"Liar" is the new "troll"

[Dinner]

[SlowwHand]

This is what you're talking about? You need to go to bed.

[chequita guevara]

Eventis for the win!

[SpencerH]

Back in the day, calling someone a troll was the most effective and damning way to demonize people online. But it seems that things have changed. Now, trolling is just a skill it appears that the best way to gather community opinion against a targeted posted is to call that person a "liar."

I'm not here to discuss the rightness or wrongness of any of the accusations.

I'm really just observing that this technique has gained traction, heavily abetted by a side-dish of dogpiling. WTF is up with this? I mean, a lie is a lie. I get that. But WTF is up with generating pages and pages of he-said/he-said posts over one simple post? It's tedious and small-minded. And certainly not up to the posting standards I've come to expect from the intelligentsia here.

Don't get me wrong; I acknowledge that it's a clever method and that it works. Once the poster has been demonized with this reputation (true or not; that's not the issue), suddenly there's a green light to question the veracity of single post from the "liar." It's quick, easy, and awesomely convenient. Just like "troll" used to be.

There's definitely a bullying aspect to this that is unsavory. And the alpha males seem to have decided that there's no such thing as an honest mistake. Then it goes to what I will call "deduced lies" -- drawing unintended conclusions from the "liar's" post.

Even better, when the accused defends himself/herself, things escalate. Suddenly the liar is "stalking" the accusers. It's all part of the demonization process.

I know everyone's very worked up right now, what with a fresh site for inter-forum sniping, the transformation of our former watchers into ordinary netizens, etc. This place is hopping like it hasn't in years. And that's a good thing.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not coming to anyone's defense. Liars suck. I dislike people who misrepresent things.

In my view, when poor research, honest mistakes, mild misrepresentastions, ESL and, yes, actual lies are all twisted together into a dogpile-ready reputation smear, it can itself become, ironically, a misrepresentation.

It's a trend I find disturbing and somewhat childish. But that's not the main thing. Hey, it's only the Interwebs and people are here by choice. I tend to be more forgiving than others, so I make no indictments here.

Mostly, I'm tired of reading through all the crap.

[/rant]

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I appreciate a good flame war as much as the next person but what is happening here is just internet bullying and its detrimental to good threads.

Aeson and Ming were having an interesting and pertinent discussion that I would like to have commented on but guess what? Its closed cos of more of the same moronic ****.

Its really too much.

[DirtyMartini]

Jrabbit -- I assume you're talking about the treatment of Ben. The explaination is simple. He's a filthy liar.

[KrazyHorse]

Aeson and Ming were having an interesting and pertinent discussion

Liar.

[Lorizael]

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I appreciate a good flame war as much as the next person but what is happening here is just internet bullying and its detrimental to good threads.

Aeson and Ming were having an interesting and pertinent discussion that I would like to have commented on but guess what? Its closed cos of more of the same moronic ****.

Its really too much.

It's also closed because the thread reached 500 posts. Or 499. I swear it had 499 when I was writing that post, but then it somehow only had 498 when I closed it. And MOBIUS pointed out a spelling error of mine. That's what I regret the most.

Anyway, Ming is free to start the thread again, along with anybody else that wants to continue that discussion - so long as that discussion doesn't continue the nasty argument that took place last night.

[KrazyHorse]

Forum dramas

[SpencerH]

Aeson and Ming were having an interesting and pertinent discussion

Liar.

but to make a point, the reason I'm laughing as opposed to driving in my car on my way to Johns Hopkins is because I know that this is friendly banter. If a burk was to say it during a discussion I'd go ****ing nuts (and I have).

*****.

[Arrian]

So, what you're saying is that we should all pretend that Ben hasn't repeatedly lied. Give him the benifit of the doubt and all that.

Hmm. I have to admit it's possible that it may be more entertaining (for a while) if we all pretended that he was arguing in good faith, and responded in kind. I just don't think I can do it.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Aeson and Ming were having an interesting and pertinent discussion that I would like to have commented on but guess what? Its closed cos of more of the same moronic ****.

It's also closed because the thread reached 500 posts. Or 499. I swear it had 499 when I was writing that post, but then it somehow only had 498 when I closed it.

Am I free to call Spencer a dirty liar now?

[Lorizael]

Laughing.

[Krill]

It's also closed because the thread reached 500 posts. Or 499. I swear it had 499 when I was writing that post, but then it somehow only had 498 when I closed it. And MOBIUS pointed out a spelling error of mine. That's what I regret the most.

Anyway, Ming is free to start the thread again, along with anybody else that wants to continue that discussion - so long as that discussion doesn't continue the nasty argument that took place last night.

Nikolai lied, claiming Asher made a login called Asher somewhere else. He editted it after was called out on it.

So it was either a (successful) troll, intentional lie, or a mistake.

When Asher said it was a wrong, and that Nikolai was a liar, Nikolai could have either said "my bad", or backed up his assertion. In this case all he did was proceed to insult Asher.

If anything Nikolai was provoking Asher which is the ironic part of that thread. If Nikoali refuses to acknowledge this and continues to slander the trolls on this forum he is nothing but a twofaced hypocrite, or an idiot who doesn't understand reading comprehension.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Hmm. I have to admit it's possible that it may be more entertaining (for a while) if we all pretended that he was arguing in good faith, and responded in kind. I just don't think I can do it.

Only if we were allowed to have a seperate Ben-not-allowed commentary thread going on at the same time.

[SpencerH]

It's also closed because the thread reached 500 posts. Or 499. I swear it had 499 when I was writing that post, but then it somehow only had 498 when I closed it. And MOBIUS pointed out a spelling error of mine. That's what I regret the most.

Anyway, Ming is free to start the thread again, along with anybody else that wants to continue that discussion - so long as that discussion doesn't continue the nasty argument that took place last night.

The 500 post rule was made to be broken. I understand about your concern for the spelling errors though.

Unfortunately, I doubt that the discussion will be re-started despite that it is relevant for whats going on at poly now.