trolling trolling trolling (no more) February 15, 2014 10:41 AM Subscribe
My name is Ardiril (aka mischief), and I am an internet troll personality [via NickySkye]. I am not the only troll here. With this post, I remove my option of denial. Who else among you will accept my challenge to change?
For seven years now, the moderators have had my permission to delete any of my comments anywhere on the site.
From the article:
I have been sober, drug-free, and what passes for sane for a few weeks now, and I have given this post much consideration. The first step of recovery is admission. Don't expect shame or apologies from me; such emotive expressions wouldn't be real.
Side note: The crap from the Usenet days under my real name is far worse than anything here or on the former Plastic.
Discuss. Concretely or abstractly.
For seven years now, the moderators have had my permission to delete any of my comments anywhere on the site.
From the article:
machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others)... or (e) all of the above. [Yup!]
narcissism (egotism and self-obsession) [in spades, no less, for my part]
psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy)
sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others)
I have been sober, drug-free, and what passes for sane for a few weeks now, and I have given this post much consideration. The first step of recovery is admission. Don't expect shame or apologies from me; such emotive expressions wouldn't be real.
Side note: The crap from the Usenet days under my real name is far worse than anything here or on the former Plastic.
Discuss. Concretely or abstractly.
Is this part of a 12-step program?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:47 AM on February 15, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:47 AM on February 15, 2014 [4 favorites]
What do you want to achieve with this thread?
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:48 AM on February 15, 2014 [21 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:48 AM on February 15, 2014 [21 favorites]
I can't think of anything good coming from this post.
posted by Houstonian at 10:48 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Houstonian at 10:48 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
i don't know why this has to be a big deal - i told people here years ago i was one of the infamous usenet meowers
posted by pyramid termite at 10:51 AM on February 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 10:51 AM on February 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
Oh, relax, dear. Ardiril! At least you use caps.
posted by Zenabi at 10:53 AM on February 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Zenabi at 10:53 AM on February 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
YHBT. HAND.
posted by pyramid termite at 10:54 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 10:54 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
For seven years now, the moderators have had my permission to delete any of my comments anywhere on the site.
I am not sure what this is supposed to mean. That's not a point of special negotiation or something we need permission from you on; we delete comments if they need deleting. If you're trying to suggest that having declared your permission at some point in the past somehow makes it "okay" to be deliberately operating in bad faith, that's pretty badly mistaken.
I seriously don't know what to make of this post, other than (a) hey, I'm genuinely happy for you at a person-to-person level if you're saying you're trying to actively change your behavior for the better, but (b) "I've been deliberately trolling for years now but routinely misrepresenting that to the mods while they've been trying to work with my crappy behavior in good faith" is basically declaring your desire to be banned for good and forever from this site.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:00 AM on February 15, 2014 [82 favorites]
I am not sure what this is supposed to mean. That's not a point of special negotiation or something we need permission from you on; we delete comments if they need deleting. If you're trying to suggest that having declared your permission at some point in the past somehow makes it "okay" to be deliberately operating in bad faith, that's pretty badly mistaken.
I seriously don't know what to make of this post, other than (a) hey, I'm genuinely happy for you at a person-to-person level if you're saying you're trying to actively change your behavior for the better, but (b) "I've been deliberately trolling for years now but routinely misrepresenting that to the mods while they've been trying to work with my crappy behavior in good faith" is basically declaring your desire to be banned for good and forever from this site.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:00 AM on February 15, 2014 [82 favorites]
As hobbies go, I guess trolling is cheaper than, say, rock climbing, and less space-intensive than collecting stuff, but maybe a nice low-impact activity like yoga or pilates would be healthier.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:03 AM on February 15, 2014 [23 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 11:03 AM on February 15, 2014 [23 favorites]
These are exciting times!
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 11:03 AM on February 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 11:03 AM on February 15, 2014 [6 favorites]
maybe a nice low-impact activity like yoga or pilates would be healthier
Yogalates?
posted by zombieflanders at 11:06 AM on February 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
Yogalates?
posted by zombieflanders at 11:06 AM on February 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
I have been sober, drug-free, and what passes for sane for a few weeks now...The first step of recovery is admission.
