First, some background information. I am a sophomore at one of five high schools on a campus. The campus has 1 wi-fi connection for students, and 1 wi-fi connection for guests. In my free time every day, during the hour lunch/study period that I get, I browse RPF. I can also be seen reading 'The Revolution : A Manifesto' by Ron Paul and recently 'Nullification' by Tom Woods. Most of my friends know that I have a RPF account, and they also know that I am a libertarian.
Now, for the explanation. One of my numbskull friends (the term numbskull being used with the utmost respect here) informed me that he was considering making a RPF account. I looked at him for a second, and then said "You're going to get banned." It's just something that I knew for a fact. This friend is not the type of person who is interested in liberty, he doesn't even know who Ron Paul is. And he is the type of person who would troll a site that his friend values.
Remember the random troll threads that appeared over the last few days? Yeah, I think you know where I'm going with this.
TacoBell0n0 made the account and was banned 3 hours after his first post (Age of Consent to 14). That I know of, this is not the belief of my friend - his intent was to make a controversial statement and start an argument.
As TacoBell0n0 was making his second thread (something about Eminem suing New Zealand), another extremely intelligent and devoted liberty lover friend of mine was creating his account, hoping to join in the "fun". That account was banned before it was even verified.
And so began a series of accounts being created and banned. Numbskull made, in total, 3 accounts - all banned. Mr. Intelligent stopped at two accounts, after his second was banned for posting a thread about Fancy Rats. That makes 5 accounts, all created and banned within two days, 3 of the 5 using new e-mail accounts made solely for the purpose of trolling.
This morning I logged into RPF before the first bell to make sure Numbskull and Mr. Intelligent hadn't wrecked any more havoc over night. I was met by a notification informing me that the current IP address was banned by the admins. The IP address used by 5 high schools. The guest wi-fi was also blocked (Numbskull checked).
And that is how I, by spreading the news about libertarianism and Ron Paul, got 5 accounts and 5 high schools banned from RPF. Is the change good? Hard to say. I can no longer browse the forums during school hours, but the troll accounts are temporarily discouraged. In fact, Numbskull decided to create a legitimate account that he can use to catch up on news and, more importantly, receive valued opinions on aforementioned news. And Mr. Intelligent? He experienced something like an addiction as he repeatedly checked the forums to see if anyone commented on his Fancy Rats post. Chances are he will try to create a legitimate account as well. Hopefully they don't get banned again. And through the whole experience, many other students and teachers learned about the forum and who Ron Paul is. Some classmates also expressed interest in joining the forums, or at least browsing as a guest. I can only hope they continue to seek for information, but if they do, it will have to be done at home.
Site Information
About Us
- RonPaulForums.com is an independent grassroots outfit not officially connected to Ron Paul but dedicated to his mission. For more information see our Mission Statement.
Connect With Us