Regarding Trolls

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Atreyu

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Every now and then we get a first-post from someone that seems a little… fishy. Maybe they’re a troll! Or maybe they are not. In this thread I would like to exhort us Catholics as to how we should properly treat such people. To do this, I will look at two examples of how we could treat this person, and a probable reaction from the possible troll:
Option number 1: We accuse the person of being a troll, and ask them kindly (or perhaps not so kindly) to stop wasting our time.
OK so the first time we do this, the person actually is a troll. Fantastic, we’re sure told him, didn’t we?! I mean, we managed not to get sucked in to his stupid little world; awesome. Hopefully he’ll buzz off (or fire up and get banned) and we won’t have to deal with him again.

But the second time we do this, it turns out that it actually isn’t a troll. Oops… This time we managed to scare off someone who may have turned out to have a genuine interest in the faith. Well, ultimately the outcome of his judgment day will be up to him alone and not us, so it’s not too bad. But we really missed the boat on that one…

Option number 2: We treat the person kindly and with love, and take all of his statements at face value.
The first time we do this it turns out that the person really was a troll, and he gets some kicks out of taunting those “silly Churchies”. Well, that’s too bad. But maybe, just maybe - and it could be 50 years from now - this person is sitting at his retirement home thinking that those old Churchies were actually quite nice people, even though I was a bit of a b@s#$%@ to them. Maybe there’s a reason they’re so happy…?

The second time we do this it turns out that it really wasn’t a troll, and we’ve been a good witness to them: all is dandy!

What I’m trying to demonstrate here is that it really doesn’t matter whether or not a person is a troll. What matters is how we treat other people, and in both cases, it is better to treat that person with love and respect. It is better for them, and it is certainly better for us.

I can’t stand it when I see someone accusing another of being a troll.
 
If we use option # 2 and then find out that in fact, the individual is a troll, then it would be most beneficial to stay silent until the troll leaves due to lack of attention, or gets himself/herself banned.

I wish I could practice what I preach! :o
 
Mickey said:
If we use option # 2 and then find out that in fact, the individual is a troll, then it would be most beneficial to stay silent until the troll leaves due to lack of attention, or gets himself/herself banned.
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Good idea.
I wish I could practice what I preach! :o
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Oh yes, I should definitely have included that in my OP!
 
I always try to give new people the benefit of the doubt, even if they are belligerent/hostile. I figure they must have a lot of issues and misunderstandings to be so worked up before anyone has even responded to them. Sometimes we can “disarm” them enough to find out what is really bothering them and sometimes we can’t. But, no matter why anyone comes here our first duty is to treat him/her with respect and be polite. And I too have failed to do so, from time to time, God forgive me!
 
Atreyu said:
Every now and then we get a first-post from someone that seems a little… fishy. Maybe they’re a troll! Or maybe they are not. In this thread I would like to exhort us Catholics as to how we should properly treat such people. To do this, I will look at two examples of how we could treat this person, and a probable reaction from the possible troll:Option number 1: We accuse the person of being a troll, and ask them kindly (or perhaps not so kindly) to stop wasting our time. OK so the first time we do this, the person actually is a troll. Fantastic, we’re sure told him, didn’t we?! I mean, we managed not to get sucked in to his stupid little world; awesome. Hopefully he’ll buzz off (or fire up and get banned) and we won’t have to deal with him again.

But the second time we do this, it turns out that it actually isn’t a troll. Oops… This time we managed to scare off someone who may have turned out to have a genuine interest in the faith. Well, ultimately the outcome of his judgment day will be up to him alone and not us, so it’s not too bad. But we really missed the boat on that one…Option number 2: We treat the person kindly and with love, and take all of his statements at face value.The first time we do this it turns out that the person really was a troll, and he gets some kicks out of taunting those “silly Churchies”. Well, that’s too bad. But maybe, just maybe - and it could be 50 years from now - this person is sitting at his retirement home thinking that those old Churchies were actually quite nice people, even though I was a bit of a b@s#$%@ to them. Maybe there’s a reason they’re so happy…?

The second time we do this it turns out that it really wasn’t a troll, and we’ve been a good witness to them: all is dandy!

What I’m trying to demonstrate here is that it really doesn’t matter whether or not a person is a troll. What matters is how we treat other people, and in both cases, it is better to treat that person with love and respect. It is better for them, and it is certainly better for us.

I can’t stand it when I see someone accusing another of being a troll.
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[sign]AMEN[/sign]
 
I think sometimes we think about the truth to the point of forgetting the person we have disagreement with. :twocents:
 
[SIGN]PLEASE DON’T FEED THE TROLLS![/SIGN]

Sometimes it is indeed incredibly easy to presume that someone is a troll, especially when they come out with statements that sound provocative.

In charity we all should remember that we can see neither their faces nor their hearts. You may be dealing with a 10-year-old child, someone who doesn’t have English as their first language, or someone who has been taught incredibly badly and with the right response may be prompted to rethink.
 
