"Internet bully" ruining thread after thread... and the forum!

[Bluesbabe]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

re the bully
there is an ignore button. as mentioned there is a report button too.
i have read outside forums that talk in very negative terms about prominate posters on CDF.
imagine my surprise to see my own name.
we become what we hate.

Boy! Anyone who thinks YOU'RE an offensive poster hasn't spent enough time perusing CDF!

[Drover]

The problem with the admonition to simply use the ignore feature is two-fold:

1) You still see the offender's twaddle when someone else quotes them to respond to them, which IMO is a gaping hole in vBulletin's functionality;

2) The ignore feature doesn't magically steer the thread back on topic once it's been hijacked.

The only time the ignore feature is truly effective against trolls and thread hijackers is if everyone has the prescience to have the offender on ignore.

[Bowie]

Originally Posted by Drover

The problem with the admonition to simply use the ignore feature is two-fold:

1) You still see the offender's twaddle when someone else quotes them to respond to them, which IMO is a gaping hole in vBulletin's functionality;

2) The ignore feature doesn't magically steer the thread back on topic once it's been hijacked.

The only time the ignore feature is truly effective against trolls and thread hijackers is if everyone has the prescience to have the offender on ignore.

A thread hijack, where members discuss at length something unrelated that is of interest to only a few, is against the TOS and should be reported.

I've noticed that the most frequent quoters of chronic thread hijackers are usually accomplices in the hijack. They provoke the quoted member, and that starts the hijack train rolling down the tracks. Consider those people to be candidates for your ignore list as well.

Many times, as illustrated above in my post #9, the member doing the offending is not hijacking the thread, they're just repeating a position or view they have that is unpopular. In those instances, when you absolutely don't wish to read that unpopular point of view again, the ignore list is the best option.

[Drover]

Those "accomplices" to the hijack are usually just making a good-faith to get the hijacker to see reason, no matter how futile such attempts might ultimately be. If the solution is to put those people on ignore as well, then the hijacker still wins because the threads would just plain die instead of eventually getting back on track; not to mention about 80% of us would all be on each other's ignore lists.

At the risk of stepping on some toes, I daresay the ultimate solution is more vigilant and more consistent moderation. Easier said than done, for sure -- but so is the "just ignore them" admonition.

[John1960]

With all the people I have contacted on here I have only one person on my ignore list.


John

[Bowie]

Originally Posted by Drover

Those "accomplices" to the hijack are usually just making a good-faith to get the hijacker to see reason, no matter how futile such attempts might ultimately be.

I disagree that it's a good-faith effort when it's the same members repeatedly trying to straighten out the hijacker. I would argue that if you've tried twice and made zero progress, it's time to stop trying and start ignoring because beyond two tries you've moved beyond a good-faith effort to provocation. When you're provoking, you're complicit in the hijack.

[MinuteMan]

Originally Posted by markablue

If they say that all the people living in your area suck, well, that's their opinion and they have the right to express it. Like it or not, the line has to be drawn somewhere.

All the people living in your area includes you so that's an indirect personal attack, imo.

[markablue]

Originally Posted by MinuteMan

All the people living in your area includes you so that's an indirect personal attack, imo.

Maybe but trust me, if we were to delete everything someone believes to be an attack, we wouldn't have much of a forum left. As I said, the line has to be drawn somewhere.

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by Bowie

I disagree that it's a good-faith effort when it's the same members repeatedly trying to straighten out the hijacker. I would argue that if you've tried twice and made zero progress, it's time to stop trying and start ignoring because beyond two tries you've moved beyond a good-faith effort to provocation. When you're provoking, you're complicit in the hijack.

Excellent points! There is an available to use, at will, ignore feature in the psyche. The mind is a powerful thing.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Bowie

I disagree that it's a good-faith effort when it's the same members repeatedly trying to straighten out the hijacker. I would argue that if you've tried twice and made zero progress, it's time to stop trying and start ignoring because beyond two tries you've moved beyond a good-faith effort to provocation. When you're provoking, you're complicit in the hijack.

Which still doesn't accomplish much when there are others who are along for the ride. That's where the moderators need to step in and often don't. Being repeatedly told "report them" or "just ignore them" borders on infuriating when it sometimes takes months of begging and pleading before an obvious troll gets dealt with.