Notice to Newcomers re Trolls - part 14

Tixy
Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
edited 2 June 2014 at 1:19PM in Debt-free wannabe
A long time ago Pania wrote a message to warn new posters and others about occasional 'troll attacks'.
6 years on and those occasional troll attacks do still happen (with the massive success and size of the forum that is probably inevitable).

Anyway the advice below is based on the original message from Pania on how to deal with this type of post.

======================================================

Hi and welcome to the DFW (Debt-Free Wannabe) Board.

Every now and then we have had a number of offensive and insensitive comments made on the DFW board.

What do we mean by this?
A person that posts deliberately provocative, nasty or hurtful comments on threads is know as a Troll. They may be a person with no previous connection to the board, someone that has created a pseudonym to get their point made or a poster who has been a member here for a long time.
If you should get such a comment made on any thread you post, please realise this comment is not directed at you personally so please ignore these nasty comments and continue to post here as normal because the majority of us really are a lovely bunch – ooops, modesty! That said there are different writing styles; some brief and some harsh but helpful. If you happen to read them when you are not going through such an emotional time, you may find you are not as offended. So if they have upset you please try not to respond angrily. Most people are simply trying to help.

What should I do if I get a comment made on my thread?
Firstly do not respond to the comment as this is invariably what the troll wants.
So to get rid of the offending post, at the bottom of the post towards the right hand side you’ll see a red "Warning" triangle within a blue “Report” icon, as shown below:

report.gif

Click the icon and then "send" the message with the posters name which will inform the MSE team, who will then review its content and deal with it as appropriate; sometimes even deleting the Poster by making their status PPR’d (Posting Privileges Removed). Remember, this site is an asset to so many people, especially those that feels like their world is falling in around them. There is a wealth of knowledgeable people here all willing to help, whatever you do, do not let the comments of one silly individual deter you from availing yourself of the knowledge base that is on offer here.
PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE THE FORUM

It is testament to the work that Martin has done and continues to do that so many people give their time, knowledge and experience freely to others; without judgement, to lift people out of the depths of their debt crisis
PLEASE DO NOT LET THE ACTIONS OF THE MINORITY RUIN THAT

A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
or "It costs nowt to be nice"
«134567529

Comments

  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    edited 11 March 2015 at 11:16AM
    Hi Everyone

    MSE is a massively popular site and attracts loads of people - the good and the bad. The purpose of this thread (and the previous 13!) is to keep the above message on the first page of the DFW forum so that new posters can see the message and hopefully won't be put off by any nasty comments.

    The debt free wannabe forum in particular is a place where new people posting can feel very alone and desperate, and if that is you we don't want you to be put off by the occasional troll that comes visiting.

    There is also this new guidance from MSE What's a troll/alter ego?

    If a particular poster is bothering you then you also have the option to add them to your ignore list, and you will then not see any posts from that user. This option can be found in the user control panel.

    We 'BUMP' this thread throughout the day to push it back to the top of the page. If you see it dropping off the page please feel free to pop in and give it a bump.

    If you are new to the forum and need help and advice on your debts then plese start a new thread on the main DFW page and people will be along to offer help. Or click this link newthread.gif

    EDIT
    Some useful links for newbies joining the board

    DFW Newbies: Where to start, Challenges, SOAs, Nerds & Debt Free Roll of Honour!

    IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

    UPDATED OFT Guidance on Debt Collection - READ IF YOU ARE BEING HASSLED UNFAIRLY

    Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter

    The New DFW Dictionary

    DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    We also have had a lot of spammers on all the boards recently.

    If you see a spammer posting then please hit the spam button which you will see on the bottom right of each post.

    If lots of people hit the spam button then the post disappears until the forum team have a chance to look at it.
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • Thanks Tixy :T:T

    Thought I'd get us a cake to celebrate our new home :D
    Like the new decor :D:D

    3fbb2bd1dea63cd591cea897551ea20f.jpg
  • Upsidedown_Bear
    Upsidedown_Bear Posts: 18,264
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    edited 27 January 2014 at 12:20PM
  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    All posts gone now Bear
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • Upsidedown_Bear
    Upsidedown_Bear Posts: 18,264
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    edited 27 January 2014 at 1:39PM
    Tixy wrote: »
    All posts gone now Bear
    Thanks Tixy :beer:

    I have more:
    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.php?u=2258552
    Now gone :T
  • Growurown
    Growurown Posts: 5,498
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Forumite
    :hello: Afternoony all. Well I've been so busy over the weekend I didn't get a chance to drop in and come back this morning to see you have all moved!

    Thanks for the lovely cake Bear.

    Spoon, I hope Mr. Spoon has started behaving!

    This weekend I have been wassailing and drinking cider, redecorating the lounge and generally getting up to no good:D
    DMP Mutual Support Thread No. 421

    Debt free date 25/11/2015 - Made It!
  • warehouse
    warehouse Posts: 3,362
    I've been Money Tipped!
    Forumite
    The problem is much worse than simple trolls now. On almost every thread asking for advice there are multiple replies along the lines of....

    "accept the situation"
    "You're a bad parent obviously"
    "You should have..."
    "You didn't do this..."

    ...and on and on. This is from long established users too. I wish someone up there would do something about this now, it's an epidemic.
    Pants
  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    warehouse wrote: »
    This is from long established users too. I wish someone up there would do something about this now, it's an epidemic.

    The only way the MSE team will know about any posts is if others report them. They can then make a decision and certainly some long established users do get PPR'd or warning cards.

    I agree that some of the boards seem to have posters taking a more hardline approach to people asking for advice, which I suspect partly comes with the forum increasing in size and popularity so much.

    I know that certain boards, DFW and Bankruptcy in particular, have slighlty different rules in terms of people posting judgemental posts etc. And so personally I would report posts on those boards that I perhaps wouldn't if they were posted elsewhere in the forum.
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • IF
    IF Posts: 34,349
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Just thought I'd add this to the front page.

    One of the most asked questions is why is this thread not a sticky?

    Its been proven not many Newcomers read the stickies first but will read a thread moving up and down the board, Notice to Newcomers re Trolls - Part 12¾ had 96,088 views.

    Eventually when new posters are settled, they will then read the stickies.

    IF
    "If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride"
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