SWH Added. a Problem with Trolls Lately with No Response from Admins.

I responded on another post as well, but I'll copy here:

As I've said before, Moderation is only PART of my job. I spent a fare amount of yesterday deleting posts and blocking email addresses. I got busy with other issues today and addressed the private messages regarding the latest trolls as soon as practicable. I'm also on PST, so things get addressed later in the day for many of you.

But thank you to those who sent me PMs. It is appreciated. The offenders have been blocked and their threads and messages deleted.

I'm sorry for the all the offensiveness you have had to witness from these strange people.

The moderator has taken action. All the troll posts over the weekend have been removed. I also agree that the site uses old computers. So what do you think can be corrected? As with all sites, we do not have to use the site if doing so is difficult. Remember, this site is free. Since you find it helpful, stopping to use it is like "cutting off your nose to spite your face." Why allow people to upset you?

A comment about pm threats.It is not illegal to make threats until the person takes a substantial step towards following through On the threat.
Yes, being threatened is unpleasant. You are fortunate that you've not been threatened enough to take it in stride. I can't think of any way the trolls threats could take place. The bits of information you put on line will not help to find you. People who make threats usually feel powerless. The trolls and members who made threats made the threats in anger and should not be taken seriously Just as some posts are not serious.

Really, these are idle threats by someone who doesn't know you. I have dealt often wiith people who have been threatened by people who know them.Rarely does anyone follow through. In my 20 years as a police officer I only was aware of one threat that we considered serious. And that one was not carried out.

It's best to ignore the threat. It was made by a troll or someone who didn't agree with you. Really, do you think this immature person who writes to inflame will spend the time to find you? By getting upset, the troll has won. You are now inflamed. As to those who take offense to answers, they are angry and usually flounce. We don't want them here, anyway.

About BBB they work to protect the consumer. Since no money has changed hands they would not take a report. I suggest that many of us spend too much Energy and time better spent elsewhere. The angry people don't deserve such attention. When we get upset we're giving our power to them by responding in the way they want you to respond.

If everyone will stop commenting on the trolls posts they will go away. That is it. Stop complaining about them. They love it. Just ignore and move on. No one has to click on the trolls posts. These posts are just as annoying as the trolls posts - they are becoming laughable at this point thus engaging the troll even more.

Mamapedia is nothing more than a social exchange website for a niche community. There is no legal recourse to be taken. The BBB won't care!

Oh my! How much attention do you need? You really added to your title - "SWH added". Who does that? Especially on a post that is so irrelevant.

I don't think it's accurate to say the moderator has not responded. There has not been a post about it, but I'm not seeing any of those troll posts at all, and the private message I received has also disappeared. So I think the moderator did take the reporting seriously and acted thoroughly - unless there's something up there that I missed.

I am keeping a record of the troll names & posts though, because I think some of them keep reappearing with a similar-sounding name. Or once they are deleted, they open up a new account immediately (even under the same name). I'm also keeping track of who comments on another troll post - not the "regulars" but one troll commenting/sending flowers on another troll post. They may be the same person, or they may be 2 friends operating together.

I expect the problem will go away as soon as the spring break is over. I think it will show up again at the start of summer vacation. That's been the pattern in the past. There are always a few "strays" who troll at odd times.

I think just reporting the trolls and NOT commenting on their posts at all, even to say "go away" or "reported", is the best strategy. There will always be a few people who think the trolls are legitimate and go ahead and answer the post (like a serious answer to whether syphilis is still a problem), but we can't stop that. Our posts to alert others that these are trolls are just feeding the trolls, as other members have been suggesting (wisely I think).

I agree the threats are a problem, and I think the strategy proposed by several people to take a screen shot (and decide whether additional reporting is needed) is a good idea.

I also think it's really really interesting that 3 people are already posting that they were part of the group posting joke questions and they thought it was funny and now they are so sorry. Suddenly they finding eloquence and making apologies. I'll be watching those folks for a while - because they're all new accounts. I'm amused that they are giving advice to US to not post any responses and just report them. Hmmmm…..

I have no idea if BBB reporting would have any purpose.

I do think the technology of the site is a huge problem - so antiquated, so many good responses being lost, etc. I also wish we could clean out our in boxes of all the flowers and just see the messages that have regular content. According to MMP, that can't be done. Anything you try to do in that regard doesn't work. So going back to find someone who messaged you is impossible because you have to go through pages and pages of flowers.

What threats were made? You do know for it to be a threat it has to actually have a reasonable chance of happening? I could say I am going to come visit you this weekend, do you really think I could pull that off unless I had a fair bit of money and you gave me your information? So why would you consider it a threat when the person doesn't even use their real name or location?

This site cannot log IP addresses, doesn't verify email addresses, this site with access to more information that even we are could not find a member! Yet you consider what these trolls are doing, threats?

What exactly do you think the BBB does? So what if they have mamapedia listed with an F rating? Have you ever thought oh this site looks interesting, I better check it out with the BBB before I join?

By the way, it has been worse than this, a lot worse. The difference is back then there were two moderators that checked in more often than once a week. These things were removed quickly and most people didn't know they happened.

the trolls have been rampant lately. but i do think the mod has responded, at least to a degree. it's a pity there's only one part-timer, but i doubt the BBB would care about that. MP can hire or not hire as many staffers as it wants.
the only threat i've ever encountered here was from a reg.
law enforcement can't keep up with all the immanent threats let alone the spewings of insane internet personas.
i don't think anyone HAS to ignore the trolls if they enjoy poking and interacting with them, but really, if one doesn't enjoy engaging with them, just ignore them. it would be great if MP would take on the task of combing them out, but no one's forcing anyone to lock horns with them either.
i think the only recourse if one is being seriously threatened or upset is to vote with one's feet.
khairete
S.

I think that the problem is that now we only have one moderator. We used to have more. So she IS pretty busy for having a part time job. When she wrote us a while back after an onslaught of trolls, she was pretty harsh to us, removing posts on her OWN thread from some of our long time regulars because they dared to take her to task for not doing what they perceived as her job. (And I'm not talking about flaming her. She had no business removing those posts.) She was very defensive, adding to her SWH over and over fussing at us. (And this is the kind of thing she usually deletes from original posters who yell at people they disagree with.)

I expect that she will pull my post too because she won't like what I'm saying. A moderator should be impartial, but she isn't. So, if you do complain to BBB, expect blow-back. She will hold you accountable, I believe.

If we are careful in our profile and answers to not give too much private information we can protect ourselves. Threats can be made but in reality, how can they be carried out?

This site is a business that makes MONEY via selling ads source.
(And most likely mining your info for data and selling it.)
Only way to make a valid statement is leave the site.

IMO, the BBB would not be effective for our concerns. Not all companies belong to the BBB and it's for issues with services paid for, not "free forum and annoying trolls".

I ignore them. I've seen posts disappear after reports. It just takes time.

Seriously?? You are being ridiculous

This troll "problem" has nothing to do with the moderators or the site. It's all about people responding to their stupid posts. IMO, anyone who responds to the trolls posts are just as ridiculous. Stop responding.

The moderator wrote me back pretty quick and the offending person was removed.

Also my friend reminded me that i needed to remove my kiddos pictures and that i have to be careful of personal information. So I removed my kids pictures.

I like this site, i like the questions. Many blessings