Ive noticed recently that some people come on here and we'll say "joke around" with some questions and take advantage of the people who take the time to answer and try to help solve the problem.

My question is does anyone else feel that some questions are "fake" and some people only want attention and try to make a fool out of us?

Yes, they are called Trolls. I find them pretty easy to spot.

What really gets me going is the constant stream of homework questions on some boards.

Usually if a question seems fake or to obvious, I don't bother answering, and occasionally I'll report them (not sure if that actaully does anything) if the question is clearly from a troll

The ones I don't like are the ones who are blatently lying, totally looking for attention.It gets on my last nerve but you can't say anything which is worse.. I usually find myself ready to explode with some people and I have to log off ha

Why are they called trolls?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Holly23

Why are they called trolls?

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"In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion."

Troll (Internet) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ah I see.. very annoying..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Holly23

Why are they called trolls?

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Not sure where it started they just are.

Copied from link below:

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.[2]

Troll (Internet) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Beaten by the Karma

I'm an experienced troll spotter. :)
And yes, when you report a thread/question they do take action here.

Remember to pack your troll spray kiddies.
I seem to be using it a lot lately.

Are there some questions that are blatantly trolls?

Sometimes I think 'that can't be for real!' (and it is) and other times, I'm not quite sure if the poster is bull$hitting.

I've noticed that some questions don't get many answers... are they the trolls?

How do you spot a troll?

I noticed that happens more during summer and Christmas vacations, Easter/spring break and when kids don't have school in the summer

It's unfortunate, but it happens quite often on sites like this. You just have to kind of ignore them and move on. It's a necessary evil for sites like this because the people who are helped are thankful for it, and I'm one of them!