Have You Been Accused of Being a Troll on the DU?

all this troll talk has made me curious..

you may as well vote honestly, it'a an anonymous poll.

:shrug:

TROLL!!!! :P

It's generally just a sign that you're not in lockstep with everyone else.

I've done my share of accusing, as well, which I'm not really proud of, but what can you do?

They would have to actually reply to one of my posts. :-)

There, are you satisfied now? :)

Guess I have to change my vote. :-)

:rofl:

So I'm posting a reply to you!

I did actually get a rare set of responses once when asking if I was wrong in sensing "trolliness" that didn't quite amount to anything enough to alert on -- just had a sense that there were more "odd" posts than before. I got quite a snarky collection of questions about my own bona fides, w/a little mockery thrown in. You really never know what will provoke a response, nor do you know what kind of response you'll get. Goes w/the territory of a well-populated forum, I guess.

So, anyway, YOU TROLL!!!!! (in jest, of course)

There's a hint of McCarthyistic witchhunting that goes on in our continual scouring of our ranks for under cover Freepers. I dislike it.

Most people will vote for the first choice, which would prove your point.

"I refuse to vote AND am not a troll"
Does that make me a bad non-troll American? :)

:rofl:

a communist, a socialist, a gun nut, a tree hugger, a naive pacifist, a moderate who thinks one can go through life sitting on the fence, a Nader kissing Greenie, a gullible believer in mystic woo-woo-isms, a scientific elitist, a poet, an illiterate, a man hating fanatic feminist, and a man.

And all the while, I am just me. Guess a lot of our labels are just a matter or perception on the part of others.

I must be good, seems I have managed to piss off most ideological groups around here.

:)

and holy water. Maybe throw in some armadillo jerky, powdered elk antler, relics from nearly extinct trees, ancient flower petals from Love-Ins in the 60s, vials of pure water from real springs and copies of the Constitution.

and had my daughter paint those dancing bears from Grateful Dead fame on the bands!

And the jester's hats I made were to die for!

In college, I did muslin curtains. There were rainbows everywhere. :)

you know, A LIBERAL :D

Mmmm! Crunchy little wingnuts and soft chewy moonbats, all mixed together for a taste sensation that will drive you crazy! Whether you're a snacking extremist or just craving an extreme snack, reach for Moonbats 'n Wingnuts. It's unreal!™

That is great!

:rofl:

:)

I'm not a freeper troll, but I troll DU daily for the truth.

I hope that explains my vote. Now, who's the other "No, but I am a troll" voter?

the idea of filibustering Alito.

There are three effective anti-troll weapons - alert mods, ignore user, hide thread. Finger-pointing, witchhunts and raging paranoia are counterproductive to say the least.

so much more fun, dontcha know?

how people vote, so if I were a troll I wouldn't vote :shrug:

they can just say they were giving a smartass response to such a ridiculous poll question.

I'm really not trying to flush anybody out. I honestly thought this would be a way to REDUCE the paranoia here.

needs a new hobby.

:)

:)

good times...

Example:

There was a post where someone was claiming that John McCain was sick. The post had several pictures of McCain on it. There were several pictures of the side of face. There were several posts about it saying he had mumps and all kinds of other crazy stuff.

I know for a fact that his face was split open when he was a POW in Vietnam. I made a post stating this fact. Sorry, but I am anal about facts.

By stating a fact, this in no way, no how, means I support McCain and yet I received a post saying that his face was not injured in Vietnam.

A fact is a fact. We can't reduce ourselves to the level of our detractors.

The best troll accusation I ever suffered was some extended exegesis on my user name, something along the lines of "You might think it's a 'mystery,' alcibiades_mystery, but me and many others here know what you're up to; we know all about Alcibiades and your mystery has been solved!"

It contained all the classic signs of troll-accusation:

1) The "Half" Accusation - Rarely do the Accusers ever come out and say "Troll!" Rather, they imply that you're up to some nefarious purposes, primarily because they know an outright accusation of trollery is against the rules. Needless to say, this is so cowardly and half-assed that anyone with a shred of dignity can hardly stand it. It has all the subtlety of the street-corner commissar tipping off the secret police to a possible enemy of the state by sly pointing. It's clownish, and people on this site who do it should be ridiculed for it.

