4 hours ago, Slvkguy said:

And those 3-4 screen-names were very likely the same person.

A 1st time poster in the Colombia forum....legit or reincarnated 😏

On 5/22/2022 at 12:25 PM, SolaceSoul said:

I honestly can’t understand why other posters even fall for these trolls. Maybe this explains how some travelers wind up in stupid, compromising positions while abroad  — really poor judgment and discernment skills

This probably deserves its own thread.  

Lots of members here support & encourage the trolls - even when the trolls are posting ridiculous stories/scenarios that go against basic common sense and certainly not something an experienced traveler would do.

They aren’t here to give advice or information - they’re here for attention or to get information for use in ways not intended. Frequently to harass sex-workers or other members.

why do you think several long-time prolific posters no longer post here ?  
It’s because this forum is a troll magnet and they are supported - albeit most trolls are supported unintentionally by other members. Just liking their ridiculous stories or expressing sorrow for their latest predictable folly is enough to keep them around. 
 

Thankfully, I have never experienced another member harassing someone that I have mentioned in my posts so for the time being at least I can only imagine what sort of problems that might cause.  What I have experienced though is somebody - almost certainly form on here - contacting me on social media.  The creepy vibes were flowing strong so I quickly blocked him and became much more interested in my privacy settings thereafter but the experience was still unsettling.

I have met a few other board members during my trips to Brazil and I know there are other members who have met many more board members in person than I have.  If this shit is a real problem which it does seem to be, instead of posting some number of messages to gain access to the “members only” section, have we considered changing the requirement to, say, meeting two or three other board members in person while on travel and/or posting some number of quality trip reports that are actually useful?

5 minutes ago, Novarunner said:

meeting two or three other board members in person while on travel and/or posting some number of quality trip reports that are actually useful?

If the goal is to increase security those are good ideas. But for people like me, this is the only place I could come to learn about cruising cinemas, bars with rent boys, it literally opens up a whole new world. I visited Dominican Republic about 15 years ago and didn't even know I could hook up with local guys there.

 

people come here for different reasons - if the intentions are good, then no problem.

however, as you can see in this thread, a few long time members who posted useful information & entertaining stories ( @numazu & @BlkSuperman as examples) no longer post frequently because of things that happened from people accessing this site; meaning trolls abusing their access here.

my point is simply to think about the things that people are asking/posting about, check to see how long they have been members and if anything seems off.  If you think it seems off, then it probably is and they are up to no good.  

full-grown men that travel across the world for our kind of tourism are generally not stupid. when they obviously are stupid by way of their posts - you know it’s a troll

Do Not Feed The Trolls

50 minutes ago, Novarunner said:

 

I have met a few other board members during my trips to Brazil and I know there are other members who have met many more board members in person than I have.

this is an interesting observation.  There are two distinct groups here with some overlap, but not much: Thailand vs Caribbean/South America 

the Thailand posters don’t seem to have the troll issues.  It’s way more concentrated in Caribbean/South America.  Might be because the posts about Brazil & DR have more details that can be exploited.  I also think that there are members who spend longer periods of time in Thailand and an imposter/fake would be easier to spot there.  Or, could just be the trolls get off on the giant dicks in DR & Brasil (a more likely scenario).

For me, when traveling I’d love to connect with other legit forum members if we happen to be in the same city at the same time.  While everyone is different, it’s kind of a red flag when someone goes radio silent once they realize that other forum members are in close proximity at the same time  - meaning they can’t hide at Lagoa or 202   Just sayin 

 

2 hours ago, Novarunner said:

have we considered changing the requirement to, say, meeting two or three other board members in person while on travel and/or posting some number of quality trip reports that are actually useful?

Well, that certainly would exclude me. 

On 5/21/2022 at 6:28 AM, Slvkguy said:

The giveaway that you’re not serious is when asking for referrals to exact sex-workers.

Ha,ha,  no worries about that from me, I've seen some of the photos that have been posted in the forums and I'm way out of step with what a lot of guys on here prefer.

