Trolls, shitposters and sockpuppets: why post on Bitcointalk?

[Majestic-milf]

 These people you mentioned are doing what they do because they can do it, simple! You mentioned other leisure activities one can do instead of posting garbage but let me ask you:( not like I'm in support of them, though) if these shit posters, trolls and sockpuppets don't do what they do, how can we differentiate between a good poster and one who's not? It's like a balance that must be had. In a public space such as this, there must be those people who decide to not confirm to the normal patterns and they'd do it so confidently that before you know, others are following in that way.
 This forum is so rich in talent and characters that you'd never ever get bored of it, trust me, so just let them have their fun. If you let these trolls bother you too much, you can use the ignore button or continue to talk.

[IjawMan]

I post here for the chaos, criticism and the cryptocurrency knowledge discovery this forum discuss on.

The Bitcointalk, like the organic human society which comprises of all sorts of people making up the society can not be any differently from having the different types of posters in the forum.  It is left for each forum user to filter the forum for their self based on what they are here for.

But op, you did not throw much light into what really led to the setback of your project, was it promotional challenge or it was a problem of the project standard. Is it not with this same audience the Bitcoin project rose with and became a standard to date, what went wrong with the audience regarding your own project?

But we all do lots of things that are wastes of time, don't we? Is posting here more productive than playing an FPS? From doomscrolling on Facebook? Then watching the EPL? I think so. As far as "leisure activities" go, at least this one allows you to learn something... occasionally.

I will not count it for myself a waste of time wasting the EPL matches and football generally is a sport that brightens my countenance. Something that has that effect on me can not be a time waster.  

[MarryWithBTC]

I honestly didn't know people got paid to post here. Wow.

Should I believe you?

You registered since 2023 and have made about 2300+ posts and yet you didn't know people get paid here? What do you think the casino and exchange signatures displayed everywhere in the forum is for?

Or you have used some kind of ad blocker all through your stay here? Even at that, you haven't visited the service board?

I know I certainly wouldn't pay anybody to post here.  

It all depends on the kind of project you want to promote. Some casinos have been paying for signature spaces for over a decade here.

[cryptoaddictchie]

I honestly didn't know people got paid to post here. Wow. I know I certainly wouldn't pay anybody to post here. 

But maybe it's because I've never visited the more "commercial" parts of the forum, I only frequent the opinion sections?

Anyhow, my entire point was that this forum is useful despite the shitposters.

I compared bitcointalk.org to a Five Star Restaurant. I don't know what else I can do.

Now you know bro! Thats the essence of signature campaign being offered to users here who has enough requirement to join one. Typically those with good merits accumulation or quality posters which depend on the campaign manager. You can actually get paid with the way you posted here, nevertheless much more sense than most of those shitposter you mentioning.

I agree with your point that this forum is useful and sometimes its become a place for your personal clown and funny guys with their post.

[Z-tight]

We've had our fair share of 'arguments' in the Bitcoin discussion board. And while i do not agree with nearly all of the things you say in that section of the forum, and many users may even consider it trolling, i've never considered your posts to be low-value or shit posts.

'I disapprove of what you say, but i will defend to the death, your right to say it', this quote by Voltaire comes to mind, and i think that's how an internet forum should be. We all do not have to agree with one another all of the time, but i can appreciate people who clearly speak their mind, amidst all the ass-licking that goes on here.

[legiteum]

These people you mentioned are doing what they do because they can do it, simple! [...]

Yes of course. And as I implied in the OP, the "roaches" are always there no matter what you do. I praise the mods here on bitcointalk for keeping them from taking over and making a big mess (as they are trying very hard to do by abusing the Trust system).

But yes, if you open up forums on the Internet... roaches gonna roach...

If you let these trolls bother you too much, you can use the ignore button or continue to talk.

I do, and I would encourage others to do so and not waste forum space on posts that just want to change the conversation and make it about the poster instead of the subject.

The key to understanding the roaches is that they know that merely disagreeing with your assertions won't "get" at you enough, so they need to find other ways such as doxxing you, going after your business, or trying to get you banned from the forum (viz. by playing with the Trust system).

(What is fascinating to me, by the way, is that the subject that seems to have triggered the most roaches in the most extreme way is talking about my theory of Satoshi and the US government--makes ya wonder ).

I honestly didn't know people got paid to post here. Wow.

Should I believe you?

You registered since 2023 and have made about 2300+ posts and yet you didn't know people get paid here? What do you think the casino and exchange signatures displayed everywhere in the forum is for?

I didn't know those were paid ads. I thought they were just people's sigs. I truly don't pay attention to details like this.

Also, I am not a gambler (like not even so much as a quarter put in a slot machine when I go to Vegas), so I guess I tune out ads for it.

[...]
But op, you did not throw much light into what really led to the setback of your project, was it promotional challenge or it was a problem of the project standard.
[...]
Is it not with this same audience the Bitcoin project rose with and became a standard to date, what went wrong with the audience regarding your own project?

It was "product market fit" as they say in startup lingo. I won't get into it here, but suffice it to say that it was the wrong product for the market, so it didn't take off. I was able to get some serious traffic thrown at it for a while, so this was put to the test.

The Bitcointalk audience was probably a good place to start, but just very small, especially when you are not promoting some kind of gambling product.

But we all do lots of things that are wastes of time, don't we? Is posting here more productive than playing an FPS? From doomscrolling on Facebook? Then watching the EPL? I think so. As far as "leisure activities" go, at least this one allows you to learn something... occasionally.

I will not count it for myself a waste of time wasting the EPL matches and football generally is a sport that brightens my countenance. Something that has that effect on me can not be a time waster.  

Yeah, it's a Sat/Sun morning ritual for me and I wouldn't miss it. But I just wanted to contrast posting with some kind of "serious" activity that affects one's IRL life or livelihood. This isn't a forum within a company, for instance, with your managers reading the threads (thank god ).

[libert19]

I honestly didn't know people got paid to post here. Wow.

What do you think the casino and exchange signatures displayed everywhere in the forum is for?

Or you have used some kind of ad blocker all through your stay here?

You don't have to use ad-blocker to not see signatures as there is already forum inbuilt setting for that: Profile >> Look and Layout Preferences >> Don't show users' signatures.

Also, sorry for nitpicking your, 'everywhere' but there are boards where user signatures aren't shown. For instance, Serious discussion.

[Ambatman]

I might not agree with most of alright majority of what you post
But unlike most troll you don't go posting or just giving one liner
And it's great you finally admitted in trolling  . And that you at least you learnt something.
I understand the forum isn't perfect but if you plan on learning and understanding more about Bitcoin.
It beats any social media
I have seen what many with large followers post and I feel bad for their followers.

[libert19]

... unlike most troll you don't go posting or just giving one liner

I think it's high time people stop considering, 'one liners' as spam/troll or whatever else negative connotion; often what's one liner can be stretched to more lines without adding anything more of substance but doing same concisely is called respecting reader's time.

I have seen what many with large followers post and I feel bad for their followers.

Don't. It's easy to unfollow. If people don't have clarity on who to follow and who not to; it's not on you.

[legiteum]

I might not agree with most of alright majority of what you post
But unlike most troll you don't go posting or just giving one liner
And it's great you finally admitted in trolling  . And that you at least you learnt something.
I understand the forum isn't perfect but if you plan on learning and understanding more about Bitcoin.
It beats any social media
I have seen what many with large followers post and I feel bad for their followers.

Well, what is "trolling", anyhow?

I sometimes bring up provocative subjects that make people want to weigh in (and oppose what I am writing, etc.). I sometimes provide responses that make people... think. I often provide a different perspective (i.e. different than the usual, "ra! ra! bitcoin!").

And yes, I don't always say things that I am 100% sure is true--in order to crowdsource the answer (which is not an objective answer, but rather the collective opinion--which is very helpful).

Sometimes I find out that I'm wrong, sometimes I find out that I'm partially right and partially wrong, and sometimes I find out that I was more right than I even thought (i.e. "boy does it seem more and more like Satoshi was CIA/NSA/DARPA" ).

But I feel as though I ask questions that lots of people want answered, not just me. And I also feel like the discussion leads to lots of other things.

You might call all of that, "trolling" which I suppose by one definition it can be. But here's the "official" google search result definition.

Troll: Noun, A person who intentionally posts inflammatory, offensive, or disruptive comments online just to upset people, start arguments, or get attention.

I don't think anything I do is anywhere close to that--but obviously there is no black and white answer to this since some subjects get people very emotional and they will find even somebody asking the question extremely "disruptive" and "inflammatory".

If there's any universal rule I would enforce in online forums, it would be this one: no personal attacks.

A personal attack is the act of changing the subject that was being discussed and making it instead about some anonymous name on a screen that nobody has any reason to care about. I personally don't care if "CryptoBro42 is a so and so and a such and such". Why would I?

But for some people, this seems to be the only way they know how to communicate.

But this has been a problem in online forums since (checks notes) the 1980s...

[Vod]

Well, what is "trolling", anyhow?

In my experience, it's bringing up subjects the administration wants to keep silent.  If I point out how a blockchain proves a scammer, I get the same reaction you do.  This forum is less about the trust in bitcoin and more of trust in words.   

[PrivacyG]

LOL, nice try, shitposter   .

There was no thing to try, I seriously did not understand.

I sometimes bring up provocative subjects that make people want to weigh in (and oppose what I am writing, etc.). I sometimes provide responses that make people... think. I often provide a different perspective (i.e. different than the usual, "ra! ra! bitcoin!").

You do bring up provocative subjects, you do make people have to think.  It is far better than the cult behavior I see around, and I would rather have your kind of posts than those.

However.  Every single time I see you around, you seem like an outsider.  As in.  You posting here is always like a movie hater going to every single screening at a cinema to mumble in the background about how bad movies are and why it is never worth going to a cinema.  This kind of 'Bitcoin hater' pattern has been seen before here.  I have seen people who also brought up provocative discussions and made us think, but at some point it starts feeling like your purpose here is trolling rather than being part of the community.

I mean.  How can you be included in a community you seem to be against?

For example, almost every time I tried talking to you about Bitcoin, you were always in a 'there is only The United States in this World' bubble you could not get out of.  You tried to use a Binance CEO proposal as bait to talk about how Bitcoin 'can be frozen' (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5587559.msg66907049#msg66907049).  You tried fantasizing about The United States making Bitcoin illegal, changing it to illegal status in favor of a new United States Shit Fork as if the rest of the World, again, does not exist, using this fantasized scenario to prove how Bitcoin can be 'controlled' (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5585332.msg66817562#msg66817562).

At some point, to me you became a clear troll just like the rest.  It was not only the above, but also the way you are clearly smart enough to understand a lot of concepts but fail to understand very simplistic arguments or concepts resorting to pretending when discussing the same provocative subjects.  You remind me of Kruw, who is definitely very smart but used to play dumb and twisted words every time some body presented a solid argument.  When you do become trolls to many of us, you will eventually be treated like a troll too.

Here is one example where you definitely play dumb and act like a troll, even in this Topic,

I honestly didn't know people got paid to post here. Wow. I know I certainly wouldn't pay anybody to post here.  

I personally have no thing against you, I do not wish you any negative things.  In fact.  I do not think I ever wished any body any thing negative actually.  And to me, every body is welcome here.  And again, I do recognize your ability to make people think, which I even appreciate, but becoming a troll was pretty much inevitable.  To me, it works on a simple logic.  If you come here presenting doubts about Bitcoin, you come back a week later presenting doubts again, then one year later you come again presenting the same doubts and telling us how B S and useless Bitcoin is then why are you even here?

[legiteum]

If you come here presenting doubts about Bitcoin, you come back a week later presenting doubts again, then one year later you come again presenting the same doubts and telling us how B S and useless Bitcoin is then why are you even here?

I think people believe a lot of false things about Bitcoin. I don't think that's "calling Bitcoin BS and useless". Bitcoin has a market cap of $1.5T right now, so obviously it's not "BS" or "useless".

Edit:

I really, truly did not know people got paid to post here (i.e. as a known thing, and not, say, 50 cent army stuff). I don't frequent the the areas of the site that deal in commercial products e.g. gambling, so it even seems rather odd to me that there would be people paid to post in a forum. My short experience with this site as a commercial vehicle yielded a commercial value of about $0.00 for my project, so that's my perspective--so one could understand why I would think it odd that people would be paid to post here.

[nutildah]

I really, truly did not know people got paid to post here (i.e. as a known thing, and not, say, 50 cent army stuff). I don't frequent the the areas of the site that deal in commercial products e.g. gambling, so it even seems rather odd to me that there would be people paid to post in a forum. My short experience with this site as a commercial vehicle yielded a commercial value of about $0.00 for my project, so that's my perspective--so one could understand why I would think it odd that people would be paid to post here.

Some signature campaigns really do only pay 50 cents per post, and as you can imagine, this results in an output of 99% shitposts. The reason why it pays is because the more links a company (like a casino) has on the site, the better their SEO score. Its all about the quantity of hosted backlinks and not much else. So this incentivizes people to speak up when they might not actually have anything to say: shitposting, trolling, bad advice, tired opinions, etc...

I am trying to change this but its not easy because the shitposting culture is so engrained as part of the forum, as its been around for over a decade now.

In any case, I (at least) am happy to have you around as those still contributing out of their own free will are in the clear minority.

[NotATether]

I honestly don't know how you guys have time for trollposts nowadays.

It seems like every other day there is another security flaw or cyberattack discovered by AI that is keeping me on my toes constantly. One lapse of concentration and everything is on fire.

[legiteum]

I honestly don't know how you guys have time for trollposts nowadays.

It seems like every other day there is another security flaw or cyberattack discovered by AI that is keeping me on my toes constantly. One lapse of concentration and everything is on fire.

Meh. I've been on my toes every moment I've ever written software in the last 30 years. None of my code is part of any other codebase (i.e. no fork of anything), and I mostly use pure C to code, and I know what I'm doing when it comes to infosec, so no, you won't find stupid buffer overflows or hash bucket vulnerabilities in my code, and stuff like that.  

Also, I use the best AI models to hack my software for me to see if it can get through anything. So far all of the models have failed to break through. But every time I make a change I have the models attack me again. This is a way to use AI to make sure you don't get attacked by AI.

Of course AI isn't going to be a problem for people like me, but rather sysops who need to deal with tons of legacy code. I feel bad for them because AI is going to cut them to pieces. Security-through-obscurity is a thing of the past, and every single podunk online system is now going be attacked as if it were Citibank.

[Rikafip]

I honestly don't know how you guys have time for trollposts nowadays.

It seems like every other day there is another security flaw or cyberattack discovered by AI that is keeping me on my toes constantly. One lapse of concentration and everything is on fire.

[libert19]

I honestly don't know how you guys have time for trollposts nowadays.

It seems like every other day there is another security flaw or cyberattack discovered by AI that is keeping me on my toes constantly. One lapse of concentration and everything is on fire.

Well, that's the thing. Not everybody is programmer/coder/developer.