Trolling of new members

Mandelbrot

I seem to recall that when MSE Towers proposed the introduction of the 'Please be nice to this newbie' type of image

some users expressed serious doubt about the idea, and said it would be more likely to flag up potential victims for the many trolls that inhabit this site.

Yes, I know the post count itself will also do this, but it is that "Please be especially nice" phrase that seems to get the trolls going ...

JJ_Egan

Does all this mean be nice to newbies who are just spamming the board .
Over moderation is as bad as no moderation many newbies just want their point of view agreed with even if its wrong .
Surely newbies who feel aggrieved can use the report button and if the mods use common sense action can be taken if indeed their is abuse . But being told to get a life is in my view not abuse .

Gingernutty

The problem any newbie has the precedent set by the ones who've gone before.

Who remembers Desolate Landscape et al?

Someone with a pitiful sob story who starts a thread about something as minor as a faulty £1 set of headphones when the Sale of Goods Act is Googleable is going to be treated with a great deal of suspicion.

As JJ Egan and Money maker have stated, you got advice which is what you asked for.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

MSE_Megan wrote: »

Hi there,

Thanks for your post and I'm sorry you've been treated like that on the forum.

We are aware that the system we have now for helping newbies ease into the forum is not perfect and we're working on a better way to do things. We'd love suggestions if you have any?

Remove the newbie please be especially nice banner on new users, I feel it creates a beacon for those to simply troll. A simple quick and easy set up video for newbies to watch after email confirmation link clicked to show them how to create a thread, how to report members for rule breaking or abuse. how to find their posts and threads once one is created for easy navigation. how to create an avatar and signature and how to use the ignore feature, how the forums are laid out such and such for certain catagories, or if they just simply want to discuss things like general discussion of every day happening this is where they can find that catagory, and how to use the search facility as there maybe a an existing thread that has the answers before they create a thread.


A review of volunteer board guides periodically so that it ensures that the catagory and sub forums they are designated to they frequent often enough to keep the smooth running of that sub forum, there is a direct problem at the moment with board guides not even frequenting the subforums they are designated to to help run them smoothly or are rarely online.
This is the exact problem with motoring at the moment not one board guide until last night has frequented the forum for at least 6-12months only popping into the subforum once in very very long time due to frequenting other subforums on mse.


The board guides need to play an active part in subforum they designated, in order to keep them running smoothly, theres allot of car insurance and parking questions that are in the motoring subforum right now, that should be in insurance and savings, and parking fines its clogging up the motoring thread making it look untidy. not only that when there are persistant trouble makers in the forums that get PPR then come back 2 hours later with an alias just pick up where they left off, and cause trouble for 5-6 days rather than a board guide being there to assist in helping report and lock threads before the get out of hand, MSE towers comes along and removes the WHOLE thread when there could be some really good advice mingled in with the diatribe of trouble making members.


The site is too large for such a small team, theres little to no moderation by official MSE members to prevent trolling and trouble making memebers out to just disrupt and derail threads and turn it into a blue room of nonsense and arguments.
with the aid of regular frequenting board guides who can lock threads then MSE mods could come in remove the member from the site and remove their posts altogether, then re-open the locked thread in order for helpful member to continue to help someone in need of advice.


When new members join, there should be a probationary period where their post count should be capped to a certain post ratio, drop the newbie banner, and just keep things looking normal in this section.


persistant people who regularly get banned come back with alias over and over again just to cause disruption should receive a MAC address BAN rather than an IP ban or just PPR'd over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again like what is happening right now. and severly persistant people get reported to their ISP who can block them from accessing the site, like they have done with certain pirate sites, yes you can get round that with a proxy network, but why should MSE do the hard work of repeatedly banning and removing their posts, let the troll do the hard work in setting this up, and not allow E-mail confirmations to go out into a proxy site email account.


