Recognizing trolls & spammers

[Joel_BC]

I recently got this bit of advice from one of the admins here at SS:

It is really important that when you see spam that you ONLY report it. Quoting it and then discussing it just creates more reports and more clean up.

I don't resent or reject the advice. The intent of the advice is good and sounds practical.

What I find difficult is sometimes knowing exactly who is a troll or spammer, when they first start posting. So maybe this is "venting" I'm doing here, or maybe it's welcoming your opinions.

Okay, somebody new posts. Possibly their post sounds a little odd, possibly they have not posted an introduction saying hello and letting us know what their interest or involvement with the SS lifestyle is. Maybe the new "stranger" sounds like he or she could just be naive and inexperienced. Yeah, their post may sound like it's coming from someone who doesn't know much about self-sufficiency - but we welcome this, because we're here to help (as well as to visit with one another, as experienced people living the SS lifestyle).

Maybe the poster's sentence structure and wording is odd. I ask myself, is it someone for whom English is a second language? I'm pretty sure my posts would include some odd wording & sentence structure if I tried writing them in French or Spanish. Is this person making a brave stab at posting in English? or is s/he an actual troll or spammer? That's difficult for me to say, sometimes - so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Usually by time they've made half a dozen posts, we probably have a pretty good idea... though not infallible.

So how do we relate to the situation without becoming unfriendly and unwelcoming to new people?

 

[moolie]

For myself, if I see something odd (or obviously selling something) I simply report it. I've been online on various forums for years and have a fair sense for what is "normal" forum posting vs. spam. I'm sure I get it wrong sometimes, but I figure the moderators can take it from there and either reach out to the person or delete the sales pitch. There has been a lot of it lately, no idea why.

 

[~gd]

I have never introduced my self over coming up on 3 years and 1520 posts,Never done a journal either. I looked at that l o n g list of questions and decided I had better uses for my time.
And Joel remember language is living to the point that sometimes English words have different meanings. The British Empire spread it far and wide. here in the USA words are different North vs South.East vs West. Throw in Canada, the UK, South Africa, India, Australia and NZ and you have a problem. Just for an example what do you think if you see the phrase "Bless Your Heart" nice right? except that it means that the sender thinks your are slighty retarded in the South East United states Just saying...

 

[Joel_BC]

And Joel remember language is living to the point that sometimes English words have different meanings. The British Empire spread it far and wide. here in the USA words are different North vs South.East vs West. Throw in Canada, the UK, South Africa, India, Australia and NZ and you have a problem. Just for an example what do you think if you see the phrase "Bless Your Heart" nice right? except that it means that the sender thinks your are slighty retarded in the South East United states Just saying...

Yes, I get the point.

I think our English usage in my region is a mix of old-Canadian usage along with some west-of-the-Rockies American. It's got some influences from Washington, Oregon, California, and Alaska.

But I don't expect anybody to be using English just the way I do. My point was more that to give a new poster the benefit of the doubt, I feel we have to make allowances for both their level of experience and the way they normally express themselves. Unless they express themselves in a nasty, offensive way (a different matter).

 

[Denim Deb]

Problem is too, we have some people on here that post regularly-but basically only when they want to sell something. But, if it's in the correct area, and doesn't contain a lot of odd sentence structures, I normally do give them the benefit of a doubt-especially if they're talking about something that I am interested in.

 

[so lucky]

So what exactly is the intent of a troller? Of a spammer? Joel, I think you are referring to the type of post that sort of agrees with something already said, but in an odd, disconnected, non-specific way. I have wondered about those, too. I once asked the poster a direct question and got no response.

 

[Joel_BC]

So what exactly is the intent of a troller? Of a spammer? Joel, I think you are referring to the type of post that sort of agrees with something already said, but in an odd, disconnected, non-specific way. I have wondered about those, too. I once asked the poster a direct question and got no response.

The example you've given relates to what I was talking about. If you get no answer, is it because the person wasn't really invested in posting on the thread in the first place? it leaves us guessing, I suppose.

I think there have been some people (more than one) who've posted who, it turns out, aren't really interested in the topics of this forum - except that maybe they want to play around and mess with people's heads ("trolling"), or they want to blend in enough to the group that they can post about something else (like, for instance, something they want to sell - which is called "spamming").

Possibly some people won't answer a direct question due to lack of confidence, but I don't think that's often the case.

 

[FarmerChick]

if you aren't sure just hit REPORT. the mods will figure it out.

 

[~gd]

if you aren't sure just hit REPORT. the mods will figure it out.

At the risk of gaining a few points on my record may I point out that the mods are just experienced posters they don't have a big red S on their chest, Some of them have their own problems [confessed in PMs].

 

[txcanoegirl]

And Joel remember language is living to the point that sometimes English words have different meanings. The British Empire spread it far and wide. here in the USA words are different North vs South.East vs West. Throw in Canada, the UK, South Africa, India, Australia and NZ and you have a problem. Just for an example what do you think if you see the phrase "Bless Your Heart" nice right? except that it means that the sender thinks your are slighty retarded in the South East United states Just saying...

Having received a the upbringing a "proper" southern girl should have, I recognize that "Bless Your Heart " can mean something slightly snarky...However, a TRUE southern lady will say "Bless Your Heart" and mean with every ounce of her being that she is truly concerned and sympathetic to whatever the person is going through.

Also, my interpretation of the snarky version isn't that the person is thought to be stupid, but that the person saying it is trying not to hurt that person's feelings. An example would be Friend A says: "My husband works so hard. He stays at the office late almost every night trying to get all the reports done." Friend B simply says Bless your heart (instead of OMG, everyone knows your lyin' cheatin' husband is bopping his secretary over at the No-Tell Motel and you are the last to know!" Bless your heart is being kind...even IF Friend B thinks Friend A is kind of dumb for not knowing!

Just my 2 cents worth! And totally unrelated to the topic of spam and trolls!