Send in the trolls… Now what?

[Tony (admin)]

Things were great around here before we ended up back in a conference with TSPP. Some of their fans have joined the site and engaged in some great conversation. We know who they are and appreciate them stopping by.

Others, however, are here being the childish, arrogant, pieces of s**t that have soured me and many others. I’ve never been to their board. For the last 10+ years I could have jumped on there and trolled them with a “you suck zoobs” or some stupid s**t, but it’s not even worth my time. I’m to busy being a fan of my own team.

When they come here and post this crap, it turns what was a civil community into a bunch of people basically insulting each other. They suck us into their childish bulls**t. The topics and replies devolve into bickering and insults.

I have severe PTSD from my youth and TSPP. I grew up in the Lavell days, when their team would run up the score and their POS fans would pound their superior chests and get in our faces. I’d never seen anyone act like that. It felt so terrible.

While I realize all fan bases have people that act like this, I’ve managed to create an environment here that has mostly been void of that kind of behavior. But the trolls are here. You should see many of the accounts that have signed up, like “LoserUtes” and “YewtsSuck” and so forth. Are these people 9 years old? Seriously.

TL/DR So now what? Up to this point I’ve just let them post. Why not let them showcase their own stupidity? But following the game, the temperature has been turned up. You won the game. Enjoy it. Don’t act like a dickhead. Or is that too hard? Maybe I should just adopt the Cougarboard way of doing things and ban them.

Let me know your thoughts.

[Matt]

I actually agree with you Tony. I typically have tried to keep things fairly civil on here being a zoob fan, but today I got involved with some childish back and forth.

I’m happy with the results of last nights game, but if BYU would have lost the same way, I would have been livid.

In any case, hope your team puts a beating on Colorado next week and then ISU the week after.

[ALUF]

We love you and Ted lasso

[The Miami Ute]

Why? To make your path to the CCG easier? Worry about your own team. It has more than enough on its plate, to include a visit to Tempe on 23 November.

[HeyyyUguyyys]

I don’t think it’s a problem to respectfully check in to another team’s site once in a while to learn and improve conversation. Having said that, every fan goes to their site to find community with other fans and enjoy their team. People need to respect that more. I don’t have any interest in coming to a place like UteHub and having petty tit for tat exchanges on a regular. Even Matt who “comes in peace” has posted like 20 times in the past 24 hours. Have some awareness. I don’t go to CB, but if I did I would recognize I was a guest in their space and not make it about me.

[2008 National Champ]

My personal rule when on another team’s board is that I’m there to talk about their school and will discuss my team only in whatever context they bring up. Just the way I was brought up: never go somewhere empty handed, always thank your host, and don’t pee on someone else’s rug.

[The Miami Ute]

Tony, last night and today have been an education for me. Up to this point in my life, I’ve been BYU agnostic, since I personally didn’t really have any real history with them. However, I now know why so many Utah fans utterly despise BYU and some of their fans. They remind me of the way the Romans described barbarians…childish, boorish, immature…on top of the world at the first whiff of success and suffering unspeakable tragedy at the first inkling of failure…personally, I think that they have deep seated traumas and inferiority complexes from seeing Utah succeed over the last couple of decades. What a sad existence indeed…

[RoboUte]

inferiority complexes from seeing Utah succeed over the last couple of decades

Yep. You must understand that it offends their value system. You haven’t seen the bottom of the barrel yet because there is none. They believe your misfortune is justice and their success is deserved. They believe that their misfortune is a mistake and that your success is unearned. You might think that the availability of these online forums created some radical element in the fanbase that just wasn’t there before, it didn’t. The jawing that you’ve seen in the last few days is precisely and perennially on-brand and always will be.

[The Miami Ute]

You’re kidding, right?

[RoboUte]

Not in the least. Cougarboard wasn’t the first echo chamber. It’s best to just interact with the normal BYU fans and let the others rot in their spite, jealousy, and hate.

[2008 National Champ]

Robo is correct. Online is just the latest and most efficient delivery system for the superiority complex.

My first real interaction with BYU fan complex was after the 1988 game. In my mind, the rivalry was no different than the Apple Cup I’d grown up with. But as I found out the next day when my girlfriend dragged me to her church, I wasn’t allowed to feel good about what my team had accomplished. People lined up to, under the guise of welcoming me to their community, tell me the latest tithing joke, express their heartfelt condolences for me having to go a University with lesser standards, and one even told me that my relationship was doomed because my girlfriend would only get married in the temple. Not one person showed any interest in meeting me or learning anything about me. I was just cannon fodder and it was honestly the worst 20 minutes of my life before I claimed that I needed to get back to campus and study.