I’d say, don’t post about something that doesn’t interest you and you’ll be okay. If someone seems ‘fishy’ probably better to ignore him or wait until he proves himself as a poster.

I noticed that very new posters are usually the ones to ask some off the wall sexual question, or bring up a titilating subject about sex. Then all these people will answer for 100+ posts and the original poster never comes back.
 
I don’t think we’re allowed to call members trolls but I can’t find the sticky. I recall it said to alert the mods. The report post icon is rather handy though I’ve only used it once.

I get that sense about trolls a lot; usually on target, too. I remain polite and I avoid investng too much energy. It wastes my time and it feeds the trolls.

I imagine people thought I was a troll when I first started posting. I was reluctant to register but then had some burning (and controversial) questions and wanted objective but Catholic responses. So there was no hello just, “what about this”.
 
I agree with the OP, I can just imagine how hard it must be for some people to even TRY questioning on a Catholic forum (perhaps mom and dad are very anti-Catholic, and would be mad if they found out.)

I’m glad that someone thought to say something in the defense of “trolls”…I just wish it would have been me 😛
 
Cheers Pio. What did people think of the last point in my post, that it is better for us that we treat such people this way? That was one of the bigger points that I was trying to convey.
 
Atreyu said:
Cheers Pio. What did people think of the last point in my post, that it is better for us that we treat such people this way? That was one of the bigger points that I was trying to convey.
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Mod Persective:
(What; you guys think I sit here and wait for BPRs to come in? :cool:)

While calling someone a troll is indeed a violation of the ad hominem portion of the Forum Rules and will usually get a warning from me, what you say in a PM or BPR (Bad Post Report) is not public and so not actionable unless you are dumb enough to PM the person and call him one. Atreyu makes a very good point, and I agree, but there is an aspect to this that has not been mentioned. One reason that we have the BPR system is to provide a quick, efficient, and self-documenting way for you to let us know if something weird is going on that we need to be aware of. Your BPRs automatically create a thread in a special Mod forum that allows all the mods to see at a glance where problems are and respond as needed. The results are also documented in that thread and then archived in case it’s needed later on. The new software has some pretty neat bells and whistles that allow us to do our job a bit faster and we are still getting used to that.

Anyway…when you get someone posting stuff that is in violation of the Forum Rules or Banned Topics Policy it’s best to let us Mods know ASAP so we can deal with it expeditiously. Sometimes there are things going on that are not known to you guys, like a banned member somehow circumventing the ban. It happened just recently, and everyone was answering just beautifully and then I got this PM from one of you saying that the style was a lot like someone that we all knew and loved who had been banned and they thought it might be the same person. I did a quick check with my Moderator Ninja Decoder Ring and bless my soul if the brother who PMd me wasn’t spot on! Needless to say…I fixed that problem…and then sent him a “Thank You” note via PM. But you guys, (by and large) are great! Even to the nastiest folks you guys try to hold yourselves to a higher standard and I want to tell you that I am very proud of the folks who post here in Apologetics (and most of the others too, though I really don’t have time to wander around very much). You are far and away some of the most courteous and charitable, (not to mention knowledgeable), posters that I have seen anywhere on the net and (in general) are exemplary posters that some of the anti-Catholic forums (who shall remain nameless. :whistle:) that we all sometimes post on…could take a lesson from. Please don’t ever let that change, my friends!

Can we be more charitable? Sure!
Do we sometimes get nasty strangers? Yes indeed.
How should we respond to every question? 1st Peter 3:12-17.
12: For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those that do evil."
13: Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is right?
14: But even if you do suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
15: but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence;
16: and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
17: For it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than for doing wrong.

God bless you all.
Michael Francis
 
Do unto others as others have done unto you? No, that’s not the way that it went…

Love your neighbour as your neighbour loves you? No, that is off somehow, too…

Oh, yeah:

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.
(Hebrews 13:2)

I have learned at least as much from responding to trolls as I have from responding to ordinary, decent folks, mostly because I still have to look up everything that I present. Besides which, I would hate to ever fall into a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ situation myself.
 
Michael_Francis said:
Mod Persective:
(What; you guys think I sit here and wait for BPRs to come in? :cool:)

But you guys, (by and large) are great! Even to the nastiest folks you guys try to hold yourselves to a higher standard and I want to tell you that I am very proud of the folks who post here in Apologetics (and most of the others too, though I really don’t have time to wander around very much). You are far and away some of the most courteous and charitable, (not to mention knowledgeable), posters that I have seen anywhere on the net and (in general) are exemplary posters that some of the anti-Catholic forums (who shall remain nameless. :whistle:) that we all sometimes post on…could take a lesson from. Please don’t ever let that change…

God bless you all.
Michael Francis
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I hope that you will follow this up by authorizing appropriate raises in the next pay checks for the guy posters…

As for the gals here… I have found that they respond really well just being told that they are beautiful.😃

.
 
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