Question About "Trolls"

What I've come across on here the last couple of weeks is first-time posters asking questions that you can just tell is some college kid's thesis or term paper subject. You know, I get that sometimes you want the input of others to gain perspective, but they need to put on their post "So I have to do this term paper and I need some help." Rather than post something as a legit question. It's irritating, to say the least.

When Mamapedia connected to FaceBook in order to broaden their potential viewer base and get national ads on their website, it opened up this site to people who saw MP on FB, and here came LOTS of trolls. We hardly ever used to have them.

Weekends are the big time for trolls, quite frankly. Some are kids. Some enjoy getting people riled up. Some are just for kicks. Some spin a story and get people VERY invested. When people realize they've been "had", it usually upsets them.

With the influx of trolls here, many old timers have gotten tired of being "had" and have started immediately looking to see if it's a new account - first question. Usually a first question from a straight-up person is not an earth-shattering, OMG serious thing that sets everyone on edge. When it IS the first question and there is NO history of answers to help tell that the person seems "on the up-and-up", people start to smell a troll.

I try to give the benefit of the doubt. Yesterday, one poster came on here about a school problem and then used some incredibly nasty language with many posters, myself included, when I actually took up for her. Holy cow. If that's not a troll, then no wonder she has a terrible relationship with the school she's writing about. These are the kinds of stories you just cannot trust. I'd rather give the benefit of the doubt in the BEGINNING, and then be proven wrong, I admit. At least then I don't feel bad for falsely accusing someone of being one...

I don't believe the father who can't stand to sleep without his daughter is a troll. I think that he is not very wise to have written here about this particular subject matter along with his picture on his profile and where he lives. What that tells me is that he really cannot see his situation for what it is, and I sure hope the light turns on for him soon so that he will get himself in a healthier place before it affects his job and other parts of his life.

I admit that I thought the meow post might be a troll, but I googled why cats stop meowing and boy, there are lots of threads about that. Who knew?!! I thought, well, maybe it's a legit question! At least it's not one of these gut-wrenching first posts that make you groan and think "Oh no, not again!"

Since MP has been more vigilant about getting rid of troll threads, things have been better. But us longtime posters here REMEMBER, and we don't want this kind of stuff to take over our site, again, like has happened in weekends past... That's why you see people with shorter fuses...

Hope this helps...

Kids got out of school last week and apparently not all of them were raised right! :p

I am always cautious of any first post that is out there but unless it is stupid or a mess of logic errors I won't call them out.

This is just my theory but I think this is akin to prank calling. The kids just think it is funny that we answer their off the wall questions seriously.

Cats can lose their meow, but the way that was worded it was kind of hard to believe.
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Gidget, not everyone can spot them and there are fair few people here that are embarrassed that they fell for a troll. I look at it as a public service announcement.

What I don't get is why people care so much. Maybe I just don't spend as much time on here as others, but if I see a weird questions I move on. I seems weird to me that anyone would care enough to challenge them.

If someone asks a question and I think my answer would be helpful, I give it. If not, I click on another question. It seems pretty simple to me.

I just don't get the drama.

ETA - Wild Woman, what is your obsession with "multiple accounts?" If people want to set up multiple accounts, why do you care? You seriously have to let it go!

And sometimes the true trolls are the ones that don't want to let others play in their sandbox.

The whole point of trolling is for a question to seem legitimate but be just controversial enough to get a rise out of responders. I get a little bit tired of everyone screaming troll when the majority of the "troll" questions on here are just stupid questions from someone who is apparently a novice at internet entertainment.

Are there fake questions...most certainly. I think if people want to answer a question, suspect or not, they should. If you think it is a troll, let it go people. No need to point out the obvious with the troll accusations and no need to even answer the question in the first place.

I'm grumpy today.

L., trolls tend to appear not only over the summer but on weekends, especially long weekends when kids are at home bored. Another troll sign is a post that goes on and on and is so dramatic it wouldn't even be accepted as a soap opera script. And sometimes a person posts stuff on here that flatly contradicts something that same person previously posted -- another sign of a troll. Definition: Here to stir up drama and get people to respond. I answered the anxious dad; I do think some of us were suspicious initially because it seemed a bit unlikely for him to be so very, very nervous about leaving a four-year-old (not a newborn, and not for very long, and not going all that far) so it seemed a bit dramatic, but he was for real, I feel sure.

L.:

A troll is someone who sets up an account just to start drama, gain false concern, etc. Like begging for help because they lost their job, their electricity is about to be shut off...etc.

It's that time of year again - kids are out of school - so "new" people come up and ask REALLY strange questions.

The one about the dad with anxiety? There were contradicting points in the post - he/she, etc. and the way it was worded was a tad bit of a red flag for some....

Yes. There are many fake accounts on here. People have multiple accounts....heck...I'm accused of having 10, I think that's the number now. Oh well. (ETA - not an obsession...just tired of being accused of having something I am not doing).

You can't control other people.

Doris Day gave you a great answer, and I 2nd Turnip in saying that I view the "calling them out" as a public service announcement.

Hi L.,

I don't know about anyone else, but sometimes a question is so preposterous and out-there that I think "No one in their right mind would...."... that makes me think "oh, ha! Troll, likely." Then, if it's a first-time poster, if the question contains overly-specific drama or details, I might dismiss it as a troll post. (Like last night's query from the mom about her daughter dating an older man, so they sold her car in retaliation and were going to bar her from going to college-- the first idea that crosses my mind is "Who does that?" to put it politely.)

And there are a lot of questions from trolls I just don't even answer. Some weekends are like that, where you look at the screen and wonder "how can the world be that whacked?" Yep, it can be if there are people on here looking to stir up stuff or pick fights. It got pretty bad a few months or so ago, with long threads from the OP dissing other posters and accusing people of nasty PMs, etc. etc. . Crazy stuff...

Ah! I missed the meow question.
I'm still not sure about the co-sleeping dad.
Just didn't smell right....

Suspect trolls are often new accounts and you will see old timers "welcome to Mamapedia!" as an alert.

Suspect trolls obviously have nothing better to do than waste their time (along with everyone else's). I don't "get it" at all.

We do have a troll expert "on staff" who will point out all trolls for you as a PSA! Lol

Trolls don't bother me as much as the people with multiple accounts acting like they're 5 different people! I guess them you always have a friend and someone who'll agree with you and listen? No clue.

A cat can lose its meow, by the way, that happened to one of mine.

Didn't even know what a "Troll" was, until I read this post. Thanks!

I'm glad someone mentioned the correlation between Facebook and the increase in trolls. I hadn't thought about that and now it seems totally obvious. I've been on these boards since way back when it first began (under another name that I'm too tired to recall right now). Guess I'll never be considered a troll - my life (and posts) are all too dang boring!

And I don't particularly care about multiple accounts, but I really don't see why people feel they need them.

Trolls don't bother me. I see it as a bored person. Too bad for them.