16 hours ago, Novarunner said:

f this shit is a real problem which it does seem to be, instead of posting some number of messages to gain access to the “members only” section, have we considered changing the requirement

The trolls are a problem here for sure as many members have shared specific experiences of harassment.  Yes, the access to invisible/member forums should be more restricted - to either require more approved posts or a longer “waiting period”.  This would weed out many of the trolls.  
A requirement to meet board members in person would never work and some people aren’t here for in-person engagement w other members.

This is a great forum for those that want real information and to contribute when they have a chance. Likewise, it’s also a place where people w bad intentions can exploit the information found here to harass sex-workers, venues (Juan Bin Bin), procurers (Manny) and other members.  

I’m not the online troll police - but I’d like to continue using this forum to get information and contribute.  If the trolls are allowed to flourish, then more legitimate people will stop posting as has already been documented and it will become a less valuable resource & less enjoyable experience for all.  
If you want this to be a place where the trolls just ask their dumb questions or post their ridiculous fantasy adventures, then it can easily become just that.  

On 5/23/2022 at 1:54 PM, caeron said:

It is generally considered rude and selfish to ask questions that have already been answered on the forums. Questions are certainly welcome in forums like these, but you should provide some evidence that you've read the relevant posts and looked around before you ask the forum members further questions. Asking members to spoon feed you answers is not ok

THIS - AGAIN, AGAIN & AGAIN !

unless, it’s a troll seeking attention 

At this point, I think it would be wise to move on from this conversation on trolls. I am afraid that newbies may feel intimidated to participate, for instance, if silly questions were considered a sign of trolling. I think we should learn the lesson, and from now on be more aware of the information we share. 

This forum is great for many reasons, being one of them that it is open. We should not stop sharing knowledge that is mostly well received and used because of a few bad apples. 

 

On 5/20/2022 at 2:49 PM, Half-vaccinated said:

The Worst ones are the ones claiming they are going somewhere but never come back and report.  

Why is that the worst?

You want to live vicariously through their travels....you arent owed anything

On 5/22/2022 at 12:00 PM, SolaceSoul said:

But aren’t you buddy-buddies with a group of old posters (some former, some still around) who once contacted a poster’s place of employment and outed him as a sex tourist, just because that poster wouldn’t use his privilege to help ruin a brasileiro who wouldn’t do something illicit for one of the privileged posters?

Yet, THIS is “reprehensible” to you? 

I would like the tea on all of this?????

On 5/26/2022 at 2:07 PM, floridarob said:

A 1st time poster in the Colombia forum....legit or reincarnated

lol - the first time poster, since deleted @richard265 is back in his third incarnation w a different screen-name. not kidding, same shit/different day - these are some devious & twisted fuckers 

agree w the below; no more T-word 

3 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

would be wise to move on from this conversation on trolls

2 hours ago, Badboy81 said:

You want to live vicariously through their travels....you arent owed anything

I interpreted this differently - meaning the same people with many questions about everything imaginable re: destinations discussed here, never bother with a trip report after they’ve conditioned their questions in context of a pending trip. They need the info for a trip that is either happening soon or they magically end up at the destination with no information whatsoever.  Weird, huh ?? 

It’s not living vicariously through their stories - but rather them giving back to the “community” with current information, observations, and any other useful information.  This is after all, a community at its core.  It doesn’t work without some reciprocity.  For the guys that just want to be involved & don’t travel, that’s good too - but I’m assuming not many question since they don’t need it. Just an acknowledgment of appreciation is participation that shows you care & are part of the group.

my brief experience here is there are makers & takers. the makers go, do & report as much as they feel comfortable without putting out information that can be abused.  The makers are trying to help others.  The takers just ask a zillion questions, either never make the “trip” or post such information that basically a cut/ paste from other trips from other members.  Yup, it’s that bad if paying attention. 

the makers give me new ideas, encourage me out of my comfort zone & make unknown destinations seem inviting & doable.  Example - I previously had very little interest in a Thailand and now it’s very high up the list mainly due to good information provided here.  I’m an observer in the Thailand forums at this point bc I don’t need anything until I’m ready to plan.  Then I’ll ask the questions, but only after I’ve searched here first for the answers or other sources. Planning & learning is 50% of the pleasure in travel - why would I expect anyone to do all the work for me ?? 

the above comments were all about travel - but these forums are much more than that with many categories that don’t require travel at all.  Many ways here to interact,share and be a part of the community.  The more people participating makes it more vibrant & interesting- and that should be encouraged.

