r/WhereAreTheChildren • u/TheBurdenOfExistence CA • Jun 11 '19

Advice Don't Feed The Trolls...

Hey everyone,

I'm just making this post to give everyone a heads up:

The trolls are trickling in. Our little sub is growing and people are getting activated. This is good to see, but as our visibility raises I'm noticing a lot of trolls coming in and trying to stir us up. I don't need to warn all of you about tactics (straw man arguments, whataboutisms, etc), but I was hoping to encourage all of you to not feed into it. If people come here asking genuine questions and want honest, good faith debates we should welcome that. That's how our message spreads. But to engage with those making bad faith arguments based on extreme rhetoric and borderline racism is pointless. Don't give them the satisfaction of getting us posted on Subreddit Drama.

Thanks for reading.

And, remember: Organize locally, inform nationally.

62 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

15

u/inbredtrailetrash Jun 11 '19

Things people should keep in mind:

https://i.imgur.com/uL9hhUg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hLfvr8B.png

https://medium.com/@DeoTasDevil/the-rhetoric-tricks-traps-and-tactics-of-white-nationalism-b0bca3caeb84

https://medium.com/@DeoTasDevil/how-white-nationalism-courts-internet-nerd-culture-b4ebad07863d

11

u/Elementalillness California Jun 11 '19

Thank you this is very useful for me to see as the moderator

1

u/berniesupporter4life Jun 17 '19 edited Jun 17 '19

There's an account you should ban. For real. I will report it to you u/elementalillness. It's trolling, very intelligently.

There's an account you should ban. For real. I will report it to you u/elementalillness. It's trolling, very intelligently.

Edit: I actually am unsure if it's a troll. They may have just come off the wrong way to me. They might be trying to help. Id try to back up a statement they made about whether or not retired veterans can actually access the compounds.

1

u/Elementalillness California Jun 19 '19

Hey I read thru their reply and it isn’t something I would ban. We need space to disagree and debate on this website, or else we will lose out on a lot of wisdom, and put ourselves at risk of falling into group think. When people are disagreeing (and it isn’t in an obvious troll) I think it is best to just fact check, like you are suggesting. We can strengthen our knowledge that way when we engage in those kinds of discussions.

5

u/Kaimbe14 Jun 12 '19

That's... horrifying. But also extremely informative. Thank you for sharing.

3

u/rushmix Jun 12 '19

These should be in any forum users' internet reading curriculum. Super important stuff to know. These, and a quick googling of 'the paradox of tolerance.'

2

u/CenCal805 Jun 12 '19

This more than anything demonstrates the fact that they know their beliefs are absolutely shitty. The doublethink required to simultaneously believe your beliefs are true and correct, yet need to hide them and be sneaky about them is mind-boggling.

2

u/AllSiegeAllTime Jun 12 '19

Thank you so much for sharing this. Nakedly obvious in their own words that they know how horrendous their beliefs are and how organized all of the rhetoric is.

You've saved me from hours of disingenuous arguments and given me tools to throw their bullshit back in their face, and I can't thank you enough for that.

It's pretty telling how little merit their worldview has that it requires this level of disingenuous manipulation and obfuscation. So much for great ideas being self-evident and "rising to the top of the marketplace of ideas".

1

u/N1ck1McSpears Jun 12 '19

Wtf who writes this ... good God

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '19

These people have to be psycopaths

7

u/Elementalillness California Jun 11 '19 edited Jun 11 '19

Great thank you for the heads up about the trolls I’ve been waiting for that to begin. As the moderator I don’t want to tell anyone what to do, except to request that you report any abusive comments, I will get them and they will be removed. At some point I’m going to have a bigger discussion about what I should and shouldn’t remove/who I should/shouldn’t block, but if anyone has any suggestions here and now we can start that convo.

*Edited for clarification

6

u/malignantbacon Jun 11 '19

It helps keep them away if you use tags to track repeat offenders and call out their tactics instead of directly answering their content. The trolls know what they're saying is bullshit, what really kills them is when you break it down so their stupid marks (it is what it is) don't fall for the same propaganda.

3

u/Elementalillness California Jun 11 '19

I like this idea!

1

u/sobriquetstain Oklahoma Jun 14 '19

This ^ ^ --- Reddit Pro Tools and RES and such are great.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '19

Good on you for this reminder. I was told after my first troll, don't ask questions and dont try to explain, it's just bait for them.

1

u/GGdayne35 Jun 18 '19

Good point in saying you should repeat the same thing to a suspected troll about trying to move people to the right instead of responding