Troll hunting

Yes indeed oldbatty a very warped thread, to which I innocently contributed,but newbies are cast with the burden of proving themselves genuine due to suspicions of more established members.
Plus the fact that is one thread.
Does that warrant the typed aggression that some of us have received?
I don’t think so.
The Thread titled Infiltrators, to which you contributed, for me shows the mindset of the established members.

Good idea, N&G.

Is it wrong then - in light of this directive to simply ask the OP for clarification if you suspect they are not telling the whole story or in fact downright making it up?

I think its fair enough to simply say 'I'm sorry , but this isn't ringing true to me , can you explain further' . If its true then generally the OP will come back with clarification or as is more usual- they disappear without a trace .

Oh dear. This has gone right over my head! Sometime I think - really?- and move on. But I now think I must be missing something!

Ok dw googled it. Now I know

What's a troll????????? How do you hunt one???????? Serious questions

There is also an element of self-protection. If someone posts an emotional appeal for help describing tragic circumstances, some of us will, at times, reveal desperately sad events in our own lives. To discover that that revelation was a cheap laugh to troll, rather than a deep offering of empathy and compassion to someone troubled could be deeply troubling to the poster.

We all know that there is no copyright on what we say and that newspapers do pick items out and run with them, but to feel you have been set-up can be very distressing.

As for revelling in outing trolls!!! No , I don't like to see kind hearted people being used.The thread about malicious phone calls came from a very warped mind.

merlotgran

The fact there are so many at the moment means we are bound to be alert.

We're not here to be made fools of.

It would appear that you don’t need any help in that department merlotgran
Sticks and stones etc., and of course ONESIES.

I don't think inferring some regular posters are damaged or malicious is quite in the spirit of Gransnet, holding.

As for puffing and blustering. You sound a little unfit to be riding a high horse.

Above reply was meant for Anja
Getting busy on here now, puffing and blustering.

Indeed there are. The same can be said of some regular posters too!

ps these open forums aren't protected by copyright laws.

holdingon another reason we tend to be cautious is that in the past posts from provocative threads have been published in the tabloids. Being open for all to see. sometimes with the poster's own name.
Some of us changed our poster name after that.

The fact there are so many at the moment means we are bound to be alert.

We're not here to be made fools of.

These trolls feed on the responses they get. They are damaged or malicious people.

I agree on the whole but there also needs to be a way of alerting people to very nasty ones as HQ can take hours and I have in the past seen them grow long legs while waiting

There was one this morning I see now deleted which could have become very nasty very quickly

Showing verbal kindness, even to the wrong people, can never make a fool of anyone.

I just don't think we should post messages on threads taking it for granted the OP is a troll. Just report it to HQ and let them decide. It's what we pay them for

Gonegirl grown up or not there are some very kind posters on here who really get pulled into wanting to help and they shouldn’t be made fools of

You are wrong holdingon it’s nothing to do with liking a post or moving on it’s to do with idiots liking to rev up what they see as a bunch of old ladies into a reaction I have reported a number of threads recently and all except one were Trolls or jokers as I prefer to call them The one I was wrong about I apologised and the poster accepted my apology and said they realised what that what they had written sounded too good to be true

HQ can’t have it both ways if they want our help and as a regular reader and poster I m happy to help but don’t then call me a troll hunter

If I come across a thread that I feel is only there for taking the pxxx I will continue to report it

We are all (very) grown up

Being 'grown-up' is irrelevant.

Shall we smooth our feathers down ladies?

Here here!

We are all (very) grown up. We are not young teenagers who need protecting from the big bad world out there.