Issues with Posters/Veracity/Suspected Trolling

[Allyson]

I guess this would count as really mild trolling because the stories aren't always dramatic, though they sometimes are. What about someone who seems to have a *lot* of the same kind of issue, and always with a type of person/situation they are kind of 'against'? If someone came across like they really were not fans of elephants, say. And they seem to run into really, an inordinate amount of issues involving elephants in some way, and often really extreme ones. It's sometimes hard not to say 'wow, you sure run into a lot of rude elephants..' Instead of these stories seeming meant to get attention or sympathy, they seem more about trying to make an anti-elephant point. I generally just ignore these posts because taken individually they're fine, though.

(Sorry for my silly example, I couldn't think of a more sensible one!)

[squeakers]

While oceanus has a point in that we are not a therapy group.. long OPs are almost a necessity in that if they later add the background people get accused of trying to tip people one way or another or are told "Oh, well, if that had been in the OP I would have said "blah, blah, blah, instead".  It can be hard to tell where to end the background sometimes.

[Just Lori]

I guess this would count as really mild trolling because the stories aren't always dramatic, though they sometimes are. What about someone who seems to have a *lot* of the same kind of issue, and always with a type of person/situation they are kind of 'against'? If someone came across like they really were not fans of elephants, say. And they seem to run into really, an inordinate amount of issues involving elephants in some way, and often really extreme ones. It's sometimes hard not to say 'wow, you sure run into a lot of rude elephants..' Instead of these stories seeming meant to get attention or sympathy, they seem more about trying to make an anti-elephant point. I generally just ignore these posts because taken individually they're fine, though.

(Sorry for my silly example, I couldn't think of a more sensible one!)

It's difficult, but I do believe it's best to ignore those.  I figure this is one of three things:

1.  The poster meets an inordinately high amount of rude elephants.
2.  The poster is doing something rude herself, causing the elephants to be rude in return.
3.  The poster is an elephant-hating troll who is here to stir up trouble.

I personally hate when I read those threads and I see all of the sympathetic comments about the horrible rude elephants.  I want to shout at the computer, "She's playing us!  She's playing us all!  Quit feeding her!"  But then I realize I'd be yelling at a computer.

The mods are quite adept at figuring out the No. 3 types.  Give it time and they usually trip up themselves.

ETA that sometimes I play my own little game.  If someone posts a thread about elephants, I will bet myself that Elephant Poster will weigh in within 10 responses, or something like that.  I often win that bet.

[Venus193]

I guess this would count as really mild trolling because the stories aren't always dramatic, though they sometimes are. What about someone who seems to have a *lot* of the same kind of issue, and always with a type of person/situation they are kind of 'against'? If someone came across like they really were not fans of elephants, say. And they seem to run into really, an inordinate amount of issues involving elephants in some way, and often really extreme ones. It's sometimes hard not to say 'wow, you sure run into a lot of rude elephants..' Instead of these stories seeming meant to get attention or sympathy, they seem more about trying to make an anti-elephant point. I generally just ignore these posts because taken individually they're fine, though.

(Sorry for my silly example, I couldn't think of a more sensible one!)

It's difficult, but I do believe it's best to ignore those.  I figure this is one of three things:

1.  The poster meets an inordinately high amount of rude elephants.
2.  The poster is doing something rude herself, causing the elephants to be rude in return.
3.  The poster is an elephant-hating troll who is here to stir up trouble.

I personally hate when I read those threads and I see all of the sympathetic comments about the horrible rude elephants.  I want to shout at the computer, "She's playing us!  She's playing us all!  Quit feeding her!"  But then I realize I'd be yelling at a computer.

The mods are quite adept at figuring out the No. 3 types.  Give it time and they usually trip up themselves.

ETA that sometimes I play my own little game.  If someone posts a thread about elephants, I will bet myself that Elephant Poster will weigh in within 10 responses, or something like that.  I often win that bet.

I disagree here.  People who have the same problem consistently are often unconsciously attracting it due to issues of their own, don't understand or are afraid to implement our advice, and/or the problem is bigger than etiquette and can't be fixed by our advice or suggestions.

Case in point: My friend Blanche has historically had a lot of toxic bosses, mostly women.  She once said "I must have the word DOORMAT displayed on my forehead."  I agree with this statement because she is the daughter of a narcissistic mother whom she couldn't please and whose criticism was unending.  She has re-enacted this with every female boss she has had her entire life.  I told her she needed to stop accepting the unreasonable criticism, work on her self-esteem, and learn to be assertive rather than passive/aggressive.  She has yet to learn this and I don't think her therapist (whom she only sees every other week) has helped much.   

These issues are beyond the scope of this forum, but often help to explain identifiable rude behavior.

[Zilla]

With overly long long LONG posts (yes I know what you are talking about! (    )  My eyes tend to glaze over, I just skip them.  It isn't worth the strain on my brain either.  Some people are just long winded and I leave it at that.  You can report of course, but in the end I think skipping is best.

[rose red]

With overly long long LONG posts (yes I know what you are talking about! (    )  My eyes tend to glaze over, I just skip them.  It isn't worth the strain on my brain either.  Some people are just long winded and I leave it at that.  You can report of course, but in the end I think skipping is best.

