Forum Trolls and Fanboys…
are such a pain, everywhere you turn and try to get some good information about something, they will be there, making unrelated comments, clouding up judgments of those who are new to the topic.
What makes me really mad, is when those trolls are fanboys. Fanboys are those who would just try to “spread the good word” about a company’s product that they like. Its kinda like having one of those promoters just blaring on and on tell you that you should buy that brand/product based on little merit. Probably the only merit they have is that they “have used it and its GREAT!”. Which is why I really hate fanboys as much as trolls.
I do join a few forums about archery, laptops, desktop building, photography, erm badminton racquets (haha I joined just to find out more about a particular racquet, which i only used for about 5 months and stopped badminton all together), hacking PSPs etc.
Each and everyone has trolls and fanboys in them. There to be the “voice” of their brand or product. See some times there are “open threads” where you’re allowed to be the biggest whore fanboy of a particular thing. And yes, I find that highly entertaining to read and sometimes informative on things you don’t normally hear. Like wear and tear overtime, performance over time, resale value etc etc.
But what drive me nuts is when you know what you want, and you would probably settle for nothing else because only that item would do. Lets take for example a laptop. Someone would say:
“I’m planning on getting a Sony Vaio #####(model), I was wondering if anyone has already got this laptop? If so could you tell me what you like and dislike about it? Thanks, I hope to hear from you all soon”
If you’re lucky you get a few people replying straight to the question, no bias, just straight talk about things.
Then its just a matter of time, when you get replies like these:
“SONY IS A PILE OF EXPENSIVE CRAP, ALL THEIR SHITTY LAPTOPS ARE OVER PRICED FOR THEIR SPECS. YOU’RE PAYING FOR DESIGN AND SOMETIMES MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A HUNK OF SHIT. BESIDES IT USES VISTA. NOTICE THAT THE WORD “USE”. THATS RIGHT, NOTHING CAN “RUN” VISTA CAUSE ITS THE WORST OS TO COME FROM MONEY GRABBING MS”
I do try to understand frustrations of these people who type in all caps as if they have something shoved up their asses and are in need of attention. But we all know deep down inside, that we, for the sake of everyone, could do without such people.
But what pissed me off are replies like these:
“ Sony’s alright, but if you seriously want a good laptop, get a Mac Book, I like the design of the Chicklit keys that sony is now following across their lines of laptops. Besides battery life is awesome and it runs OSX”
Man, replies that like just pisses the hell out of me. Didn’t the guy above ask for information regarding a that particular laptop? I’m not sure about you, but when I was in school, I was told to answer DIRECTLY to question, don’t spin your answer unless it was Moral Studies lol.
But seriously, the second answer composed of no-parts-answering-the-question, and 4-parts-talking-out-of-his-faboy-ass. And you WILL always get people like that on forums which I’m sure wouldn’t happen in a real life “forum”. Archery products, badminton racquets, computer parts…
The thing that just drives it home for me, is when it happens to be the same person who does it all the time. Its hard to bring it to the attention of the moderators if you’re doing it alone. The moderators think you might have some beef with the troll/fanboy. But it seems like no one else is doing anything about it.
So if you’re new to a forum just take time to get the replies you need. Its a pain but you’ll learn to see which is really useful information and which is just fanboyism.
Fanboys and trolls, burn in hell.
