Should we vote trolls off the island?

Should we vote trolls out of Autopia?

  • Yes, let's do Troll Votes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No, leave it to the mods

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
SuperBee364

SuperBee364

New member
Autopia is such a huge board that it gets it's fair share of trolls. The good ones are able to completely trash threads while staying just inside the borders of acceptable behavior so they don't get banned.



These trolls typically argue about stuff that they have no idea about. Now while that in itself doesn't bother me, what does is that some newb might browse the board, run across the troll's posts, and take their posts as golden. At the least, they could lose a bit of money on a bad or inappropriate product. At the worst, they could end up damaging something.



So here we are, in the height of troll season. The latest troll is busy at work, arguing things way out of his level, and trashing perfectly good threads. But he *is* staying (barely) within the bounds of "acceptable" behavior.



So what can we do about it? Trolls seriously degrade the forums for everyone that participates, and sometimes even run off people that are real assets to the forum.



I would like to petition DavidB to have a "Vote off the Island" poll thread for anyone accused of trolling. Let the Autopian memberhsip vote on whether or not the acused troll gets his butt banned.



Now I'm not suggesting this turn into a popularity contest where there's a hundred Island vote threads active at at time; it's just for people that are known trolls. Right now, there's just one user that I think is worthy of a troll vote.
 
IMO, the easiest way to handle this is the forum's (underused) built-in reputation system. If someone consistently provides poor information (or has a bad attitude), hit the
reputation.gif
button in the bottom left of the post, and give feedback. Soon enough, it will become obvious who the trolls are.



Tort
 
TortoiseAWD said:
IMO, the easiest way to handle this is the forum's (underused) built-in reputation system. If someone consistently provides poor information (or has a bad attitude), hit the
reputation.gif
button in the bottom left of the post, and give feedback. Soon enough, it will become obvious who the trolls are.



Tort
Click to expand...



That's true, Tort, but unfortunately no matter how many red "beans" a troll has, he's still capable of trashing threads. There's been a couple of potentially good threads totally de-railed by the currently raging troll. Red beans or not, their posts are distracting enough to take the thread totally down hill.



Edit: Actually, as it appears the troll du'jour might very well be a shill, this discussion might not be as timely as I thought.
 
TortoiseAWD said:
If someone attracts enough red, they'll get voted off by the moderating crew. ;)



Tort
Click to expand...



Ah, good to know! Looks like we should take your idea of using the rep system a bit more to heart.



I wonder how many people are currently off to click the rep button on someone... :)
 
I dont think the rep system will do much to be honest. By the time someone gets enough bad rep to get voted off by the mod crew, they have already killed whatever thread they posted in.



Personally, I think that whenever someone reports a post, something more should be done about it. I have reported many trolling and shilling posts, and it seems like nothing is ever done.
 
SuperBee364 said:
Right now, there's just one user that I think is worthy of a troll vote.
Click to expand...



craigdt said:
Hmm let me find the rep button for the certain someone...
Click to expand...



Gee, could that person be GoudyL????





Brandon1 said:
I have reported many trolling and shilling posts, and it seems like nothing is ever done.
Click to expand...



I've reported this special someone to the Mods through PM and in thread controls multiple times and from I can see, it's done ZERO (it's actually gotten worse as more time has been allowed to pass without warning) Out of his 300+ posts, he's linked, bolded, highlighted and defended Turtle Wax products to the point of rediculousness atleast 75% of the time if not more. I personally think this abuse has somewhat deminished the credibilty of this forum because it's been allowed to continue so blantanly.



I remember when I 1st joined Autopia back in 2004 and was totally Auto Magic crazy. Soon after, I got a very firm PM from the higher ups telling me "I just reviewed your 50 most recent posts. More than half contain a link to Auto Magic or a plug for their products and no others. Enough with the promotion of Auto Magic! I've had it and I'm sure I'm not alone.". I still have this PM saved this day and since then have attempted to keep an open mind with other products and keep my discussion to the process of detailing rather than so product minded. I'm not sure if the rules have changed since then but there's definately a double standard being allowed.



Can the Mods please comment on this subject and tell us what's being done to preserve the integrity of this forum?
 
I am going to say Autopia is more like a neighborhood bar than an island. For the most part, you have the "regulars" that like to come hang out and are enjoyable to converse with. Every now and then, you get someone with an agenda (shill), or a some punk that is just looking to start trouble (argue). Typically these losers, while annoying, don't tend to last too long before moving on to pester another forum somewhere.
 
I like daves style here. He called it out like he saw it... If you're going to post a post like this at least have the common decency to post up a name. Especially since this thread is directed at a piticuler individual on here. With the concencious of others of the like should follow suite.... I've always hated threads like this that want (and demand action) but never mention who the action is required against. Just dosen't make any sense. If you have an issue with someone and go all the way to "Almost" call them out just call them out and be done with it. if it's gouldy that's an issue say so. If it's someone else let everyone here know....But just be prepared to reap the concequences of the action... Weather it be a simple rebuttle from the accused or a ban over the starting of a flame war that ensue's....But to post up "Hey we have trolls!" but not pointing them out really dosen't help much.
 
