the real reason why Portland forums have so many trolls... (closing, to live)

[khyron]

It finally just occurred to me why online communities related to Portland have to deal with trolls so often...

...it's all those bridges for them to live under!

** roll on snare drum **

Okay as an apology for that awful joke here's a legitimate link to many beautiful photos of Portland's interesting river crossings:

Portland, Oregon: Willamette River, Steel Bridge, Dusk (Photo, PortlandBridges.com)

[Nell Plotts]

Originally Posted by khyron

It finally just occurred to me why online communities related to Portland have to deal with trolls so often...

...it's all those bridges for them to live under!

** roll on snare drum **

Norse joke

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by khyron

It finally just occurred to me why online communities related to Portland have to deal with trolls so often...

...it's all those bridges for them to live under!

** roll on snare drum **

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0PIdWdw15U

[philwithbeard]

Yeah, I thought that joke deserved a hit on the Hi Hat cymbals also.

[Bluesmama]

Trolls don't discriminate. They're in all Forums, and I don't think Portland has any more than the rest.

However, there will be people out there who don't agree with others' opinions, or even the topic, and I don't think that necessarily makes them a troll. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to distinguish which topics are up for debate over those that are more sensitive and obviously intended for "support".

A few months ago I was in a thread (another Forum, not Portland) that was highly volatile, and a few insensitive jerks made a mockery out of it. I was apalled and felt so bad for the op. I decided to insert my own response and pretty much tore a strip into all of them. I was surprised that the moderator didn't shut it down, but the trolls eventually went away.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by Bluesmama

Trolls don't discriminate. They're in all Forums, and I don't think Portland has any more than the rest.

However, there will be people out there who don't agree with others' opinions, or even the topic, and I don't think that necessarily makes them a troll. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to distinguish which topics are up for debate over those that are more sensitive and obviously intended for "support".

I didn't make a joke to start an argument, but we might just look at different forums. I first discovered this site around four or five years ago when my wife was interviewing for residency programs and we traveled to more than a dozen cities across the USA. I researched every one of those cities and a few others intensely, on here and on many other sites. I have never come across anything elsewhere (on citydata) like the frequency of the unhelpful/nonproductive content ratio this one gets.

Yes there's definitely a distinction between voicing a dissenting opinion or representing a point of view other than whatever is hegemonic for the community in question, and if anything (done tastefully) that's to be admired. That's definitely not what I would call trolling. Trolling is when you have no genuine intent whatsoever, other than to mess with what other people are trying to do/say/discuss/learn.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

Yeah, I thought that joke deserved a hit on the Hi Hat cymbals also.

You know the funny thing is, I edited it afterwards to say "rimshot" because I figured not everyone else is an Alan Moore nerd...but for some reason it didn't take. Oh well.

If anyone's curious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRJIyjbiPcs#t=2m08s

[UrbanAdventurer]

All bridges, no tunnels

[Bluesmama]

I could be wrong, but I do think part of it may be due to having less aggressive moderators. This is my third year on city-data, and I can't remember ever reading a moderator's intervention on any Portland thread. 'Don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, especially knowing how militant some are on other forums.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by Bluesmama

I could be wrong, but I do think part of it may be due to having less aggressive moderators. This is my third year on city-data, and I can't remember ever reading a moderator's intervention on any Portland thread. 'Don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, especially knowing how militant some are on other forums.

I can vouch that I've seen moderation on posts, both "visible" (locking, closing, etc) and "invisible" (responding to reports with direct messages to resolve a situation). Whether it's less aggressive or not, I suppose that's a matter of opinion, but I will verify that our mods do exist.