Why do people take the bait?

  • Thread starter Thread starter redbetta
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
R

redbetta

Guest
Okay, so I have been wondering this for a really long time. Why do people keep answering posters whose writing style is clearly trollish? There is one long thread going on right now in which the OP is not even typing in actual paragraphs, but in verses like a song and repeats the same thing over and over in response to other’s points.

And then there are the folks who type really bad English as in, “I need no church cuz I luv Jaysus. He dieded for mai sens and an I be forgiven and need no confaysion. Imma keep my wife and my mistress and thats okay because I be a forgiven cuz I luv Jeesus.” (I think I might just hurt myself typing like this).

I know people will say that some posters might not be native English speakers. Most of my family are not native English speakers and, what I have noticed is that, if they make a mistake, they make the same mistake consistently instead of butchering the same word or grammatical point several different ways in the same paragraph. For example, my mom aways texts me “I will be dare soon” because she cannot pronounce the “th” sound. Same mistake, all the time. So, when I see a post that makes the same mistakes in different ways in addition to mixing in a lot of cutsie text slang and not even using actual paragraphs, I am inclined to think it is a troll and leave it. But, I see that these threads get really wrong and I am wondering, what are people actually seeing?

Now, I do make exception when is comes to people who overuse ellipsis because there was an old poster back in the old forum who used them every few words. He said he was dyslexic, so I figured that is why, although, I did try researching if there were typing patterens typical of dyslexics and people with other conditions, to no avail. If there is someone out there who knows, do tell, for I am interested.
 
Many don’t.

I flag posts frequently, especially if they come riddled with links.

Sometimes the poster is a troll but they are proposing an interesting point.
 
Last edited:
I’d flag a post, but, frequently it is not just one post, but, just the manner in which someone posts that comes across as something amiss. I don’t know how you report that.
 
redbetta said:
I’d flag a post, but, frequently it is not just one post, but, just the manner in which someone posts that comes across as something amiss. I don’t know how you report that.
Click to expand...
Old CAF was better about subjects which would not be tolerated, so it was easier to flag.

If someone starts off confusing and I don’t want to ignore, then I will call a poster out on what doesn’t makes sense.

Sometimes, people do come in such an emotional state they don’t make any sense and need to be coached. Unfortunately, they usually reveal more and more horrors and a clear unwillingess to do anything about it.
 
Your last sentence just describe half of what the old Family Life forum was.

Trolling has really exploded since we shifted format.
 
If somebody joined less than a day ago, and their first post is inflammatory or sexual, I won’t answer.
 
People who take the bait are either newbs or they’re just seeing red, and there’s no critical thinking involved. No biggie, just shrug, move along. 🙂
 
Last edited:
Actually, I’ve seen a lot of our more level-headed posters respond repeatedly to these guys. I guess they are just too nice?
 
If I take the time to respond, and I have doubts if someone’s legit, but they might need help, I believe the Christian thing to do is to always assume the best. But, I have little tolerance for repetition, unless, I myself have personal issues about the subject and I’m thinking passionately about it, so maybe that’s what’s going on there.
 
Last edited:
Probably they want to help, thinking “what if this is the real deal and I didn’t reach out?”
I get that, and even respect it.
But I’ve seen too much online ugly.
 
Why do people take the bait?

Like Mama said, “It takes a fool to argue with a fool.”

(And sometimes I’m that fool.)
 
Last edited:
I know trolls when I see them. However, I really enjoy belittling their efforts and making jabs at them. So, for me I find it amusing. There are some topics that are so absurd though! I just skip them entirely. They’re neither entertaining or really enjoyable to undermine.
 
I think some people argue for sport. Even if they suspect they are arguing with a troll, they get some satisfaction in knowing their argument wins, (even though the troll won’t concede defeat.)

I’m already forgetting what the forums used be be like. Weren’t posters’ join dates easier to see than they are now?
 
No, you can just click on the poster’s name and see when they have joined. What you can’t see anymore is when was the last time they viewed the forums while signed in and what they were looking at or whether they were PMing.
 
I know you can click on their names and see the join date. But wasn’t the join date right under the avatars on the old forum? I don’t remember having to go hunt for it.
 
Yeah, it was right there. I missed being able to see the person’s religion right next to there name. Oh well, people weren’t honest there anyway.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top