Is it wrong to "out" the trolls?

[poohandwendy]

This sort of thing certainly brings out the passion in people doesn't it?

It will never be something everyone agrees with.

 

[poohandwendy]

That's why I don't get . You can make up an illness and have everyone feel bad for you, and people will still defend you against the "meanie" who proved you made it up!

There seem to be a lot of attention *****s around lately. I'm sick of falling for these mouse loving, disney banning, heart attack stories

OMG, and now YOU owe me a new monitor...and I wish I would have closed my desk drawer...hot tea all through it....

 

[DisMN]

Sometimes I wonder about these so called "Trolls", what if they are lonely, depressed people who really just NEED attention ? what will it do to them to be "outed" by what may be their only form of human compassion ? just some food for thought.....

That's a good point. I know being chased away from the DIS by these people during the time my father was dying really left a void in my life......I sooooo needed comfort but had to deal with the stalking/harrassing stuff any time I posted, so...I just stayed away.



.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Wow, been gone from the CB for a couple of days. But I was able to piece it all together by something I read here & somewhere else. I never realized you could figure out so much just by googling someones name & spending a little time.

No, it's not wrong to out a troll.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

Tonight, I will be eating a big steak and drinking a huge glass of milk straight from the local Dairy Farm in FlowerChild's honor.

I thought a troll was out to stir up trouble.

FlowerChild just has these funny posts. I loved the one about writing "good luck" on a sympathy greeting card to a woman whose kid had died. I get a kick out of FlowerChild.

So, is he a troll? Or is he just making jokey-posts?

 

[AmyJ of Ca]

As I pointed out to the skunk... a grown man, claiming that he had no disability but acted in a childlike manner SCREAMS to be checked out a little closer. He obviously had alterior motives and thank goodness it was only to "educate" us on his perception of animal cruelty. Maybe next time you don't go with your instincts the person may have other motivations or may be talking with your kids online. Maybe I'm paranoid but, in my opinion, you can never be too carefull.
It does no harm to google someone's name. You are only looking at stuff that they have voluntarily put out there to be read. If you don't want anyone to know about it, don't write about it.

 

[dcentity2000]

In some ways it is a waste of time - reactions to stimuli are what trolls want, after all.

However, if you view outing them as a fun challenge, the trolls lose.



Rich::

 

[Crankyshank]

I think there are people that are happy when there are trolls so they can get on their soapbox and turn the all ready tiresome melodrama into being all about them .

 

[HayGan]

OMG, I never thought that coming to a Disney related board would make me do this so much

I have to say that the last few days/weeks certainly have been interesting. If I ever need a PI, I certainly know where I am going first. I swear y'all are better than the FBI! Maybe we should pitch a story to Hollywood called DSI (DiSboard Investigators) I nominate Tigger Magic for Grissom part

 

[nliedel]

If someone is hiding behind a screen name then let them do it. Just ignore their posts. Trolls live and breathe attention. Just starve them and they go away. I believe that someone's right to anonimity is precious. When does it stop being "outting the troll" and start being, "out the people you don't agree with?" What are the rules? Some people some label trolls aren't as DSMan put in better words than I.

There are people here that I do not agree with on many issues, but if they post they are having problems or need a hug I will give it. Pollyanna? Sure but who cares. Grudges are best left behind in dead threads.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

What are the rules?

My own personal rules are no real names, no addresses, no phone numbers, don't try to track people down at work and expose them to their bosses -- don't follow them to the parks and take pictures of them, don't park yourself outside their houses and spy, don't hire a Professional Investigator to search their bank records....

but in this case all somebody did was put their Internet Username into a couple of search engines to find out that this person was portarying a persona here on this board that was untrue --- and pointed it out as untrue.
I have no problem with that.

My honest opinion, I think some people here were awfully fond of FC and they are sad to discover that he is a fake. I also don't understand the anger at the people who brought that to light.

 

[DisMN]

I think there are people that are happy when there are trolls so they can get on their soapbox and turn the all ready tiresome melodrama into being all about them .

You just keep telling yourself this if it makes you feel better ok?



.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I miss all the good stuff. I saw his name and ignored the post. Off to google I go.
ETA: Eeeewwwwww!

 

[disneymom3]

Here is the issue I have with the concept of starving the troll--and I am not saying that anyone mentioned on this thread is or is not one specifically--there end up being other posters who I like and "know" on the board and others who are also totally innocent on the board that end up getting sucked into it all.

Remember awhile back when somebody posted that some woman and her kids had died in a horrible car wreck? Man, that one tore up so many people and then to find out it was all a LIE! Yeah, I want to know if someone is lying and I hope that others will let it be known to protect those of us who are blindly following along.

In many cases, it is not even an issue of a troll in the true sense of the word. Those are easy to spot. It is more along the lines of these people who either have more drama in their lives than you can shake a stick at OR are just making you truly wonder.

 

[JerseyJanice]

You know what has me scratchin' my head about this whole thing?

I don't see why this particular person needed to be "outted" (if that's what you call what happened here) because I don't see much harm in what he did.

He made some off-the-wall sounding posts to call attention to animal rights. So what? It's hardly like he's one of those PETA people who throws red paint at somebody wearing fur.

I know it's been insinuated that he had some "perverted" reasons behind his posts, but I never saw one thing he posted that could be taken as sexual innuendo. Moreover, I've seen that he PMed many people here, and no one complained about his PMs being suggestive. (And trust me, folks, if you've been posting here long enough, you do get those kind of PMs sometimes. )

IOW, "little bells" can go off in somebody's imaginative mind until the cows go home, but he never actually posted (or was reported to PM) anything unsavory. (Up to now--wouldn't surprise me in the least if someone surfaced some place with a disgusting PM he allegedly sent.)

