Love the forum, feel bad about the thread hijackers and trolls

[Alphonse]

This forum is a huge benefit and a tremendous resource to us all. The vast majority of the participants here are great and behave in a way that is respectful and contributory in the questions they ask, their answers and opinions, and/or their informative posts.

Unfortunately there seem to be a few participants who much prefer to hijack someone's thread or worse yet, troll. We all slip occasionally but there are some participants that are as consistent in their poor behaviour as the sun coming up each day.

I have two hopes for the board.
1. The trolls go away
2. The thread hijackers learn how to create an original post with their own topic.

Now, I have said it here in my own post versus pointing someone out in a specific thread.

Apologies for my rant - nuf' said.

[Hoobiedoobie]

As a newbie to forums in general, I may very well be guilty of one or both of the offenses. Please feel free to call me out on the thread if so or private message me and tell me to cut it out.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Alphonse

I have two hopes for the board.
1. The trolls go away
2. The thread hijackers learn how to create an original post with their own topic.

Trolls never go away. But you never have to read their posts, ever again. You can add specific individuals to your "ignore" list. I've done that in exactly one case so far because that particular person seemed to never have anything constructive or even anything humorously snide to offer, and reading his diatribes was just too tedious.

Thread drift is a fact of life, the same way that a face-to-face conversation never stays on topic. It only qualifies as hijacking in my book if the post is a complete non sequitur that has nothing at all to do with either the original post or the latest posts. Even then, if the hijacking is by someone with fewer than twenty posts to his credit, I'll mentally cut him/her some slack.

I'm more amused by people who commit thread necromancy, resurrecting a thread that has been dead for a couple of years in the hope of rekindling the discussion despite the fact that the original participants allowed the thread to die due to lack of interest.

[gandttimes]

What's a Troll?


George

[ROBERT CROSS]

Trolls to some Gnomes to others...

Hijackers to some Hitchhikers to others...

I see know problem.

Bob

[Hoobiedoobie]

Thread necromancy!!! Oh now that flippin funny!!!

[moosetags]

I am on a number of forums, and have used them to my benefit for the last ten years or so. There are definitely more pluses than minuses.

The trolls are forever present in this venue. They have a character defect that urges them to create discourse for the purpose of enhancing their own ego. I try to look at this as a source of entertainment, but occasionally a troll goes over the edge and must be decapitated.

My being one of the moderators not with standing, Airforums is one one of the best policed forums on the Internet. Things here rarely get out of hand. Things do occasionally slip through the cracks, but not for long.

As to the issue of hijacking threads, this is something that most often happens when an inexperienced forums participant doesn't understand the rules of the road and throws in something out context.

Brian

[TincanRitz]

Maybe taking things a little too seriously? I love reading the different topics, sometimes I comment, sometimes I just make a note on some great info. I guess now you would call me a "stalker", LOL. It's a place for info, enjoy it, life is short.

[RangerJay]

I belong to a number of forums but follow 5 very regularly - 3 woodworking and 2 rving.

The 3 woodworking forums never have any issues - very personable, very knowledgeable, very helpful.

Airforums is very close to that same level of courtesy, support and helpfulness - the exceptions are a few topics that are pretty much guaranteed to bring out a "diversity of opinion" - and I know I'm as bad as any in making my stronger thoughts known - these topic are the "popcorn" topics - but to be truthful I would not have anticipated a discussion on "campfires" to be among them - regardless - I've always been impressed with the patience of the moderators on this forum with even the most contentious of topics - they sometimes have a tough job to do - they always do it in a professional way and I'm thankful they do.

There is another large RV forum that, on a much more consistent basis, can generate a lot of ill will between participants - on some topics you really need to be prepared to do battle if you want to participate. The moderators there seem to do the same good job - but the audience seems a lot more lively.

Anyway - regardless of the occasional issue this forum is a pretty good place to hang your hat.

And as for trolls? - they'll all get weeded out - sooner or later.


