Editing Troll-friendly

An internet discussion forum is considered '''troll-friendly''' if it does not take steps to discourage [[trolling]].  Troll-friendly policies include:
*not banning or moderating accused [[trolls]], 
*not preventing the forum being accessed from [[open proxy|open proxies]],
*allowing [[anonymous post]]ing or allowing easy creation of new accounts,
*not permitting deletions of materials based solely on accusation of authorship
Being troll-friendly implies also controls on the [[sysop power structure]] such as to prevent or restrict any [[sysop]] acting alone from:
*redefining trolling as [[vandalism]] arbitrarily
*selecting its own political labels on controversial topics
*subverting [[due process]] for any cases of [[outing]] or [[alleged and collective identity]] confusion, in particular, banning all "user X is user Y" class of comments as irrelevant or biasing

Because controversies on these issues are common, usage of this phrase has also become very common:
*"We also have troll friendly proxies," - [http://brawl-hall.com/pages/index2.php brawl-hall.com]
*"VT is definitely a troll-friendly environment, but I make a habit
of using the report option when they get too far out of line." - [http://www.funmac.com/showthread.php?t=6971 re: VersionTracker]
*" Fanhome is a Troll friendly environment. ... Yet here you are. Like I said,
Fanhome is Troll-friendly." - [http://mb3.theinsiders.com/fvancouvercanucksfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=2963.topic&start=21&stop=31 Vancouver Canucks "FanHome" site]

Some services say as explicit matter of policy that they are '''not troll-friendly'''.  For instance, [[Wikipedia]] goes on [[wiki witchhunt]]s against presumed trolls who question its [[sysop power structure]].  The term troll-friendly is quite common:
*"We are not Troll friendly.  Postings that have been placed on the boards to disrupt the flow of conversation will be removed..." - [http://www.cruise-addicts.com/forumguide.html CruiseAddicts.com forum guidelines]

=== '''troll-friendly''' [[politics as usual]] ===

Troll-friendly [[wiki management]] [[Wiki best practices|practices]] are designed to accomodate the [[New Troll point of view]] as much as possible. Rather than attempting to classify, categorize, restrict and challenge what [[trolls]] do, it attempts instead to engage them using [[political virtues]]: 

*prudence, 
*conciliation, 
*compromise, 
*variety, 
*adaptability, and 
*liveliness. 

These democratic values were listed by [[Bernard Crick]] as alternatives to [[ideology]] or any "absolute-sounding [[ethic]]". 

Very tellingly, [[w:political virtues|the article that is supposed to explain this is a mere stub]] at [[Wikipedia]].  This will not surprise anyone familiar with their [[GodKing]] or [[sysop power structure]], which lacks very considerably in these virtues.

=== trolling, trusting, process and forgiving ===

Any '''[[troll]]-friendly''' [[system]] or [[social software]]-based service assumes that [[built trust]] is very low, [[found trust]] is very high.  It further assumes that [[grown trust]] will not happen unless a degree of [[politics as usual]] is allowed to apply in that system. ''This seems to be one motivation for proposing explicit [[faction]] support.''

The main motive for troll-friendly policy is that consensus has to form on the basis of strict [[due process]].  Low-integrity editors must be "driven off":

[[Trolls]] believe that when someone has actively participated in building a [[sysop power structure]] that engages in [[ad hominem revert]], [[ad hominem delete]], [[witch-hunt]], [[inquisitor]], [[psychiatry]], [[libel]] and [[echo chamber]] tactics, under the same identity, they ''should'' be ''actively'' [[driven off by trolls]], and good riddance.  If they wish this not to happen, they should make a new identity, and change their behaviour under the old one on any [[large public wiki]] where they are known for this inexcusable [[sysop vandalism]] - probably also giving up any position in the [[sysop power structure]] as well.  

If they do all this and become an advocate for true [[soft security]] at least in cases other than [[simple vandalism]], and become widely known for changing their spots, at that point, [[trolls]] usually say it is the obligation of any '''troll-friendly''' wiki to not only accept them back, but honour their conversion to the ways of trolls...

=== Implications for [[Consumerium Services]] ===

For consumerium, this means [[sysop]]s should not push their luck or assume they are in charge of every [[faction]] or can resolve [[political dispute]] when people devote their lives to that in the real world and fail.  In the long term it means that the [[Consumerium social club]] shouldn't over-ride [[consensus]] rules.  It pays to push this process out to [[user-land]] to support a reliable [[Consumerium buying signal]].