Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Why I Hate Trolls

The one problem with the Blogger messaging system is that you cannot close a thread to further comments.  So if a college sophomore with a liberal bent wants to overwhelm you with his non-existent brilliance, you can't shut him off.  Well, you can, by restricting comments to those with I.D.s (no anonymous comments), and also by enabling comment moderation.  I have now been forced to apply both of these methods to troll control.  I hate to do this, because these measures tend to discourage comments, and I like comments and enjoy debate.

If you read through my last three posts, you will note a serious troll attack by a very adolescent individual who, unable to answer or refute me, resorted to mere harassment.  If he wants to post again, he can do so, by identifying himself, by staying on topic and by not repeating the same failed arguments over and over again, after they have been refuted.

For now, however, my foot is tired from kicking his ass all day.  There is wisdom in the saying "Don't feed the trolls."  To do so gives them encouragement to continue making asses of themselves.

Update:  I have removed comment moderation, but I will now require all commenters to identify themselves.

4 comments:

Bartender Cabbie said...

I too have an issue with a troll who calls herself ema nymton. She is not really much of a bother though. She is rather nuts and it is interesting and fun to read her rants.

Stogie said...

BC, that's fine, as long as her goal is not to waste your time. At the end of my conversation with my troll, he began to taunt me and insult me, trying to make me lose my temper (it's one of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals -- if they can't make you lose your temper and say really angry things, you may self-destruct to their advantage).

Natalie Peguero said...

I too have an issue with a troll who calls herself ema nymton. She is not really much of a bother though. She is rather nuts and it is interesting and fun to read her rants.

Jenn said...

I too have an issue with a troll who calls herself ema nymton. She is not really much of a bother though. She is rather nuts and it is interesting and fun to read her rants.