Slog - Comments on Readers in the Dark

Comment by Carollani

Carollani — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:50:52 -0800

I bet it's the Spokesman Review, heh.

Comment by Frank

Frank — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:58:55 -0800

If you could do this with Mr. Poe and about a dozen of your other regulars it would be a blessing.

Comment by vooodooo84

vooodooo84 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:59:39 -0800

holy shit you weren't kidding about the weekly, just checking the top blog on their page the most comments that appeared were 6 and that seemed like an outlier

Comment by vooodooo84

vooodooo84 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:01:03 -0800

issur maybe but not poe, he can be relevant

Comment by elenchos

elenchos — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:01:10 -0800

What's the big deal? Trolls are the worst form of scum on Earth. Trolls are worse than terrorists. Waterboarding is too good for a troll. Merey tricking a troll is practically a kindness. Anybody who has a problem with this clever defensive tactic is nothing but a dirty troll themselves and they should have it done to them.

Comment by Mookie

Mookie — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:02:35 -0800

But the trolls are half the fun of reading Slog!

Comment by GUESS WHO

GUESS WHO — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:04:21 -0800

Isn't the concept of a troll kind of stupid? Very OLD internet ...

Few real names on any blog, lots of jokes, satire, attempted wit - so who, what, where is the troll?

Contrary viewpoint? Multiple personality person?

Ecc homo, troll person I presume, breaks the same think all the same monotony here at Slog.

Amy, you seem to be the world's chief troll monitor, please elaborate. Just curious.

Comment by Carollani

Carollani — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:04:37 -0800

elenchos runs the paper that does it! check his/her email address.

Comment by vooodooo84

vooodooo84 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:09:49 -0800

@7 agreed, without BallardDan there wouldn't have been such a good discussion of what is fucked up about ID yesterday, trolls force the rest of us to remain critical about how we present our viewpoints, if the troll goes off the deep end later who cares just ignore them.

or when the Ron Bots appear and call every one who doesn't like ron a communist (as if that would be taken as an insult by the slogoshere) its good fun, except maybe the racism that sometimes pops up, maybe that could be cut off

Comment by Paulus

Paulus — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:22:39 -0800

If June Bee never again posts another incoherent rambling, it will be too soon.

Comment by Mac Gindrinker

Mac Gindrinker — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:29:37 -0800

June Bee reminds me of all the women in my life who were so off the wall - and one of the reasons I am gay.

And, I do not have to beg them for sex, what a relief

Comment by alan

alan — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:30:26 -0800

It's not limited to daily newspapers; it's a long-standing method for dealing with trolls in all kinds of online forums. Google "tachy goes to coventry" for details and history.

Comment by vooodooo84

vooodooo84 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:30:37 -0800

incoherence can't be the standard for trolls, there may be regular commentators who are annoying but that is life, as true in real life as on the inter-webs. Trolls are different artificial(usually) or misleading creations

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:37:56 -0800

I don't think the Stranger encounters the type of sociopathic comments we're talking about here, as often. If you read the SF Chronical's comments section, you'll find some really disagreeable stuff they took no objection too.

Pretty brilliant system really, and probably the most effective way of dealing with it since humans can't be trusted to not, pardon the cliche, "feed the trolls."

Comment by June Bee

June Bee — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:41:11 -0800

@ 10 1/2 weaks

I am coherent, but several pissed off nights over the past 20 years, when you're insomnia/depression gets the best of ya, and rehearsals on the possibilities of your suicide note (or performance - ala "how to draw a bunny"), one may be entitled to some flippantry. forget and forgive the forensics, at least ford madox ford said nothing of the kind. i'll bee more forthright from now on; you may regret the notion.

Comment by tsm

tsm — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:54:54 -0800

Hey, why don't any of you fuckers ever respond to my posts, anyway?

Wait a minute ...

Comment by Are you guys guild?

Are you guys guild? — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:54:57 -0800

Do you like writing on your off-hours for free? Most journalists would prefer to get paid for any sort of extra "slogging." How does that work at the Stranger? You went from writing for a once-a-week print edition to writing several times a day here (those hysterical, chortlefests you call "Overheard at the Office" don't count). More work for the same pay? Suck-AIRRRRRS!

Comment by Aexia

Aexia — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:59:35 -0800

Trolls feed off attention and if ignored they go away. Sandboxing only speeds the process - they think they're being ignored and eventually go away. The persistant ones will catch on and get around it of course but the more prevalent stupid ones will be taken care of.

As for the "Investigate the Media" blog, it's just more whiney Republicans with a persecution complex.