Me too.  Even with interesting topics, I'm just not able to read those posts.  Sometimes, I skip to the responses to try to get the gist of the issue.

[Amava]

What Venus says about those elephants is true.
And it's not just that some people attract more elephants.
It's also that someone who has issues with elephants, will notice them more.

If I hear an elephant trumpeting in my ear, I might be all like "Huh. Rude loud beast. Whatever."
But to someone who dislikes elephants strongly, or is scared of them, the same trumpeting will become the "event of the day" or even of the week. They'll be festering about it "Can't people control their darn elephants anymore", or "What if the elephant had stepped on me" or "Back in my grandmother's days, elephants were so much better behaved and would never have trumpeted so loudly in public".

[Zilla]

With overly long long LONG posts (yes I know what you are talking about! (    )  My eyes tend to glaze over, I just skip them.  It isn't worth the strain on my brain either.  Some people are just long winded and I leave it at that.  You can report of course, but in the end I think skipping is best.

Me too.  Even with interesting topics, I'm just not able to read those posts.  Sometimes, I skip to the responses to try to get the gist of the issue.

I am always happy when another poster says, "So in a nutshell..." and recaps their entire post and question in a few sentences.  And I myself have done the same.

[DottyG]

With overly long long LONG posts (yes I know what you are talking about! (    )  My eyes tend to glaze over, I just skip them.

Not what you're talking about, but you reminded me of something.  If you're (generic) going to post a long post, please put in some paragraphs and break the story up into chunks for us.  The long stories are a little bit better if they're at least readable.  When the whole post is mushed together, my eyes glaze over - and I go on to another post.

It might have been the most interesting story in the world, but if the readers have to wade through it, it's probably either not getting read by many people or the ones who are reading it are missing quite a bit of info just because it was hard to get through.

The Enter/Return button is there.  Use it!

[Zilla]

With overly long long LONG posts (yes I know what you are talking about! (    )  My eyes tend to glaze over, I just skip them.

Not what you're talking about, but you reminded me of something.  If you're (generic) going to post a long post, please put in some paragraphs and break the story up into chunks for us.  The long stories are a little bit better if they're at least readable.  When the whole post is mushed together, my eyes glaze over - and I go on to another post.

It might have been the most interesting story in the world, but if the readers have to wade through it, it's probably either not getting read by many people or the ones who are reading it are missing quite a bit of info just because it was hard to get through.

The Enter/Return button is there.  Use it!

I have a gltich in this forum that for some reason all my spaces are scrunched together.  I have yet to discover the cause.  Some others might have the same issue.  If not a friendly request (which I have seen numerous times) for paragraph breaks have been posted after a solid wall of text.

[PurpleFrog]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed a shift in focus from etiquette questions to more general posts with a qualifier, I'm spending more and more timr in the coffee break folder, I know what to expect there. I really don't report as I see many other more established posters responding and assume my radar is off, I shall trust my own judgementmore in ffuture.

I'm also having a thourghly lovley time inventing elephant etiquette questions. Thank you.

[oceanus]

With overly long long LONG posts (yes I know what you are talking about! (    )  My eyes tend to glaze over, I just skip them.  It isn't worth the strain on my brain either.  Some people are just long winded and I leave it at that.  You can report of course, but in the end I think skipping is best.

Yes, I've had my share of eye glazing  , and done quite a bit of scrolling.

[Fleur]

I have noticed, though, that there is a bit of a double standard on this forum. Let's just say that people who post about dolphins are allowed more leeway than those that post about elephants. Nothing against dolphins, but there seems to be less strict enforcement of the 'don't stray off topic' rule when the post is about them.

[LazyDaisy]

There may be a history of trouble surrounding posts about elephants that makes the mods more apt to jump in quickly. To me it's not a double standard to learn from the past. In addition to the topics never to discuss listed in the Forum Rules, there is also a list of topics that have gotten heated in the past and so should be handled carefully: http://www.etiquettehell.com/smf/index.php?topic=34220.0 "Hot Topics that you need to be aware of"

I'm not sure you should compare dolphins to elephants; only elephants to elephants. I would understand thinking there is a double standard if one thread about elephants is allowed to run wild, but a second thread about elephants is locked immediately.

[Bexx27]

There may be a history of trouble surrounding posts about elephants that makes the mods more apt to jump in quickly. To me it's not a double standard to learn from the past. In addition to the topics never to discuss listed in the Forum Rules, there is also a list of topics that have gotten heated in the past and so should be handled carefully: http://www.etiquettehell.com/smf/index.php?topic=34220.0 "Hot Topics that you need to be aware of"

I'm not sure you should compare dolphins to elephants; only elephants to elephants. I would understand thinking there is a double standard if one thread about elephants is allowed to run wild, but a second thread about elephants is locked immediately.

Yes, and the point was not about elephants per se but about a particular poster's history of anti-elephant posts. If my own experience is that I very rarely see an elephant behaving rudely, I will suspect trolling if the same person posts every day about encountering rude elephants. An isolated rude elephant post from someone who doesn't frequently dwell on that topic wouldn't cause the same reaction.

There are some topics and/or opinions that aren't well-received here even if they're not against the rules, but that's a separate issue.