Did you notice that forum have fewer trolls in 2021?

[ShowOff]

Let's take a look at some of the following data based on my research:

Code:

Data from ninjastic.space

• During 2019 "January 1 to December 31", I got data that 759 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 195 users.
• During 2020"January 1 to December 31", I got data that 486 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 155 users.
• During 2021"January 1 to September 11", I got data that 104 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 57 users.

Based on my finding above, have you really noticed that in less than 3 years the trolls on this forum have decreased significantly?

[1713863867]

1713863867

[jackg]

A lot of things have reduced since the introduction of the merit system/over the past few years and it's quite interesting.

There were definitely a lot more threads created (especially spammy ones) back in the last bull run.

These figures are likely a knock on effect of the merit system and potential a larger/older community (some things are more moderated now than they used to be and a slight change in moderation policy has quite a big change for forum content). It does seem like content is improving though too as I say this, although it might be losing variety in the main boards.

[DaveF]

Let's take a look at some of the following data based on my research:

Code:

Data from ninjastic.space

• During 2019 "January 1 to December 31", I got data that 759 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 195 users.
• During 2020"January 1 to December 31", I got data that 486 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 155 users.
• During 2021"January 1 to September 11", I got data that 104 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 57 users.

Based on my finding above, have you really noticed that in less than 3 years the trolls on this forum have decreased significantly?

What 'troll words' were you looking for?
While I do feel that trolling has decreased over the last couple of years it does not seem to me that it is as low as your numbers show.
That or I am just less tolerant to the edge cases where it might not be trolling, it just feels like it is.

-Dave

[ShowOff]

A lot of things have reduced since the introduction of the merit system/over the past few years and it's quite interesting.
-snip-

Actually I don't think that the merit system has kept trolls away from the forum. The merit system has managed to keep spammers out of rankings, while their trolls don't care about rankings although this system can be blamed on their interpretation.

What 'troll words' were you looking for?

Yes, it's just the word "troll" mentioned by the poster on the meta board. I'm not looking for troll users, but fewer mentions of the word "troll" could mean the impact of their reduced activity on the forum especially in the meta board.

While I do feel that trolling has decreased over the last couple of years it does not seem to me that it is as low as your numbers show.
That or I am just less tolerant to the edge cases where it might not be trolling, it just feels like it is.

I'm just looking for a specific mention of the word "troll" in the meta and not mentioning how many troll users are and their presence on the forum. As troll activity declines, I'm sure the mention of the word "troll" among posters will also decrease.

[Welsh]

Could be that or it could be the fact that users are less likely to complain about trolls these days, after potentially mentioning it before. Although, forum activity seems to be less so than before, at least in the main Bitcoin sections, and we've lost a lot of the users that seemed to bring the trolls out in force. I wouldn't say there's a less troll percentage per those that are active, but rather the amount of active users here have decreased.

I don't think the merit system has had much of an effect. At the end of the day, trolls don't usually have a lot of constructive things to say, so the benefits of ranking up for them are probably slim, since I doubt any campaign manager would be willing to accept someone like that into their campaign.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Oh, I get what you're saying, OP.  It took me a minute to figure it out--there have been fewer accusations of trolling in the past 3 years, based on the use of the word "troll", right?

That might be because Lauda, TECSHARE, Vod, and some others have left the forum (though those members left more recently than 2019).  I think I recall Lauda in particular using "troll" a lot, and TECSHARE as well.  I'm not sure your data reflect anything more than that, but it is interesting nonetheless.

I'd be more interested to see the change in the usage of the term "shitpost" or "shitposter" since 2017.  I'd bet it's decreased somewhat.

[Hamich124D]

I'd be more interested to see the change in the usage of the term "shitpost" or "shitposter" since 2017.  I'd bet it's decreased somewhat.

Not sure if im using the right search criteria or not but i couldn't get any results when i tried to add more realted words in the search box for some reason.

Anyway here's what i found:

• In 2017 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 236 on the meta board.
• In 2018 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 1674 on the meta board.
• In 2019 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 499 on the meta board.
• In 2020 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 342 on the meta board.
• In 2021 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 135 on the meta board.

Nice guess its on a steady decrease since 2019 althought i wonder what happened in 2018 that caused this increase usage of that word, shit was wild back then i suppose.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Nice guess its on a steady decrease since 2019 althought i wonder what happened in 2018 that caused this increase usage of that word, shit was wild back then i suppose.

It wasn't a guess, dude!  I'm assuming you're not aware that the merit system was implemented in Jan. 2018? 

Discussion about merits and the new system was on fire in Meta for most of 2018, and I probably used the terms "shitpost" and "shitposter" dozens if not a hundred times that year (and in 2017, too, because the problem was out of control at that point).  If you want some juicy reading, go look at Meta in Jan. 2018.  I think the merit system was rolled out on the 28th or the 26th of that month, and that section just exploded afterward.  It was an insane time, believe me.

