Can we have this shot down?

July 6, 2005 12:30 PM

This post (http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/43307) is spreading a malignant internet troll. Could it be shot down, please?
posted by TimothyMason to Etiquette/Policy at 12:30 PM (34 comments total)

I am sure the poster did not know what s/he was doing, but the originator of this particular nasty story has been seeding it all over the web. It's a troll.
posted by TimothyMason at 12:33 PM on July 6, 2005

Flag it.
posted by OmieWise at 12:35 PM on July 6, 2005

also, learn your a href b c's
posted by quonsar at 12:41 PM on July 6, 2005

yeah, that's kind of lame. looks like a giant bunch of incoherent rants.

and not in a good way.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:41 PM on July 6, 2005

also, learn your a href b c's

So it's OK to visit the thread? I figured TimothyMason did it that way so that people wouldn't click the link and catch an STD in their BIOS. (Guess I'll check it out via RSS.)
posted by If I Had An Anus at 1:45 PM on July 6, 2005

It's not a virus or anything -- just a bunch of nonsense. Click away.
posted by Mid at 2:00 PM on July 6, 2005

That shit's harder to read than TimeCube.

As far as I can sum it up, some paranoid possibly-psuedo-PHD named J. Wyatt Ehrenfels who talks about himself in the third person more than the TimeCube guy discovered that Usenet is full of trolls and assholes, and decided to write about 65 million words about it.

J. Wyatt Ehrenfels paying for an account and twisting our brains with 100,000 wordcount posts in 3... 2... 1...
posted by loquacious at 3:04 PM on July 6, 2005

I don't understand why this got deleted. Perhaps it's not as pithy as TimeCube, but it's certainly as interesting as the average post. Has Metafilter become so boring that we can't appreciate the Internet's more insane contributors?

Yes, it's babble, and perhaps trolling. And? I think insanity this voluminous deserves a thread on MetaFilter.
posted by y6y6y6 at 3:46 PM on July 6, 2005

Sometimes a cigar is only a cigar, now go fetch me a Pepsi Blue you damn librulz ! Eww !
posted by elpapacito at 4:07 PM on July 6, 2005

I don't think it should have been deleted either, unless by deleting it we're hoping to attract J. Wyatt Ehrenfels so he can come infect us with his virulent brain-virus virus.
posted by loquacious at 4:08 PM on July 6, 2005

That's not voluminous insanity. This is voluminous insanity.
posted by grouse at 4:15 PM on July 6, 2005

Another vote for non-deletion. I mean, c'mon, "spreading a malignant internet troll?" Is the average MeFite really going to see that site as anything but another whacked out internet rant? That site was good comedy.

"I am sure the poster did not know what s/he was doing"

I can say the same about this MeTa post.
posted by eyeballkid at 4:33 PM on July 6, 2005

Is "bunch of crazy sounding rants" the right term to leave in a closed thread? It doesn't really explain anything. There are plently of crazy sounding rants linked to around here, maybe the reasons for closure could be set terms, drop-down menu style? Or not have reasons at all.
posted by fire&wings at 4:35 PM on July 6, 2005

fire&wings: We've had "um..." as a reason for closure before. Trust me, "bunch of crazy sounding rants" is extremely explanatory, both in comparison to "um..." and considered by itself.
posted by Bugbread at 5:35 PM on July 6, 2005

um...
posted by OmieWise at 5:43 PM on July 6, 2005

I just wanted to see how it felt.
posted by OmieWise at 5:43 PM on July 6, 2005

Speaking of which: I freely believe that the originator is spreading this around the net, but is it actually a troll? Is it really intended solely to rile people up and enjoy their reactions?
posted by Bugbread at 5:47 PM on July 6, 2005

That's it, I'm calling the RCMP.
posted by dreamsign at 12:08 AM on July 7, 2005

This troll, it vibrates?
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:30 AM on July 7, 2005

I was the first person to bash on the post and I feel a little guilty about this pile on. I do think that the rant makes a fine "oh my god, look at these nitwits" sort of post as well as a good jumping-off point for a discussion about public forums on the internet and what we choose to do or not do with them and why.

