Troll Thread Closed

Hello.

Lately I have been following the phenomena, where on some interesting threads some people (I call them trolls) appear to scream name calling, behave badly, going off topic and so forth. Somehow this behaviour smells like a orchestrated effort to bring these threads to halt.

You see, everytime these trolls manage to stir these threads, the mods soon arrive and close thread down, at least temporarily. Then these threads lose interest of ATS users and fall into oblivion. So the interesting topic has gone and these trolls have achieved victory, because this is exactly what they want.

So is there possibility that instead closing down the threads, the moderators would temporarily ban these trolls who cannot stay on topic or are otherwise harassing the original poster and the topic? What is the point of closing a thread anyway? The discussion should be carried on, instead the trolls should be punished - not the thread.

Because of this, it almost seems like there is some kind of ATS internal conspiracy on this. Just my thoughts.

-v

PS. I haven't had my threads closed lately This is not a rant.

Well...admittedly I have trolled a couple threads unintentionally.
Some threads are soo poorly designed though that its soo exceptionally difficult not to poke some fun at it.

I remember this one thread, the ops said his country did something and he was proud.
we asked what and he started getting angry, demanding we find it..
it all went downhill from there...after 4 pages of him simply not giving up what it was...(something to do with law enforcement), and endless jabbing for him to research more...with his response basically calling us horrible for not believing him (that his country did something great and he was proud)...it became closed.

Posts like that I simply cannot stop but troll it a little bit, once it is pretty much a given the topic itself means nothing.

no conspiracy on my end beyond...some people should really take a bit more time before writing out their thread.

other times I seen threads shut down is when the profoundly wacky unsubstantiated claims threads come up:
"Reptilian nazi nwo MIB annunaki's are taking people into fema camps and eating their souls in the name of satan" then the body ends up being them just telling people to get water and hide in their basements now...

ya..things like that deserve the flame they get. in my opinion...no regrets about causing such threads to close...with the only hope is that we get some good laughs in before its closed.

its like...webbot vomited up every conspiracy tagword into a single nonsense thread to see how people would react.

reply to post by v01i0


Your proposal makes so much sense that I'm sure it won't be done. But it's a great idea nevertheless.

reply to post by SaturnFX


I understand what you are saying, been guilty of that myself as well.

Lately however, I have been thinking that maybe it is just better to leave those kind of threads (out there, poorly designed ones) unanswered and allow these people to believe or rant what they will.

But closing the threads? Why? If the OP does not contain violation of T&C, it is bit unfair to close down the thread, no matter what it is about. This is after all Above Top Secret, so obviously there are threads that appear to be "out there" to many people.

So closing the thread is wrong, if not even ideological conspiracy (funny how this thread just got moved, because according to a moderator, there is no conspiracy).

I do recognize that many threads are so juvenile and stupid, that there's not even point posting them, but still these threads deserve to remain open. Maybe posters could show their maturity by not posting in them, or point to their irrationality by polite way and pointing out the facts.

-v

Considering what this world is really about and the esoteric black magic folk running it, what one person calls ridiculous another realizes is truth.

Well trolls are so easy to deal with...just stop feeding them....It is like two children arguing...I mean who is the adult here...As for them being closed...it is sad as sometimes they are very interesting posts...also if someone makes a bad posting SO WHAT...if it is that bad it will just die a fast horrendous death..also if all the trolls are busy bashing each other in a bad thread then the other threads are left alone.
Maybe Ats just needs to put up a fight pit where no holds bar figthing is permitted and when people start bashing in a main thread of interests move them to the bar fight pit and maybe the point will soon come across..then the thread is still standing but it is no longer in the face of people who want to have open discussion.
Also this is a conspiracy site so i could not ever imagine how there would not be arguing as most thing presented are opinion without "PROOF" which in it's own rite is an open door policy for heated debate.
We all know what our parents have said...Do not discuss RELIGION or POLITICS at a dinner table if you don't want to have a food fight.
Okey that food fight bit was my added bit....but it was fun.

reply to post by Unity_99


I understand what you are saying. We have been brainwashed and conditioned, but not by "black elite", but by ourselves.

-v

reply to post by plube


I've thought also about something akin to "fight pit", where people could slander each other freely. Would be a great idea.

-v

reply to post by v01i0


You know, sometimes I think that instead of closing a thread down because it gets out of hand I think that before that there is a duty to have the threads moved to skunkworks,BTS or HOAX forums which to be fair most of the time would be where they belong in the first place. It would certainly stop a portion of the sillyness. Sometimes I think they are left because amazingly they gather flags and some of the stuff that has made the home page recently has been embarrasing.

