nj.com paid trolls?

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

What is this I'm hearing about nj.com using someone on their own payroll to be a troll with multiple screen names in the comments section of Rutgers Football related articles?

Any truth to this?
A low point for them if true.

They really think it would increase traffic to their site?

 

[SHUSource]

Give the utter lack of resources they face, paying a staffer to actually spend his or her day on NJ.com message boards trolling is highly unlikely. Then again, this would be the kind of decision-making that hastened its demise.

That would really surprise me if it were true...

 

[mdk01]

My guess is that there are enough unpaid "volunteers" to make that unnecessary.

 

[mikemarc1]

How would this increase traffic? This rumor makes ZERO sense...doubt its true.

 

[JERSEYROOTS]

Give the utter lack of resources they face, paying a staffer to actually spend his or her day on NJ.com message boards trolling is highly unlikely. Then again, this would be the kind of decision-making that hastened its demise.

That would really surprise me if it were true...

Not saying it happened. This is first I'm hearing about it. BUT, it would take zero time for someone to have an extra tab open in their browser to chime in.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

It makes sense if they think RU fans will spend more time on the page replying to the troll, more hits is what they are looking for to be able to sell advertising.

 

[SHUSource]

Not saying it happened. This is first I'm hearing about it. BUT, it would take zero time for someone to have an extra tab open in their browser to chime in.

It would still be a mild to even significant distraction from the person's actual job. Again, who knows, but this would really be a silly waste of time to produce no real benefit. Why pay someone to do what will happen organically anyway?

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Someone who is in the industry (not at nj.com) brought it up in conversation today, he said it's a rumor he heard over the weekend.

A staff member, possibly even an unpaid intern, that has about 3 or 4 screen names to drum up more replies and page hits.

Maybe it's a false rumor, but I took a look this morning and saw a few screen names that you can tell are dedicated to get a rise and response from RU fans: Forum Titan and Irish-something.

Go see for yourselves (if you want to give them page hits) LOL

 

[JERSEYROOTS]

It would still be a mild to even significant distraction from the person's actual job. Again, who knows, but this would really be a silly waste of time to produce no real benefit. Why pay someone to do what will happen organically anyway?

I tend to agree with you (although you make a few assumptions imo).

OP, source?

 

[DJ Spanky]

My guess is that there are enough unpaid "volunteers" to make that unnecessary.

This is probably closer to the truth. That place has been a cesspool since the early 2000's. I know for a while the editor over there, David Liss, was trying to clean it up and make it more enjoyable for RU fans, but the administrators who oversee all of their forums were pretty unresponsive to requests. I think that was in the 2007-2010 timeframe. There's a handful of SU/TTFP fans who constantly post there just to get a rise out of people. And they have multiple screen names and will often go back and forth between them to overwhelm any true fans who are responding.

 

[mikemarc1]

I can almost all but confirm most editors HATE the comments section, so deliberately doing this would seem odd to me. Possible? Sure, but I'm not buying it.

 

[Knight Shift]

This is probably closer to the truth. That place has been a cesspool since the early 2000's. I know for a while the editor over there, David Liss, was trying to clean it up and make it more enjoyable for RU fans, but the administrators who oversee all of their forums were pretty unresponsive to requests. I think that was in the 2007-2010 timeframe. There's a handful of SU/TTFP fans who constantly post there just to get a rise out of people. And they have multiple screen names and will often go back and forth between them to overwhelm any true fans who are responding.

Aside from Rutgers stories, NJ.Com used to have a variety of forums for topics of interest to NJ residents. There were forums for each county, a Bruce Springsteen forum, a Mets forum, a Yankees forum, etc. None of the forums were enjoyable. Nasty comments, baiting, pettiness, etc were the norm. From time to time, I will read comments on a Rutgers football story, and tune it out. The internet and the anonymity bring out the worst in some people.

 

[Caliknight]

Wouldn't surprise me. That paper is horrible. I am not sure NJ residents realize how bad it is.

Hopefully its doors shut soon.

 

[imbazza2]

I do believe Spanky makes a point. Along with that is the volume this Rivals sites does over most all other Rival FB sites. It is no accident that this site produce the most hits
1) SU PoSU and Ucant fans posting here is par to other sites (except the PoSU site which bans everyone who does not carry a cult card)
2) But the big volume comes from the scum lair itself with multiple names used by a few writers and they come out with new names almost weekly. And yes these asses always post links about great articles at nj.com But that still does not explain "that much volume" we see?
3) the theory of paid hackers is not outside the morals depravity of the scum lair as a matter of fact it most possibly as real response of a dying paper desperately trying any and everything
There is more truth here then not

 

[Block R]

Disappointed. I thought this was going to be a thread about Politi, Manahan and Sherman.

 

[RUfromSoCal?]

It's been clear for years, subjects are started on this message board and then become articles on nj or someone posts a topics here to get feedback and magically the same issue gets written about a day or two later.

Not just reading what people are interested in, but literally ginning-up interest in a topic.

No reason to think a lot of shady stuff isn't going on.

