The Ugliest Trend Yet

[Bill Moore]

Originally Posted by Cody C

More on the topic, however... What is considered a troll?

I guess what i am asking is:
When you see red rep bars do you automatically think "he's a troll"?

I've always considered a troll to be a "non-contributing member" of the community. There are many folks on CD who read, but never post, to these boards. I've never found that to be a problem. I've even been contacted by a "temporary troll", who requested a computer card I offered to Sanddrag a while back. (I sent the card along, because I had no use for it, but it was apparent he picked up the offer by using Google to search for that specific card. He obviously had no team or interest in FIRST.) Once again, not a real problem.

It's the destructive identities, that are usually anonymous, that really attack what this community represents. I do not consider these folks as trolls, but as antagonistic opportunists. They do not troll the boards silently, but they post quite vividly items that are outside the scope of the forum -- FIRST and robotics. The identities are not always anonymous anymore though, some are indeed openly affiliated with teams. It may be that the team mentors do not read CD, or that they ignore the content of offensive postings from their teams.

I have noticed, that in recent years, volatile threads tend to become IM-like, in that accusations, suggestions, and counter-accusations are made in such a rapid-fire mode that it is highly apparent that the initiator has no interest in understanding the situation, just a desire to vent. They barely allow themselves time to read a post, much less even think about it, before they are typing in a response that doesn't add anything but merely reiterates their initial posting. There is no desire for discussion, just a platform to insult and attack another team. Usually it happens so quickly that the thread is closed before the majority of the community has an opportunity to even read it.

Today, there was a thread posted for 1 hour and 20 minutes before it was closed with the 28th post. If you missed it (because you were sleeping), the thread began at about 1:00 AM local time, and was closed just after 2:15 AM. I invite you to read through it, and think about a team who should be enjoying and celebrating a regional victory, instead having to deal with the attacks and criticism that for some reason they are "unworthy". This seems to have become a more common thread on CD during the past few years. While the success of teams are celebrated and cheered at the venues, there are a few individuals who choose to tarnish teams and their successes here on CD afterwards.

It is sad when the robots do not perform as we designed them. It is sadder still, when they perform well, but they are not victorious. However, it is most saddening when they win at a competition, and competitors are unwilling to acknowledge the teamwork and good fortune of the alliance.

To Team #4 and all FIRST teams:
Celebrate your teams success, and salute the success of your competitors!