Its simple really MSE has treated the site the same since it was hosted in martins bedroom, but it has evolved into a larger scale thing than he imagined, yes the team may have grew larger but the same policies exist and now it time to review MSE towers workforce and make it larger and more capable of moderation on a day to day basis with reviews of board guide volunteers being where they are designated to be in regular periods not leave the subforums they are supposed to be a guide of go untouched for 6-12 months before popping in to see how its going 1 time and then not to be seen for 6-12 months later while they frequent DT and they are supposed to be a board guide for Insurance for E.G, board guides doing this are pointless and of no use to MSE.


that's my input and opinion, youll be surpised how reshuffling and re organizing and asking for more board guids could make a difference to the smooth running of this site it will make you more intouch of problems faster! and more efficient to deal with issues.

[Deleted User]

I think it very bizarre that someone should start a thread about consumer rights over a set of headphones costing £1. I find it even more bizarre that the thread garnered so many replies.

However, by far the most bizarre reaction is this thread in which the OP complains of the "seething hatred" of trolls on the original thread! This almost a month after the thread was posted!

I've read the thread and don't agree that the OP was treated any differently than any established poster would have been in similar circumstance.

There is certainly an argument for consideration of new users, but this poster says he has been reading the threads for several years and only felt the need to register because of his £1 headphone query.

Forgive me if I sound suspicious of the whole saga.

forgotmyname

Some threads attract unwanted or undesirable responses. It will always happen. Not just this forum but virtually any forum.

I was accused in another forum a while back. Because i posted my question and didnt go back until approx 24 hours later i was branded a troll.

I think too many threads where someone did something and looking to spread the blame to anyone/anywhere other than themselves gets the goat on a lot of members.

Debt boards have a fair share of these. Its OK saying be nice but its hard when the OP blames the bank or anyone but themselves. I have been in that situation. I blame myself for the debt i spent it. The only issue i had was the reluctance of the CC company to help me when i first started.
This was as the financial crisis started. So they were less helpful back then.

I dealt with the issue my way.

Another thread recently a member who has been on the forum for quite a while and lots of posts wants help but fails to dilvulge information on the actual problem or whats been tried and failes. Yet gives abuse when members mention the fact they need to give more info.

More board guides is a MUST... Someone that can ban new members instantly... Maybe not ban but restrict them posting until verified.

Why does a spammer get to 4 posts when i follow them clicking SPAM.. It should be a one click and their 1st post is removed pending review.

CKhalvashi

j.e.j. wrote: »

And/or moderate it? (officially)

Which I am (and I believe Martin, too) against.

There needs to be enough free speech, mixed with regulation when necessary, rather than policing as a general rule.

I've received abuse from few members on the forum, it's been reported, dealt with promptly by the forum team and I've moved on.

IMO, this is the maximum necessary, and I will stand by this. We can't control what others think, however I will offer my advice as/when I feel I can, and state clearly if this is opinion rather than fact.

Mandelbrot

Proper 'moderation' (in the forum sense) doesn't have to mean a curtailment on freedom of speech (other than to stay within the law, which is probably necessary to remain online).
It could be done with varying degrees of 'action'.

What you can't really have though (if you want your forum to continue successfully), is one where immediate control is ceded to the troll cliques, by allowing them to pick on and report unsuspecting users, and then have automatic responses that kick-in to PPR that user when a certain threshold of reports is reached.

In my view, you do need Board Guides/Moderators (the actual name doesn't matter) who actually use the Board they are responsible for, at least frequently enough to spot the cliques inhabiting them, etc and to be able to quickly put a hold on dubious forum tactics.

Nada666

A lot of the time the complaints just go in one ear but not out the other.

lovinituk

MSE_Megan wrote: »

Hi there,

Thanks for your post and I'm sorry you've been treated like that on the forum.

We are aware that the system we have now for helping newbies ease into the forum is not perfect and we're working on a better way to do things. We'd love suggestions if you have any?

Many people get 'upset' just because they don't get the answers they want, which means its pretty pointless them even joining the forum in the first place if they don't want to risk receiving answers they don't like.

As mentioned above, far too many people call 'troll' or whatever simply because people don't agree with them.

Also many people post such ridiculous views or ideas that they are bound to attract answers they simply don't like.

At the end of the day, some people are simply too sensitive to use faceless internet forums. Other users who normally provide useful information should not be penalised for that just because a new poster didn't like the answer and calls 'troll'.