Is it just me, or are there a lot of posters sounding like trolls?

[July]

I'm talking about people with high post counts. (No names, please.)

There are about 5 or 6 regular posters who make me roll my eyes on a regular basis. I don't accuse or alert, because I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but they do follow a fairly predictable line on any given subject.

If they're trying to be "stealth" posters for the other side, I don't think they're succeeding.

So, am I nuts or not?

[DS1]

1. I was called a Freeper the other day

Simply because someone didn't agree with something I saw as truth, no matter how 'divisive' it was. :shrug:

I don't let it bother me, because it's not true, but it does go to show how ridiculous this place can be at times. It's not about having a happy circle-jerk where everyone leaves feeling good, it's about stating an opinion based on the facts you've seen and debating this opinion with others who might have other facts you're not yet aware of - and then either adjusting your opinion or sticking with it.

[jpgray]

3. You have to admit, you're pretty insidious

Showing up at gatherings, donating, making photoshops, all in the service of a cunning, malevolent lie. And in GD even if you're a depraved freeper troll one day, you can always be a celebrated hero of liberalism the next.

[DS1]

4. I know

Step One: Troll
Step Two: ???
Step Three: Profit!

[July]

5. Well, I'm talking about people taking a pretty right wing line.

Not about disagreements that get out of hand.

People bending over backward (repeatedly) to give the Bush gang the benefit of the doubt, or posting (repeatedly) from winger sites, or answering criticisms of individuals on the right with criticisms of people on the left (especially Ted Kennedy), and so on.

I've disagreed strongly with people here without thinking they're freepers.

[Maddy McCall]

8. TROLL!

:hi:

[RevolutionaryActs]

40. It's just because you're a bastard

:D

[HughMoran]

2. Just because a person votes democrat doesn't make them...

open minded. There are rigid democrats too - don't know why :shrug:

[DS1]

6. Heh,

I was going to register a user called HughSERIES!!1

:toast:

[HughMoran]

22. hee hee! I know ...

I couldn't help myself after a thread a few days ago where a person said "Learn how to spell Moron correctly!"

I LOVE those threads where all the freeper :dunce: terms and spellings come out.

I figured I needed an alter ego, and sometimes I admit, I am just a Hugh!!!111 Moran!! :headbang:

:pals:

[Maddy McCall]

7. Wait. You don't want to alert or accuse, but you come to the lounge...

to start a poll about "high-post-count" freepers, but you come to the lounge and start an entire thread on it?

:shrug:

Your not nuts. I usually look for things like, oh, disabled profiles, too, when I'm trying to police DU. :sarcasm:

[BikeWriter]

9. Good point, Maddy! I'd been thinking about that.

:)

[July]

23. What are you driving at?

I have alerted on obvious trolls occasionally, but every once in a while I come across a poster who makes me wonder. I don't feel it's fair to alert just because I'm wondering.

As far as I know, as a DUer, I'm free to post in the lounge, whether I do it often or not.

If you are trying to tell me something with your sarcasm about disabled profiles, come right out and say it. I've said plenty about myself in my posts, but I make a practice of not volunteering much personal information in a registration. When I first signed on at DU, I didn't see why I should give out that type of information, but over time I have mentioned many personal details, including my name. So perhaps you are reading too much into a disabled profile.

[BikeWriter]

27. Hee hee hee! As perhaps you are reading too much into others. :-)

[JimmyJazz]

29. She's baaaack!

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[sundog]

70. SNAP!

:7

[BikeWriter]

10. One of the things that catches my eye is people who...

don't normally seem to post much in The Lounge. :shrug:

[jpgray]

11. I stayed way clear of the Lounge in my first few months here

I wanted to change the rhetorical landscape of GD with my thoughtful arguments.

:dunce:

[BikeWriter]

14. Hee hee hee! Well, your heart was in the right place anyway, JP.

:)

[SmokingJacket]

74. I don't post much in the lounge, but I'm not troll...

just a grump.

All this levity!

[Beware the Beast Man]

12. Oh, don't be so coy- what are you implying?

:D

[July]

15. I think I said what I meant. nt

[Beware the Beast Man]

20. Sounds to me like you were dousing kerosene on the proverbial fire.

You found us out. We're all trolls. I was going to wait until 2008, but you got me. ;)

[blondeatlast]

21. Forget 2008--we need to think about taking back... woops,

I thought this was GD/P.

I kill myself sometimes... :rofl:

[JimmyJazz]

26. OMG! You're a troll! Me, too! Look! Here's a picture of me and

progmom and yvr girl and RevActs! (They're trolls too, you know) We had this take in Boston!

[July]

44. You can still get these?

I remember when they were the newest fad, but that was many years ago.