My tuppence on this is:

Although the presence of fakes and trolls can be very irritating for regular users of a message board, I think a greater threat is if the board fails in attracting new members and becomes moribund. There is a type of entropy with regards to message boards, where a lot of people join and become a contributor for two or three years and then fade away (of course a minority do stick it out). Therefore,if you want to have a functioning board, you want to be attracting a certain number of newcomers every year.

Obviously, most of these newcomers would prefer to be reading about genuine exploits of posters, rather than ramblings of someone who makes it up in his bedroom. But the efforts to prevent trolls and fantasists also make it hard for new posters to gain proper access to a board.

I fully understand the reasoning behind the requirement for requirements like needing to make more than 10 posts before you can see the more salacious topics. However, this must be viewed against all those prospective posters that you have never seen contributing to the board because they were put off joining, because of such restrictions.

I once knew somebody who is thinking of travelling to Thailand for the first time, and I recommended a useful message board to him (not this one).

He joined up, and asked a simple question, and of course the first reply was an instruction to use the search function. Then he was accused of being a sock puppet account  of some long established troll on the board. Needless to say this did not exactly encourage his further participation!

In the end, he did go to Thailand and had some interesting adventures,which he recounted to me but not to any board as far as I know.

Personally, I Think that a board would probably be more successful in the long term if it  prioritises being more welcoming to new members rather than worrying too much about the dangers of fantasists and trolls, and the results will be in the longer term a healthier and more lively board

Edited June 7, 20224 yr by forrestreid
clarity

16 hours ago, Slvkguy said:

I interpreted this differently - meaning the same people with many questions about everything imaginable re: destinations discussed here, never bother with a trip report after they’ve conditioned their questions in context of a pending trip. 

It’s not living vicariously through their stories - but rather them giving back to the “community” with current information, observations, and any other useful information.  This is after all, a community at its core.  It doesn’t work without some reciprocity.  

This is one of my pet hates as well, but there is nothing you can do about it. If they feck off away from the boards after the trip, you have no power over them.

At least with a regular troll you can demonstrate that you recognise them, which might annoy them, but if they are somebody who got loads of good info but never log in again how can they know that we are sitting here righteously fuming at them...

16 minutes ago, forrestreid said:

Personally, I Think that a board would probably be more successful in the long term if it  prioritises being more welcoming to new members rather than worrying too much about the dangers of fantasists and trolls, and the results will be in the longer term a healthier and more lively board

A reasonable & measured approach - agree with comments .  

i just had a bad experience that’s still kind of recent & was completely blindsided.  All good. Moving on. 

let’s talk about dick

On 6/6/2022 at 9:12 PM, Badboy81 said:

Why is that the worst?

You want to live vicariously through their travels....you arent owed anything

Hit Dogs Holla.

🤣🤣🤣

On 5/20/2022 at 11:49 AM, Half-vaccinated said:

The Worst ones are the ones claiming they are going somewhere but never come back and report.  

I am guilty of this, I do actually go to the destination, but I don't post after for security reasons. I have been told by other posters that there are some posters on here that have worked with the boys at the sauna to cause issues for you when you travel. After hearing a nightmare scenario involving a person I regularly see posting on this blog I decided against it.

13 hours ago, bcdaron said:

am guilty of this, I do actually go to the destination, but I don't post after for security reasons

you can post and still be security conscious  
i would never do real-time posting while at a destination as that can be used against you - that’s exactly what happened to me.  unfortunately, that means posting after the trip when some memories have faded and the enthusiasm just isn’t the same.  
don’t post any information that can ID specific sex-workers because that can be used to harass them and implicate you in some sort of referral type con-game. 
I wouldn’t even post hotel information here because I don’t want to ruin a good thing.

Kind of buzzkill once you realize how information here can be manipulated by others. But it’s a real threat.  Proceed accordingly. 
 

