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Here is a good example of why I have done just that.
Someone starts a thread about XYZ. They talk it to death. You join that thread and get into the conversation. Lets say that the topic is moving to Los Angeles and should you have a job lined up before you go. The conversation progresses and others get into the thread and offer their thoughts. The OP is convinved that Los Angeles is the place for them, every one else buys into it and decions are made. Many times though as they ask questions about an area those questions fire up the forum. Could be about something that they read about or wanted to know that is questionable for the area. Many times with misquotes meant to get people excited and fired up.
6 months goes by and you are visiting the Chicago forum and are reading a thread similar to the one that you read in Los Angeles and the OP sounds like the same guy from LA. You check back and find that this is the same OP, only now Chicago is the place for them.
You check some more and find out that in the past year they are moving to 8 differant places. They say that they live in one area, their profile shows a differant location. You start to think that this person is either well traveled or has no idea what they are looking for. Most of the time their posts offer clues that they are not telling a true story. Many posts are made to insite a riot mentality.
What I am saying is that their is a reason many times to check things out. People don't always tell a believable story here. For the most part I would believe something someone wrote unless given a reason to not believe them. In those cases I like to find out what is going on.
The folks that do this appear like they are saying to the poster, "Ah ha! You are not as anonymous as you think! I got you! Aren't I clever?"
As long as the poster is not being defamatory or acting ugly, I personally could care less if his postings are a bit redundant. As long as it gets people thinking and leads to insightful information being added to C-D I am fine with it.
You are that person. You created a thread to get back at someone that has been bothering you.
You mean the stalker I mentioned? That happened years ago and long before I started posting on here or did you mean someone from now? No one on here has bothered me.
The folks that do this appear like they are saying to the poster, "Ah ha! You are not as anonymous as you think! I got you! Aren't I clever?"
As long as the poster is not being defamatory or acting ugly, I personally could care less if his postings are a bit redundant. As long as it gets people thinking and leads to insightful information being added to C-D I am fine with it.
Not all posters want to do that though. I may need to clarify my thoughts as well. I was a moderator not too long ago. I am not watching anyone now like I did back then. Sometimes people like to be trolls and like to post things that may start trouble and have no business in a thread. In my example I am trying to show someone that starts off like they truly love the area that they are considering. They ask a few questions, make some comments, and then strike with the troll like comments or questions. Some times race issues are a part of it. Other times it is crims stats. Many times it is done to make another area look better than the place they were considering.
Here is an example: "I love your city but heard that their are a lot of people into polka dots. In my city we are all into people that like stripes. Are their any stripe people there. I mean only places that have stipe people can be places that anyone would want to live. Who would want to live in a place full of polka dots? I know that your city is the polka dot capital but come one people, open up to those of us that like stripes."
After some research you find that the OP was posting all over the place against anyone that did not like stripes.
I'm honestly too lazy to look at everyone's previous posts. I did it once to one person...they kept posting in one thread about how wonderful this town is in NJ, when everyone knows it's a bad town. I looked at their previous posts & found that the only other post they had was regarding the real estate they owned for renters in that particular town. I called them out on it because they were obviously not contributing to the conversation, just trying to get renters in.
I did this recently because I thought I'd recalled a poster from other forums. Sure enough she's posted in the Asheville forum that the summers were too hot. So why is she even enquiring about Knoxville if she wants cool summers.
Well maybe she found a cure for her medical problem. That's good if it's the case and we don't need specifics but she didn't need to get all snippy.
A lot of people put a lot of effort into giving regional/local advice. But why waste your time if the poster is an armchair relocator.
Sometimes it's good to see if someone is griping about the same thing everywhere. Some people just can't be pleased. The worst one was someone who decided knoxville was ideal except for the dirty air. He kept demanding that somebody do something about it. Well the EPA has helpedin the past few years but you can't change geography.
I will sometimes do it, and I'm not a troll, I'm not trying to incite hostility, I'm not trying to prove I'm clever, and I don't have too much free time. I can only speak for myself, but this is why I will find a poster's prior posts and bring them up:
When a person is making an argument and they're being unusually passionate about it, or they're arguing it in a way I find annoying and/or ineffective, I like to see if they are being intellectually consistent.
If someone goes on & on about being angry about a person doing XYZ to them, but a month ago, she posted about having engaged in XYZ, that's inconsistency, and her current complaints and arguments are now moot.
I tend to only argue when I have thought long and hard about my opinions on things, and I self-examine and seek resolution wherever it seems I'm being inconsistent. A person has little or no integrity if he is not intellectually consistent. I can disagree strongly with a person's position, but at least I will respect when they are being consistent, and I'll say so. If someone ever points out where I've been inconsistent, I take it really seriously, and acknowledge that I need to study the issue more, and be more willing to self-examine. I know that if I'm not being consistent, then others can certainly call all my points into question.
Sadly, too many people seem to not value this kind of integrity at all. They think it's fine to believe strongly in one opinion and then to hold another opinion that's completely the opposite. When it's pointed out, they say "what's the big deal? I even had someone snidely say to me "well, at least you're consistent" as if "consistent" were something to mock. If your positions are not consistent, you lack credibility and integrity, and your expressed opinions come off as irrational, and carry no more weight that "it's just how I feel, so there!"
One reason I may check previous posts is when someone seems overly angry or hostile on a thread. Often when I check their posts, they're the same way on other threads, so I realize that it's pointless to respond to them. Saves energy.
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