David Fermani said:
Gee, could that person be GoudyL????









I've reported this special someone to the Mods through PM and in thread controls multiple times and from I can see, it's done ZERO (it's actually gotten worse as more time has been allowed to pass without warning) Out of his 300+ posts, he's linked, bolded, highlighted and defended Turtle Wax products to the point of rediculousness atleast 75% of the time if not more. I personally think this abuse has somewhat deminished the credibilty of this forum because it's been allowed to continue so blantanly.



I remember when I 1st joined Autopia back in 2004 and was totally Auto Magic crazy. Soon after, I got a very firm PM from the higher ups telling me "I just reviewed your 50 most recent posts. More than half contain a link to Auto Magic or a plug for their products and no others. Enough with the promotion of Auto Magic! I've had it and I'm sure I'm not alone.". I still have this PM saved this day and since then have attempted to keep an open mind with other products and keep my discussion to the process of detailing rather than so product minded. I'm not sure if the rules have changed since then but there's definately a double standard being allowed.



Can the Mods please comment on this subject and tell us what's being done to preserve the integrity of this forum?
Click to expand...

TOUCHE, David
 
Jakerooni said:
I like daves style here. He called it out like he saw it... If you're going to post a post like this at least have the common decency to post up a name. Especially since this thread is directed at a piticuler individual on here. With the concencious of others of the like should follow suite.... I've always hated threads like this that want (and demand action) but never mention who the action is required against. Just dosen't make any sense. If you have an issue with someone and go all the way to "Almost" call them out just call them out and be done with it. if it's gouldy that's an issue say so. If it's someone else let everyone here know....But just be prepared to reap the concequences of the action... Weather it be a simple rebuttle from the accused or a ban over the starting of a flame war that ensue's....But to post up "Hey we have trolls!" but not pointing them out really dosen't help much.
Click to expand...



Jake, I don't have a problem with calling a spade a spade, and I don't back down from a reasonable argument. The reason I didn't use names is because I didn't want the thread de-railled by the person, it's the *process* i'm interested in. For the current troll situation as well as future trolls, because (as David Fermani has said) there hasn't been a lot in the way of troll moderation lately.



Yes, GoudyL *is* the member in question currently, but there will be someone to follow him. Little is accomplished by using a name here, because there is nothing that can be done by stating who it is. So now I've named him. Please tell me what that accomplished toward controlling trolls?
 
Well now that you've mentioned it I now know not to bother with GoudyL's post. See it's very effective... OR maybe now I'll pay attention to his post even more now to see if the information he's blabbing on about is even remotly accurate.
 
I don't care how accurate it is or isn't. That aspect is somewhat entertaining at times. I can't stomach the way almost every one of his posts are like an autistic infomercial for Turtle Wax.



Here's a taste of his typical posts:



GoudyL said:
IMHO if you keep the surface slick, the sap won't stick. :getdown



So what I do is use Turtle Wax ICE, top it with Lucas Slick Mist (which gives the most wonderful silky finish), and then ICE QD + a shop towel can quickly remove any sap droplets that got on the car.



The trick is to use QD every day thus giving you a siliconized surface to which sap won't stick. Otherwise I'd use detailing clay and/or TW Bug and Tar Remover (Liquid, not the spray or the aerosol) to get it off the surface. Stoner's Tarminator is a body solvent that can be helpful as well. It causes sap to swell up and soften, making it more vulnerable to being washed/clayed off.
Click to expand...
 
Jakerooni said:
Well now that you've mentioned it I now know not to bother with GoudyL's post. See it's very effective... OR maybe now I'll pay attention to his post even more now to see if the information he's blabbing on about is even remotly accurate.
Click to expand...



Hmm.. good point.



David Fermani said:
I don't care how accurate it is or isn't. That aspect is somewhat entertaining at times. I can't stomach the way almost every one of his posts are like an autistic infomercial for Turtle Wax.



Here's a taste of his typical posts:
Click to expand...



Yeah, some of his stuff is good for a chuckle, but unfortunately he often derails good threads with his infotainment/infomercials.
 
As much as I agree with you guys, I am dead set against giving the community at large the ability to ban fellow members. I don't think we need lynch mobs here :nervous:
 
rjstaaf said:
As much as I agree with you guys, I am dead set against giving the community at large the ability to ban fellow members. I don't think we need lynch mobs here :nervous:
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Do we have that ablility?
 
I agree, it's not the community's job to ban someone. It's the leader's role based on the community rules they create. When rules, ethics and fairness get twisted, it's human nature for "lynch mobs" to form.
 
weekendwarrior said:
I am going to say Autopia is more like a neighborhood bar than an island. For the most part, you have the "regulars" that like to come hang out and are enjoyable to converse with. Every now and then, you get someone with an agenda (shill), or a some punk that is just looking to start trouble (argue). Typically these losers, while annoying, don't tend to last too long before moving on to pester another forum somewhere.
Click to expand...



Very true.





Since the Eco$mart guy was banned and Flawless doesnt post much anymore, Goudy gets most of the attention.
 
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