Maybe just maybe if there are no plans to move the thread a little expaination as to why wouldn't hurt, when the OP has been proved unfounded and there are repeated calls for it to be moved, instead of mods coming in and dishing out warnings when it's the OP that should get that treatment.

reply to post by pazcat


While I strongly support moderation, I object the closing of threads. I agree with you, that whenever thread is found to be lies, propaganda or something alike, it should be moved on hoaxes. In fact, being moved on hoax forums doesn't do harm for the thread - people believing on that hoaxed topic, can still carry on with their beliefs.

But should we move all religous topics on hoax forums? We cannot prove or falsify the existence of god in the sense of objectivity in such extent that it would become a fact. Since no one can prove conclusively the alleged 9/11 conspiracy - be it mininukes, hologram planes, inside job or whatever - should all of them moved on hoax forums?

I think that there is nothing wrong in questioning the possibilities, but coming and claiming something rather dubious as a truth should perhaps be hoaxed.

I don't know, the line here is very shady it seems.

-v

reply to post by v01i0


I have been called a troll numerous times.I have
a warped sense of humor and some threads bring
it out,as do some members.

reply to post by mamabeth


Me too. Even so when I very seldom "troll" anybody's thread. I have been called troll just because I've expressed my skeptical attitude towards some far-fetched ideas...

But as far as I am aware of, trolling is intentional heckling of thread, like off-topic posting, name-calling and such.

-v

When a member posts, they must accept the fact that other members will respond with their opinions.
The thread is a place for discussion; it would be a very boring place if everyone agreed all the time.
If a poster annoys you, there is a remedy.

There is an ignore button. Use it.

Edit to add: I did not realize the ignore feature was removed. I never use it, but now that I know it's gone, I'd like it back please. You never know.

reply to post by Smack


RIP,ignore feature has passed away...
I really do miss it

reply to post by Smack


I never used ignore button. I think that maybe even the worst of trolls, or tinfoilhats, can sometimes have something important to say. Besides, I think ignoring is kinda lame.. Like denying with ignorance. No offense, just my opinion.

-v

Originally posted by v01i0

You see, everytime these trolls manage to stir these threads, the mods soon arrive and close thread down, at least temporarily. Then these threads lose interest of ATS users and fall into oblivion. So the interesting topic has gone and these trolls have achieved victory, because this is exactly what they want.
.

So true, Ive noticed that alot.

Lately however, I have been thinking that maybe it is just better to leave those kind of threads (out there, poorly designed ones) unanswered and allow these people to believe or rant what they will

Exactly!!!!!!! Dont even keep the thread active if you dont like it.... dont keep bumping it with your replies....just let it go. Let the people who do want to discuss it politely do so if thats their choice.

Originally posted by v01i0
You see, everytime these trolls manage to stir these threads, the mods soon arrive and close thread down

This has happened to an occasional thread of mine and I have seen it happen on countless others. In my opinion, it really is a spineless move on behalf of the mods. Rather that eliminate the bad "players" (trolls), they choose to cancel the "game" (thread). When this happens, I can't help but feel like it's done to make sure ATS keeps higher traffic. Traffic that is highly driven by...you guessed it...trolls.

Yea, I was asking for an explanation in one thread, and some evidence, and all i got was "your hopeless" "you're stupid" (dumbing this down) Multiple times. That thread was closed real fast, the thread got derailed.

If only people followed T&C...

EDIT:

I think the thread itsself was a troll thread, who knows?

reply to post by Aggie Man


Yea, that is kinda stupid move on behalf of ATS. You put it out very well when you compared it to the game. Instead of cancelling the whole game, bad players should be thrown out.

How about implementing somekind of "red card" system on ATS? Like that if you get warning from mod and still troll about, you'd get a red card and cannot give replies on specific threads in couple days? I mean you wouldn't exactly be banned from ATS, but banned from that particular thread.

But if it is indeed traffic-related issue, I figure this doesn't happen.

-v

Originally posted by polarwarrior

Exactly!!!!!!! Dont even keep the thread active if you dont like it.... dont keep bumping it with your replies....just let it go. Let the people who do want to discuss it politely do so if thats their choice.

Yes. But sometimes I feel like I should at least try to give correct information even on subjects I don't like. Then again, often this information falls to deaf ears.

-v