Free Republic

Consider this a public service announcement - like one of those "More You Know" segments on Saturday morning TV or one of those "Knowledge is Power" bits from G.I. Joe. Today's topic is "trolling," a common practice on forums, message boards and blog comments. The Urban Dictionary defines trolling as "the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet" usually just because you can. By why would anyone do this? Are people really so bored that they see insulting other people as a form of entertainment? There are a lot of complex psychological factors involved with trolling, but I...

White supremacists and neo-Nazi hate groups plan to take advantage of the anti-tax "Tea Parties" set to occur in more than 1,000 cities and localities over the July 4 holiday weekend to disseminate racist fliers and other materials and attempt to recruit others to their cause, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). ADL's Center on Extremism, which monitors extremist groups and provides information to law enforcement and the public, has released information on its Web site describing the attempt by white supremacists to co-opt the anti-tax message of the events as a means to spread racism and anti-Semitism....

Vanity thread- Just wanted to see if anyone has noticed a sudden influx of new trolls on FR over the past few days. I logged on this morning to find 2 very hateful emails about some comments I made back BEFORE the election, calling me RACIST (how they love to use that word), and accusing me of hate speech and ordering me to burn in hell for my comments and beliefs. I cannot recall this person's screen name, but he CLAIMED to be a professional white male who is "normally" conservative. (yeah right). I couldn't even get angry and was...

DRUDGE IS SAYING SCHEDULED FOR A VOTE, IT HAS NOT PASSED, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE TROLLS THAT ARE COMING THROUGH AND SPAMING US THAT THEY HAVE WON. THEY HAVEN'T!

Every blog/forum has at least one troublemaker. They are the ones who generally need to be the center of attention or a "know-it-all”. They are the ones that are always right and everyone else is wrong. Their only defense is to call posters names, curse, talk like a child or character, or pretend to be family within the given situation. They try to sway opinions by bullying and threats. An Internet "troll” is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people. Troublermakers often change their...

There are some really annoying liberal trolls on Free Republic who have survived for months and years without being banned. Why is Free Republic allowing them to stay? We have enough liberalism and left wing lunacy on 90% of the media and we do not need this crap on this forum. It is not difficult to spot these trolls. A quick review of their posting history will prove without any shadow of doubt that they are liberal trolls. Some of them try to mask it but they cannot fool the vast majority of us. There are plenty of left wing...

What's with all the pro-Chicom nonsense on FR today?

So what's your brand? Troll, angry man, defender? Interesting look at the new phenomenon of folks like you who comment on blogs like this. My guess is that everyone who regularly read and/or coments on this blog can recognize and identify al of the types below. The other day, I found myself writing down all of those types -- something I'd never done before -- and I thought I'd share them with you. Please don't take them personally. & Actually, do take them personally; but keep in mind that on those occasions when I comment on other sites, I myself...

A digital war has broken out, and the conservative movement is losing. Read the comment sections of right-leaning blogs, news sites and social forums, and the evidence is there in ugly abundance. Internet hooligans are spewing their talking points to thwart the dissent of the newly-out-of-power. We must not let that go unanswered. Uninvited Democratic activists are on a mission to demoralize the enemy - us. They want to ensure that President Obama is not subject to the same coordinated, facts-be-damned, multimedia takedown they employed over eight long years to destroy the presidency - and the humanity - of George...

As an ongoing effort to recruit for a loose alliance of conservative bloggers and sites,I`ve joined the Glen Beck site,9/12project.The vast majority seem like pretty cool people, good conservatives fighting the current infestation of leftists in our capital.There`s one problem, they`re suffering from a serious infestation of their own, trolls! My take is that they`re newbies and they don`t seem to know how to deal with them.Its really getting to be a distraction and is interfering with their operations.Would any of our experts mind providing advise on setting up a system that they can employ to control the pests there?

Don't Be a (Knee) Jerk With the left wing trying to use anything that they can wrap their tentacles around to use against conservatives, we need to be extra diligent to keep a civil demeanor about ourselves and to conduct ourselves in a manner that does not bring reproach down upon ourselves. Free Republic is a gathering place for conservatives who love our country and believe that liberalism is a scourge upon our society and that if not kept in check will ultimately destroy this great nation that so many of our forbears have sacrificed their very lives to build....

