Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Photo by Stitch
What I’m about to discuss may not be as light, fun or cheery as previous posts but nonetheless important because it involves the Answers community. As you all know, misunderstandings and conflicts occur within any community, regardless if it’s online or offline. And though it’s a normal thing, it shouldn’t be left unchecked or unresolved. This is crucial if we want to continue to grow a fun, meaningful and responsible Pinoy online community.
I’ve been hearing some not-so-good news about some community members who accuse other users of using clone accounts for trolling. When I say clone account, I mean Answers users who create new and alternative Answers account (or with multiple Answers accounts) that they use usually for trolling or spamming. Its one thing to report abusive content and trolls as we see them in Answers, but it’s another thing to accuse others for being a troll and ganging up on them for a “crime” that they may not have committed. If you think a person in Answers is trolling or spamming, my advice for you is to report this right away. This is what a responsible community member will do. Please don’t take matters in your own hands by accusing others for being trolls, it’s not what a concerned community member will do. On the contrary, doing that only makes you more of a troll than the one you’re accusing.
I highly encourage everyone to be on the lookout for abusive content and to be vigilant in reporting them because it takes all of us to make sure the Pinoy Answers community is responsible, enjoyable and reliable. In short, follow the golden rule: do unto others as you want them to do unto you. Okay, lecture’s over. Next post to follow, something light, fun and cheery! Christmas party for the YAPpers! Watch out for it! 
Its one thing to report someone for abusive language or offensive postings but there are many people here who report others who do not agree with them in politics or religion or sometimes whatever else they are talking about. So I get a violation because I am voting for the wrong person or have a differnet set of beliefs and share them??? Not right!!
It is high time someone took the matter of cloning (trolling) seriously. There are members of the community who openly acknowledge the presence of trolls and yet have not lifted a finger to report them. Instead they use YA as their battleground for sniping and venting tirades on the person/s behind these clones. I have appealed to them to stop their rantings at persons they deem as the mastermind/s of these troll accounts and bring the matter up with YA and not make the community a despicable arena for their wrath. For my overture, I have been called a preacher, a meddlesome woman etc. who takes sides. The truth is, it is so exhausting to see issues that crop up time and again with no definite resolution in sight by both parties. And when any of the answerers question this oft-repeated question for reappearing, they get attacked with disgusting comments that are sometimes too personal.
I really hope that there will be a solution to end trolling.
there are things in life that is just unavoidable( talk), express what you feel and see. it’s the only freedom man has. if you think when you express yourself about something that you don’t like it’s a cure for your person. there are things that you cannot do in public due to objections by someone, whether it is hurting for the others and you are being stop by whoever it is just because of influence of whatsoever.
the last comment is highlighting not for everybody for sure but to those who are afraid to speak out what they have in mind and in their heart, which is not my case.
though like you imply trolling and vanting is no good for the community, then the ultimate solution for these is cancellation of the site (questions /answers) because as long as people wants to express their thoughts you cannot stop them or steal their thoughts otherwise they have nothing left in life but say amen to everything. we are in the 21st century the year of rage, frustration, nuclear,fiction,bankrupcy, drugs and most of all my favorite proverb ” freedom of speech”.
by the time you take away this to men, something more horrible will come up, as long as man is man it will always be the arena of expression like you said it yourself. one who says that she/he never revolt, that person is a highly liar. it is possible to ameliorate things, on what honor the ” overture” opening in english and “ouverture” in french of your topic might be shocking to you but not for me, then just get use to it, cause many more to come as long as the site is there, it will be. if you don’t get anymore dispicable comments from siters then you have to start worrying because that means yahoo is not anymore functioning. i don’t side those trollers as you imply, but you may sanction on other means but i don’t think they care much, because people like me goes to those sites like this one to unwind ourselves from whole day work now if there’s someone who abuse their priority then you can’t control them. don’t you just let them to express themselves through the net
to pass their frustrations rather than smashing people in the street or gunning them down then that’s worst.
think it over, and you will thank me for this supposition because you will eliminate hooligans in the street but they are in the net, then notify the authorities if there’s a crime being committed on line.
i guarantee you you will be a laughing bag.
I am one of the Community Members that the preacher refers to. Before I go any further is this the same as “the pot calling the kettle black” afterall she also knows that these people have trolls which they use to cheat and attack unabated, other Community Members. Has she reported them or does she just leave it for others to do?
I gave up being a ‘responsible Community Member’ a long time ago. I have, on numerous occassions, reported obvious trolling and cheating accounts and to date these accounts are still active (going back more than 12 months). I supplied Yahoo with all relevant links etc. with no affect. The point gaming these accounts are taking part in is so obvious that even a blind man could see it.
