Does exactly what it says on the tin. Some of the nonsense contained herein may be very loosely related to The Sisters of Mercy, but I wouldn't bet your PayPal account on it. In keeping with the internet's general theme nothing written here should be taken as Gospel: over three quarters of it is utter gibberish, and most of the forum's denizens haven't spoken to another human being face-to-face for decades. Don't worry your pretty little heads about it. Above all else, remember this: You don't have to stay forever. I will understand.
Have had a troll launch a vendetta against the magazine recently, even to the extent of faking Twitter accounts and copying and pasting official tweets (i.e. from me) onto his (and it tends to be a 'he') fake account. You can if you use a capital I to represent an small L have an identical looking twitter account to an existent one. When I discovered this and pointed out how illegal it was lots of people sprang to his defence in the name of artistic freedom. Which was predictable and sad. I wonder what trolls did before the internet was invented?
They were just bullies in real life. Probably from the playground upwards.
Ignore is hard, especially when it starts to effect your business, customers, personality etc., so take whatever remedial action you feel in cyber space. But ignore is the best friend the Internet ever invented.
Also, "do not feed the trolls" is actually bad advice (one source) it won't work and is actually counter-productive.
And... trolls' understanding of the phrase "freedom of speech" is simplistic at best; all it means is that the government won't (usually) lock you up for saying something. It doesn't mean that we're obliged to provide a free platform for other people's hate-speech.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
markfiend wrote:
And... trolls' understanding of the phrase "freedom of speech" is simplistic at best; all it means is that the government won't (usually) lock you up for saying something. It doesn't mean that we're obliged to provide a free platform for other people's hate-speech.
“Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on.�
markfiend wrote:Haha well indeed. For once I forgot an xkcd... although it would appear that I was subconciously summarising it
Haha, I actually thought you were referring to it!
“Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on.�
markfiend wrote:Also, "do not feed the trolls" is actually bad advice (one source) it won't work and is actually counter-productive.
I agree. For minor occurrences, ignoring might be the right choice, especially in a forum where several members do not speak English as their first language. But when a certain line is crossed, there has to be an unmistakable reminder of that line (and at best some clear hints from the community as well). Everybody who is really interested in discussing a topic and reaching a result will surely adjust their behaviour then. Those who won't are obviously pursuing other goals.
markfiend wrote:And... trolls' understanding of the phrase "freedom of speech" is simplistic at best; all it means is that the government won't (usually) lock you up for saying something. It doesn't mean that we're obliged to provide a free platform for other people's hate-speech.
Plus they fail to grasp that any internet platform is a dictatorship not a democracy and you don't have freedom of speech.* If the host/owner decides that he/she is unhappy with what you're saying then they have the right to ban you.
* Unless you're the host/owner, but then responsibility comes into play.
markfiend wrote:And... trolls' understanding of the phrase "freedom of speech" is simplistic at best; all it means is that the government won't (usually) lock you up for saying something. It doesn't mean that we're obliged to provide a free platform for other people's hate-speech.
Plus they fail to grasp that any internet platform is a dictatorship not a democracy and you don't have freedom of speech.* If the host/owner decides that he/she is unhappy with what you're saying then they have the right to ban you.
* Unless you're the host/owner, but then responsibility comes into play.
The thing with any form of freedom it will and always should come with conditions. You can have freedom to opinionated but when that speech starts to cross the line in to being hateful then you have to accept that there can be consequences. Then there is the point where the speech itself ceases to be an opinion and becomes an incitement to violence or similar, that is not in my opinion using freedom of speech it is provocation. With anything in life things have to be balanced your freedom that you hold so high may and in many cases will impinge on another freedom. Besides any place like this as Dan says is subject to the top persons rules and what they say goes.
The illiterate of the future will not be the man who cannot read the alphabet, but the one who cannot take a photograph. - Walter Benjamin
Driver powered by Cigarettes, Caffeine and Vitriol
the proof of the pudding is in the eating...take a look around you here: no trollish behaviour at the minute, and most often never. thats not to say we dont get it now and again but we must be doing something right.
Well I was handsome and I was strong
And I knew the words to every song.
"Did my singing please you?"
"No! The words you sang were wrong!"
eastmidswhizzkid wrote:the proof of the pudding is in the eating...take a look around you here: no trollish behaviour at the minute, and most often never. thats not to say we dont get it now and again but we must be doing something right.
Yup. It is so noticable just how decent heartlanders are compared to some others - we are so fortunate
eastmidswhizzkid wrote:the proof of the pudding is in the eating...take a look around you here: no trollish behaviour at the minute, and most often never. thats not to say we dont get it now and again but we must be doing something right.
thanks lee
i've always believed a community takes it's queues from the behaviour and attitudes of it's "leaders", which is why i've always ensured we have decent, level headed mods
also, i think sisters fans tend naturally towards being a bit more...well... better than everyone else due to our impeccable music tastes
What’s the difference between a buffalo and a bison?