On 6/7/2022 at 2:27 PM, forrestreid said:

This is one of my pet hates as well, but there is nothing you can do about it. If they feck off away from the boards after the trip, you have no power over them.

At least with a regular troll you can demonstrate that you recognise them, which might annoy them, but if they are somebody who got loads of good info but never log in again how can they know that we are sitting here righteously fuming at them...

You happen to be speaking to the biggest troll here. I joined and posted a trip report, but he was not happy for some reason and voted it down. Then he started attacking me and accusing me of being someone else. When I posted a question (after I'd already contributed) I was called stupid and lazy by another member, so I had my post removed. The biggest troll then posted some crazy conspiracy theory about why I had my post removed. I've been on other forums where people can post but not respond. I was excited when I found this one because there is a lot of good information and it seemed people were helpful, until I was targeted by troll number 1 and he started coming after me. Well, guess what. I will be doing exactly what you described happening - I'll be looking here for information and not contributing, because who wants to be accused of lying about being in a place? Troll numero uno actually made someone show photos of their passport and when they did, he still called them a liar. I think the guy is delusional and paranoid, but unfortunately, he lives here. Look for his response. A hit dog hollers.

5 hours ago, joizy said:

The biggest troll then posted some crazy conspiracy theory about why I had my post removed

why did you have that Mexico post removed ?? 

I didn’t even know removing posts was possible.  You see - I’ve never had a reason to cover my tracks by deleting posts. My posts all remain as is, with no deletions or editing. Because it’s all true - not something I’ve fantasized, googled or recycled from people here. Most of the members here are the same with their posts.
 
You figured how to remove entire posts while being here for less than 4 days. Yet, you can’t figure out how to find one thing about Mexico when there are hundreds of references by way of a simple search ?  You’d have to be an incredibly stupid and helpless person for that to be true.  And that just doesn’t fit the profile of this forum , where most of us have frequent international travel where being stupid & helpless just doesn’t work.

It’s at this point where the trolls realize they’re caught because the stories become so unbelievable or self-contradicting to anyone with just a little common sense.  

This forum has been welcoming to many people who use it for different purposes. It just doesn’t welcome those who come to abuse it, insult the members and want to play the victim while contributing nothing. 

On 6/22/2022 at 12:27 AM, bcdaron said:

I have been told by other posters that there are some posters on here that have worked with the boys at the sauna to cause issues for you when you travel. After hearing a nightmare scenario involving a person I regularly see posting on this blog I decided against it.

Hmmm, if you’re being cagey and referring to what and whom I think you are, a few years ago, there was one American traveler who went to Club 117 in Brazil and posted actual names and face photos of a few of the garotos he met there — along with describing their sexual activity they did for pay. The two garotos found out he was posting, told him that what he was doing was not only unacceptable and against the club policy (the guys who work there expect and are guaranteed discretion, just as the clients are), but also it’s illegal (criminally and civilly punishable) under Brazilian law to take or post someone’s photo without their permission. 

The two guys whose photos he posted were so freaked out about the violation of their privacy by this client that they no longer work at the saunas. 

And when confronted by these two garotos, that poster client had the audacity to claim that many working guys just LOVE to have their face photos and names posted on this message board, because top modeling agents and talent scouts from the USA and Europe discover them and whisk them away for major ad campaigns! (Um, really, Sis?)

So, you still support this kind of shitty, deceptive, entitled poster / client behavior? You want the absolute autonomy to violate discretion, simply for the sake of reading salacious gossip on the internet — and avoid any and all consequences of said bad behavior? You’re mad that there are actually some posters here who are also trusted clients that are so well-liked by the working guys that these guys would come to them with a problem to solve?

I can just look at who “liked” your comment and see what kind of client / traveler you might be. Water rises to its own level. 
 

 

 

 

On 6/22/2022 at 6:08 PM, joizy said:

I joined and posted a trip report, but he was not happy for some reason and voted it down.

The post creator can edit his own post for about 2-4 hours after posting it. Then after that, only the board moderator can edit or delete that post. No other board member can edit, delete or vote away the existence of another member’s post.