[DaveF]

The other possibility is that, we might not be talking & complaining about 'trolls' & 'shitposts' as much as we used to.
We just report the post and / or put them on ignore and move on.

Probably a bunch of things all together brought the drop in crap posts / posters.

-Dave

[Welsh]

The other possibility is that, we might not be talking & complaining about 'trolls' & 'shitposts' as much as we used to.
We just report the post and / or put them on ignore and move on.

Probably a bunch of things all together brought the drop in crap posts / posters.

Exactly what I tried to touch upon above. It takes a certain type of user to complain about trolls publicly, these are usually either; users looking to improve the forum, users that are tired of the trolling, users that feel they are personally being targeted by a troll, and trolls themselves trying to stir up the pot. The legitimate users that complain publicly, probably aren't going to continue to create threads complaining about it. They'll likely just complain once or perhaps twice, and then move on in fear of beating a dead horse. Whatever the reasons there isn't likely going to be a way we can accurately measure the causes, and all we can do is speculate.

Though, it is likely a combination of all the above, rather than it being because of a specific reason. Hence why I said I don't believe the merit system impacted trolls much, spammers definitely, but trolls aren't always spammers.

From my observations (bare in my I don't actually see most reports made) reporting users for trolling is rare. Probably due to the more evident subjectivity of it, and users fearing that they'll get a bad report. I wish that wasn't a factor when users are considering reporting a post, but I suspect it is.

• In 2017 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 236 on the meta board.
• In 2018 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 1674 on the meta board.
• In 2019 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 499 on the meta board.
• In 2020 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 342 on the meta board.
• In 2021 the word "shitposter" has been mentioned 135 on the meta board.

Nice guess its on a steady decrease since 2019

Either we're slowly, but surely eradicating shitposters or the shitposters themselves have taken over, and eradicated the patience of the more constructive users. By the way, that's suppose to be as tongue in cheek as possible, because there's an absolute problem with shitposters still to this day. Whether or not there's been a decrease from before merit was introduced? Hard to say, since a lot of the spam goes on in the Altcoin sections, and with the bump changes that were implemented a while ago, a lot of users don't actually see the vast majority of the spam anymore, giving the illusion that there's less spam going on, than there actually is. In fact, I'm pretty sure we're looking at farm accounts exceeding the thousands, because they bump the same way every day on various threads.  

[nutildah]

Let's take a look at some of the following data based on my research:

Code:

Data from ninjastic.space

• During 2019 "January 1 to December 31", I got data that 759 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 195 users.
• During 2020"January 1 to December 31", I got data that 486 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 155 users.
• During 2021"January 1 to September 11", I got data that 104 troll words have been mentioned on the meta board by 57 users.

Based on my finding above, have you really noticed that in less than 3 years the trolls on this forum have decreased significantly?

What would make the data clearer is if you came up with a "troll words per post" metric, as I suspect the number of total posts has perhaps decreased between 2109 and now. I would imagine there's a utility that has counted the total number of posts per year.

Funny how the stats portion of the forum crapped out in... what was it, 2017? never to return.

[pooya87]

Yes, it's just the word "troll" mentioned by the poster on the meta board. I'm not looking for troll users, but fewer mentions of the word "troll" could mean the impact of their reduced activity on the forum especially in the meta board.

That's not a good metric though. Besides we'ave all got a tough-skin after years of seeing trolls on bitcointalk. I myself either ignore them or usually report their topics/comments and move on, trying not to waste my precious time feeding them.
If you really want to see the "troll army" wait for a price dip and pay a visit to speculation board specially during long periods when price doesn't go up...

[Pmalek]

Trolling has indeed decreased. If you noticed, cryptohunter and his other obviously not alt accounts are no longer around. I don't know if they got banned or they got tired of what they were doing.
Instead of searching for 'troll', try looking for words such as "verifiable" or "undeniable truth". I am sure you will get a huge list of results including suchmoon's don't feed the troll posters . 

[NeuroticFish]

It may have been decreased, but it's still there. I think that the difference is that people, instead of calling them trolls, started avoiding or even ignoring them. I mean, did you miss proudhon posts, for example?!

Also, OP, are you aware that this sole topic will "break" the statistics for the next years? 

[nutildah]

Instead of searching for 'troll', try looking for words such as "verifiable" or "undeniable truth". I am sure you will get a huge list of results including suchmoon's don't feed the troll posters . 

I bet there is something of a correlation between those terms and "troll" if one were took analyze it on a weekly basis.

I mean, did you miss proudhon posts, for example?!

I actually enjoy proudhoun's posts. They're not nearly as offensive as some, and he's harmless. Plus, he really sticks to his beliefs, even after being wrong for ~8 years. There's something to be said for that.

[Igebotz]

You were correct about Suchmoon, Vod, and others, but you, Dave, Nutildah also appear on the list of people who have used the word  "troll" the most since the merit system was implemented^{[I cut out Top 50]} I think most of them left the forum.

That might be because Lauda, TECSHARE, Vod, and some others have left the forum (though those members left more recently than 2019).  I think I recall Lauda in particular using "troll" a lot, and TECSHARE as well.  I'm not sure your data reflect anything more than that, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Top 50 users

Code:

1. suchmoon [74]
2. The-One-Above-All [72]
3. LoyceV [64]
4. cryptohunter [57]
5. The Pharmacist [50]
6. nutildah [50]
7. TECSHARE [47]
8. hilariousetc [34]
9. marlboroza [31]
10. bonesjonesreturns [29]
11. Vod [25]
12. KaneVWE [22]
13. xtraelv [19]
14. nullius [18]
15. OgNasty [16]
16. actmyname [16]
17. DaveF [15]
18. LFC_Bitcoin [15]
19. Quickseller [15]
20. hilariousandco [15]
21. DireWolfM14 [14]
22. Flying Hellfish [14]
23. TMAN [13]
24. ETFbitcoin [11]
25. JollyGood [11]
26. PrimeNumber7 [11]
27. tranthidung [11]
28. JaredKaragen [10]
29. YOSHIE [10]
30. cabalism13 [10]
31. o_e_l_e_o [10]
32. El duderino_ [9]
33. Laudanum [9]
34. Phinnaeus Gage [9]
35. bones261 [9]
36. Ratimov [8]
37. CryptoSparks [7]
38. Foxpup [7]
39. Lauda [7]
40. Royse777 [7]
41. SaltySpitoon [7]
42. Timelord2067 [7]
43. eddie13 [7]
44. hacker1001101001 [7]
45. ChiBitCTy [6]
46. Coolcryptovator [6]
47. KTChampions [6]
48. LTU_btc [6]
49. Rikafip [6]
50. Steamtyme [6]

[nutildah]

You were correct about Suchmoon, Vod, and others, but you, Dave, Nutildah also appear on the list of people who have used the word   "troll" the most since the merit system was implemented^{[I cut out Top 50]} I think most of them left the forum.
...
1. suchmoon [74]
2. The-One-Above-All [72]
3. LoyceV [64]
4. cryptohunter [57]
5. The Pharmacist [50]
6. nutildah [50]
7. TECSHARE [47]
8. hilariousetc [34]
9. marlboroza [31]
10. bonesjonesreturns [29]
...

Just out of curiosity, how did you get these stats? I was going to do a quick comparison with the total number of posts per member, but then I realize you said "since the merit system was implemented," and suddenly lost interest (cuz I'm not doing that work ATM). In any case the clear winner of the contest is cryptohunter, however ironically.

[Igebotz]

Just out of curiosity, how did you get these stats?

Just a little filtering of the word "troll" on Meta using Ninjasty.space and then boom!

I was going to do a quick comparison with the total number of posts per member, but then I realize you said "since the merit system was implemented," and suddenly lost interest (cuz I'm not doing that work ATM).

Lol. Go ahead my stats is limited, I'd love to see what you come up with  

In any case the clear winner of the contest is cryptohunter, however ironically.

Dude was a bone in the neck

[The Sceptical Chymist]

The other possibility is that, we might not be talking & complaining about 'trolls' & 'shitposts' as much as we used to.

On the whole, I think that we're not doing either of those as much as we used to--I know I haven't been complaining nearly as much since the merit system started.  Why?  Because even though the problem still exists, there's a mechanism in place whereby they have an extremely hard time ranking up, which is the exact opposite of how it used to be prior to the merit system.  That's good enough for me.

Code:

[b]Top 50 users[/b]
<snip>
5. The Pharmacist [50]
<snip>

LOL.  OK, I'm a prime offender there, I'll admit.  I didn't think I used that word as much as I did, since I don't remember the last time I did.  Then again, look at my post count and compare it to how many times I mentioned the word "troll".  It's a pretty small percentage.

[Igebotz]

I made an angry curve graph to see how many times you've used the word "troll" from 2018 to 2021. The most was in 2019 and it's progressively decreasing, but you've used it 7 times in the last few months alone in 2021.

LOL.  OK, I'm a prime offender there, I'll admit.  I didn't think I used that word as much as I did, since I don't remember the last time I did.  Then again, look at my post count and compare it to how many times I mentioned the word "troll".  It's a pretty small percentage.

2018(18), 2019(22), 2020(19), 2021(7)