Having been on the receiving end of trolling elsewhere, my loving encouragement to you in your recovery process.
posted by nickyskye at 11:07 AM on February 15, 2014 [7 favorites]
Having been on the receiving end of trolling elsewhere, my loving encouragement to you in your recovery process.
posted by nickyskye at 11:07 AM on February 15, 2014 [7 favorites]
More signal and less noise is always a good thing.
posted by jquinby at 11:10 AM on February 15, 2014
posted by jquinby at 11:10 AM on February 15, 2014
If you think that you've been a troll in the past and want to stop, that's great. But just stop being a troll. I don't really understand the point of this post and hope that it doesn't become a thing. You don't get extra points for not behaving like a jerk. That's the expected baseline.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:11 AM on February 15, 2014 [22 favorites]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:11 AM on February 15, 2014 [22 favorites]
Those of is who we're paying attention didn't require this meta. We knew you were a troll all along.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 11:12 AM on February 15, 2014 [11 favorites]
posted by to sir with millipedes at 11:12 AM on February 15, 2014 [11 favorites]
relax. there is only everything.
posted by philip-random at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't understand this.
posted by rtha at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by rtha at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2014 [3 favorites]
Maybe you can talk about why you did it, why you have given it up and why you think other trolls should stop as well. Or not, whatever.
posted by cashman at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by cashman at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
DNFTT
posted by neroli at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by neroli at 11:14 AM on February 15, 2014 [4 favorites]
while they've been trying to work with my crappy behavior in good faith
Wow, the mods are much more lenient than I thought. You all really didn't know?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:17 AM on February 15, 2014
Wow, the mods are much more lenient than I thought. You all really didn't know?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:17 AM on February 15, 2014
(a) hey, I'm genuinely happy for you at a person-to-person level if you're saying you're trying to actively change your behavior for the better, but (b) "I've been deliberately trolling for years now but routinely misrepresenting that to the mods while they've been trying to work with my crappy behavior in good faith" is basically declaring your desire to be banned for good and forever from this site.
This is exactly where I am. You've gotten a lot of good faith "Well maybe he's just having a bad day, I know he's got a lot of stuff on his plate" moderator decisions from us. Do you want to stay? If so, this is as good a time as any to tell you that now that we know you're fully cognizant that what you have been doing looks like trolling, we'll be using the usual anti-troll strategies. Sometimes our presumptions of good faith go too far, now seems to be one of those times.
For seven years now, the moderators have had my permission to delete any of my comments anywhere on the site.
Spare us, we don't need your permission.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:19 AM on February 15, 2014 [46 favorites]
This is exactly where I am. You've gotten a lot of good faith "Well maybe he's just having a bad day, I know he's got a lot of stuff on his plate" moderator decisions from us. Do you want to stay? If so, this is as good a time as any to tell you that now that we know you're fully cognizant that what you have been doing looks like trolling, we'll be using the usual anti-troll strategies. Sometimes our presumptions of good faith go too far, now seems to be one of those times.
For seven years now, the moderators have had my permission to delete any of my comments anywhere on the site.
Spare us, we don't need your permission.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:19 AM on February 15, 2014 [46 favorites]
This could, in itself, be a method of trolling.
posted by ardgedee at 11:19 AM on February 15, 2014 [63 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 11:19 AM on February 15, 2014 [63 favorites]
The first step of recovery is admission.
No, the first step is stopping. Loudly declaring "I've stopped trolling" in order to stir the pot and get people paying more attention to you is still just trolling.
posted by RogerB at 11:20 AM on February 15, 2014 [76 favorites]
No, the first step is stopping. Loudly declaring "I've stopped trolling" in order to stir the pot and get people paying more attention to you is still just trolling.
posted by RogerB at 11:20 AM on February 15, 2014 [76 favorites]
If this is part of making amends, you're doing it wrong.
Which means it's not, and this is more trolling.
I think it's time for you to go, and I hope the mods are able to lock down all of your sock puppets through assiduous use of IP-logging.
posted by anotherpanacea at 11:22 AM on February 15, 2014 [4 favorites]
Which means it's not, and this is more trolling.
I think it's time for you to go, and I hope the mods are able to lock down all of your sock puppets through assiduous use of IP-logging.
posted by anotherpanacea at 11:22 AM on February 15, 2014 [4 favorites]
This thread should be closed. Anyone paying attention knew Ardiril was a troll, albeit not a very good one.
posted by winna at 11:23 AM on February 15, 2014 [9 favorites]
posted by winna at 11:23 AM on February 15, 2014 [9 favorites]
I am perplexed by this MeTa. The charitable part of me wants to believe it's a good-faith attempt to "come clean" and perhaps encourage others to do so as well - with the end goal being a decrease in trollish behaviour across the site.
