I have noticed that there are more trolls running around here lately, both from named accounts and from people posting anonymously. This has caused a LOT of threads, namely a certain Sparrow thread, to be de-railed to the point of no return (inb4 dome calls.) What is sad is that the trolls really haven’t said anything different today than they have in 2008, but that more people are falling for them or something.
With that said, here are some tips to (hopefully) keep more threads from being derailed, keep the tinfoil levels manageable, and generally having more productive, less confrontational threads:
1. There is an ignore function, use it!
There will always be one or two posters who will antagonize any thread they come upon. This could be for many reasons, but by responding to these antagonistic posts, or even acknowledging those posts, you are making the problem posts stand out and are helping to derail the thread. Instead of adding fuel for the trolls, follow these steps to “ignore” a poster:
Click on the blue text that highlights the poster’s name.
A little pop up will appear. Click on “Add [name] to your Ignore List”
Click “yes” when asked “are you sure?”
2. There is a report button, use that too!
See the start of a thread derail? Someone is getting butthurt and the insults are starting to fly? Report that shit! Mods are pretty awesome to put up with these forums, but they cannot read every thread on this site (they do have lives too!) Reporting posts at the very least lets mods know that there is a potential issue on threads that they may or may not have seen. Also, multiple people reporting posts shows a pattern to the mods of posters that frequently gum up threads, which can only help in the long run.
3. Grow some balls/ovaries
Seriously, stop getting your panties in a bunch because some nameless troll on WWP called you a “bigot.” Its not worth your time to respond to these insults, and if you can’t handle a bit of name calling on a message board, then I really don’t want to see how you will react when a William Powell ronbot runs into you at a future protest. Are you happy with what you are doing against Scientology? Do you believe that you are doing the right thing by fighting against this cult? Why? If you are shaky on why you are protesting, to the point where some guy calling you a “bigot” on the internets makes you butthurt, then you might just need to LURK MOAR and find more reasons WHY WE PROTEST. There are too many destroyed families, dead people, and mentally fucked people in this cult to stop doing what you are doing because some poster on the net thinks you are doing the wrong thing.
Last, but not least by a long shot:
4. DON’T FEED THE TROLLS!
Why do people troll? Because they want to get a reaction out of other people online! Don’t give the trolls the reactions, and the trolls eventually get bored and move on to other forms of entertainment (read: fapfapfap.)
So what are you going to do the next time you run into a troll in your thread? Add them to your ignore list, report the post as derailing, DON’T RESPOND TO THE POST, and continue on your merry (ie. kicking a cult’s ass) way.