Bigots, Badmouths and Bashers

The term for these people is "trolls," and they are prevalent throughout the 'net. And you are perfectly right -- what they want is to start a fight, and ignoring them is the best thing to do. Unfortunately, most people can't seem to take that attitude, and incorrectly engage them instead.

That natural inclination is difficult to ignore....but I will give it a try.

Trolls....lol....I agree. :O)

Sometimes I try to ignore them, but my passion for the subject sometimes overtakes me and I have got to speak out. I know that sometimes my passion incites numerous folks to direct their anger at me, but I guess that just comes with the territory of writing my views. I am still amazed at how a discussion can become so inflamed. After citing some observances and actual conversations of others, I was labeled quite rapidly as a racist. I'm not, and I felt I had to defend myself. The person yelling the loudist was the other person who threw out the slander, but I did remain calm and suggested she deal with her anger as I wasn't the one who brought it out. I feel people who attack others here in gather have nothing to bring to the discussion and you can pretty well pick them out.
Oh, another thing I'd like to bring out here. How can you label a person a racist when you don't even know them? Our family, of which we are very proud, has a muliticultural family, German, Hispanic, and a brand new baby Chinese girl! We love them all.

I agree....some people have to much time on their hands.

LOL. (i.e., dogs barking, vacuums running)

Sometimes you don't know you are engaging a troll until after you've responded to something absurd.

Yesterday, a Gatherer slandered an entire religion by saying, straight out, that it promoted prostitution (gay and straight) to line the priest's pockets.

Like a dummy, I rose the bait. He's still on that thread, defining terms, couching explanations and making excuses, as if the initial volley wasn't enough.

Ignore is good advice, and I'll reiterate my suggestion that Gather allow us to "ignore" certain people. It doesn't keep them from yapping, but this "ignore" feature would hide their comments from our view.

Delphi does this, and it's the only way I can participate in some of their rowdier political forums.

Thanks for providing the correct terminology David. Gather is a great place for expressing differing opinions Barbara and sometimes passion does give rise to battles and disagreements. What I object to is the ongoing nastiness and comments with no value except to make people uncomfortable or incite cyber riots

Sure is good to see/hear people who feel as I do! I always felt that ignoring was the smart thing to do, but sometimes I worried that I was being a coward by not speaking out. Now I see that I was just being wise! LOL

Truly though, responding and/or trying to 'reason' with such ignorance is futile.

But . . . trolls . . . I always liked trolls . . . the animated kind in the cartoons my grandchildren watched. Could we find a nastier icon? :-)

Good article and the way to handle it is correct.

Silence=complicity. So true. I think fact-busting is a great idea. It may "stir things up", but, in the end, those who post bigoted, racist, bashing remarks will be spotlighted as what they are.

I think you make my point Clay. I like to hear differing points of view and frequently start discussions that have multiple sides and a variety of input. But there's a difference between healthy debate and negative hurtful battering and bashing. BTW I love your approach of attacking with the facts.

I'm an avid supporter of freedom of speech and all the other great American values people have fought and died for. Thanks for you input

Yeah, I try to ignore them too, but as you know, sometimes it's really difficult. :-)

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish genuine trolls from just plain rude people who want to talk but don't really know how to carry on a reasonable discussion. I find myself "tricked" into trying discuss issues, only to discover a couple of interchanges down the thread that the person has absolutely no interest in the kind of conversation Clay describes. Once I figure it out, my new General Rule for Participating at Gather comes into effect: Do not engage with sociopaths or morons.

Internet trolls are immature people who hunger for attention. They tend to starve away if left unfed long enough.

They resemble small children who feel they aren't receiving enough positive attention. If no positive attention is forthcoming, negative attention will do. Witness our religious tract friend from yesterday.

Amy George, it said the article was unavailable, that I did not have permission to view it?
I agree Linda. the best thing to do is ignore them. The biggest problem is some of them know you feel that way, and so deliberately try to entice you into a full blown out rage. Some people just do not get that sometimes it is okay to disagree, they have to conform everyone to their views. I personally don't mind if you agree with me. Just don't tell me off because I have my own views.
I really do wish you could ignore some.

I just reread Amy George's poem and the newbie's comment. I probably would have ignored it, but Ludolf Grolle de Rochefort did a beautiful job of responding.

At first it was difficult to NOT engage with bigots, racists and bullies but I've found they're not worth the time or the bother and apparently some of them don't even realize they're that kind of person so why bother?

Lately I've been avoiding political threads because some people seem to get so angry they rant and rave and make no sense.

yep it is a good way too, only some of them will think they got the last word unfortunately

They're welcome to the last word, Carol as long as I don't have to read it. The last word isn't always the best word. And arguing with someone who isn't smart enough to know that doesn''t serve any useful purpose.

I agree - just ignore it. Some people really do have nothing better to do, and others are just rude. I have people like that in real life, and I wish it was as easy to just ignore them as it is online!

I agree with David they are "trolls" and sadly enough, when I worked for another website, we had a few of them infiltrate the site and cause havoc for the members. There is only so much though that you can do with such "beings".....it seems they appear without notice and without cause...the best recourse I have found is to inform "the powers that be" about the trolls and let them handle the situation. They are much better equipt than mere members to rectify the situation.

Thanks for the view from the inside Susan. So it seems that the best solution might be ignore and report - i.e., don't address the comment on the board, but report the situation to the powers that gather.

An even better solution would be if Gather would permit site owners to remove offensive comments. I think it's idiotic that we have no control over comments on our sites. I'm sure it's somehow related to the "points system" (which I also think idiotic, but I believe I'm in a minority with that opinion) but surely there must be a way for comment points to be registered even if the site owner chooses to delete the comment.

Well said, Linda! Just ignore the spiteful verbal barrage. When an elephant walks majestically down the street, dogs keep barking from far off.

I love your word picture Dolphi!

But the dogs just keep on barking