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'Troll hunting'?

(35 Posts)

GNHQ have commented on this thread. Read here.

BlueBelle Tue 11-Sep-18 13:36:59

I too have just been accused of troll hunting in the same thread I presume and I take exception to that, by asking if a thread is a wind up it is NOT troll hunting
I belueve hunting means going after someone, in other words following them around and posting nasty personal things about them
So GNHQ by all means remove my post but do not call me a troll and don’t accuse me of troll hunting I am offended

Eglantine21 Tue 11-Sep-18 13:19:03

Hmm.....

What would you do about someone who, say, claimed to have medical knowledge and gave advice based on that, when that couldn’t possibly tie up with details they’d posted earlier?

Would you ask them to retract publicly on the thread, ask them to retract through a pm, pm the OP who had been given spurious advice, just let the OP maybe take the advice on board.

What would happen?

NatashaGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 11-Sep-18 12:48:19

Hi Eglantine21,

If you do have any doubts about a poster, please do email us about these concerns so we can look into this as soon as possible, rather than posting on the forums.

Obviously, as with any forum, we do get the occasional troll or troublemaker, but accusations on the forum can cause upset to a user who may be genuine.

smile

Jane10 Tue 11-Sep-18 12:39:40

I've just had a message from GNHQ about my having questioned an OP. My post querying whether or not it was a wind up was before the OP had replied. The apparent silence from the OP turns out to have been due to them having been in a very different time zone. Having read their responses and accepting the truth of them my intention was to have sat down and replied apologetically once I got home from my group. Alas too late it would seem! Oh well.

Greenfinch Tue 11-Sep-18 12:18:54

Thanks Natasha.I was under the impression that a troll was a nasty and vindictive person not just someone who invents a situation for whatever reason they may have.

Eglantine21 Tue 11-Sep-18 12:10:50

Natasha, can I just ask.....

I have been blessed (cursed?) with a very good memory for people’s life stories.

Sometimes somebody posts something and I think “No that doesn’t add up with something they’ve said before”. Mostly it’s not important. People maybe change things a little to avoid being recognised.

But sometimes it is. They are maybe giving advice or even being even more heavy handed (nasty), speaking with authority based on their experience and I think ‘No, no, no! That’s doesn’t fit with something you posted six months ago.” Can I point that out?

Sometimes I recognise a “style”. It’s harder to disguise than people think. And it’s someone who likes to “get people going”. Regardless of the hurt they cause. Is it wrong to flag up a warning?

And sometimes it’s the old favourites that Ive actually become quite fond of in a weird sort of way. You know, the onesie and plimsoll poster. The comments that follow that are usually very funny. I’d be sad to lose that bit of lightness.

Is all this troll hunting?

Rosina Tue 11-Sep-18 12:07:28

Thank you!

NatashaGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 11-Sep-18 11:21:46

Hi Rosina and Greenfinch,

Troll-hunting is when users question whether a poster is genuine on the forum, which is against our guidelines.

If users suspect that a poster is a troll they can email [email protected] so we can investigate, but we don't allow these accusations to be posted on the forums.

We usually don't delete whole threads because of troll-hunting, but in some cases we have to due to the volume of these comments.

Hope this clears things up! grin

Greenfinch Tue 11-Sep-18 10:43:14

I don't know what it means,either.

Rosina Tue 11-Sep-18 10:19:11

I have just had a notification pop up about a new message on a discussion thread, and then when clicking on the link, saw that the thread had been deleted by GN due to 'Troll Hunting'. I have not encountered this before. Does this mean that there have been unacceptable posts and GN Admin. are on the case to find the perpetrators - who, presumably, must be registered and logged on - or are the 'Trolls' hunting the OP? Please excuse my ignorance but as I don't delve into social media (only GN) I am not familiar with the terms and some of the horrors that seem to arise.
The press have had reports about trolls that have been caught, convicted and even imprisoned for the vilest behaviour - why do they behave so badly? Cloak and safety of perceived anonymity? Spite? Need to vindicate their own sad existence?