MAD: A 'Cruel' Online Community?

[_Mister Scratch]

There is an interesting poll underway on the fittingly named MADboard, which has turned up in the wake of the ASURam-is-a-troll fiasco. (For those who don't know, ASURam is a Hammer-esque TBM who has done little more than cheerlead for the TBM positions. The charge of "troll" came after ASURam committed the unpardonable sin of saying that s/he had never heard about Joseph Smith's polyandry.)

Anyways, the intriguing thing about the poll is that quite a high percentage of MADites (roughly 50% last I checked) consider the aptly named MADboard to be a "cruel" place. Some posters have even gone so far as to suggest that the "cruelty" of MAD is actually hindering the Church's mission:

The fact that over 50% of the votes (even though there's only 11 as of this post) are negative reflects poorly on the church's goal to spread the gosepel.

And check out this very interesting post from "Scotty Dog" Lloyd, who apparently finds it necessary to position himself as a shill for MAD/FAIR:

Even if most of the votes were critical of the board (and apparently you spoke too soon; most people weighing in now say it is not cruel), why does it reflect poorly on the Church?

This is a private message board that disclaims any affiliation with the Church. And the people spewing forth the most bile are those finding fault with the Church, not visa versa.

LOL!!!

To back up a bit, here is Chaos (a.k.a. Dan_G), helping to clarify MAD policy:

ASUram is not innocent here. So those of you running to his rescue this is typical of what this poster does. He has done this more the once on this board. Ask him why he feels he needs an ip tunnel to visit this board. Just thought I would put that out there. We have tons of trolls here. We have one board that makes it its business to help trolls get access to our site. There are reasons why we ban people this is one of them.

(emphasis added)

Good ol' Dan_G's poor writing skills make it a bit difficult to fully parse out his meaning here, but it seems like he has finally announced that "affiliating" with MDB is a bannable offense... (Of course, as Bro. Lloyd has reminded us "affiliated" is the sort of word that has a very flexible meaning.) Or am I misunderstanding him?

Finally, juliann pops her stone head in to issue a de rigueuer whine:

A troll gets caught so everybody who had the intelligence to figure it out quickly gets dogpiled by those trying to protect the troll. This happens with much more regularity than anything else. That is what I see and that is what I find interesting.

Yes. It is "interesting" in quite the same sense that critics on MAD are "dogpiled" whenever they spot fatal flaws in apologetic arguments.

[_Bond...James Bond]

And check out this very interesting post from "Scotty Dog" Lloyd, who apparently finds it necessary to position himself as a shill for MAD/FAIR:

Even if most of the votes were critical of the board (and apparently you spoke too soon; most people weighing in now say it is not cruel), why does it reflect poorly on the Church?

This is a private message board that disclaims any affiliation with the Church. And the people spewing forth the most bile are those finding fault with the Church, not visa versa.

LOL!!!

It is rather hilarious that they keep banning critics to make the board more civil....and yet they still have issues about civility. Maybe they should take a look at some of the other people posting? Perhaps some of the Chosen?

[_Great Cthulhu]

I would like to know what makes certain things so interesting to Juliann. I notice she says this a lot, doesn't she? Do you think she's just being coy?

Or maybe it's the way a truly intellectual person tells you off. Instead of saying, "you suck, get lost" they say, "my my, isn't your behavior interesting."

Yeah, I think that's it. Bingo. It's pure condescention.

[_Mister Scratch]

I would like to know what makes certain things so interesting to Juliann. I notice she says this a lot, doesn't she? Do you think she's just being coy?

Or maybe it's the way a truly intellectual person tells you off. Instead of saying, "you suck, get lost" they say, "my my, isn't your behavior interesting."

Yeah, I think that's it. Bingo. It's pure condescention.

You are quite right. Amusingly, this was precisely the thing that was pointed out by RedSoxin'04 in the Kevin Graham thread. Immediately after that, the thread was closed.

[_Alter Idem]

Mr Scratch: "There is an interesting poll underway on the fittingly named MADboard, which has turned up in the wake of the ASURam-is-a-troll fiasco. (For those who don't know, ASURam is a Hammer-esque TBM who has done little more than cheerlead for the TBM positions. The charge of "troll" came after ASURam committed the unpardonable sin of saying that s/he had never heard about Joseph Smith's polyandry.)"

Alter Idem: "Yea, I noticed Asuram resurfaced....when he joined the fight on that last MD vs. MADB thread, I suspected he was not for real and I still think he's not sincere.

