Anyone suspicious of possible 'troll' posts?

Lately there have been a number of posts in Relationships by people going anon, it's always a really convoluted and sometimes really serious problem. The poster just seems to be delighted when people reply with sympathetic feedback and the OP engages the wollies who reply like saying 'looking at your ticker - good luck on the big day' and things like that. I just find it hard to believe that a person with such serious and devastating problems can make small-talk with people on the same thread. In my opinion it looks like they don't care about the problem they are posting about. Maybe this is a lonely person looking for some attention...or maybe I'm just a mad conspiracy theorist!!?!!?!!

I've been thinking this lately GirlFriday - I got caught out by not one but TWO trolls recently, now I'm really suspicious of anon posts on the Relationships forum. Having said that now, I once did go anon for a personal matter and got great help and advice. So I'm not against people going anon at all - but sometimes you read a thread and you think "Is this a 15 year old boy looking for a cheap thrill??"

I pay no heed to be honest we were all newbies once and you'll realise they always crop up during the school holidays so it may be lonlieness is a factor. If thats how they get interaction how bad

Always good to be suspicious. Even if the post is made by a troll, the possible issues they present could be of benefit to some readers regardless. I'd couch the language of the response in dry terms that won't give a troll a cheap thrill. You can expect a rise in such posts on evenings/weekends and summer holidays when the boys are away from their desk. At all other times, there will be girl-friendless blokes seeking some reaction- you can bet they're not posting about coffee shops or dress fabric. Opinions Martin

cabbage_head - think you & I both got suckered in by the same one once. Yeah most of them show up in relationships for some bizarre reason. I guess some of them maybe make out they have the perfect life and then decide to go anon over there if things aren't so perfect and don't want to be judged. It's a hard one to call. I am more cautious now about replying to anything in relationships as a result and if I do maybe just give a quick short answer.

I've gone anon before in relationships and got really good advice. Im pals with some people here and believe I've a couple of snoopers on the outside, so I felt more comfortable with a different name. I think its unfortunate that theres trolls out there, but I'd rather give the person the benefit of the doubt when it comes to some subjects. Regarding wishing someone well because of their ticker, I genuinely dont see that to be anything other then them being nice and wishing the replier well. But it is interesting to read other people's perspectives of course

It may well be my overactive imagination!! I did see that thread where some wollies were taken in by a persistant troll and maybe that made me too cynical. The main post that sticks out in my mind was by someone who had a terrible harrowing story about their family, it seemed as though once they received some attention though the awful circumstances of their life were forgotten and they were making conversation about everyday things with the wollies who had replied, just a bit wierd I think... It's such a pity though because these trolls (who definately do exist, as cabbage_head and fmh62 found out) put me off posting replies to threads like that