in accordance with the FCRA and FDCPA, then beware their motives. 3) If a person's entire raison d'etre here seems to be to sow seeds of malcontent and dissention and manages quite quickly to turn friend against friend, brother against brother, and sister against sister, then beware their motives. 4) If a person seems to champion a single issue over and over and over and over again in a contentious, argumentative manner (for example, someone who argues viciously and insultingly with anybody who works for a credit repair firm no matter what), then beware their motives. 5) If a person just arrives but seems to know an awful lot about the history of this board, its personalities, and its goings-on dating back months or even years, then beware their motives. 6) If a person consistently and repeatedly shares stories, experiences, and timelines whose likelihood are exceedingly slim, then beware their motives. 7) If a person seems to exult in enticing board members to break the law (for example, tries to sell others here in trying "new identity/SSN" file segregation, or attempts to get big numbers of us to perpetrate prank calls to a particular collection agency), then beware their motives. Of course we need a few Anti-Paranoia Tips as well, so here they are: 1) Just because somebody shows up on Day 1 and does something that causes your paranoia antennae to raise, that doesn't automatically mean that person is a troll, nor should anyone automatically accuse them of trolling. A posting or two doesn't make a pattern. 2) Just because someone asks the world's dumbest question, that doesn't automatically mean that person is a troll. What's a dumb question to you may not be a dumb question for me. (An example: If somebody shows up and asks whether the best way to deal with a collection agency is to do it verbally, that may really be their question, and imho we should treat them with respect. Another example: If somebody asks whether a bankruptcy is discharged before it's filed, again, that should be an opportunity to educate rather than to belittle or accuse.) 3) Just because somebody firmly believes something that is patently false, that doesn't automatically mean that person is a troll. (An example: If somebody proclaims loudly and assertively that credit repair doesn't work and that we all must be just fake shills for the banner ads that grace the site, that's an opportunity to debate someone whose ignorance is obvious, but that still doesn't mean that person is a troll whose intent is to wreck the board.) 4) Just because somebody is brand new to the board and has opinions or expertise to share, that doesn't automatically mean that person is a troll or any other example of malevolence. Some of us may well believe (and I count myself among them) that the best way to join the Creditnet family is to RECEIVE rather than to DISPENSE information for the first month or two. But it's a free country, and Creditnet apparently makes this board available to the public for free discussion and debate, so not every newcomer will fit some old codger's expectation. Perhaps this fourth anti-paranoia tip should have been listed first. In the spirit of Jerry Springer, here's my Final Thought: Some may say that I'm spilling the beans and that now every troll will know how to fool us. I strongly disagree for several reasons: 1) Probably 99% of the trolls just show up and spout off. 2) The other 1% are stymied anyway because if they do the things they want to do (i.e., the things on the list above), then they're nabbed. Their only other choice is to behave like the rest of us, and that's just fine. We have no secret knowledge here; rather, we just know the ins-and-outs of our Federal rights, and so should they. Unfortunately for them, their business model can't be very easily sustained if they behave legally all the time, lol. 3) There is that other kind of troll -- what I call the "single-issue" crowd (i.e., the guy who shows up and seems to never miss an opportunity to knock a particular credit repair firm, etc.) -- and they ultimately show themselves for what they are simply as they go about doing the things they feel they must do. 4) There's far more to be gained through education of this type (for example, keeping ourselves from hurling accusations too quickly) than there is to be lost by worrying too much that some troll will somehow benefit from reading this. (Frankly, if a troll quits behaving like a troll, then are they really a troll anymore? Perhaps this posting should be REQUIRED READING for trolls, lol.) Ok, that's it. I'm sorry for this little fit of extemporaneous essaying, but it was in me, and I needed to write it out. Perhaps it will help somebody somehow sometime down the line. Doc
Re: Re: what is a troll? Wait! I've participated in those parties. They are quite fun! Aack! I have two troll strikes against me. Thanks Doc, for some excellent no-nonsense advice.
Re: Re: what is a troll? troll = "pulse" do a search for this poster I LOVE the Phil Hendrie show!!!!
Re: Re: Re: what is a troll? Trolling is great fun. Sometimes it's fun to be the troll and sometimes it's fun to sit back and laugh at all of the people who don't "get it".
Re: Re: Re: what is a troll? TROLL ALERT! THE SKY IS FALLING! IF CNN STEVE DOESN'T BAN JLYNN THEN I'M OUTTA HERE. Doc P.S. Cough, cough. Thanks for the kudos, jlynn, hehe!
Re: Re: Re: what is a troll? Doc's Top Ten Troll Remarks For the Day: 10) Credit repair is illegal in forty-two states. 9) DaveLV is really CCN Steve. 8) I just got a VISA Signature Card with a special MasterCard emblem embossed next to the VISA dove that allows me automatic 20% discounts on Delta airfare plus all the Chuck E. Cheese's tokens we want. 7) Doc really is Bill Bauer's piss boy. 6) I don't know why everybody whines about Gulf States because I just talked to the nicest lady on the phone, and she said she'd do everything I want if I just send them a payment. 5) This is the best board on the internet, it's better than all the other boards, bar none, and anybody who disagrees with that is a debt collector. 4) Validation won't work -- my imaginary friend Zippy told me so. 3) CRA disputes won't work. 2) Even if you file BK, you still have to pay your chargeoffs -- every single one of them. and my all-time favorite troll remark... 1) MY WIFE AND I HAVE 22 YEARS OF PERFECT CREDIT, NEVER LATE, WITH SCORES 700+ AND THEY STILL WON'T GIVE ME A TARGET CARD. ::clap, clap, clap:: Love, Doc P.S. Sorry.
Re: Re: Re: Re: what is a troll? Maybe that's why he has to resort to buying used rental cars with his Providian secured Visa.
MAJOR TROLL! DID I CATCH U? This place is just starting to get fun. It's too bad about that injunction Equfax got last week that's going to shut everything down. I'm gonna miss you, Doc! It sucks they were able to find out all of our real names and addresses.
MAJOR TROLL! DID I CATCH U? Hey Dave, Did you receive your letter that lists all the accounts the CRA's are putting back on your report because you filed fraudulent disputes. Mine just came today
MAJOR TROLL! DID I CATCH U? Yeah. I guess the party's over. I just thought the $750 fine for each account I disputed in "error" was a little over the top. I have no idea how I'm going to come up with all that money. At least I have until Tuesday.
MAJOR TROLL! DID I CATCH U? Yeah, jlynn and Dave, I got mine today too, but I just went ahead and paid it with PayPal. Doc
MAJOR TROLL! DID I CATCH U? Doc, can I borrow your paypal acct? The last thing I need is RMA harassing me next week.
Re: MAJOR TROLL! DID I CATCH U? George, it seems the CRA's are on to us. You should be getting letters about those inquiries you disputed. Why do you think Chase declined you?