 

[RUJohnny99]

Every single newspaper comments section is a cesspool. Go check out the comments on the WSJ, NYT, or even the London newspapers. There's a weird breed of people who troll newspaper comments. I wonder what the hell they did before the Internet?

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

maybe they have some to post on this site :cop::bomb:

 

[mildone]

This may be one of the most cleverly ironic troll threads I've seen. Well done, OP. Well done.

 

[Abro1975]

Bergen Record get a lot less comments because you can only sign in w. Facebook or twitter account, thus often times the real commenter would be exposed.

 

[superfan01]

Where do I sign up for this job?

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Where do I sign up for this job?

Ask Forum Titan

 

[Ataylor1989x]

All I have to say is that if "Forum Titan" and "truth_justice_....." Are real people, we are dealing with a level of aspergers that needs to be studied in graduate courses.

24/7 negativity, with a handful of legitimate points (criticizing the arms race in cfb is not unreasonable but it is when you do it in threads that have no relation other than Rutgers hiring a special teams coach).

There are lots of things I don't care for in life, but rather than rant about it or get off on arguing, I just declare those things as unworthy of my thoughts and time.

To not understand that is to waste your life away.

 

[Bamm Bamm Rubble]

What they do is drop dimes and read our reaction and response. This way a writer knows what hook to use. Many writers do it.

 

[czxqa]

What they do is drop dimes and read our reaction and response. This way a writer knows what hook to use. Many writers do it.

Funny, never realized that. Brian Dohn once told me that when was out in LA, he would have been much happier just shutting the paper's comment board off completely, LOL. Always figured that was the general consensus...

 

[RUonBrain]

I'd like to read the comments section of positive RU stories, but it's just not with it.
It too littered with crap from a bunch of idiots who troll all day long.

I don't see why the website would be behind it. IMO, it causes LESS traffic because it is unreadable.
Idk why they don't do a better job of immediately identifying the fraud posters and ban them right away. Then people might actually read the comments section.

 

[RUchip]

What the hell is NJ.com?

 

[RUpop]

I'm no longer surprised by anything that happens. It's a strange world we live in.

 

[Boz29]

This came to light when some one clicked on Forum Titan and the URL stated Staff. Everyone else is a user except for people like Toddrick and other NJ.com writers who are also Staff. So how would a normal person get a Staff login. When called out the comments were immediately deleted and now Forum Titan is a User and no longer Staff. Seems very fishy.

 

[SHUSource]

Seems very fishy.

Have to admit it does.

Gross...

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Notice that all posts that question Forum Titan's motives are deleted promptly?

It has to be someone at NJ Advance Media.

 

[jdeer1976]

As someone who posted on nj.com my own suspicion has been that forum titan was Joe giglio. Very frustrating trying to have real discussions over there.

 

[RobotHunter]

Someone who is in the industry (not at nj.com) brought it up in conversation today, he said it's a rumor he heard over the weekend.

A staff member, possibly even an unpaid intern, that has about 3 or 4 screen names to drum up more replies and page hits.

Maybe it's a false rumor, but I took a look this morning and saw a few screen names that you can tell are dedicated to get a rise and response from RU fans: Forum Titan and Irish-something.

Go see for yourselves (if you want to give them page hits) LOL

Yup those 2 are suddenly in the comments section of every RU football article talking trash.

 

[JerseyVegas]

Every article the first three comments are trolls. The trolls respond to every comment. Unbearable.

 

[Scarlet Jerry]

I think that this is possible, but as someone else said, virtually any Internet message board where users can post anonymously is a cesspool of hate.

I do have a theory that is more likely to be true. I'm convinced that there are some grad assistants at major college programs who purposely go post nasty comments on rivals news articles. This is a high tech way to do "negative recruiting" and I'm convinced that it happens with some regularity.

-Scarlet Jerry

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Yup those 2 are suddenly in the comments section of every RU football article talking trash.

IrishJD is absolutely either nj.com staff or employed by another football program.
Probably the same person as Forum Titan.

100% anti-Rutgers propaganda.

Don't put anything past the deranged leadership at NJ Advance Media, especially the hateful duo of Manahan & Moran.

 

[APKnight]

NJ Advance Media is owned by the Newhouse family, which has major connections to Syracuse Univ. The anti Rutgers propaganda has an obvious root cause.

 

[vascosg]

This strategy has been very successful in all of the free investor forum sites. Putting a bad spin on stocks(when the author is shorting) or on a program is quite simple. it even happens on the paid forums having good moderators, they are just much more sophisticated and subtle. I don't know if it's true here or on that other site but I can guarantee you one thing, as soon as people believe that what is written can influence people or outcomes, they will come - bet on it.

 

[Dpgru]

I doubt it is true that they paid Trolls but they definitely wanted them there. I left the site because the trolls were so despicable and disgusting I couldn't take it anymore. Then, when I posted that they have an ignore capability as they have on this site they took my post down almost immediately. I reposted it and they removed it again. So, when they did that I left and never visited the fan site again.

 

[KaKaKen]

Forum Titan is Paul Mulshine.