Trolls

For those of us with 3 second memories, a trolling post will always be a surprise, a list would help, however I'd probably forget it existed.

If we do determine a list ... can I request that anyone who brings party politics or team sky bashing into a discussion at any given inappropriate opportunity be ushered to the top of said list. It''s getting really boring to see...

   Man gets bike stolen = That's the tories for you.

   Team Ineos sign Pog and Rog to do domestique duties = How can anyone support cheats who support green washing.

(...you get the idea)

If you think the comment is made as a genuine belief then engage if you disagree. If you think it's just trying to provoke a response ignore it. Either way being rude doesn't help any one.

But a good troll can provoke discussion and sharpen argument. Often they espouse views which we know are genuinely held by some members of the public and encouraged by professional mischief makers with access to mainstream media.

I'm not totally convinced that there aren't some shill accounts run by the editors to stir up activity amongst the denizens of the site.

The advice to ignore them is clearly right, but surprisingly hard (for me at least!) to follow.  They really do annoy me.  There are four places on the internet where I waste too much time (here, a Crystal Palace bulletin board, twitter and facebook).  If I want to be told that things are always cyclists' fault I can go on the other three places; I come here for a break from that and, hopefully, to interact with like minded people.

We should all know who they are by now.

If I see a relatively new person try and have a reasoned interaction, I do advise them on who they are dealing with. What they do next is up to them.

However I wish the mods would be more proactive about cyclistformerlyknownas BTBS and CIBM and his covid CT nutter dangerous posts.

I think we're better off just ignoring them as they crave the attention.