Feeding the trolls.

[Squirtgunsquirter]

I joined, what, a month ago?

When I did, I went to a bunch of prepper and survivalist sites, and I was looking for a few things.

Dates on threads: Have they been active, are current members posting at least once in a while. Just making sure the site wasn't completely dead.

Cleanliness: Are there Mods on the site, getting rid of (banning) trolls, and the posts that have nothing to do with anything. This is a prepping site, I came here for that. I don't know why the "General" topic even exists, it just invites jerks to post garbage in a place where they can get away with it, where nothing is against the rules. You need a few rules. Otherwise, it's the internet... you are going to get porn links and bots and companies coming in spamming ads for their super secret map of nuclear fallout shelters. If I had come here and seen "I am going to learn to be a ninja" I would never have joined. If I was looking through the threads now, deciding to hit the "register" button, I would pass. The site is full of derailed threads, and political arguments, which is EXACTLY what the "troll" members want. Every single thread, about anything, ends up with a post that throws the thread off topic, and turns it political or just plain stupid.

No it can't ALL be about prepping, but if it's all about ninja's and politics and school shootings on every thread, it's not really about prepping at all. Older threads don't really count, the site could have all the information in the world, and a visitor is only going to notice what a mess the floor is by the front door.

Members: How many know it all, obnoxious jerks are there? There is always going to be one or two, but it was important to me to look around when I joined, and see what kind of people were here. I didn't see very many really hard core A-holes when I joined. I looked around and discovered that Toexist had asked to be removed from the board, and there weren't any recent posts under that name.

Some of the members have been here a long time (DrHenley, grayghost, others) what caused the site to slow down? Because it clearly did. Was it just people leaving prepping in general? Or was it a few members on the site, hijacking every thread, and causing problems that made members throw up their hands and say "not worth the frustration"?

That's my take on it. Who is on the site, and what they are posting, matters. Why would I join a site, knowing that taking the time to research, write up, and post a thread about a prepping subject, is just going to go to waste because the second post in that thread is going to be a provocation, or just plain dumb?

I wouldn't join.

 

[DrHenley]

You asked for my two cents, so here they are:
I am active on three boards. I am an admin on one. This is the most active of the three. Personally I don't like the megaboards as they are too impersonal. I do agree that we need a tad more aggressive moderation, but not too heavy handed. I like having a diverse group of people to talk to as long as they are respectful of my right to have my own opinions.

I personally do better with small groups, and the activity level here is about all I can keep up with. I try to read, or at least skim every discussion daily. When it gets to the point that I can't keep up I start losing interest.

 

[Maverick]

I've been since early 2013, it has its slow periods and it did slow a bit on the prepping side, we have a few keep thing going but many of us are waiting for the younger guest to get involved in the preps. Right now we been engaging in unrelated conversations and I think the politics have consumed the conversations. Political parties have over taken zombies.

This board don't like banning people and for the majority of the discussion has stayed in the guidelines being localized to the correct threads, we have the choice to visit the threads or not. I'll be more than happy to engage in another thread regarding prepping if someone chooses to start one or re-open an topic, a lot of topics have run it course unless someone brings something new to the table?

 

[Psalm7]

Political parties have over taken zombies.

But the Zombies are making a comeback . Gonna try to get home early enough to watch them tonight .
Since 2013 this site has had several indaviduals and groups try to highjack it . A group that I called a street gang of thugs from California and then a SS Officer from the nazi party out of the Mid West. That I can think of at this time .

 

[Brent S]

My take on this is simple. If a topic is useless to you, just don’t read it. If a member is annoying, just hit the ignore option. I to like to skim over the posts daily, and agree we all get off topic some, but that isn’t always a bad thing. Some threads have become more interesting once it’s gone down a different path. Like I said though, it’s really easy to just not bother with reading anything you don’t find interesting or useful.

 

[grayghost668]

TROLLS,,,,,,,,,,,,,no one likes them but face it this is a boring place without them,,,take toexit when he left the place all but died for a while,,,,,if you don't like someone just hit the ignore button or just don't reply,,,,that is pretty easy if you ask me......

I don't read everything on here,it has to tweak my interest or I leave it alone,as forums go this one is pretty good it's not often there are more than 2 trolls here at a time

 

[Proud Prepper]

We could organize threads better. If someone sees a thread somewhere, like in General discusion when it should be in one of the other topic threads, let me know and I can move it. As long as a thread is named acuratly, I think it should stay if its not clearly offensive. This way members can decide to click on it or not.

 

[DrHenley]

I never even noticed that you were a Mod Rellgar.

 

[Silent Earth]

.Deleted post,

 

[bigpaul]

define trolling and define discussion.
I have been accused of being a troll on more than one occasion because my opinions and attitude are not the same as most, especially on most British prepper forums, I do not set out to be confrontational I merely say what I think.
I have been banned from quite a few because of my forthright views
not everyone is the same, it would be a sorry old world if we were.

 

[Proud Prepper]

I never even noticed that you were a Mod Rellgar.

It was a rather recent development. This past week.

