Excellent post, Matt. You're right on the money.
I am *the* troll that has caused the greatest uproar in here in recent months. This will be my last
post as a troll since I will resume my *real* identity which has been active the whole time all of
this has been going on. Before I kill the trolling, let me get some things off my chest.
I have used various names and news feed services. You know me as ecce (and various versions of it -
but not all of them), Dr. Roger, Fr. Sarducci, Hoo Flung Poo, J. Connelly, Mr. Ree Meat, and lots of
other names. I have used various news feeds like giganews, yahoo, google, newsfeeds, usenet,
supernews, etc. I have used several usenet programs, most notably Free Agent (the best). I am not
the source of *all* trolling, but a significant part. I've also been trolling over in rec.running. I
am *not* TheBillRodgers, *not* stef, *not* Sanchez, *not* Roger, or even Surf McBrowse.
Even us trolls cross the line. I was the one who made the Giganews Administrator post. Yes, the note
in response was real. Giganews Greg suspended me for that one. Notice you haven't seen me use that
account, again? That's okay, Giganews was not a very good newsgroup provider.
It's amazing to me that a simple header falsification is more of a 'capital' offense in here than
some of the other [censored]. More than half the headers in here are false. Furthermore, I think the way
Giganews handled it was poor. No warning - guilty until proven innocent. Even most police give you a
warning, first. James Goddard, you made your point - but I still think you're a wuss. You can't just
run away from people you don't like. The truth hurts sometimes, doesn't it? You can't always run to
mommy and tattle-tale that a bully is picking on you.
People might be interested to know that most trolls, myself included, are quite normal people that
you'd never expect to troll.
An earlier comment was made in the thread about ego. Someone suggested that I wasn't a triathlete.
Quite the contrary, I'm quite a competitive triathlete. In fact, based on quick read of race reports
and names - I'm faster than most. That's not important, though. Just be careful when labeling other
people without knowing to whom you are writing to. In all honesty, the ego thread was an honest
attempt to solicit feedback on the issue. The biggest ego problems seem to come from the athletes
who have the most self-doubt about their own abilities (Goddard?).
Why troll?
Why not? Some are for laughs. Some are to make a point. Some are to blow off steam. Others do it
because they have nothing else better to
do. In my case, I probably do it for a little bit of all those reasons. It does take a lot of time
- time better spent elsewhere, which is why I'm going to stop.
Know this - most flame wars start out pretty innocently. Things tend to get out of hand when someone
makes a statement and doesn't back down, no matter how ludicris. This goes both ways. The cloak of
anonymity empowers trolls to be bolder than they might be in a face-to-face encounter. It also
empowers some folks to more "holier than thou" than they might otherwise be.
My advice - listen to Matt. Respond to a troll if you want to fight or make a point. Otherwise, skip
over the [censored] and move on. If you don't give a troll something to work with, they can't come back at
you. Also, even a troll respects an intelligent post. An indignant, self-righteous "I'm going to
report you" post is guaranteed to set off fireworks.
Final piece of advice - live and let live. Try not to irritate people and don't be thin-skinned and
easily irritable.
*The* Troll (yes, my e-mail above works)
MJuric wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:I believe that Trolls will always exist on these groups. It seems that how to deal with them
is an endless wave of debate and solution. Unfortunately I've yet to see any of the blanket
statements work for all situations and in most cases not at all. Seems to me trolls are no
more and or no less complex than any other people/posters. Each troll must be dealt with as
individual non trolls are dealt with. To say "Don't respond to the trolls" is the same as
saying "ground every child for every punishment". Some children don't respond to being
grounded others do. Not responding to troll might be as bad, even worse than feeding the
troll. Simply by not given the little fury fellows the proper attention they desire could be
the simple spark that inflames them to a greater and greater degree of annoyance. OTOH
ignoring some may be the route to go. IMO they add the same flavor to newsgroups as those
other annoying people you don't particularly like but learn to live with in real life. We
all have them, the obnoxiuos guy that can't complete a sentence without figuring a way of
fitting F--- into it. Or the pleasantly plump girl with less than average looks, that REALLY
believes she could replace Denise Richards on the cover of Maxim Magazine. None the less if
you bother to stick around long enough both of the above people will eventually bring
something to the table that might just amaze and delight you. My suggestion is relax and
enjoy the ride it may take you somewhere more intriging than the place your trying to head
towards now.
~Matt