The parents of an 18-year-old Ohio man who suffered a brain injury while snowboarding claim in a lawsuit that doctors at a northwestern Pennsylvania hospital intentionally killed him so they could harvest his organs. The lawsuit claims that Hamot Medical Center doctors and a representative of the Center For Organ Recovery and Education caused Gregory Jacobs' death by administering medication and by removing his breathing tube, causing him to suffocate. "But for the intentional trauma or asphyxiation of Gregory Jacobs, he would have lived, or, at the very least, his life would have been prolonged," the lawsuit said. The suit...

Thanks to many FReepers who have sent us this information. Apparently, this is floating around the Internet now. It is a guide to trolling. While it may or may not be fake in its origins, we do see these techniques all the time and felt it would be good to share with everyone. ______________________________________________________ COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum.. There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of...

I want to let everyone know now, that we have all the facts, why today seemed a bit, well, crazy... At Team Sarah we are experiencing -- and, with your help, neutralizing -- an attempt to frame this community for harboring hate speech and bigotry: violations of our own Terms of Use and community standards. We have just found and documented a group of 90 invaders who are plotting to come here to post racist remarks and radical, over the top, content in an attempt to discredit us, to get you, our members, fighting each other, and to just make...

12/18/08 - URGENT NOTICE – False rumors are circulating – Justice Kennedy denied our Application for an Injunction to Stay Electoral Vote Count by Congress on January 8, 2009. However, our Writ of Certiorari is still pending and is now scheduled for Conference before U.S. Supreme Court on January 9, 2009.

QUEENSBURY — A local man’s challenge of President-elect Barack Obama’s citizenship has been garnering national attention, if not credibility. Robert Schulz of Queensbury is the founder and chairman of We The People, a group dedicated to upholding strict adherence to the state and U.S. constitutions. He says there’s compelling evidence that Obama was born in Kenya, not on U.S. soil, which he contends would make him ineligible to become president. On Thursday, Schulz mailed letters to all members of the Electoral College, asking them to delay the Dec. 15 official balloting until the citizenship questions are cleared up. "We really...

Sen. John McCain avoided reporters during the lame-duck session of Congress last week. But Tuesday, shortly after President-elect Obama had his own news conference about the economy, McCain broke his silence by speaking with reporters in Phoenix. This came after the two former contenders met last week, and Tuesday, McCain continued to make nice. When asked what advice he had for right-wing supporters who say the prospect of an Obama presidency terrifies them, he was categorical. "Respect this landmark election, respect the fact America faces great challenges, and Americans expect us to work together. That does not mean we won't...

Obama’s website has already conceded that he is a “natural born citizen” of Kenya, which was under the dominion of the King when he was born, and that he allegedly allowed his Kenyan citizenship to expire when he turned 21. Expiration does not remove the problem, however, because it does not eradicate his “natural,” i.e. “inherent,” loyalty. In other words, assuming Obama was born in Hawaii, he would hold “natural born citizenship” in two different countries, which is tantamount to saying that he has “dual loyalties” to two different dominions. This means that, in the end, someone will have to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — From its humble beginning 33 years ago at Fort Sill, Okla., the career of Ann E. Dunwoody is ascending to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general. At a Pentagon promotion ceremony Friday, Dunwoody was adding a fourth star and later, at Fort Belvoir, Va., — her birthplace — being sworn in as commander of the Army Materiel Command, responsible for equipping, outfitting and arming all soldiers. Just five months ago, she became the first female deputy commander there.

As many of you are by now fully aware, we have begun being besieged by the "questioning" trolls, who have joined the "concerned" trolls in our little community. These (usually) newbies will be for the next five days posting threads asking for your opinion on Obama himself, or the Democrats as a whole, or any aspect of the election. As it was in 2004, these "innocent" inquiries are designed to pull quotes from the more hasty and intemperate amongst us, so that they may be posted on blogs and included in news stories in an effort to make Free Republic,...