Concern Trolls vs Eeyores: Can You Spot the Difference?
(Moderator’s Note: The following guidelines for dealing with Concern Trolls and Eeyores are excerpted from a post by Kevin DuJan that originally ran on January 10, 2010. As the 2012 election process gets underway, it’s vitally important for members of the American Resistance to be able to spot and eliminate Concern Trolls and Eeyores, both online and in real life.)
Kevin DuJan, Editor & Founder of HillBuzz.org
Some of you have asked us to further explain the difference between Concern Trolls and Eeyores. Well, here goes.
Concern Troll = someone who posts on a board, forum, or article and says things like:
* “You know, I really like Scott Brown, but it’s Massachusetts, and even though he’s had a surge, it’s Massachusetts, so we should stop phone-banking or working hard and just give up. It’s Massachusetts”.
* “Oh, I’ve been so proud of how hard Hillary Clinton has been fighting, but there’s no way she’s going to win Ohio. This is the best board ever, and we all love Hillary, but I heard on MSNBC that Obama has it all sewed up, so for the good of the party she should just quit and drop out of the race. I like her, but I think we need to just give up now.”
* “You know, I didn’t like Sarah Palin at first, but then, wow, she gave a great speech at the convention and I think she has a good heart. Such cute kids, too! But, really, I hate to say she’s not ready yet to be Vice President, but she’s not. I think we just need to accept that and move on”.
Concern Trolls use a lot of “I Statements”, the kind bad therapists tell sociopaths to use more of so that they trick parole boards into releasing them. “I think”, “I feel”, “I believe”, etc. They have a three-pronged, four or five sentence max, little system:
(A) Establish some positive connection to whatever the thread is about, but using “I Statements” to say things like: “I like Scott Brown”, “I didn’t like Sarah Palin at first but”, “I’ve been so proud of Hillary Clinton”, etc. The example about Palin is good because one of the other things they try to do is establish some sort of false-honesty by seemingly admitting something to the board, so that they generate a fake credibility, among other oxymorons. “I didn’t like her at first, but, now I do, and I’ve thus established you can trust me because I shared that secret, now listen to me when I tell you to sit your butts home and let Democrats win. Otay? Buh-bye!”
(B) Tell everyone they all worked hard and note how impressed the troll is with all of you (“This is the best board ever!”), and then express “concern” that people are getting their hopes up too much and that people need to not waste their energy on the task at hand. “We’ve all worked hard, but now it is time to give up and do nothing so that Democrats can catchup and beat us”.
(C) Flat-out, using “I Statements”, tell everyone to just give up, but without making imperative statements that would come off as commands and piss people off. So, they don’t say, “You have to just stop and give up now so Democrats can win”. Instead, they say, “I think we’re all just really tired. We put up a good fight. But the Boston Globe poll says Coakley’s ahead by 15 points, and it is Massachusetts, so we should just all put our diapers on, sit in the corner, and fill them, all day, doing nothing productive, until someone can come and change us. That’s what I am going to do, and I have been the biggest supporter of our candidate ever. I love this board!”
Concern trolls are often, but not always, paid operatives who quite possibly work in little boutique PR and Public Strategies consulting firms in major cities. Chicago has DOZENS of these. We know — we’ve worked in these offices. Where do you think we learned everything we tell you?
********
Eeyores are different from Concern Trolls even if the end result is the same, to demoralize supporters of one candidate so the other candidate can win.
We came up with the term Eeyores to describe people in our ranks during the Clinton campaign who would depress other volunteers with their pessimism, negativity, and “there’s no way we can win!” nonsense. These are people who get all their news from CNN and MSNBC without realizing that CNN and MSNBC have agendas and deliberately lie to push them.
Eeyores LOVE emailing people negative articles. It’s sick, actually.
Concern trolls WANT you to give up; Eeyores don’t want you to give up and don’t want the opponent to win, but don’t realize they are sabotaging all efforts you’re making.
Concern Trolls DELIBERATELY lower morale.
Eeyores lower morale unintentionally.
They just can’t shut their damn mouths and need to keep venting their pessimism, spreading their little black rainclouds everywhere. It’s frustrating.