I grew up with a healthy rivalry. Apple cup Saturdays we’d have the Husky and Cougar neighbors over and all watch the game together. Each cheered on their own team, we discussed all the good and bad plays as they happened and 4 hours later we all went back to being friends. Husky fan didn’t treat Cougar fan as inferior because the school they attended won the bulk of the games. We certainly didn’t try to divine life lessons based on specific plays or game outcomes. And we didn’t have anyone who tried to coopt the success of a school they never attended in order to establish superiority.

[China Rider]

This strikes home. Being from the upper midwest we have our share of rivalries. Paul Bunyon’s Ax with Wiscy, Little Brown Jug with Michigan and (Pink) Floyd the Pig with Iowa. Couple these with all the other Big 10 rivalries make for great times. Not just that , the hockey rivalries are other worldly two night affairs (Fri./Sat.). People come together and will leave together and have a shared experience until next time. Here in Zion there is one fan base that …. I just don’t get it. Socially repressed is the best way I can put it.

[Jim McMahon]

I say you ban the idiots. You guys have a respectful site and we have always had great dialogue.

Sorry for the morons.

[Roy Rangum]

Tony, I think it’s ok to carry on as you have done. If people are respectful, no issues (even if they are a BYU fan). But, if it’s clear their intent is to troll, they should probably be put on a short leash first, and then shown the door relatively quickly if they can’t clean it up. (And I do think it’s ok to have different thresholds for trolling. Ute fans probably deserve a little longer leash on a Ute fan board.)

[The Miami Ute]

I would agree to that. I’ve never been on CougarBoard but I’ve heard that they stamp out dissenting views rather quickly. I would hate it if we became like them.

[Tony (admin)]

I think we can all use some fun exchanges between fanbases. I loved it when some OSU fans dropped by. But there’s a line. What exactly that line is can be discussed, but I think most of us think it is pretty obvious when the line is crossed.

[2008 National Champ]

The problem with trolls is that banning them only gives them what they want, which is to run back to their favourite board and talk about how petty UteHub and it’s posters are. Bullies win whether you react or ignore, at least until you punch them in the nose.

Tony, you’ve been more than fair with everyone who has wanted to post here. You let Pace stay for years, you’ve allowed knuckleheads like me to be contrarians which is my own form of trolling and contributed your own opinions and content to the site so you’re as much a member as any of us. If you decide it’s best to tighten the leash to keep things from getting more out of hand than they have the last few hours I fully support it. Even to the extent that I will clean up my own act as necessary to meet whatever standard you feel is best.

[MFury]

Agree with above.

This is not a “free speech zone”. It’s a space for Utah fans and others that can respectfully banter. Not sure where the fine line is, but I’m sure you’ve seen the challenges of devolving forums.

Ban em, or whatever you choose. No need to tolerate blatant BS. I’d keep short leash, but obviously your call. Full support.

[EagleMountainUte]

Anyone that puts “Yewts” is an automatic ban. Just like when people disparage religious practice on here.

But I just block them anyways. It isn’t that hard to block. I only wish my blocks matched with my app. Just a first world problem doing both.

[KyleCam]

I just hope both teams had a good time.

[BoiseUTE]

I am a Utes fan always have been always will be. I grew up in the Mormon church in SLC and got a lot of crap from “BYU people”, but have not lived that live since 16 thank god. I hang a Utes flag and have a Utes rock out front of my house. I fly the flag all year good or bad. Use to go to all Utes game back when I was a kid with my dad and still travel to games. I saw a post a day after the election my neighbor still has a Harris sign up…reminded me of Zoob’s comment, but I will keep my flag up win or lose because I am a Ute. Yesterday walking my dog in the neighborhood here in the Boise area I had a couple people comment tough lose and one Zoob said why would you wear that hat….i just said I am a “True Utes Fan ZOOB, maybe you should grow up and learn a little” and walked away. Reminded me of when I was a kid that is why I can’t stand a lot of BYU fans. Not all are bad but I have had my run in with a lot in my 63 years. Go UTES!!

[Author]

Posts