So I'm opposed to the deletion. (But then, I am, as a rule, opposed to all deletions.)
posted by Clay201 at 1:42 AM on July 7, 2005

But then, I am, as a rule, opposed to all deletions.

OK. How about these twin superstars, one minute apart, then?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:21 AM on July 7, 2005

Alright, never mind. One's OK, and inevitable, if the blowups in Londong are as big and bad as they look to be at this early stage, but two threads is still one too many.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:40 AM on July 7, 2005

[/derail]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:43 AM on July 7, 2005

We love you anyway stav - don't feel bad.
posted by longbaugh at 3:10 AM on July 7, 2005

Thanks, longbaugh. I feel a bit of a prick, anyway, which will teach me a lesson, I guess. Hope you and yours are well.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:34 AM on July 7, 2005

Dick.
posted by bardic at 6:07 AM on July 7, 2005

I'm sorry? Was that directed at me?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:19 AM on July 7, 2005

Yes. Absolutely.
posted by bardic at 7:03 AM on July 7, 2005

Whilst I am sure stav can defend himself bardic, there was no need for that. Stav isn't a dick and although he has labelled himself a (bit of a) prick above for leaping to a conclusion he doesnt need you jumping on him. There really isn't a point to being offended by his double call out so let's all stay friends hmm?
posted by longbaugh at 2:48 PM on July 7, 2005

Where the fuck do you get off, bardic, you gnat-ass little douchebag? Have the goddamn gonads to at least tell us why you think I'm such a dick, why don't you, before you flit off back to your lair? You'll note, of course, the time stamps on my comments above, to which I presume you're referring, and that I made them when there were only 4 or 5 comments in the long London threads, before I, or anyone else, had any idea that this was anything of any import. I jumped the gun, I'm not prescient, but that does not a bad person make me.

And how exactly does saying that two threads on the same news event, within minutes of one another, make me a dick, anyway?

So fuck you, son, for crapping on me after I admitted an honest mistake. Real classy. But I nonetheless invite you to elucidate, that I may learn from someone who so clearly feels himself to be my better.

[/pre-coffee harsh]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:32 PM on July 7, 2005

For what it's worth, though, I'd rather be a dick than an asshole.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:42 PM on July 7, 2005

Anyone wanna dance?
posted by Balisong at 6:37 PM on July 7, 2005

I'll explain myself to a point: I was pretty fucking overwhelmed this morning. I admit to missing the time tags. I hadn't had my coffee either. So I'll accept my trip to the dunce corner.

But watching you play yourself? Priceless.
posted by bardic at 10:41 PM on July 7, 2005

Hi guys, Just discovered this discussion about the deleted link. I'm sincerely sorry to have posted something not acceptable to MetaFilter.

Ehrenfels posted his link in a psychology group I belong to. I had no idea he had spammed a bunch of groups with his postings. I went to his site and thought his rants were interesting for the following reasons:

a) The subject of cyberstalking in online groups and stories of others who have been cybserstalked interested me. I thought it might be a heads up to anybody who didn't know about cyberstalking,which I do think happens more frequently in the online mental health and psychology groups than other forums. I've been cyberstalked, which ended up becoming offline stalking. There isn't that much interesting reading on the net about online group cyberstalking.

b) According to Ehrenfels, it sounded like a bunch of cyberstalkers seem to focus on psychologists and that seemed interesting.

c) Ehrenfel's rant re Google's take on online defamation seemed interesting for legal reasons.

I genuinely thought others might be interested in the link as well, especially since Ehrenfels said some of the cyberstalkers were professional psychotherapists.

I was an idiot not to think first about the troll factor. Again, I'm really sorry.
posted by nickyskye at 6:29 PM on July 9, 2005