But the lack of a clearly stated purpose, combined with the fact that trolling is basically attention-seeking behaviour ... leads me to conclude that this is, in fact, just another form of attention seeking. And while that makes me sad for you, it also makes it impossible for me to regard any of your interactions, past or future, as good-faith.
I hope you'll come back and explain yourself further, but tend to suspect that's unlikely.
posted by dotgirl at 11:24 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
But the lack of a clearly stated purpose, combined with the fact that trolling is basically attention-seeking behaviour ... leads me to conclude that this is, in fact, just another form of attention seeking. And while that makes me sad for you, it also makes it impossible for me to regard any of your interactions, past or future, as good-faith.
I hope you'll come back and explain yourself further, but tend to suspect that's unlikely.
posted by dotgirl at 11:24 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'd be interested in actually seeing a challenge or call to change from Ardiril.
posted by carsonb at 11:26 AM on February 15, 2014
posted by carsonb at 11:26 AM on February 15, 2014
You all really didn't know?
Define know. We know that lots of folks have various degrees and kinds of difficulty figuring out how to not interact in crappy ways on Mefi and with the Metafilter community. People vary; some folks want something from the site other than what they're getting, or have temper problems, or get set off by things and type before they think, or they're dealing with anger/impulse issues as a transient symptom of real-life-shit or as a matter of general disposition, or are reflexive anti-authoritarians to the point where butting heads with even community website practices in places they actually want to hang out seems righteous, or or or. There's a lot of shit people struggle with while otherwise apparently really wanting to be here and making an actual (if not always successful) good-faith effort to meet us halfway.
So, we work with people. And ultimately we trust people to do the base minimum decent thing and not pointedly waste our time and everyone else's on this site, and at least be honest about what they're dealing with. Trolling's largely a matter of intent, and we can't read minds. Someone acting like they're trying is, basically, someone trying as far as we can tell from outside their head, even if they seem to be trying and failing, and we try to work with that.
"Well, I was actually just straight trollin'" obviously puts the kibosh on that bit of hope-in-humanity when it happens, though, yes.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:26 AM on February 15, 2014 [24 favorites]
Define know. We know that lots of folks have various degrees and kinds of difficulty figuring out how to not interact in crappy ways on Mefi and with the Metafilter community. People vary; some folks want something from the site other than what they're getting, or have temper problems, or get set off by things and type before they think, or they're dealing with anger/impulse issues as a transient symptom of real-life-shit or as a matter of general disposition, or are reflexive anti-authoritarians to the point where butting heads with even community website practices in places they actually want to hang out seems righteous, or or or. There's a lot of shit people struggle with while otherwise apparently really wanting to be here and making an actual (if not always successful) good-faith effort to meet us halfway.
So, we work with people. And ultimately we trust people to do the base minimum decent thing and not pointedly waste our time and everyone else's on this site, and at least be honest about what they're dealing with. Trolling's largely a matter of intent, and we can't read minds. Someone acting like they're trying is, basically, someone trying as far as we can tell from outside their head, even if they seem to be trying and failing, and we try to work with that.
"Well, I was actually just straight trollin'" obviously puts the kibosh on that bit of hope-in-humanity when it happens, though, yes.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:26 AM on February 15, 2014 [24 favorites]
if he doesn't have anything further to say, and he's had lots of time to say it, then i don't know what the point is of keeping this open
posted by pyramid termite at 11:26 AM on February 15, 2014
posted by pyramid termite at 11:26 AM on February 15, 2014
except, of course, i can link to al wilson's words of wisdom on a similar matter
posted by pyramid termite at 11:31 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 11:31 AM on February 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
His account is disabled.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 11:32 AM on February 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by to sir with millipedes at 11:32 AM on February 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ok, we have talked this over and Ardiril's account is banned. If he wants to turn over a new leaf in the future, BND option applies with the usual caveat that the old behavior will result in a swift ban. I'm going to close this up.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:33 AM on February 15, 2014 [45 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:33 AM on February 15, 2014 [45 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pyramid termite at 10:44 AM on February 15, 2014 [16 favorites]