I love this board and fellow Champdoggers so hope no-one is offended by this, but i do worry at the tendency to jump on people in the assumption that they are trolls :(

I loathe trolls as much as anybody :D but it's not fair to just assume someone is a troll and then post cryptic replies. It could really hurt innocent posters.

JMHO but i feel very strongly about this. What do others board members think?

Lindsay

The best way to treat this is ignore posts but as we are all humans and often if we are in, shall I say a 'fiesty' mood then people will often post to what people perceive is a troll.

It is a common problem on all sites that have forums and it is difficult thing to control unfortunately.

There is no easy solution.

I do try and keep out of posts where if feel there maybe a troll at large but I sometimes get it wrong but if in doubt I just do not post ! :)

Lucy

the thing that bothers me is that there are couple of posters on here(pity i cant mention names) that are just naturally blunt and sometimes rude because that is the way they are!! they do offend people and normally try to make excuses for their comments. I am learning to not respond to their posts now as i think they like to stir people up!!!

Totally agree with that ....;)

I think that some people just do not (or don't want) to believe that there are people out there who genuinely don't know a lot about dogs :) I didn't - having just had family dogs at a time when there wasn't the internet etc, most people just had a dog - fed it - walked it - took it to the vets if it was ill - and that was the extent of their knowledge. There wasn't (nor is now) any law that says that people must be experts before they get a dog. It's much the same as using the computer and the internet. It's amazing how much fuss is made on some Internet newsgroups when people commit the ultimate sin of top posting when replying to emails :D Outlook Express (and other readers) automatically puts the reply at the top. How can beginners know that it 'isn't done' in some newsgroups to do that. People have to start somewhere and if they are not afraid of admitting that they don't know the answer to something, then others shouldn't jump down their throats for just asking - even if it seems to the experienced a very basic question. A lot of the time there is no 'right' answer, just a commonly held set of opinions.

Knowledge should be looked on as a privilege to share, not a licence to belittle and embarrass :(

Daisy

Daisy - your last line should be inprinted at the top of Champdogs Forum - it's something we all too easily forget!!!

Margot

I agree absolutely. There are two ways to get knowledge. One is to make mistakes and learn from them, the other is knowledge someone has been good enough to share. Hopefully if we share ours, others won't make those mistakes which is far better for their dog.
I always try to be polite, helpful and understanding (I hope I succeed), whether newcomer or not, though sometimes the patience is tried. ;)

Kath.

A lot of the people who accuse other people of being ''trolls'' are trolling themselves. I really hate it when people make separate posts saying ''I agree with * about ** being a troll'' (there have been a few recently). I just think its really un called for. They seem to stir the trouble themselves hoping people will join in and it ends up being some sort of gang. I remember reading one a few weeks ago and this stirrer made a separate post saying ''thank god her boards have been taken off''. I thought it was mean and there was no reason to post about it just to rub it in their face (I didn’t think she was being a troll anyway) Sorry if my post is confusing!