Talk To Forums Trolling

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Boards.ie: Nicola

You're right in saying there has been an upswing in the level of off topic and not so pleasant posts in the Talk to's of late-we have definitely noticed it.

This is the thing with them getting busier, they are attracting a wider audience and therefore becoming a bigger target for trolls.

We've spoken about it here in the office and are being much stricter moderation wise but we can't see everything so if you do see someone messing please please report the post, we look at every single one and will take action where needed.

The guidelines for the Talk to's follow standard forum charters and for the most part this works well-if the problem escalates we may look at it again but in the meantime don't hesitate to report anything you think is out of line.

knucklehead6

Just in relation to this, if you notice a personal insult but are not the target of said insult, is it something we should report?

I mean if i call someone i personally know from 3D world an underbridge dwelling troll in an AH post in a manner that my friend does not take as an insult but just as friendly banter should someone else report it?

Or is it really only the target of the insult that should report things?

My name is URL

People are encouraged to report any post that they feel is problematic or insulting, even if they're not the ones the post is directed at.

Boards.ie: Nicola

knucklehead6 wrote: »

Just in relation to this, if you notice a personal insult but are not the target of said insult, is it something we should report?

I mean if i call someone i personally know from 3D world an underbridge dwelling troll in an AH post in a manner that my friend does not take as an insult but just as friendly banter should someone else report it?

Or is it really only the target of the insult that should report things?

Not at all, we'd encourage you to look out for other members-there might be a variety of reasons as to why a member might not report a post against them so do absolutely report any post you feel is objectionable, regardless of whom it is against.

P. Breathnach

knucklehead6 wrote: »

...
I mean if i call someone i personally know from 3D world an underbridge dwelling troll in an AH post in a manner that my friend does not take as an insult but just as friendly banter should someone else report it?

Or is it really only the target of the insult that should report things?

Suppose that I, a person not known to you and your friend, then enter the thread and say that you are also a troll. By the normal rules of Boards, I am out of order and liable for sanction.

How is my offence different?

If you want to slag your pal in a friendly way, PM is available. Don't muddy the water in the pool in which we all swim.

knucklehead6

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Suppose that I, a person not known to you and your friend, then enter the thread and say that you are also a troll. By the normal rules of Boards, I am out of order and liable for sanction.

How is my offence different?

If you want to slag your pal in a friendly way, PM is available. Don't muddy the water in the pool in which we all swim.

oh i just wanted clarification.

The only reason i mentioned it here is that i noticed an incident of someone calling another user a troll earlier on (coincidentally on one of the talk to forums) and i was considering reporting it. I went back into the thread 5 minutes later and the post had been edited by one of the boards.ie team themselves, so it was obviously noticed.

Orion

Calling someone a troll is personal abuse and it is against pretty much every forum charter. Don't rise to the troll - just report the post and let the mods/admins/hot birds in da office deal with it.

P_1

One thing that I have noticed from a few of the Talk To forums is that the reps seem to give out stock replies.

Now to me that kinda defeats the purpose of having these forums going, as it can only potentially increase the customers frustration towards the companies.

Perhaps a quiet word in the ear of the companies might be in order?

Orim

pithater1 wrote: »

One thing that I have noticed from a few of the Talk To forums is that the reps seem to give out stock replies.

Now to me that kinda defeats the purpose of having these forums going, as it can only potentially increase the customers frustration towards the companies.

Perhaps a quiet word in the ear of the companies might be in order?

It's not boards' place to tell the companies how to run their forums. They offer an outlet for the companies to reach their customer's, that's all.

P_1

Orim wrote: »

It's not boards' place to tell the companies how to run their forums. They offer an outlet for the companies to reach their customer's, that's all.

Maybe I phrased it wrong, I didn't mean for the companies to be told how to run the forums, merely pointing out how the responses could be perceived and how the companies themselves could get more from them without having their reps stick religiously to a script.

Orim

pithater1 wrote: »

Maybe I phrased it wrong, I didn't mean for the companies to be told how to run the forums, merely pointing out how the responses could be perceived and how the companies themselves could get more from them without having their reps stick religiously to a script.

I get you but that's something that each company would have to decide on themselves. I frequent the Curry's and Gamesnash forums, both of which are fantastic because they don't use scripts and in both cases you're talking to a person that is in a position to make changes.

The Vodafone and Three reps on the other hand, appear to be standard customer support and their hands would be tied by procedure. Now this is grating for customer's to see scripting but from a customer support pov, especially for large companies, you need a certain amount of standard procedure.

But my point was that it's outside the scope of feedback for boards as to how the reps reply. That would be an issue for the companies and in question and would be best dealt with in the Talk To forum for whatever company you would wish to see provide better support.

P_1

Orim wrote: »

I get you but that's something that each company would have to decide on themselves. I frequent the Curry's and Gamesnash forums, both of which are fantastic because they don't use scripts and in both cases you're talking to a person that is in a position to make changes.

The Vodafone and Three reps on the other hand, appear to be standard customer support and their hands would be tied by procedure. Now this is grating for customer's to see scripting but from a customer support pov, especially for large companies, you need a certain amount of standard procedure.

But my point was that it's outside the scope of feedback for boards as to how the reps reply. That would be an issue for the companies and in question and would be best dealt with in the Talk To forum for whatever company you would wish to see provide better support.

Agree 100%, it's up to the companies themselves as to how they they want to set up their feedback output to customers.

Ironically enough it was the likes of the Currys and Three forums I was comparing.

Madam_X

What do you mean by trolling OP? E.g. telling the thread-starter they're being too confrontational or don't know fully what they're talking about is not trolling.

Orim wrote: »

It's not boards' place to tell the companies how to run their forums. They offer an outlet for the companies to reach their customer's, that's all.

Boards strikes me as the kind of organisation that would offer advice and do's and don'ts actually, as part of its service - especially for those who are new to social media for business.

RoundyMooney

Yeah, I'd imagine the staff who pop up (seemingly randomly) hereabouts, as well as the mods for the particular fora in question, would be quite fast in clamping down on any messing therein.

I've seen some quite candid criticism of the companies involved at times, and to their credit, the staff left any such discussions run, once the threads didn't cross any lines or turn nasty. So, I can't imagine the boards people turning a blind eye to blatant trollage.

If anything, they're probably too lenient at times, one eejit ended up with a temp siteban recently for badgering a rep, but he'd shown a long and strident pattern of hair trigger behaviour on other fora up to that point.

On the whole, I think the "Talk to" concept is working quite well.