Comment by tsm

tsm — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:01:27 -0800

On another note: I've seen some blogs where, instead of banning persistent trolls, they simply automatically tag posts from known troll IPs with some kind of flag (e.g. a dunce cap.) That seems more fair, and could offer entertainment potential.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:13:20 -0800

@18 - you mean there are Republicans who aren't whiny?

I don't believe you.

Comment by chronicle reader

chronicle reader — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:37:59 -0800

as a chronicle reader and comment-participant i am pleased to hear about their tactic. Unlike those on the humble slog, comments on the chronicle often expose a deep-seeded hatred within the hearts of anonymous blog-participants.

Comment by kid icarus

kid icarus — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:46:52 -0800

I'm not sure the Slog gang has skillz enough to really enforce serious police action (no offense). But I really wish they would. Say what you will about BallardDan's ability to stimulate critical thinking, but I doubt rational debate will be lost at the expense of a single flushed douchebag. And the recent resurgence of ecce homo is fucking unbearable. AND IMAdrgQ is such a textbook piece of shit troll, if he can't get banned, nobody's getting banned.

Comment by montex

montex — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:17:25 -0800

In fact, The Stranger is not so innocent of tampering with opinions submitted by it's readers. I have participated in several Stranger polls that do not count my selection if it is "wrong". It got to be such a joke that I gave participating because I knew that their polls are pre-counted and fixed.

And what about all the SLOG comments that have no profanity, slander or even bad grammar, but are removed anyway? Don't believe me? Just try it yourself. Make a plain, boring and unflattering comment about plain, boring ECB and see how quickly your post is removed.

Comment by mattymatt

mattymatt — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:19:31 -0800

I've done a lot of interacting with commenters as an editor at SFist.com, and what I've found (as I'm sure Slog's staff have as well) is that there are some occasions on which there is simply no benefit to interacting with a crazy commenter. Better to just cut off communication than try to have a discussion.

Comment by June Bee

June Bee — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:27:29 -0800

@24 yeah, right, TRY to have a discussion. why not link to the 1000 other blogs out there discussing similar topics (war, oil crisis, CO2 on and on) in much more depth where 'critical thinking' isn't even a term to be mulled over, let only trolls. then again, this is mainly just the goofy Stranger. Boy, those gooeyducks are just about the most whack foodsight to behold! It won't be too soon to settle on that for the cover every week. And hey, they've got Wi-Fi in Columbia City, come on down shout out to all those who think they know best how to design a city.

Comment by Chris in Tampa

Chris in Tampa — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:40:41 -0800

Erica is so boring and plain. I hear she has those velcro straps on her shoes so she doesn't have to tie them. Also, one time Erica got hit by a parked car.

Comment by Holden

Holden — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:59:54 -0800

@25 - said other 1000? blogs usually have the author of the posts chime in with substantial rebuttals or some such Hegelian motivation.

Comment by John

John — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:00:10 -0800

I'm not sure that practice would actually fool most trolls. All you'd have to do to notice your posts weren't really being published would be to log out and clear your cookies or go to the site from a different computer.

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:04:54 -0800

I love you, Frank.

Comment by Kiru Banzai

Kiru Banzai — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:17:17 -0800

I want something where I can individually opt out of reading Mr. Poe's posts. An ignore function.

Comment by idaho

idaho — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:56:58 -0800

Can't one person tell by logging in at two different computers? Does it really take this many comments?

Comment by ecce homo

ecce homo — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:45:20 -0800

Just because you find someones else's opinions offensive or annoying doesn't mean they are a troll.

If it did, then Bellevue Ave would be banned and Mr. Poe would be castrated.

Why all this insistence that you should be able to go through life never having been offended?

Comment by gnossos

gnossos — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:12:03 -0800

ecce makes a point. But BA and Poe are hardly trolls. They're regulars. Same with ecce. Even Issur has his moments.

IMAdrgQ, however, is a troll. And lord knows we've had others and will again.

Comment by litlnemo

litlnemo — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 02:25:39 -0800

As someone said above, this is an old method of dealing with trolls. On the Seattle Citadel-type BBSes they were called twits, and setting their accounts so no one but themselves could see their posts was called "twitting".

Still is, on the one or two vintage 1990s BBSes that are still up, mine being one of them. (see bbs.slumberland.org)

Comment by Papayas

Papayas — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:22:29 -0800

I didn't know, but I'm glad to hear, that sexist pointless posts about ECB are removed. Thank you Slog.

Comment by Who? Wha'?

Who? Wha'? — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:14:29 -0800

If I post comments under different names on different days, it's not because I'm a troll. It's just that I'm really, really absent minded and can't remember what name I used the day before.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:22:45 -0800

I so totally cannot see Chris in Tampa's post about ECB!

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