However, I think the members on the MADB board should not be so quick to go on the attack. There's probably a 90% chance he's someone's sock-puppet (most likely someone over here, if you ask me) but that still leaves a 10% chance he is sincere.

I'd rather let a troll "fool me" than beat up on a sincere questioner. It can never be a negative to treat posters politely...and if that's impossible, you can always ignore them."

[_Bond...James Bond]

However, I think the members on the MADB board should not be so quick to go on the attack. There's probably a 90% chance he's someone's sock-puppet (most likely someone over here, if you ask me) but that still leaves a 10% chance he is sincere.

I'd rather let a troll "fool me" than beat up on a sincere questioner. It can never be a negative to treat posters politely...and if that's impossible, you can always ignore them."

I agree the poster should either be decently treated if he's a real poster. If he's sockpuppeting he's doing a good job of intentionally having bad grammar. It isn't me...I'm currently sockpuppeting as Pahoran.

Regards,

Bond

[_moksha]

I would like to know what makes certain things so interesting to Juliann. I notice she says this a lot, doesn't she? Do you think she's just being coy?

Could be just a glitch in her wiring.

Were they any worse to ASUram than we have been to Coggins? Did they get him in a sleeper-hold like many of you have done to Wade? (I hope you know that can cause permanent damage!) Perhaps, whoever has Pahoran post last on their board wins this derby.

[_The Dude]

Yea, I noticed Asuram resurfaced....when he joined the fight on that last MD vs. MADB thread, I suspected he was not for real and I still think he's not sincere.

Your comments here during the last board war raised my attention about ASUram. That, on top of the the naïve OP, made me 99% sure the guy wasn't for real, so I joined in the troll-bashing yesterday.

However, I think the members on the MADB board should not be so quick to go on the attack. There's probably a 90% chance he's someone's sock-puppet (most likely someone over here, if you ask me) but that still leaves a 10% chance he is sincere. I'd rather let a troll "fool me" than beat up on a sincere questioner. It can never be a negative to treat posters politely...and if that's impossible, you can always ignore them."

Normall this is how I see it too. This time was different for me only for the reason I mentioned. The MADites can be shockingly cruel to naïve posters, given that they (MADites) usually don't have anything to judge but one or two posts. How can they blast someone a troll based on only one or two of his posts? I don't understand it, so it continues to surprise me.

I'm guessing we'll see even more defensiveness since Chaos announced there are "tons of trolls" on the MAD board. Newbies beware.

[_Runtu]

I followed that thread a little and have to say that ASURam is either a really badly drawn troll or the most pathetic person I've seen over there. In the earlier thread that The Dude mentioned, speculation was rampant that it was someone from this board. From what I read yesterday, the mods seem to think they know who it is.

In the "Trolls" thread that I saw, it struck me that people like Scott Lloyd do not recognize the nastiness that comes from their own side. I think both sides over there have given as good as they have gotten. I know I've let anger and frustration get the best of me, and that's not a good thing. I just find it odd that they think all the "bile" is coming from one side.

Either way, I really should stop paying attention to that place. Life's too short.

[_Mister Scratch]

Some funny additions have been made to the thread. First, here's juliann, justifying her and the mods' rather nasty (er, 'cruel'?) behavior:

Board nannying is just as uncalled for. The guy was a troll. Hello? It was a good call. It usually is around here. You are not going to be able to stop people being called things, troll is the least of it that goes around here. Nobody that I remember got dogpiled unless they were a troll...we have a thread devoted to a couple of people who were called a troll, what..once? We have a group that lives to troll us and it is going to happen on a regular basis....can anyone even remember how many sock puppets our banned groups have set up? Get a grip for heaven's sake.

I can remember! I remember "GeauxLSU" getting "dogpiled", despite the fact that this poster has demonstrated him/herself to be quite TBM. (Unless I am mistaken, of course.)

The best new post, though, is this one from Dale, who suggests a kind of "Worthiness Interview" for people who want to post on the fittingly named MADboard:

Make the person indroduce themselves in the introduction section. Perhaps everyone should interview them for five days before they can post in other sections. The purpose would give the moderators the time they need to check for IP tunnels. Let everyone get to know the person before they can post in other sections like the LDS Dialogue & Discussion. If they have any sincere questions they can get answers if they need it.

(emphasis added)

You know, I sort of hope they take his suggestion.