I hope that......

It was deleted I think

Golly oh gosh jane that certainly was food for thought , it is a big old world in cyberspace , and IMO has to be trodden carefully.

I am inclined to agree with jo8 16.33.

greatnan , I believe you are being a bit paranoic here , on-one as far as I can see is conspiring against you , it is all in your mind . Who by the by told you "TO look to yourself" , I did not see that .

I didn't say you were paranoid, Greatnan, not did I mean to imply it. I was talking about myself in the main, although you're right, other people do notice these things and can be very supportive.

Pedantically, I should have said 'If I were....' but I am not going to comment on grammar, even my own .

If I was paranoid, so were my many friends who commented on it!

I have been targeted myself, in the past. Or at least felt as though I was being. It's easy to get paranoid about things like that on a forum.

I have been targeted, but I don't think they were trolls - just bullies who tried to force me off the forum by conspiring together to make negative comments about every post I made, however innocuous. I was told by one of them that I should 'look to myself' which is a novel approach to bullying - blame the victim! I'm still here!
And of course I have recently been subject to idiotic accusations - but, again, not by a troll.

when same here. I think it was the same troll.

What makes you think there are none here, J08. Do you really believe that every single poster on these threads is exactly what they pretend to be? Surely you are not that naive? There have been several instances of obvious trolling, and several more where there was/is a strong whiff of the troll about the post. They don't always reveal themselves at once, they post just like you or me, but eventually they can't resist showing just what they can do.

So have I - just over a year ago, which resulted in me changing my username.

SorryJ08 you're out of line here. I've been targeted and upset by a troll in the past!

I'm not talking about the sites young people use.

Yes. On the likes of Twitter. And the newspaper article comments sections. Not on here.

There's a growing recognition of the harm caused by trolls, some of which is creeping and insidious. There's also a growing determination to refuse to put up with trolling, which contributes nothing to social networking.

Whoever wrote that article has got to have a twisted mind. It's horrible.

I'd say posters get the benefit of the doubt on Gransnet for quite a while before they become impossible to ignore.

J08 As you know and understand perfectly well, views are one thing, personal insults are another. So is deliberately causing posters to attack one another, or setting out to sow trouble. All these things have been done before now on Gransnet. It is not immune to trolling.

I would suggest an alternative title for that article: "How to become adept in online unkindness and not giving anyone the benefit of the doubt"

A very good article jane

Just read that link. I do NOT believe there is anyone on Gransnet who falls into those sort of categories.

Although people can be made out to be that bad. Which is ridiculous.

Trouble with this place is, if someone doesn't go along with the views of the majority, they are said to be "stirring".

It has to be one big love-in or nothing.

Excellent examples of trolls who regularly appear on social networking sites like Gransnet, and are encouraged to stir things up. Thanks, jane

Fascinating!

Very interesting Jane - thank you.

netforbeginners.about.com/od/weirdwebculture/f/what-is-an-internet-troll.htm
This might ring some bells Ana