So what is the use of reporting any new trolling accounts when old accounts are still active? I bring my accusations out into the open, using my account to do so. My accusations have not stopped the trolling but have at least slowed it down. So, if nothing else, their trolls have stopped asking and answering and cheating.
Jonas, if you are serious and want to ‘ make sure the Pinoy Answers community is responsible, enjoyable and reliable.’ then drop me a line I will once again supply accounts and links (where possible) as many troll owners have blocked me. You can check them out yourself and if you tell me I am wrong then I will desist in making my accusations but if I am right I then expect some form of action.
I took my actions solely to try and make YAP a fair site, a fair site for new Yappers and long time Yappers.
I fully agree that there are members of the community who openly acknowledge the presence of trolls and yet have not lifted a finger to report them. Annabelle herself is one, I am another.
This saintly woman herself posts questions that often look innocent but actually incite more arguement due to the innuendo’s contained therein.
“If you think a person in Answers is trolling or spamming, my advice for you is to report this right away.” I have and I will tell you what has happened, ‘zilch’, ‘wala’, ‘nada’, ‘nothing’. I have on various occassions (going back more than 12 months)reported various accounts that have been obviously trolling and point gaming. I supplied YAHOO with all relevant links etc. These accounts are still functioning. Their point gaming and trolling were as obvious as the nose on your face and yet no action was taken and at the same time others lose their accounts for posting a question or answer that is deemed to be ‘chatting’.
I admit to sniping against these ‘ringmasters’ asking them where the fairness is or what satisfaction they obtain from their obvious cheating. Their cheating/trolling has decreased dramatically whereas before, it continued unabated.
“I really hope that there will be a solution to end trolling.” While some ‘Yappers’ openly support it, be it because they are friends or because they benefit from it themselves there will be no solution. We, as a Community, should say enough is enough and we should stop supporting their questions and answers.
Jonas if you want links etc. drop me a line and I will supply what I can but it won’t be much as I have been blocked by most of the ‘ringmasters’.
I agree. The YA community should take a strong stance & be united in “cleaning” up the community which they inhabit with their fellow YAPpers.
But the way I see it is that, the issue has always been that YA is either too strict in implementing it’s guidelines or is too lenient.
Many YAPpers get away with murder while others get suspended for merely smiling at someone.
Some YAPpers have already been YAPping for ages & knows the ins & outs & the loopholes of YA & has made a science out of trolling. While some are trolling out in the open, they aren’t even hiding it & are saying it out loud that they are trolls.
And many YAPpers have just accepted this sad fact. Especially the newbies & the ones that are too scared to rock the boat so to speak or to get kicked out of the island.
But some people have gone to fighting fire with fire. And as annabelle p has said some have made comments that were made at the heat of the battle.
Why? Because, trolling & other guideline abuses are hard to prove. And YA sometimes punishes the wrong users because of a perceived abuse or simply because of a report from YAPpers of high standing.
The problem is real but the solution is not really easy to come by without the vigilance of the whole YAP community.
I have tried to provide a YAP Open Forum so that YAPpers can say what they want to say over there, rather than saying it in YAP. And I’m still hoping that an open forum can help solve many of the ills within YAP.
I thank you Jonas that you have now brought it up here in the real Yahoo Answers Philippines Blog. And I pray that people who really want an end to trolling, spamming & other ings that plague YAP will come over here & just talk about it & ask one another, can’t we all just get along? And find a way to.
yea trolls suck.
yey! christmas party!!! wooooot
I agree. The YA community should take a strong stance & be united in “cleaning” up the community which they inhabit with their fellow YAPpers.
I believe this squabble has gone seriously out of hand. I do hope Yahoo Answers can resolve this conflict soon. Not only does it not promote Yahoo Answers as a fun community, it reflects a poor image of Filipinos in the eyes of the non-Pinoy users of Yahoo Answers.
this is my second comment sent to the yahoo community of philippines, ooowff too hot down there ha? i don’t understand much your yahoo languange but i can see and read those comments it’s almost looks like the battle of galactica since you don’t see each other but it sounds like if you know each other. in fact i am not one of your enemies but i got victimized as abusive with my comment sent, since i used philippines site. the thing is i don’t understand exactly what are you quarrelling about and i found myself in the middle not knowing to who i am fighting against. first i am not in the philippines and someone sent me if i am not happy of the country to get out,.
this kind of answer really reflects the mentality of the people in the country. i understand your battle of silence but to loud to see it through the computer.
however, cleaning this kind of battle would be very difficult it’s similar to that afghanistan verse bush, hiding in caves afraid to be caught, we call that in europe the game of the rats since rats is afraid to show in the open air. well however it is upsetting really to see people making fun in the net by taking advantage to other peoples connaissance,but the truth is sometimes we cannot accept this attitude from the others, for what reasons? my self policy is that i know me and whatever others do it’s not my concern. maybe each one of you knows each other for these reasons so many comments posted giving hints that everybody is inside the mess. i hope when i make comment in the Y/Q i won’t see anymore telling me to leave philippines because i don’t live there. thanks by the way
This trolling and accusation thing is the internet counterpart of TSISMIS. YAP is supposed to be fun, a stress reliever on your daily workload. And to read accusations hurled at just about anyone, I don’t see any fun in there.