[JimmyJazz]

47. OMG! Yes! I love the pencils with the little trolls on the end!

I still use one at work (when no one else is looking, of course)

[merh]

76. Years ago, when they came out, they were called "damn it dolls"

I found the remains of mine when going through the rubble the other day. :-) :bounce:

Goes to show ya, trolls are hard to get rid of. :silly:

[RevolutionaryActs]

55. Damn it JJ, I thought we weren't going to show anyone that picture!

My hair is so flat in that picture. :(

[JimmyJazz]

56. and we're nekkid, too!

:D

[RevolutionaryActs]

60. Of course! Trolls are always nekkid

:o ;)

[JimmyJazz]

63. Well then, yivver is definitely a troll. She posts nekkid

from what I hear.

[RevolutionaryActs]

64. Yivvvvvvvvvvvver Gurrrllllll

Is most defiantly a troll... I mean with a name like that? :o

[progmom]

62. i thought you destroyed that picture!!

:cry:

you told me it was for your personal collection. :cry:

i feel so used.

[BikeWriter]

28. Aww shit! You, too? :-)

[July]

33. Uh, why are people acting as if I'm accusing them specifically?

The question was, Do any posters raise questions in your mind?

If I think someone is actually a troll -- if their message is clear -- I don't have any trouble alerting. But I rarely do that because I don't want to accuse someone unfairly. It has to be very, very clear.

But I think that among the 77,000 of us there are a few trolls. I'm not the first to say this.

[JimmyJazz]

42. We're just playing with you because you took

Beastman seriously. :)

[July]

48. Okay. How do I get into the Kool Kidz Klub, then?

Or am I disqualified for not catching on?

[Telly Savalas]

51. Email Skinner and he'll teach you the secret handshake.

[JimmyJazz]

52. Now see, that was a little insulting. There is no such thing as

the Kool Kidz Klub. The grinning smilie in the message part indicates he was playing with you. Sheesh. What do you think? We type secret messages in code to one another?

[BikeWriter]

54. Shh, you know we're not supposed to mention The Secret Code!

:brr:

[July]

57. I don't pay attention to smilies. Sorry if I insulted you. nt

[sundog]

71. ok, now you are digging your own grave

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. Some of those people are freepers

[blondeatlast]

16. What do trolls sound like? I wasn't aware that DU was on RealAudio

or WinAmp; that's so cool! How do you find the feed?

I kill myself sometimes... :rofl:

[July]

35. See my post #5. nt

[OldLeftieLawyer]

17. I've been accused

There are people who do not want anyone here to veer even slightly from the line they're on, and that's rather odd to watch - especially when tolerance and open-mindedness are two of the things we regularly whomp the Republicans for not espousing. It's human nature, I suppose.

I've had my legal credentials questioned by people who accused me of being "a progressive," although how they used the term suggested to me that they weren't quite sure what it meant.

I've had people assail me about my age, without their knowing it, claiming that anyone with "Old" in her screen name should think a certain way.

I've had people tell me I'm not a feminist because I don't agree with what their definition - however uninformed and misbegotten - calls for. Those are the ones who get the angriest, and, as someone who busted down the law school walls thanks to Affirmative Action, back in the days when women just didn't do that sort of thing, I, perhaps, find the most disappointing and tragic. All the good of the feminist movement seems to have eluded them, leaving them only feeling free enough to vent their rage - from whatever source - anonymously on a message board.

I've had people go off because I either had a profile that didn't match their expectations, or else I had my profile disabled.

And, best of all, I've had the people who flipped out when I refused to get into a debate with them about something, and who then challenged me as a lawyer, because they "expected better from me."

All in all, DU is still a very interesting place.

[DS1]

18. whomping tolerance and openmindedness, is that like spreading democracy?

:shrug:

[jpgray]

19. I was once accused of being a middle-aged, pony-tailed hippie

Based on my posting a link from worldwatch.org to a UN report that showed globalization was making rich countries richer and poor countries poorer.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

65. You bastard!!!

Why do you hate America?

Thank you for making me feel less alone. :woohoo:

[BikeWriter]

68. He probably speaks French, too!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

69. That

CHEESE-EATING SURRENDER MONKEY BASTARD!!!

(Good one, BW)

:applause:

[BikeWriter]

73. Thank you, Leftie.

:bows:

[July]

31. I've seen the kinds of responses you describe.

As I mentioned above, I don't see mere disagreement with the so-called party line as a reason to make me wonder. It's the posts that seem to carry water for the right that raise questions in my mind, though I'm sure some of them are simply centrists or people who really try to see the other side.

