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-- This thread is pointless at best and possibly quite annoying

This thread is pointless at best and possibly quite annoying

Okay, I admit that the title is a bit of a ruse, but it does serve as an introduction to a question. Why do people take the time to post in threads that they describe as pointless, boring, or annoying? Could it be that these people don't see the irony of their actions?

Here's a few samples:

"Hell not this thread again. Can't we just let this one die?"

"This thread is stoopid. Don't feed the trolls."

"I hate this thread. I can't believe the mods haven't closed it."


If you craft posts like the examples above I will offer some advice:

1. Do not open the threads that you don't approve of.

2. Do not post in threads that you don't approve of.


I'm sure that many who make these posts have been labeled as "ironic", but apparently that is to vague for them. If there is a specific term for this type of posting please share it with me. If not, I propose creating a hateful label similar to "attention whore", or "troll".



Sample posts are the sole property of Ed G and his affiliates. Unauthorized use of this post will result in pointless posturing and immature name calling. Any resemblance of above examples to posts made by members of TA, or any other internet forums is strictly intentional. No trolls or attention whores were harmed in the making of this post. Had this been an actual emergency you would have been instructed to consume street drugs and play dance music at dangerous volume levels. Prolonged reading may cause redness and swelling. If erection persists longer than 48 hours consult Theresa. Please post responsibly.

This thread sucks.

Re: This thread is pointless at best and possibly quite annoying

quote:

Originally posted by Ed G Why do people take the time to post in threads that they describe as pointless, boring, or annoying?

It's a linguistic phenomena, similar to tactition.

You see something and, as part of a cognitive process, you feel compelled to say exactly what you're seeing. So, complaining about a thread is no different than a child telling you something like "Look, a car!", when both of you clearly know what a car is

Everyone has the right to express their opinions. Thats one of the things I like about this board. So if you want to post in a thread slagging the topic, that doesnt bother me as long as you keep the personal attacks to a minimum.

That said, if you are truly bothere by certain people posting, I think you have some issues I reccomend ignoring them manually or with the ignore feature. One thing Id like Swamper to do is add an ignore button to the bottom of each pesons post, making the process much easier.

If you find someone dumping garbage in your yard, then at the very least you're going to tell them to fuck off and not come back. Well, this forum is the proverbial community "yard" and when people dump "garbage" (shit threads) in it, they can expect to, at the very least, be told that what they are doing is not acceptable... and the simplest way to communicate that message is to post in that thread.

It's a question as old as Swamper himself. You'd best not go down that road friend

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter If you find someone dumping garbage in your yard, then at the very least you're going to tell them to fuck off and not come back. Well, this forum is the proverbial community "yard" and when people dump "garbage" (shit threads) in it, they can expect to, at the very least, be told that what they are doing is not acceptable... and the simplest way to communicate that message is to post in that thread.

I don't think your analogy works very well.

Isn't the best way to deal with trolls and attention whores to ignore them? If everyone did that their threads would just fall off the front page. By making those comments you keep the "garbage" in plain view.

quote:

Originally posted by Ed G I don't think your analogy works very well. Isn't the best way to deal with trolls and attention whores to ignore them? If everyone did that their threads would just fall off the front page. By making those comments you keep the "garbage" in plain view.

And you're effectively reducing the signal:noise ratio by posting your own garbage in response. Yeah, I've run into it a million times as an admin of two other boards.

But hey. You know, whatever. It's just the Internet.

quote:

Originally posted by Ed G I don't think your analogy works very well. Isn't the best way to deal with trolls and attention whores to ignore them? If everyone did that their threads would just fall off the front page. By making those comments you keep the "garbage" in plain view.

Ignoring them works well when the trolls and attention whores are the relatively rare exception. When there are too many of them, and they are keeping each other's threads on the front page by responding to each other, then it doesn't work at all, and the "garbage" isn't going anywhere whether you respond to it or not.

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter Ignoring them works well when the trolls and attention whores are the relatively rare exception. When there are too many of them, and they are keeping each other's threads on the front page by responding to each other, then it doesn't work at all, and the "garbage" isn't going anywhere whether you respond to it or not.

Sure, but at that level it's the mods responsibility to step in.

quote:

Originally posted by Ed G Sure, but at that level it's the mods responsibility to step in.

Agreed. I think that responding to a thread in order to say that the thread does not belong is, unfortunately, one of the few things that a non-mod can.

Obviously, it's not likely to get the offending party to stop what they're doing, but if enough people are complaining then it may encourage the moderators to raise standards or increase enforcement.

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter If you find someone dumping garbage in your yard, then at the very least you're going to tell them to fuck off and not come back. Well, this forum is the proverbial community "yard" and when people dump "garbage" (shit threads) in it, they can expect to, at the very least, be told that what they are doing is not acceptable... and the simplest way to communicate that message is to post in that thread.

yea but on the internet it's a little different because i bet if everyone just ignored the thread...no wait, i don't bet, i KNOW that if everyone ignored the thread, it would get knocked down a few pages and disappear into cyberworld and the thread starter would feel like a dumbass because no one paid attention to his/her stupid little thread. i think that's what his point was. if you ignore, it will go away...simple as that.


and if there's a pattern of ignoring a certain poster's useless threads, they will probably get the hint eventually and go away as well

This thread sucks, common alt you can do better!!

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter Agreed. I think that responding to a thread in order to say that the thread does not belong is, unfortunately, one of the few things that a non-mod can. Obviously, it's not likely to get the offending party to stop what they're doing, but if enough people are complaining then it may encourage the moderators to raise standards or increase enforcement.

I don't know, it seems painfully obvious to me that the way to fuck over an attention whore is by NOT PAYING ATTENTION to them.

Also, it's not always garbage threads that attract ironic comments like these. Often the person posting the negative comments* seems like someone who disagrees, but who lacks the ability to adequately debate the subject.

*the whiny "this thread sucks" comments

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