Suggestion to eliminate trolls

Except that there's this thing called VPN...

Also you can't ever fully eliminate trolls on the internet...no place is sacred...they always find a way.

The best way to deal with them is to have mods online so they can be dealt with quickly.

@Reyna

Hey, Reyna!

I've heard this suggested before and while it's a great idea in theory, there are some complications to it. As Pthalo stated, there are many ways of changing your IP address and/or encrypting it. Another issue that I've heard from other listeners is banning IP addresses that would go to colleges or other large communities. It would be unfair to deprive a whole college campus of 7cups if one of it's members were "trolling" the site. I'm not too familiar with the intricacies of IP banning and/or how easy it is to go around it but I've heard it's fairly simple. If there is a will, there's a way.

Unfortunately there isn't a easy fix when it comes to "trolling", we can only change how we as a community decide to respond to it.

In many cases that would mute an entire family, college residence, library or workplace sharing a router. Trolls can obtain a new IP address in a matter of seconds. Any innocent person allocated the troll's old IP would find themselves blocked for no reason. So using IP addresses for this is completely useless, unfortunately.

@Reyna

why the thread necro though

@Reyna , It is obvious you only had the best interest of the community in mind, and I want to thank you for stepping up and bringing up this topic for discussion. The presence of abusive individuals is a valid concern, and I too am interested in brainstorming solutions. I don't think it was fair of anybody to dismiss your post or belittle you for simply stating an issue and suggesting an idea about how to address it, even if that exact solution doesn't prove viable in the end. I would like to remind everyone that the spirit of this forum is to provide a welcoming and supportive environment where we can all express our concerns and ideas freely. I urge everyone to review GlenMs post here, which communicates this concept in no uncertain terms.

We can solve problems as a community by encouraging participation in an open discussion, instead of shutting down a member who is only trying to help to improve the site. The goal is not to achieve perfection, but to identify a problem and, together, come up with some changes that could very well have a positive impact on the user experience of the many seeking support on this site. I hope that as a group we can agree to be more supportive to those who make the effort to post here with good intentions. Its ok if this topic does not affect or interest you, but others do have a right to engage in a constructive discussion about it. As GlenM stated in the above post, there is no permission needed for anyone wanting to post a concern or idea. We are to empower each other and welcome new input, not invalidate one another.

To Reyna, and anyone else who has suggestions, please realize that when you bring up an issue there are probably countless others with those same thoughts who have just not posted about them for whatever reason. We are listening and we are glad to know we arent alone. I hope you continue to feel comfortable expressing yourselves. Communities rely on people like you who are brave enough and thoughtful enough to speak their minds and contribute ideas. Thank you, Reyna, for caring about making 7 Cups a better place.

Thanks but this post is from september, I don't really care to repeatedly get told my idea from a year ago is stupid.