 

[DrPrepper]

I am fairly new to this forum. I found there is a vast amount of prepper information. I sit sometimes and just read. Since coming on this site, I have done a lot in the way of prepping. I plan on doing a lot more, but my schedule is pretty busy until about July of this year. I sometimes just sit and read. It is still good to be active and engaged on the site with people. Some of it has to do with prepping, sometimes it is in a round about way, and sometimes it has nothing to do with prepping, but it is a good way to stay active on the site, keep the site alive, and remember to review or add prepping info when you have it.
I like it here.

 

[Maverick]

It was a rather recent development. This past week.

Congrats, I didn’t notice either

 

[Gazrok]

Congrats Rellgar!

 

[Proud Prepper]

Thanks, I think it was needed, having a mod thats online every day. Thank squirtgunsquirter for helping get the ball rolling...

 

[Maverick]

Thanks, I think it was needed, having a mod thats online every day. Thank squirtgunsquirter for helping get the ball rolling...

It was!

 

[Skeeter]

I think there are varying degrees of "trolls." If they are being intentionally rude or mean, then that's a problem and they have no place in any forum. If they are just starting threads that may seem irrelevant to some, or just have off-the-wall takes on stuff, then that's a situation where if it's bothering you just use the ignore function. They aren't really causing any real harm.

 

[Squirtgunsquirter]

I guess I hold SOCNET, the only other forum where I am a regular member, as the gold standard of forums. If you are going to claim prior military service, let alone Special Forces service of any type, you are going to be vetted, you will need to show proof of service. That can be from another member who served with you, it can be a copy of your DD214 (or foreign service equivalent) or by listing your "class" number. People who are posing don't get in the door. When I joined, I was invited by a vetted SF member, and I was not claiming prior SF service so I was not required to produce a DD214. However... I don't post there. I only read. Without the BTDT tag, I have nothing to add to any conversation on tactics or training, even though I have spent years shooting with and training with a BTDT member on the site. Point being, I have to be very careful, I am a guest, and if I screw up I will be banned, and my friend's reputation in the community would be hurt by his association with me. It is a harsh place, because the people there really do the things they speak of, and have no tolerance for fools.

However, here, anyone can literally say anything. Drt4lfe was quick to jump on me in another thread, and did so correctly IMO. I have no problem being held to a higher standard if I am going to chime in certain subjects, and I should have been more careful with my wording.

And it speaks to credibility. Obviously, credibility is more important some places than others. I would argue, however, that we do talk about some pretty important real world things on this site. Small unit tactics, home defense, things are normally part of military training such as land nav, small arms, comms, survival in hostile environments... the list is long.

Is it a joke? Or isn't it? Sure, I can ignore a member, and maybe other members have the background or training or common sense to recognize bad advice, or bad tactics, or just plain not-quite-to-the ban-level tomfoolery. But it is on the site. If you are against banning or closing threads, eventually you end up with a member who has a tag like "prepping god" or "VIP member" who lists their favorite weapon as "eye poke" or something equally silly. If there is no one stepping in and saying "hey, that's such bad advice it can't be left here" or "that just doesn't belong on a prepping site" then you end with the site itself, overall, being not reliable.

If you were going to have a loved one, a son or daughter, go take a class on "land nav" and then you discovered the instructor had never actually done it, never used a compass or map or used a counter or ranger beads or whatever to measure distance, would you still think the class was a good idea?

A HAM class by someone who watched one youtube video?

An intermediate rifle class by someone who doesn't understand the difference between semi auto and full auto and bolt action?

Not every subject is serious, of course. But when it is a serious subject, and some members give serious, knowledgeable advice, while some members post provably horrible advice or just derail the thread for fun, or even (worse) derail the thread because they aren't smart enough to understand what they are doing, there should be a way for someone to step in and say "whoa" and set things right.

Otherwise we are expecting folks without the background and solid fundamental knowledge to sort through the haystack to find a needle they may not even know to recognize.

Maybe I'm wrong, and the way to have a great prepping site is too allow anything and everything.

There are two members I would ban instantly if I were a mod, and I would feel like the site was improved by doing it. That's why I didn't ask to be a mod myself, I wanted it to be a long time, solid and more experienced member, so I made some recommendations. I'm not unhappy with the result. I'm not trying to influence any decisions, that's the job of the Mod.

Anyway, I'm honestly fine with being done with the subject. The decisions have been made, I don't have to agree. I can just ignore members, and rely on my own judgement and research to separate good posts and advice from bad posts and advice. It's not that big of a deal. The core members define the site, and I respect their opinions, and listen to what they say when I ask.

So it's all good on this end.

 

[Skeeter]

I don't see why having served in the military would make someone a better member. I reached the rank of Eagle Scout but never joined the military, and feel I have better wilderness survival skills than plenty, or even most military veterans.

 

[Arcticdude]

I don't see why having served in the military would make someone a better member. I reached the rank of Eagle Scout but never joined the military, and feel I have better wilderness survival skills than plenty, or even most military veterans.

Wow Skeet. Something I can finally agree with you about. Military service doesn't necessarily guarantee that someone is an expert in anything.