Eeyores are actually FAR MORE DANGEROUS and harder to deal with, because they are often your friends. In our case, with Hillary Clinton, Eeyores were people we liked very much — but the time and energy it took to keep these people propped up, and to talk them down off ledges they got on whenever Tim Russert starting bellowing “Just quit already!” really distracted us from other things we needed to do.
It cost us AT LEAST three essays a day we could have written…about 100 phone calls a day we could have made…or just plain old sleep we missed because we were refuting, bit by bit, everything the MSNBC/CNN propaganda machine was putting out there to discourage Hillary’s voters and lower our turnout on election day.
Exhausting!
HillBuzz itself, this site, exists because of Eeyores, actually. It’s why we started this site, because the constant emails from 50 or so of these people on our list of 500 volunteers took so much time to address that we just started posting what we would have written to these people individually on this site. We never intended this to be a national site. It was strictly for Chicago Hillary volunteers, so we could share articles to refute what the MSM propaganda machine was doing, and to give people tips to fight Concern Trolls and combat Eeyorism in their own midst.
(Moderator’s Note: We’re re-running this Concern Trolls vs Eeyores identification guide because of a comment that came in today. Is it a concern troll? An Eeyore? A totally innocent reader just sharing his honest opinion? Should we delete it, or allow it to stand? Would you have recognized this as “trolling” before you became a Hillbuzz reader? Have you ever written anything like it yourself? Do you find it demoralizing? Hillbuzzers, please examine the following comment and share your critique. Please explain your reasoning.)
Thank you for the invite to post here boyz. I am a Romney supporter, and after being blasted…actually savaged here by many of you Palin supporters, I have opted not to have any further discussions on this site. While I understand that Palin is your number one choice for the nominations, the continuing barrage of insults to any other potential Presidential candidates (“soggy cucumber sandwiches”) has become not only tiresome, but offensive. Even worse, the insults I and others have had to endure from Palin supporters has only fed the reputations that Palin supporters can be the nastiest political group of people in cyberspace.
I am not trying to be intentionally mean or condescending here, only honest about my feeling about Hillbuzz for the past year or so. Since I found this site before the 2008 elections, I have enjoyed reading the various commentaries. I even wrote to Rush Limbaugh urging him to check out his site. I was even delighted to hear him mention it only a few days later on his radio show.
Since Obama was elected, I have been a little perplexed by the nonstop Palin worship going on here, especially with how I was viciously attacked for not supporting her to run for President out of concern that independent voters would not back her, handing four more years to Obama. The attacks were nonstop and relentless. I could not have a rational discuss on this site anymore. That’s it why I stopped posting.
If you have noticed that traffic on this site has dwindled, perhaps you should take note that the Palin supporters here need to tone down their rhetoric and be respectful to those who don’t support a Palin run for the Presidency. This site has a lot of potential and should be more welcoming to those who support different candidates. Perhaps then again, this is exactly what is article is all about.
So…what’s your verdict? Was this comment written by a Concern Troll, Eeyore, or Innocent Bystander?
© 2011, HillBuzz. All rights reserved.
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well hell guys! I'm gonna make a point to start posting here MORE often! I had no idea you were such UBER Palinistas!!! wooHOOO! I LOVE IT! so sorry for Romulus but you know how it goes? no one said politics was purtyyyy! but you guys are the BEST! I promise to chat here more often! I should THANK your eeeyore troll!! (smack on the forehead) I knew you liked her but…. hey extreme love of country via the Palin Presidency is a very attractive thing! W00T!
FYI: Forewarned is forearmed.
Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va…
I'll say concern troll. It seems filled with fake concern about the site. Why do they care what is posted here? I don't believe I have ever seen anybody getting "viciously attacked" as stated, or attacks that are "non-stop and relentless" or a "barrage of insults"? Maybe I missed it. But dropping Rush Limbaugh's name, and most of all saying that Palin supporters "are the nastiest political group of people in cyberspace?" What? Guess they never ran across any Obama supporters. The more I write the more I am convinced this is definitely concern troll, a malicious one at that.