2) The "Me-And-All-My-Friends" Gambit - It's amazing to me that grown adults still continue with this junior high school bullshit. In almost every half-accusation of trollery there is some gesture towards the many others who also think so. This is pure, junior high school mean girl rhetoric, and unworthy of decent discourse. Not only don't I like you, it says, but nobody else likes you either. How anyone over the age of twelve could take such nonsense seriously is a mystery indeed. But these folks not only take it seriously; they actually deploy this juvenile rhetoric in public! It's quite shocking that adults conduct themselves in this way.

3) The "We're Watching You" Strategy - In almost any accusation of trollery, there is the implication that you have been surveilled for quite some time. "We've been looking at your posts, see. They are in the - ahem - dossier. You're on file. You've been noted in the building." The extent to which people love and cherish deeply their little fascist tendencies is mostly amusing, but often scary as well.

These are the characteristics of the "troll accusation genre" that I've noticed. Any others?

Trolly McTrollsalot.

J/K, seriously, I agree with you.

really sure why he did, since I am very pro Palenstinian...:shrug:

whatsoever. Anyone can cruise along in a boat trolling out their lure or downriggers or whatever, waiting for a fish to simply take the bait, but that just puts me to sleep. Takes no finesse whatsoever. I'd rather cast a surface plug next to a stump and twitch the lure just right to cause a strike or drift along while bumping a jig along the bottom, waiting to feel that ever so slight hit.....now that's fun! Nope, trolling ain't for me. ;)

indeed trawling to sleep, overfishing and all
propaganda indeed, the way trolling is defined
when people'r in a groupthinkin' woolyheaded thrall,
the dissenters are trolls, zealots can be so unkind.
and we're back to the old meme's end,
root out the witches, to see if they can find,
some shred of authenic truth to defend,
as the troll label so ever so unrefined.

And instead of tearing us down all the time
repeating the troll mantra, kill the outrageous zen
We could maybe wonder if we can just chat a line
free some labellers, thoughtcrime police and agent mike again.
When we are unlabelled, and people think raw
conscience untrammelled, truth speaks troll's law.

:toast:

To some, anyone with a (D) after their name is off-limits to criticism and anyone doing so must be doing "Rove's work".

"Sacred Cows make the best hamburger." - Mark Twain

Not a troll. Never been accused. Lucky me!
The Professor

That's suspiciously trollish. Don't you know that the best trolls operate undercover without ever being noticed or accused? I think that anyone who hasn't been called a troll is probably a troll. You're on my list, ProfessorGAC. j/k :)

Now, you've ruined everything! EVERYTHING, i tells ya! I have to believe the only reason you would do this is to provide cover for YOUR trollishness! So there. :*
The Professor

lol

. . .s-f-e-x-p-a-t-2-0-0-0! Got it!
The Professor

Now that you've been accused of being a troll, you're off my "suspicious" list. :)

I needed a laugh. Thanks. My BP is up this morning.
The Professor

:rofl:

People have accused me of being a paid operative of the Pentagon employed to spread disinformation, of being an agent of the D.L.C., and all manner of nonesense during my years here.

"Amusement is where you find it."

Come on, who are you trying to fool? :evilgrin:
The Professor

Small world (and small minds)!

:)

:wow:







:hug: :loveya:

was saying freep this and freep that.

I thought they were trying not to cuss.

lol

:hug:

Silly freeps, they can be so very helpful. :)

:hug:

If I could, I would save the post you wrote for me. :hug:

You better journal soon, that is a vital post! :pals:

Lol.

:pals:

You better start a journal, you have had some important things to say.

:hug:

I've never been accused of trolling because I tend to shun politically divisive topics (Israel, for example). I also don't post a whole lot. :-)

:)

like Uncle Adolph.

Occasionally I will say something bad about one of the Clintons, and get accused of being a troll. Usually takes about 2 minutes for someone to point out that I'm not. (Or that if I am, I'm a REALLY CRAFTY troll in very deep cover.)

I don't accuse people of being trolls, because it does hurt people's feelings. And sometimes, when I say, "Welcome to DU! Enjoy your stay!", I really do mean it.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

:P

I just got into the habit of signing my emails that way years ago. I do it everywhere. Doesn't mean anything. Unless you're a troll, in which case as soon as your eyeballs travel over the letters your HEAD EXPLODES! MOOHOOHAHAHAHA!!!!