I've had your feminist experience in college way back when. If I didn't join their group, I must not be a "real" feminist. To me, that was their problem. Fun, though, huh?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

67. To make those "feminists" crazy,

point out to them that women choosing to stay home and be full-time mothers and wives is what feminism is all about: choice.

For some reason, that always gets them going. That, and mentioning that porn is not enslavement of women, but just something that makes a lot of money for some people and brings pleasure to a whole lot more.

So much for freedom of speech, huh?

[In_The_Wind]

24. But ... Really ~ What do we know about July ?

we know you have been here since last year

www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=640676#641314

and that you've posted on 1226 topics ...

and it seems like you post almost exclusively in GDP

You aren't nuts, you just need a break.

Welcome to the Lounge!

[July]

30. I've posted in the lounge before, but not often.

I thought this was a topic that was more suited to the lounge, but apparently the regular denizens don't think so.

Can't remember when I joined DU, but I thought it was more than a year ago. I'll have to check.

[In_The_Wind]

45. I'm sorry July, my mistake.

www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=266028#267529

Which BTW adds another 504 topics that you've posted on. We've never met before because I rarely post in GDP.

would you like a drink

[BikeWriter]

25. First off, you can't rubberstamp Democrats or Liberals or...

Liberal Democrats. I agree about 99% of the time with about 99% of the people here. About 1% of the time no one agrees with this crazy fucking Texan, but they respect my right to think that way!

[skygazer]

32. You're probably nuts

I think most of us are to one extent or another. However, that's probably a totally different thing from posters who sound like trolls - just a side effect of being a DU'er.

Does that bother your eyes after a while, having them roll like that? My mom used to tell me that they'd stay rolled if I did it too much but I don't think they did. What do you think - this is me: :silly:

[BikeWriter]

34. Well, as Mickey Mouse once said to Minnie...

"I think you're ****ing Goofy!" :)

[July]

39. Good one! nt

[swag]

36. Your hunch was right: it's just you who sounds like a troll.

[July]

43. Because . . . ? nt

[swag]

46. "Is it just me, or are there a lot of posters sounding like trolls?"

My impression is that it's just you, as you acknowledged as a possibility in the first part of your question.

[July]

53. Maybe you're right, and it is just me.

How that makes me a troll I don't get, but whatever. I think this is the most response I've ever received to any of my posts except the one about what books you reread (posted right here in the lounge), and that does surprise me.

[BikeWriter]

50. It's the old line from William Shakespeare:

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." This sort of thing often raises people's suspicions.

[yurbud]

37. Not nuts--and it's very annoying. the worst are ....

ones that sound like they are posted by corporate PR firms.

Post anything about alternative energy, and you will get a very carefully written yet misleading response, on an issue that freepers don't really care about.

I know from talking to righties in person that they have no love for oil companies--they just don't realize that's who their lord and savior the Texas Tard actually works for.

[chaska]

38. Maybe we should call them something else. Trolls are just so cool...

Everybody wants to be one.

[BikeWriter]

41. I don't want to be one... You'd have to be a stoopit freeper!

[Telly Savalas]

49. Hating Bush doesn't make one liberal.

I see all sorts of rightwing stuff here, but I don't consider most of it to be trolling. There are just a number of moderately conservative folks who hate Bush so much that they feel more comfortable here than they do at other sites.

[Wapsie B]

58. Damn, you outed me.

:sarcasm:

[JimmyJazz]

59. she doesn't pay attention to smilies. you're in trouble now.

:P

[Wapsie B]

61. Oh oh!

:hide:


:rofl:

[progmom]

66. Not nuts.

If not trolls, then certainly disruptors.

[SOteric]

72. No, not really what I'd call 'a lot of posters.'

Sure, your mileage may vary.

This is a site for Democrats, liberals and progressives. One need not subscribe to any paricular level of the party line to qualify. Some folks are more left, some folks are more centre, and some are actually a tad conservative. But even a social conservative, who feels that abortion is wrong, god ought to be taught in the classroom and corporations deserve big tax breaks could realistically be voting a straight, unvarying Democratic ticket. I know and go to mass with about a dozen devout Catholics who could be described in exactly that way.

So, - would they be trolls? Are such persons not to be welcomed here?

I'm relieved that it's Skinner, EarlG and Elad who get to decide and not those of us in the unwashed masses.

If you suspect that anyone is a troll, I encourage you to simply hit alert and let the moderators and admins read through their posts and information to make any such determination.

The moderators and admins get a much more well-rounded picture of individual posters than do the rest of us on these boards. And if the poster turns out to be innocent of trolling, no harm, no foul, no nasty remarks on their record.

[Kingofalldems]

75. I know of one who seems to scour the internet

for stories that will either make repubs look good or Dems look bad.

[Moderator]

77. Locking

We're not going to do this.