Totally agree with bellalu0…absolutely a concern troll.
Lord keep me humble, but strong and positive!
Yes, the writer is a concern troll. The only thing I am not sure about is whether he is in fact a Romney guy…. he has a thing against cucumber sandwiches (well so do I but that is due to what it does to me!!)
Definitely a concern troll. Clearly, the subject post was written by someone who is not at all familiar with the HillBuzz site. I've followed HillBuzz for a very long time, and have never witnessed any commenter being "blasted" or "savaged" for simply voicing support for other conservative candidates. In fact, the "rhetoric" at HillBuzz has been, without exception, "respectful" and modest in comparison with virtually every other blog on the web. Also, while HillBuzz has been very clear in its support for Sarah Palin in the event she decides to run, I've never witnessed any commenter being "viciously attacked" for not supporting Sarah Palin or for expressing support for other conservative candidates. The site also has offered much positive coverage of other viable conservative candidates, including factually based, careful, insightful analyses of the policy positions and qualifications that make them viable candidates. While the site has been very clear about its view of the "cocktail party" and "soggy sandwich" GOP candidates, there has been no outright "blasting," "savaging" or "insulting" of such candidates, but rather factually based, careful analyses pointing out the weakness in such candidates' policy positions and qualifications which minimize the viability of their candidacies. And, here's the part of the subject post that really makes it clear this is a concern troll with nothing more than a "quick scan" understanding of HillBuzz, and it's the part that really ticks me off: "I even wrote to Rush Limbaugh urging him to check out his site. I was even delighted to hear him mention it only a few days later on his radio show." The credit for any notoriety of HillBuzz goes to Kevin DuJan and the other HillBuzz writers, and certainly not to some leftist propaganda-drunk, BO zombie concern troll working in mommy and daddy's basement and being paid by the word by MoveOn.org, DNC, Organizing for America, et al.
If he's all that upset about the "relentless" anti-Palin rhetoric…..just let him dip a toe into RedState with a pro-Palin comment! LOL
Absolutely a concern troll. And one who does NOT read Hillbuzz, if s/he says that we blast people who do not agree with us. One of the things I love about this site is the thoughtful comments and the polite discourse. It's what I HATE about most sites. So someone who complains about how we treat people who don't agree with us can't possibly know what s/he is talking about.
We saw the original post and also immediately recognized it as boiler plate robo-campaign posting – and we'll even give the Romneybots a rare pass – as the post appears to have the fingerprints of a Dem/LSM operative – not a Romney supporter as purported
(1) same political DNA similar to the vicious blood libel media campaign against our Sarah and the Tea Party following the Tucson mass murders – murders committed surprisingly by a life-time Leftist/Dem (Anti-Bush) activist
(2) same political DNA as the vicious campaign to paint peaceful patriotic Tea Party citizens as RAACIST, angry and violent
To gain a further understanding of what a political version of the "poker tell" for identifying eeyores/trolls – take a quick look at a more sophisticated attempt at both eeyorism and trollism in the RINO rag – Daily Caller:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/18/sarah-palin-can…
Just 2 quick examples from this story (which happens every single day);
(1) "…Putting this in context, we now know that: 1). Mike Huckabee, a populist social conservative who won Iowa in 2008, isn’t running, and 2). Gallup has Sarah Palin in second place — just two points behind Mitt Romney. It is frankly stunning that — this late in the game — Palin still has a golden opportunity to win the nomination. (We also know, as the polling implies, the weak GOP field lacks a clear front-runner to rally behind.) And yet…conventional wisdom seems to hold that Palin will not run — and even if she does — she can’t win. The assumption is that Palin isn’t serious enough. Once again, I think she is being underestimated…."
OK…notice subtle attacks/negative meme mantras buried between apparent compliments such as:
"It is frankly stunning that — this late in the game…"
"…conventional wisdom seems to hold that Palin will not run — and even if she does — she can’t win. The assumption is that Palin isn’t serious enough…"
notice – late, can't win, not serious – see the pattern?
(2) "…If Palin were serious about running for president, isn’t buttressing her foreign policy credentials by traveling and building bridges with at least some media elites — precisely what she ought to be doing?