The Plaid Adder

Saying terrible things about Kerry, and I was desperate to have it debunked. I had my cyberhead ripped off on that thread and called a mole just trying to get Kerry trashed. Boy, did I learn my lesson!

That some people have skin that is too thin, or that they don't read carefully? I wouldn't change anything from that experience if i were you! Seems like you didn't do a thing wrong. Why change?
The Professor

I just don't post conservative opinion pieces anymore, unless it's the "man bites dog" spin. That is, when someone like Thomas Sowell writes a piece that "Bush is wrong".

We still don't know what Bush did during his missing TANG year and still got (bought?) an honorable discharge ?

I'm sure I was still way too DU noob at the time I tried to debunk such a hateful smear on Kerry and not releasing "his" DD114 (?).

To this day, I take care of all the DU newbies, especially when they get ganged up on. Makes me feel good :)

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

:rofl:

Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

:nuke:

the accuser gave a perfect delivery of Stormfront's talking points on the deal

my party, when I've been extremely active with the Democratic party since I was seven years old (That's 1972, friends. My parents and grandparents were also Dem activists). When someone doesn't like what I'm saying ESPECIALLY if I DARE to suggest that a Dem rep isn't living up to his or her obligations by enabling the Right, then I'm called a "basher" who ought to be "doing something" instead of "whining" (and what the hell have these kids been doing? Why are they spending their time on DU bashing those who don't toe the DLC line instead of "doing something" 24/7)?

:grr:

That was years ago. Those who accused me, though, have since been banned.

I have big red hair, made of plastic, and am about 4 inches tall.

Been yelled at

Called a :tinfoilhat: kook

Accused of not providing a link

Threatened to be put on ignore

Accused of posting stupid shit

Started threads that no one replies to

Been shunned from the Lounge

Had to tell several people to "bite me"

Defended posters that were being relentlessly attacked for no good reason

and that was just this morning.

At least, that was the emotion that seemed to be coming through the words on the screen.

I won the spelling bee in 6th. grade.

There are about five people here who are convinced that anyone who is pro-gun is a GOP operative.

a troll? Hey - let me initiate you... "Troll!"... think of it as a rite of passage. :D

I wonder why?

It depends on how much you disagree with the majority.

You get into a discussion about gay rights or abortion and you can get yer ass handed to you by folks who get real serious about their issues.

and other boards is likely extension, though not verified yet.

I would distinguish paid trolls from freepers. The freepers will usually present a caricature of a lefty view but at least address an argument.

The paid trolls do stuff that sounds a hell of a lot like what a shitty campaign consultant would do--put out bland platitudes for their side, use name-calling and innuendo against those who disagree with them, and refuse to present or address any evidence of any kind. They just repeat talking points ad nauseum.

I have exchanges with real righties on yahoo boards, and it is of an entirely different character than talking to the people I described in the previous paragraph.

Or is that the same as freepers to you?

I wonder if some people are doing "volunteer" duty, like perhaps the recent couple of defectors who announced that they were trolls. I guess they could have been paid, though.

Freepers are obviously insulting to EVERYONE left of Ann Coulter and will post what Rush, O'Reilly, Coulter, and David Horowitz tell them lefties believe, in hopes of "catching" people agreeing.

The classic example is "I don't support the troops," or any variation slamming the grunts in the field instead of the civilians who put them there.

The paid trolls tend more to use ridicule in exactly the same way right wing pundits do, calling people extremists and crazy without providing any evidence and literally repeating talking points as if they didn't read what you posted and they are supposedly responding to. Most of the time, they are pro-war, pro-DLC. While I disagree with both of those positions, I am open to hearing arguments in their favor, but the people I am thinking of adamantly refuse to do so, and act insulted if you ask them to. Maybe they only get paid by the post and not for doing the research to make their positions credible.

Never... :)

I happen to be very pro-gun and if memory serves, I made the mistake of arguing about it with a low double-digit post count - not only did someone imply that I was a troll / Freeper, but that was the point where I learned what that popcorn emoticon meant.

so far? Go fuck yourselves. You are weak, insignificant and losing horribly. We are the honorable ones. We are the ones with integrity. We are the ones that care about America and her values. We are the ones that now have the respect support of the American people. So go fuck yourselves. :)

Most recently I was accused of being a Hackett troll by a Brown supporter and a Brown troll by a Hackett supporter. :crazy: