Because we've been talking about trolls

Joined
Aug 24, 2014
Messages
1,557
Reaction score
415
Location
Orlando
Hey -

I know we've run into some trolls (or some troll like behavior recently) and there's been some discussion about what makes someone want to behave this way? Today I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts "This American Life" and they did a great episode on this topic -

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-a ... n-all-caps

Anyway - worth a listen (you can download it easily to an iphone through itunes if you was to listen in the car)

The bottom line is - people completely lose their filter when anonymous and the trolling behavior is often more about the person trolling's personal issue than the person being trolled. But a good lesson in the podcast is - when you make it human... maybe your doing more damage than you'd like to admit.
 
I just thought I'd pop I'm and troll the trolling thread. God I hate trolls! Everyone is soo stupid because we have lives outside of phantom town. I'm tired of n00bs wasting my time with stupid questions. Read the freaking manual! :D
 
Eastbayvision said:
I just thought I'd pop I'm and troll the trolling thread. God I hate trolls! Everyone is soo stupid because we have lives outside of phantom town. I'm tired of n00bs wasting my time with stupid questions. Read the freaking manual! :D

I'm actually tired of people complaining about newb questions. They won't go away. There's one born every minute. And as far as reading the manual....yes...good idea..but it is a bit hard to understand and and does create a lot of questions. So....get over it. If one does not like newb questions...don't read their posts. Simple enough. Many threads start with NEWB QUESTION. Just pass them by if it is such a problem. I like to help people if I can. Even a newb.
 
Monte55 said:
Eastbayvision said:
I just thought I'd pop I'm and troll the trolling thread. God I hate trolls! Everyone is soo stupid because we have lives outside of phantom town. I'm tired of n00bs wasting my time with stupid questions. Read the freaking manual! :D

I'm actually tired of people complaining about newb questions. They won't go away. There's one born every minute. And as far as reading the manual....yes...good idea..but it is a bit hard to understand and and does create a lot of questions. So....get over it. If one does not like newb questions...don't read their posts. Simple enough. Many threads start with NEWB QUESTION. Just pass them by if it is such a problem. I like to help people if I can. Even a newb.

+1

The trolls actually don't even care if it's newb questions - from what I have been reading lately (and listening to on this podcast) - trolling is a form of sadism - all they want is to damage people.

I definitely have noticed the difference here between people who are just curmudgeons vs. people who are true trolls... The grumpy folks give an answer in a terse way - but it's generally the answer. The trolls bash character, argue with other people's answers, resort to name calling... yada yada.

I'll admit - when I start to get personally attacked - I tend to defend myself and get fairly sarcastic back. I need to stop it, because there are several folks on here who can't admit they are wrong or even that there might be (gasp) another opinion... but I usually have to be provoked... however - that feeds into the trolls...

I agree with you though... I don't understand the guys who answer the question in such a terse and indignant way as if to say "why are you wasting my time?" - um dude... You chose to "waste your time" answering... can't blame that on the guy who posted the question lol.
 
I think ones who bash others do so to make themselves feel superior. I am a member of at least 8 different forums. From welding to flying and have seen a lot of this behavior. I have yet to see this accomplish anything but make people mad. When people are attacked they will defend themselves. It hardly ever ends well. Some will be banned if they go too far and some will just leave. I am not the easiest guy to get along with but I have learned being an *** solves nothing.
 
Monte55 said:
Eastbayvision said:
I just thought I'd pop I'm and troll the trolling thread. God I hate trolls! Everyone is soo stupid because we have lives outside of phantom town. I'm tired of n00bs wasting my time with stupid questions. Read the freaking manual! :D

I'm actually tired of people complaining about newb questions. They won't go away. There's one born every minute. And as far as reading the manual....yes...good idea..but it is a bit hard to understand and and does create a lot of questions. So....get over it. If one does not like newb questions...don't read their posts. Simple enough. Many threads start with NEWB QUESTION. Just pass them by if it is such a problem. I like to help people if I can. Even a newb.


Hey Monte, sorry if you missed the sarcasm. I was totally making fun of some of the trolls I have encountered. I'm a total noob at flying phantoms myself. Just wanted to vent because some people are on here simply to bash others ideas and opinions.
 
I must have missed that. We all need to think before we post. Some will come in the middle of a thread and read something and think WTF. Remember, first impression is a lasting impression. It's much easier NOT to fall into a hole than dig your way out.
 
Even though eastbay was kidding, it brings up a good point.

Personally I find the whole "read the manual" thing to be a form of trolling itself. There are any myriad of reasons why someone could ask a question that is in the manual.

Maybe they didn't retain every piece of info in the manual when they read it. Maybe they are in the field or on the road and don't have time to download and re-read it. Maybe they aren't 100% confident in their interpretation of what is written in the manual and want an answer from an experienced flyer. Maybe they aren't sure because the manual does change from time to time. I could go on.

If it's in the manual, answer the question AND point them to the relevant pages in the manual. Or don't answer them at all. Whatever you do, don't just tell them to read the manual.
 
erikgraham said:
Even though eastbay was kidding, it brings up a good point.

Personally I find the whole "read the manual" thing to be a form of trolling itself. There are any myriad of reasons why someone could ask a question that is in the manual.

Maybe they didn't retain every piece of info in the manual when they read it. Maybe they are in the field or on the road and don't have time to download and re-read it. Maybe they aren't 100% confident in their interpretation of what is written in the manual and want an answer from an experienced flyer. Maybe they aren't sure because the manual does change from time to time. I could go on.

If it's in the manual, answer the question AND point them to the relevant pages in the manual. Or don't answer them at all. Whatever you do, don't just tell them to read the manual.

YES! Simply saying "read the manual" is classic passive aggressive behavior in my opinion.

You're saying the person isn't worth your time, you are superior... and they should not come here to ask questions that are beneath you.

Yes - if you know it's in the manual - point out a page number... but if you're going to bother even typing one character on your keyboard in response.. then respond to the question on your way to pointing out the page...
 
Read the "Re: Cheating death..." thread

It's all very reasonable, but look at the words. It's like that American Sniper movie when the guy has a huge dilemma about shooting the nun and child, there was no moral dilemma or even a decision to be made, he shouldn't have been there.
 
steveeds said:
Read the "Re: Cheating death..." thread

It's all very reasonable, but look at the words. It's like that American Sniper movie when the guy has a huge dilemma about shooting the nun and child, there was no moral dilemma or even a decision to be made, he shouldn't have been there.

Nowhere near the worst I have seen on here... but yeah it gets personal for no good reason.

I hate it especially when someone admits they did something foolish and people feel the need to really scold them
 
Eastbayvision said:
I just thought I'd pop I'm and troll the trolling thread. God I hate trolls! Everyone is soo stupid because we have lives outside of phantom town. I'm tired of n00bs wasting my time with stupid questions. Read the freaking manual! :D

No question is a stupid question. I'll be glad to help if you don't wish to. How can they become competent fliers if no one is willing to help? Some probably aren't aware of the real manual.

I'm surprised by your attitude. I love to help people whether their vehicle is broken down, they were in a wreck and dying. I came across one wreck, where a woman was hanging from an upside vehicle. I and an EMT (who just happened to be driving by). We got her out, while 20 people just stood there and did nothing. I have never seen that much blood in my life. We saved this woman's life. He missed a head wound, that I suspected due to her movements. We both saved her. I love helping!

So, there isn't a question that bothers me. Isn't that in part why we are here? Just stay out of the help section or ignore what you consider to be stupid questions. A lot of people need or want help and we should provide that service without putting them down.

What troubles me is those who put down others and generally just act mean and cruel. Those are my trolls.
 
"I hate it especially when someone admits they did something foolish and people feel the need to really scold them"

It's always the obvious that brings the most rebuke, it basically starts out with a' premise "I think you're wrong" (I used Premise because they are infact wrong but it's yet to be pointed out to them)
So It's very difficult to absorb it and not try to think up a subtle hurting reply like ie: yes I think you're right :roll:

The trouble with these guys being Right is Right has hardly ever being right in the end, ask my wife.

That's just what I've seen
:)

That guy over the Turkish Airport we all monstered because we knew we were right in how plainly stupid he was.
But if you think about it a bit more I wonder who the monsters really were, I posted 2nd on the thread as I was shocked, I did it without any real thinking at that time .
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers