TCS (Troll Control Strategies)

[stevenNYer]

The regulars here are stand up people.  They who give their time to provide information and support everyone affected by HepB.  They don't have to do this but they choose to.  Since I am sure, we are all busy, we need TCS to maximize our time.  

While we try to answer all threads, I think we should start to target and delete threads troll threads that at times  inundate our forum.  These threads provided nothing to the forum, waste everyones time, and make our forum look messy.

Therefore, if there are such threads, copy and post the address on this thread and I'll try to make it go away in a timely manner.  If the poster keeps at it, I'll take step to get the troll's account suspended.

The firsts are the three "hepatitis b" threads by "rumbeer"

[1gypsy]

   thankyou britgirl, i would love to be part of this forum, i apologize to everyone concerned for the misunderstanding, and appreciate the opportunity to educate myself about hbv.    

[britgirl477]

Even although you may have been suspected as a troll...I think you should put this all behind you and make good use of this forum. It is true that some questions can sound strange to those who know lots about the virus. But you are just entering into your learning phase. Your qns might be daft, but they will be qns that you still need answered. I remember asking lots of very simple and silly qns to begin with and considering the fear and anxiety that we all go thro' too with the first stages of the virus and finding out we have it, it makes it all the more important that we get every wee detail answered.

You really should stay on the forum. This is the best forum for HBV that I have come across. The people on here really are good people and as Emily Baker has said, we have all been helped at some stage by one of the regulars who has been able to assist and help in our hour of desperation. I guess also because you have just come onto the forum, you have no idea the sort of person bberry is. He would never be harsh in a response to anyone on this forum. For the year I have been on this forum, I have watched him answer many questions with total kindness and patience. So he's a good guy and you will benefit from him should you come back to the forum.

I guess in the world of internet, email, texts etc etc some responses from some people can seem to be harsh, rude, weird, strange, not serious, cruel etc. when in fact they were not meant to be. But I suppose we all just have to remain kind and good towards all on this site whether they are trolls, suspected ones or normal heppers.

To be honest gypsy, I had never heard of a troll until you!!!! So even although you are not one you have introduced me to term. I thank you for my education.

I hope you get more access to the internet wherever you might be in the world and are able to share in the positive and informative discussions that place on this forum.
Keep well
Brit

[biobrain]

I 2nd your suggestions

[zellyf]

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-B/can-Hepatitis-B-be-spread-through-precum/show/1002872

[1gypsy]

i missed this link which i found easy to understand,and informative. how did i miss it?
    
http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Hepatitis/HepB-Introduction--Welcome-
     Page/show/34?cid=153.

thankyou for bringing it forward, my ptsd  makes me feel lost in my attempts to research and understand hbv, it is nice to have consolidated information.

to bberry;

i hear you, so we just move forward and advance in time, the last thing i want to do is discourage good works of others,

[EmilyBaker]

Troll control will be a difficult task.

(1) Delete or disable account: We can delete or disable account but we cannot prevent them from creating another account. Unless we can block computer specific, like IP address. Even so, if they are using a community connection, like library computer, you may prevent access to innocent people.

(2) Repeated question & Non english speaker: The first reaction when diagnosed with a disease is fear. People worry and impatiently want to know if they are ok. I'm sure new poster will post the same question. Internet has many people with different background. But we have common interest which is Hep B.

(3) Important threads always appears on top: It is a great idea. We can provide new poster attention to important guideline and basic information of the disease.

This is a public forum. I understand it is everyone contribution. But it is a contribution. It's not a requirement. I am very grateful for the lady who respond to my post when i first diagnosed. She understand what i went through unlike my real life friend. It's a emotional roller coaster. I'm glad she was there. After being over reacted initially, i educate myself of the disease and now a stronger person. I agree i could be consider a weak individual. I think a little kindness goes a long way. I answer troll forum or email before. I ignore if they continue asking silly question the second time. At least i gave them a benefit of the doubt. I didn't let that bother me. If it's better, we can categorize forum into beginner, intermediate, expert, and information sharing.

I am not trying to disrespect anyone. I am just relating this topic from my experiences. I am grateful for your news, information, and update on the disease. It is very helpful for me. This is just my 3 cents.

[stevenNYer]

So in the end we have the same goal.  It's not really about being strict but rather making a set of suggesting to make the forum / threads flow better and be convenient to all.  For example, one suggestion is for a memebr to keep all labs and treatment realted question to his original thread, like a medical chart.    

[stevenNYer]

Feel free to keep posting and be active member of this forum.  The regular here are good people.  If always trying to find ways to improve our forum, it may appeared that we are harsh but we are not.  Improvement consideration are actually aimed to help new memebrs such as yourself.  If nobody cares about this forum, it will have non-sense threads with no replies on a regular basis, people won't take it seriously, and people like yourself won't come,

[Sharp7]

The "deleting" bit is beyond my scope of activity :-). And I did not mean to impose on people who *can* delete posts. My intention was to advice people about what kind of questions are likely to get better attention, and what kind of posts make the forum less convenient for all people -- people who range from those who answer regularly to those who read occassionally. I don't know if throwing people out is possible here, and in any case, I do not like that idea myself. I feel differently about deleting useless posts: that's more like saying "either you behave nicely or we are going to pretend you behaved nicely" :-). I feel differently about deleting posts (compared to evicting users) because it is fairly easy for the poster to come up with a better organized question. (I'm assuming that they are at least somewhat good with English, otherwise even the answers they might get would turn out to be completely useless to them.)

Speaking for myself, I have a tendency to ignore the kind of questions where I have to keep giving the same answer over and over again because I don't have that much time to spare or the patience.

[stevenNYer]

Thanks for the feedback thus far. What kind of guidelines / rules should we add to the Health Page?

I'm also thinking that we should add non-allowed items such as repeated posting of the same wuestion, product promotion or solicitation, contact info like an address, e-mail, phone number.  This is for memebers safety really since newly diagnosed are anxious and ripe for the picking for scammers.  

Can you think of any forum behavior that is absolutely unacceptable.  

In the end this will help the forum run well.

Feel free to continue to dump ideas here.

[bberry]

No , your question wasnt stupid at all..neither was my answer. i didnt think i was harsh at all then and i still dont think i was harsh now. but this doesnt say your question was stupid. i just thought part of an answer to any question is in the question itself, your question provided the problem and solution.. ( i,e...i drink coffee and i stay up late what is the problem ----- i love fatty food and i am overweight what is the problem ) you know what i mean. the answer to your question, i thought, was in the question itself.
im sorry you thought i was harsh but i wasnt

now this is for Steven
im not sure i agree with sharp7 on strickening the rules to that extent. if it looks like a dog and it barks like a dog then it is a dog . in other words, you cant doom someone a troller unless he acts like one. you cant really throw someone out bcz they posted 3 or 4 threads asking  hmmm well weird questions relating to hepB. we all started with hepB at an initial point of fear, confusion, panic, and anxiety. we all thought the end was tomorrow and so am i am sure these people feel the same way we felt at one point. i would allow them to ask as many questions as possible.. i would be ok with them starting new threads for every question they have. some simply dont relly understand how to reply in the box below specially if their english isnt great and we know we get many people on here from countries where English isnt the easiest language. also, some think that by starting a new thread for a new question might get more attention out of members.. and some ofcourse are just freightened, looking for a calming voice , afraid they are gonig to die tomorrow . this kind i am ok with asking the weirdest questions.. after all, to the ones on here with proper knowledge it may sound weird but in reality it is a legit and good question to someone that doesnt know..

anyway, im not sure i agree with putting so many restrictions and rules on people with no clue of how things work.  our welcome page is nice.. we can add to it ( maybe on top) some rules and regulations but nothing too scary to someone already scared. they do not need to add to their misery by having to eatch every word they say.

[bram44]

When a new person is diagnosed or had symptoms, they search and get here. That is how myself and probably others have gotten here.

IMO - At first people are confused, worried. They are in disbelief - what me ? HepB ?
Why ? How ? Now what ?

This is a great forum and helped me personally (and I am sure many that are seeking answers).

Any moderating would certainly help people looking for specific answers or pose unique questions.

I think having thread grouping would benefit and manage :
      - Symptoms
      - Tests
      - Diagnosis
      - Treatment

Also having few people "in charge" for eliminating clutter would be great (especially people who started this great stuff)

[1gypsy]

i hesitate to write anything in this forum after my last question. perhaps my question was stupid, but i am a real person not a troll, ive been reading about hep for 2 years, i asked an obvious question because i was looking for insight on diet, and peoples experiences relating to digestion. it is only once in awhile i have access to the internet, but ive been reading this forum for awhile, if someone asks a dumb question maybe a link posted would help that person get basic knowledge, and not jam up the forum.  myself i have no food often, and im on the street, it is difficult to eat ideally for hep b.
i appreciate the information and efforts of people on this forum. i ask no more questions and only wish the best for everyone. i miss cajim's voice, peace  

[jhakas]

Hi Steve,

Can you give an example of what consitutes a Troll thread ?

Regards,

[Sharp7]

I think that would work well. Also, I think whatever you have written under "Attention: ALL *Posting Suggestion*" would work well.

[stevenNYer]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on TCS.  I get irritated sometimes too, especially by "I went to a worker" and "windows" type questions.  But sometimes these questions are legit so I don't think we should limit the type of question that could be posted.

What I thought about doing is creating a forum welcome thread that STAYS AS THE TOP THREAD of our forum at all times.  This thread could welcome new members, provide some basic info and rules, then direct then via link to our Welcome /Intro Health page.  We would suggest they read the welcome thread and the health page before asking their questions.  We could even include what you wrote in your proposal.  

I thought about this and was planning to do this but then life became real busy.

What do you and others think about this.  Anyone want to help put this welcome thread together.  If so you could make a first draft and PM to me.  I could forward this to all the regulars and get their feedback.  Once the final version is done, I'm sure MH will help us make it happen.
    

[Sharp7]

Hi Steven,
I have another proposal. I am not sure if it is do-able, but I believe that would cut down on bothersome messages on all forums here. Do you have the authority to push this through on medhelp?

Anyway, the proposal is that when users click on "Post a Question", they get presented all the info at http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Hepatitis/HepB-Introduction--Welcome-Page/show/34?cid=153. The text fields for entering questions should be at the bottom of the page, preceded by "Have you made an attempt to understand the text above? This forum is probably visited by hundreds of people. If the people knowledgeable enough to answer your question are convinced that your question is answered by the text above, your post is going to be ignored, or possibly deleted."

I don't know about you, but I even get irritated with all those requests to interpret the results of some basic Hep B tests. I believe that someone smart enough to find this forum is smart enough to find answers to simple questions on their own.

[zellyf]

Fabulous plan!