I would like to comment on one community member who posted a comment regarding cheating and trolls. While it is true that I have knowledge of the presence of clones, I have no evidence to show as to which or what trolls belong to who or whom. I do not wait for anyone to take this matter up with Y!A if I only have a list of the accounts and their trolls. I don’t care whether such list includes friends inside YAP. He wants to clean YAP. I, too, want it cleaned of clones but not in the manner he does it, bringing dirty linen out in the public and abetting in-fighting. What good will that bring him? Will that help find solution to the problem? Of course not! It only helps to exacerbate the situation.
This one community member is either paranoid or what. He often looks for hidden meanings in my questions when there are none. Is it because he does it himself?
@sondra nakamura - I agree Sondra, and that’s my point in the blog post.
@annabelle p - Community moderation is one way to end trolling Annabelle, I just hope everyone will exert an effort in cleaning up Answers from unwanted content rather than blaming and attacking people.
@dessie - Hi Dessie, my point here is not taking away the freedom of the community from expressing themselves in Answers, it’s being responsible and accountable in what we say and do. Our words and actions should be guided by the Community Guidelines and it should not be hurtful or condescending another user. The freedom to express ourselves creates great responsibility to do it.
@Papa Chuck - I certainly appreciate all the help I can get Papa Chuck. It’s not easy getting rid of clones and trolls because it’s so easy to create a new account, but that doesn’t mean we’ll just let this behavior to community. A lot of things are being done to prevent this and I believe the community will play an important part in stopping clones and trolls. If you have accounts you wish to report, feel free to email them to me (jonasdelosreyes [at] yahoo [dot] com) and I will gladly check them out.
@Japs - Thanks Japs, I believe an open forum will be a big help in resolving conflicts among YAPpers and problems in the Pinoy Yahoo! Answers community. I will not deny the fact that not all clones and trolls have been reported or apprehended, and it’s not because they ar allowed to do that, it’s just not an easy thing to patrol more than 145 million users. It’s really up to all of us in the community to make a stand against cloning and trolling and to have an open mind to resolve conflicts and start making positive connections here in Answers. It’s not going to be easy but it’s not impossible either.
@deb - Excited na rin ako sa Christmas party Deb, more info to follow soon!
@Battgirl - Sometime it just takes a really few people to create a really bad impression on the whole community. That’s why I’m saying it’s up to all of us to try to stop bad behavior in our community (cloning, trolling, spamming), start being vigilant in reporting them, and be more considerate and responsible in our words and actions.
@dessie - Misunderstandings and misbehaviors can happen in any community Dessie, but like I’ve been saying, they can be resolved and can be fixed. It may take time and a lot of effort, especially for everyone in the Pinoy community, but it’s possible.
@Cutiekel - I agree Cutiekel, Answers is really supposed to be a fun, enjoyable and informative place online. And by stopping clones, trolls and spammers we ensure that it stays that way.
@annabelle p - If you suspect anyone of trolling or cloning, feel free to tell me annabelle. What I can do to help everyone is to check if there’s enough evidence that they may be clones or trolls and if they are, I can immediately report them to customer care. But if they’re not, I won’t do anything to these accounts.
hello jon,
your comments are motivating and encouraging, i think you touched my weak point, i will try and understand peoples comments since i understand well enough how you feel and the sufferings in the philippines, i must admit that myself i am very quick to the trigger for things that i think it concerns me. widening my horizon understanding you people down there will make me a better person. i’ll try not a promise but i’ll try. you know the reason that i go to net answer questions is to emptied my thoughts and stress of work, when i do this i feel free and interiorly i have the feeling like i had a very long night sleep.
thanks, wish you all the best and good spying in the net
I agree Jonas. Very well said & thank you.
I do not want to be a snitch but currently in the Travel Philippines Section there are new accounts that are using the same names/avatars of regular YAPpers & some are accounts that have been opened years ago but whose owners have changed their names & avatars to resemble certain YAPpers (or their spouses or partners). And they are posting reportable content probably to force certain YAPpers to reply with reportable content themselves.
I do not know if any of them have been reported but I’ll try to.