13 replies to this topic

[jaychant]

What do you think causes people to post nonsense?

I used to be a terrible person on a forum called the SCDB. I posted a lot of nonsense and other stuff that really annoyed other users. So what could be the cause of this? Well, let's look back at my life a little bit:
1. My parents are divorced
2. I had no friends at school
3. I was almost completely unnoticed and felt left out
4. I was recovering from a depression (emotional, not the economic depression. )

Putting those four factors together, I broke. I needed attention somewhere. So to get that attention, I posted spam on the SCDB.

So, Here's what I think:
People feel lonely. They want to fit in somewhere, and they just can't find a place. They need attention, and let's face it, people who post nonsense get much more attention. So they act like fools.

So what are your thoughts?

Notice from saint-michael:

Removed bad language and change topic title

Edited by jaychant, 02 April 2009 - 07:36 PM.

[Alex Cicala]

jaychant, on Mar 26 2009, 10:08 PM, said:

What do you think causes people to be?

I used to be a terrible person on a forum called the SCDB. I posted a lot of nonsense and other stuff that really annoyed other users. So what could be the cause of this? Well, let's look back at my life a little bit:
1. My parents are divorced
2. I had no friends at school
3. I was almost completely unnoticed and felt left out
4. I was recovering from a depression

Putting those four factors together, I broke. I needed attention somewhere. So to get that attention, I posted spam on the SCDB.

So, Here's what I think:
People feel lonely. They want to fit in somewhere, and they just can't find a place. They need attention, and let's face it, people get much more attention. So they act like a fools.



So what are your thoughts?

I think this isn't confessional

Anyway. I think you wanted to Spam because you have no experience in Discussion Board. The whole point of a discussion board is to Discuss, hence the name. About just about any topic, from Wedding plans to What happened in the world today.

Your reasons are slightly valid, although there is no need for Spam.

There are really good things you can do with forums and the internet. You can be whoever you want. In my case, I'm been who I really am, although not giving out personal details. But I know some people who can be famous over nothing in forums over the net. My advice is that you can be someone else to soften the blow on RL events and things that happen to you. When on the internet, relax.

[jaychant]

cicala, on Apr 2 2009, 06:57 AM, said:

I think this isn't confessional

Anyway. I think you wanted to Spam because you have no experience in Discussion Board. The whole point of a discussion board is to Discuss, hence the name. About just about any topic, from Wedding plans to What happened in the world today.

Your reasons are slightly valid, although there is no need for Spam.

There are really good things you can do with forums and the internet. You can be whoever you want. In my case, I'm been who I really am, although not giving out personal details. But I know some people who can be famous over nothing in forums over the net. My advice is that you can be someone else to soften the blow on RL events and things that happen to you. When on the internet, relax.

I'm in total agreement. I'm just trying to explore: Could there be ways to get people to behave more?

As it happens, we do in fact tend to reply more to stupid topics. For example, on the GMC, someone created this topic (and the game) in an attempt to gain attention. It worked; if you read through the topic, you will see that the first reply showed up less than a day later, and subsequent posts showed up within hours (and in some cases within minutes). Four days after the topic's creation, there were almost a hundred replies (93 to be exact).

So, what can be done to stop this from happening? From a realistic standpoint, nothing. There will always be some n00b that just doesn't understand and ridicules the topic, and then everyone else will start following suit.

However, from an idealistic standpoint, everyone would just have to stop posting in nonsense topics and start posting in topics that are good. If you think about it, this can happen. As long as experienced users don't reply to the topics (simply report and move on), the spammer won't get the attention he was seeking, and thus may search for another method to gain attention. If users are posting in good topics more often, attention-seekers would come to the conclusion that he can get attention by creating good, meaningful topics, so he would have no real reason to spam.

[rogerthecamel]

I just had a read over your link from GMC, and I guess I can understand why some people do it, although probably not all of them. I think posting something like that horrible game (I didn't actually try it) is an interesting exercise in seeing how worked up some people can get over something not worth their time. The problem as I see it isn't the person making the original post or even the ones replying to it and laughing along with it. It's the people who get so obviously worked up over something that is clearly some kind of joke and they have no real business caring about. I've never done it myself but I do usually find them funny to read over as the people who are in on the joke are clearly invoking a reaction that exceeds what it should. Its the user reactions that keep these trollers/spammers alive, they do it for the entertainment.

[networker]

I think people post nonsense only because they have way too much free time and
nothing better to do.
Maybe they should spend more time reading,that way they can learn knowledge
which they recycle and spew out again in new ways and actually have something to say.

[rogerthecamel]

Id say not everyone who does it is seeking attention or is just bored. I mean the responses invoked from some people on these forums are really just amazing. I mean to receive threats of death for posting in a Linux forum that Linux will never be as powerful and flexible as windows is just astounding. I mean they are just operating systems and there are many people out there who honestly hold that opinion. Its the same reason some people tease or hassle others, because people react so badly and that is entertaining. I'm not sure why it is, but it just is. And I am sure these people aren't full time nonsense spammers, they probably spend the rest of their time doing their school homework or playing on their xbox.

[Tenshi]

I think the author nailed the situation right on its head perfectly for I too believe that when there is something lacking from the inside we tend to beg for some attention on the outside. Especially the ones who flame online, they enjoy the power of anonymity and the lack of language control, they feel that they are smarter just because they can get a person to shut up using expletives but I find those kind of people idiotic. There are also some people who get overly obsessed with their online HOBBY and can turn violent/offensive when challenged.

What we need to do is either completely delete the topic along with the replies or else ban/warn the person opening spam topics. Pranksters enjoy the feeling of having duped someone so more the replies even if they are flames, the more fun the spammer is enjoying.

[rogerthecamel]

I don't think that these threads should be deleted, people need to learn to care less about someone purposefully trying to wind them up on a public anonymous forum. And until they do these posts will keep appearing and we'll all know that the problem still exists.

[Tenshi]

rogerthecamel, on May 21 2009, 12:01 AM, said:

I don't think that these threads should be deleted, people need to learn to care less about someone purposefully trying to wind them up on a public anonymous forum. And until they do these posts will keep appearing and we'll all know that the problem still exists.

The reason why we should delete the topic is because it is gonna affect the forum's reputation and ranking. And knowing members in their bid to sound smart or earn credit they will post in the topic thus starting the cycle no matter how much you try to curb it.

[rogerthecamel]

Yeah, well in a forum like this wear posts contribute to a credit system then more control over spam is always a good idea. But I mean in general forums, its best just to leave it be unless it is hugely offensive/damaging or it becomes so common that 1 in every few posts is a troll. The example given by JayChant is a pretty tame example of something that shouldn't be reactively deleted.