Jay

[moosetags]

Definition of a Troll from Google:

In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Brian

[Silverflames]

Bluhahaa I am a Thread Necromancer!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7HTiEV6uBcU

I've done that so many times looking for follow up on a issue.


Troll: some one who posts with the goal of upsetting people, meanness, or just being a jerk.

Thread Jacking: starting a new discussion not related to the goal of the original thread.

Oh on a side note, I'm thinking about buying a new truck, and I notice the dually are about 10k less. I was wondering how many Gas mileage you loose with a dually?

[RangerJay]

Picture my wife took of me responding to a thread on Airforums:

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by Silverflames

Bluhahaa I am a Thread Necromancer!
Thread Jacking: starting a new discussion not related to the goal of the original thread.

Oh on a side note, I'm thinking about buying a new truck, and I notice the dually are about 10k less. I was wondering how many Gas mileage you loose with a dually?

It depends on if you're looking at a Ford, Chevy, Dodge or Toyota, what kind of tires you have on it, if you use ST tires or LT tires on your AS, the brand of tires, how many blow outs, if you put nitrogen in those tires and sit around the campfire to discuss it, religion and politics..... Oh, your mileage may vary.

BTW, the best way to handle trolls is to completely ignore them, never respond to their troll bait.

[Aerowood]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Definition of a Troll from Google:



In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.



Brian

I'm glad you cleared that up for me as I seriously did not know what a troll was, I thought they only lived under bridges in fantasy land. I'm such a dweeb sometimes

[ROBERT CROSS]

..'ya know what your problem is......you think everything revolves around the interweb. Get real......

Bob

[Ag&Au]

Forums have been around at least since life began on earth. It is only the participants and venues that have changed.

Trolling and Hijacking are things you will see in everyday verbal conversation frequently if you pay attention. There is nearly always someone present who finds the subjects of their thoughts more interesting than what is presently being discussed.

There are also usually people around (like me) who find it amusing to get others' goats. I take pride in the size of my ill gotten goat herd.

These things are basic components in the hindrance of evolution of information exchange.

Ken

[gandttimes]

Originally Posted by Aerowood

I'm glad you cleared that up for me as I seriously did not know what a troll was, I thought they only lived under bridges in fantasy land. I'm such a dweeb sometimes

Me either. Thanks.


George

[iowaroots]

Passion comes in many forms and for many reasons. Sometimes the topic is more near and dear. Would it be helpful to have the ability to go back into the Forum after the "EDIT/DELETE" timer has run out and still have the ability to "DELETE" after figuring out, Hmm, I wish I would have said that differently? Disagreement is optional, being disagreeable could be modified with EDIT/DELETE as a constant feature and without having to ask a Moderator to do so.

[remphoto]

This forum is very mild and well-mannered. This is especially evident compared to the motorcycle forums I also visit, which seem to have a propensity for discord, bad behavior and trolling.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Earthcreeper

Passion comes in many forms and for many reasons. Sometimes the topic is more near and dear. Would it be helpful to have the ability to go back into the Forum after the "EDIT/DELETE" timer has run out and still have the ability to "DELETE" after figuring out, Hmm, I wish I would have said that differently? Disagreement is optional, being disagreeable could be modified with EDIT/DELETE as a constant feature and without having to ask a Moderator to do so.

I suggest making more use of the "preview post" feature, and actually reading what one wrote before submitting it.

And keeping some Tabasco® sauce on hand just in case you have to eat crow, as I have been forced to do in the past when a post I wrote was interpreted in a manner other than the one I intended. An apology by PM goes a long way. A public apology in the thread where the offense was given— so everyone can see it— goes even farther.

Unlimited time on the edit/delete function runs into a problem as soon as someone responds to a post, especially if they quote your post in their reply. You can't fix things retroactively without making a hash of the cause-and-effect flow of the thread. Fortunately, between previewing what we write before posting, and apologizing after if necessary, the edit/delete function is not our only way of policing ourselves.