Costumed characters have security with them at all times; I don't think this person has ever gotten funky with any of them--or endangered them in any way. He wouldn't be allowed near them if that were the case.

Some people were nice to him, I think, because they were concerned that he might have a genuine problem. Perhaps they felt that displaying kindness toward him on the board would sway others into doing the same, just in case he does have issues that the rest of us don't. I wouldn't call somebody "patronizing" for feeling that it's better to err on the side of compassion.

You know, I can see outting somebody whose posts are intended to harm someone's or some company's reputation. As an example, I think folks who post outrageous tales about how terribly Disney treated them should be chastised. In that case, what they're doing is libel (or slander--I can never remember which applies to the written), and I don't blame folks for being upset about that.

And in such a case, I could see looking at other Disney sites to see if he/she is spreading their tales around. But looking beyond Disney sites to see what else this person does on-line? Throughout the whole 'net? Does nobody besides myself think that that might be taking things too far?

Lastly, readers bear some responsibility for deciphering for themselves what it is obviously untrue, especially on the internet. I am really finding it hard to believe that anybody could be angry at this guy for duping them.

C'mon, people! Was anybody here actually duped? One way or another?

 

[Crankyshank]

You just keep telling yourself this if it makes you feel better ok?



.

Gosh! That's swell I have your permission for my own thoughts

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Sometimes I wonder about these so called "Trolls", what if they are lonely, depressed people who really just NEED attention ? what will it do to them to be "outed" by what may be their only form of human compassion ? just some food for thought.....

I was thinking the same thing, when reading a thread a couple days ago. If this person's problems weren't all "physical" as was suggested, is the type of treatment they were subjected to really what they needed at that time? Shouldn't we be more careful, when we're not sure of the condition of a posters mental health? I, for one, would hate to think I was responsible for finally pushing someone over the edge. Admittedly, that does seem to be a different situation from this though.

 

[Aidensmom]

Not referring to finding out info on any specific posters, but the idea of Googling a screenname to find out more info is not necessarily going to give you accurate info.

I have googled my own, only to discover there is at least one other person that has the same name as I have here. And it is probably more than one, because there are an awful lof of boards that have a user with that name. People have no way of knowing which of those are me or not. And I am sure people could come up with all kinds of theories if they assumed we were all the same person.

 

[HayGan]

You know what has me scratchin' my head about this whole thing?

I don't see why this particular person needed to be "outted" (if that's what you call what happened here) because I don't see much harm in what he did.

He made some off-the-wall sounding posts to call attention to animal rights. So what? It's hardly like he's one of those PETA people who throws red paint at somebody wearing fur.

I know it's been insinuated that he had some "perverted" reasons behind his posts, but I never saw one thing he posted that could be taken as sexual innuendo. Moreover, I've seen that he PMed many people here, and no one complained about his PMs being suggestive. (And trust me, folks, if you've been posting here long enough, you do get those kind of PMs sometimes. )

IOW, "little bells" can go off in somebody's imaginative mind until the cows go home, but he never actually posted (or was reported to PM) anything unsavory. (Up to now--wouldn't surprise me in the least if someone surfaced some place with a disgusting PM he allegedly sent.)

Costumed characters have security with them at all times; I don't think this person has ever gotten funky with any of them--or endangered them in any way. He wouldn't be allowed near them if that were the case.

Some people were nice to him, I think, because they were concerned that he might have a genuine problem. Perhaps they felt that displaying kindness toward him on the board would sway others into doing the same, just in case he does have issues that the rest of us don't. I wouldn't call somebody "patronizing" for feeling that it's better to err on the side of compassion.

You know, I can see outting somebody whose posts are intended to harm someone's or some company's reputation. As an example, I think folks who post outrageous tales about how terribly Disney treated them should be chastised. In that case, what they're doing is libel (or slander--I can never remember which applies to the written), and I don't blame folks for being upset about that.

And in such a case, I could see looking at other Disney sites to see if he/she is spreading their tales around. But looking beyond Disney sites to see what else this person does on-line? Throughout the whole 'net? Does nobody besides myself think that that might be taking things too far?

Lastly, readers bear some responsibility for deciphering for themselves what it is obviously untrue, especially on the internet. I am really finding it hard to believe that anybody could be angry at this guy for duping them.

C'mon, people! Was anybody here actually duped? One way or another?

While I agree with you in many ways, what bothered me most in this particular situation was the nature of this person's posts. This is a Disney related site and as we all know there are plenty of posters here that are young. While nothing that was posted publicly that was suggestive, I (along with many others) probably felt that this individual may have appealed to young people in some ways. That was troublesome at least to me. He was not the type of person that I would want children to be conversing with. I don't think that interests in Disney/characters are out of the norm (heck, we are ALL posting on a Disney related board). What is out of the norm is someone having such an obsession and boasting so much about it.

I also was disturbed that this individual may be "imitating" the behaviors of a person with a disability. As a mother of a child with a disability that affects his ability to relate and communicate with others, this absolutely infuriates me! I ignored many of his posts because I didn't want to make assumptions without any additional information. As more information came to light, true colors started to show through. I am absolutely sickened that someone would use these tactics to get across any message.

Did the actions of this person have any impact on my life - no. But in today's age of child predators and unscrupulous people trolling the internet, I think we all have the responsibility as a community to flush out those who may have less than good intentions.

 

[poohandwendy]

Haygan, I think you really got to the heart of matter of what bothered me about it too.