5 Ways to Stop Trolls From Killing the Internet

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.cracked.com/article_16765_5- ... ernet.html

Pretty good read. Those bloody teenagers shouldn't be allowed on Live to be honest. Microsoft and Activison-Blizzard could do without the unloved bastards since they drive away thousands of potential mature customers.

[Citizin]

Just because large corporations might lose a little bit of their customers doesn't mean we need this as it would backfire on people in so many ways. Say good bye to any form of illegal downloads or other things the government deems no-good.

Trolls are annoying yes, but they aren't the end of the world. America has way bigger problems to deal with at the moment.

[Curlypaul]

Well since it is breaking the law its only a matter of time before people start to get serious about p2p networks and shuts them down and then you'll have to pay for what you consume. Bad luck.

Trolls arent the end of the world but they put me off online gaming and gamefaqs and a whole host of forums packed with twats that think its funny to try and upset people. Goodbye and good riddance to them

[Pulsar_t]

A lot of people are bothered by suggestion #1. But like real life the virtual world will eventually be thoroughly regulated.

[philipofmacedon]

I found this article to be absurd and ludicrous.

Social networking sites are losing money because people only communicate with people they know? Guess what, I only want to talk with people on I know on AIM or Facebook. It's a cheap and convenient way to keep in touch. I don't want to meet people on the internet for the most part. Sure maybe I'll play an online game with people, or even talk with them on forums like this one, but I don't count that as genuine social interaction. It's not. No matter how you slice it, it's not.

I don't avoid message boards because people are inflammatory, it's just because most of them are stupid. That sounds mean and arrogant, but hey, that's just the way a bell curve works. Maybe it'd be better just to say that many of them are young, unschooled, and haven't particularly thought out what they're saying or whether it's even worth saying. Does the world need another Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario fanfic?

There are plenty of sites, messageboards, blogs, whatevers that don't particularly offend me, they're just outstandingly bland, mediocre, and not worthy of my time. I wouldn't want average Joe on the street telling me how to perform surgery, modify home electronics or diagram sentences, why would I want to read his blog, game reviews, or ponderous thoughts on religion, politics, or the meaning of life?

I maintain that discussion on the internet is ultimately a waste of time not because people, emboldened by anonymity, are going to be intransigent jerks. Rather it's that the internet encompasses a broad cross section of people in the way that an academic journal doesn't.

The problem isn't trolls, it's lack of mental ability. No magic legislation wand is going to change that. Education might ameliorate the problem, but that's a topic beyond the scope of this post.

P.S. Somehow I don't think an internet catered to the needs of businesses and governments will be a good thing.

[Chrono]

People should remember that the article is from Cracked, it's not factual. It's mainly jokes and exaggeration to get laughs.

[RemyC]

If you ignore anything long enough it'll go away (and I literally mean ANYTHING).

People are overly sensitive to what complete strangers have to say to them, or about something they have feelings toward. People like to get a rise out of other people. So they'll say totally ridiculous things to get some attention. Its the 21st century. We should all have developed back bones by now.
Reminds me of that Old-wizard site. We all know they're pretty single minded and just say things in most part that are not true. Yet the mass majority of people will go back to their site when they have a new article out, and leave hundreds of comments on their site...telling them the same things that were said when the previous article was out. "youre nintendo fanboys", "sonic doesnt suck", "the wii isnt the possible console ever", "you guys are just idiots". "your list SHOULD look like THIS..."

Is the problem really the trolls?

I could throw out a, "sega genesis sucks" remark in this thread and im sure id get a number of people bashing me, ignoring the actual topic at hand. (those of you that would ignore it, or motion to have my comment removed...good for you)
We all know that everyone here realizes the Genesis is a great system, so why I would i get flamed? I dont know? Chances are you dont know either. I do know that i would get atleast 3 comments attacking me on a personal level (perhaps not at racketboy, but another forum), with one of them stating how amazing Bloodlines, Hard Corps, and thunderforce are.
People that make ignorant comments are...ignorant. Let them live in their little world. Stop feeding them with your comments and they will starve of hunger, then, hopefully die. THEN more people will feel comfortable and join forums and participate in blogs and news sites where their comments are not neccessary, and they can feel a superficial attachment to an otherwise nonexistent community. and THEN billion dollar companies will make more money (thats where the REAL problem is).

[The Apprentice]

Karma sounds real good. It would be great to have a limit somewhere down there when the member with bad karma gets a temp ban, and that is certainly how I'd do it if I had the time to start a website.

If we could have karma here, who knows. I know there are a lot of people (including me) who would have to watch their mouths, and that would be a godsend.