WTF!! not buttressing her foreign policy credentials – Sarah leads not only the domestic agenda but also the foreign policy agenda by making Obama blink and reply with her daily tweets, facebook manifestos, speeches, and foreign travel – wowing all – Hong China, China, India, ISRAEL, Haiti, and not to mention her visits to our troops (more than out President) and their support organizations.
finally – "…building bridges with at least some media elites" do they mean spending 2 weeks with Katie "Eva Braun" Couric so she can find one sound bite to twist?
troll
eeyores
both
yes!
My take? Concern troll. I cannot take seriously anyone who fails to debate policy, and basically says :"I can't vote for Palin because her supporters were mean to me". Puhleeze!
For me, this is not a popularity contest. This is not a debate about how posters on a blog express their support, (or lack thereof), for any candidate. This is about the future of our country and of the generations who follow. This is about stopping runaway liberal/progressive policies and replacing them with principled conservative policies.
I want to support the candidate who has views and policies that most closely resemble my own, and whose record demonstrates that he/she has walked the walk as well as talked the talk. When I find that candidate, I will support him/her in every way I can. If my preferred candidate doesn't enter the race or win the nomination, I will support the party's nominee. My goal is to see Mr. Obama become a private citizen. Period!!!
It’s simple really.
Concern Trolls have big buts.
Though I would prefer Sarah or Cain for the republican nominee I would as some have been saying on the interent vote for a can of soda to defeat Bhohammed.
Love the new site….keep up the good work guys….
You will find a typical eyeore/concern troll comment in this link:
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/05/21/quotes-of-t…
The comments are those that concern Herman Cain in particular – ""longshot" being one of the phrases. There are also comments regarding Michele Bachman that fit in the same description (I should add here that I am not a fan of Michele Bachman with regard to a POTUS run since I think she is naive in some respects and therefore needs more time in the Congress).
Don't you just love how these folks are branding Cain a "longshot" when in 2008 every LSM outlet was falling all over itself to call a less-than-one-term Senator with no real accomplishments to speak of a "rock star"?
Definitely a Concern Troll. Too many "I feel" & "I think" statements. Oh, and I THINK that troll has had too much Kool-Aid. Probably bought into the world ending tonight thing too.
I feel like the LSM is one huge eyeore organization, except that instead of posting on message boards they post on their newscasts, in their newspapers and in article/editorial form on the internet. They plop charts, studies and polls and lead with headlines like "Palin not liked by anybody but the teaparty" in the most conspicuous places that are sure to be seen and picked up by their eyeore brethren. I just scroll right past these eyeore pieces and read the material I think has merit, such as Hillbuzz and the posters here.
Yah see. Right there with your line above. You are a troll. You didn't need to say the line about Palin that but ya did. If that isn't enuf, ur past postings confirm it.
Too easy. Troll. Has the troll stink all over it. It is an attack and that means troll. If I were to guess the person who wrote that is female, age 25, college graduate, blogging for Obama part-time just to have some spending money, lives at home, not actively pursuing gainful employment.
This appears to be the work of a concern troll. I personally pray that Sarah Palin runs and wins in 2012. I believe this country could benefit from her leadership.
I like this site because of the civility shown by the posters toward one another and the quality of the commentary.
Grr, I had a whole reply typed out and I lost it! Oh well, the main gist of it was that yes indeed that is a concern troll post. For one, people that stop posting just STOP POSTING. Why make a big hullabaloo out of it? And as one commenter wrote, it has the stink of trying to paint Palin supporters as raving lunatics in the same way that the Tea Party is painted as a bunch of racist lunatics that don't want to share their vast wealth (HA!) And really, you write off an entire site because they're mean to your candidate and you don't try to inform the readers as to WHY your candidate is the bee's knees of candidates? Troll!
Ever watch Northern Exposure? Set in an Alaskan town full of very smart people who time and time again were underestimated. Sell your scheming trollisms aka snake oil somewhere else. Ain't buying what you got.
Oh, and this post just prods me that I really need to post more!
CT (concern troll)