LJ meta: trolls

[cellio]

Now that LiveJournal has eliminated invite codes, there are (apparently) more troll accounts -- people create a disposable account simply to harrass people and then move on. People who run communities are having trouble with this because it's extra administrative load to ban them, delete their comments, etc. This complaint I understand.

I gather that some people have created troll communities with provocative names and added people as members without their consent. This complaint I definitely understand, as the presumption is that you choose your communities. I would like it if being added to a community (as opposed to adding myself) generated an email challenge/response cycle, actually, like some mailing-list software does.

Some people are also upset that trolls add them as friends. They are, apparently, upset at seeing certain names on their friend-of lists. This complaint I do not understand; no one has any control over who lists you as a friend, so how could any thinking person hold it against you if someone objectionable supposedly reads your journal? I was recently added by someone I didn't recognize, and when I went to the journal to investigate I found one "this is my journal" message with about 20 comments saying "take me off your list you filthy troll". (The comments, and later the entry, have since been deleted.) Now I don't have any personal experience with this person, troll or not, and have no basis for judgement, but the reactions seem extreme to me. Besides, isn't that just what they want -- to get people worked up?

By the way, a post in news today said that they are working on breaking the "friends" notion into its two different parts, subscriptions and access control. I look forward to seeing how they do that. I wonder which parts will be public (the way friends are now). I also idly wonder about the sociological effects when people are able to designate some of their "friends" with "I actually read you" and others as "I don't follow you but I trust you with my secrets". I predict lots of angst among the high-school contingent.

Comments

[goljerp]

a post in news today said that they are working on breaking the "friends" notion into its two different parts, subscriptions and access control.

It's about time! I've thought for a long time that the "friends" word is too emotionally charged, and means too many things. Just because I don't want someone to read my private posts doesn't mean they're not my friend. Of course, filters can do the job, but that's a real pain to manage if you want to do it correctly.

Re:

[cellio]

I dislike the use of the word "friends" too. It seems to lead to lots of unnecessary drama. I get the impression that they're not going to get rid of the word, unfortunately. They haven't said a lot about it yet.