Trolls
Today I was reminded about a post I made a LONG time ago on another forum from a game, and decided to make a simulair post right here in my blog.
A troll looks like you and me… untill they wake up and log on to the internet to start there daily trolling… Then they look like this:
Wikipedia Definition of a Troll:
“An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet-slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chatroom, with the intention of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.”
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This post is not directed at anyone… just per information.. No one should feel offended.. and its no use to flame me here.. because I simply wont respond to flames and if it is not a decent reply then I will simply remove your comment.
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What is a Troll?
An Internet “troll” is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people. For some reason, they don’t “get” that they are hurting real people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind of digital abstraction. As a result, they feel no sorrow whatsoever for the pain they inflict. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the greater their ‘achievement’ (as they see it).
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You cannot negotiate with them;
You cannot cause them to feel shame or compassion;
You cannot reason with them.
They cannot be made to feel remorse.
For some reason, trolls do not feel they are bound by the rules of courtesy or social responsibility.
Perhaps this sounds inconceivable. You may think, “Surely there is something I can write that will change them.” But a true troll can not be changed by mere words.
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Why Does it Matter?
Established posters may leave a message board because of the arguments that trolls ignite, and lurkers (people who read but do not post) may decide that they do not want to expose themselves to abuse and thus never get involved. Another problem is that the negative emotions stirred up by trolls leak over into other discussions. Normally affable people can become bitter after reading an angry interchange between a troll and his victims, and this can poison previously friendly interactions between long-time users. Finally, trolls create a paranoid environment, such that a casual criticism by a new arrival can elicit a ferocious and inappropriate backlash.
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What Can be Done about Trolls?
When you suspect that somebody is a troll, you might try responding with a polite, mild message to see if it’s just somebody in a bad mood.
The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding others not to respond to trolls.
When you try to reason with a troll, he wins. When you insult a troll, he wins. When you scream at a troll, he wins. The only thing that trolls can’t handle is being ignored.
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What Not to Do.
As already stated, it is futile to try to “cure” a troll of his obsession. But perhaps you simply cannot bear the hostile environment that the troll is creating and want to go away for a while. If you do that, then for the sake of the others on the system, please do not post a dramatic “Goodbye!” message. This convinces the troll that he is winning the battle. There is, perhaps, no message you can write on a message system that is as damaging as an announcement that you are leaving because of the hostility that the troll has kindled.
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Impersonation
One technique used by trolls to generate chaos is to pretend to be a well-liked person. On some systems there is nothing to prevent somebody from signing your name to a distasteful message. On other systems the troll may have to be a bit more wiley, perhaps by replacing one character with another.
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The Webmaster’s Challenge.
When trolls are ignored they step up their attacks, desperately seeking the attention they crave.
Their messages become more and more foul, and they post ever more of them.
Alternatively, they may protest that their right to free speech is being curtailed.
The moderator of a message board may not be able to delete a troll’s messages right away, but their job is made much harder if they also have to read numerous replies to trolls.
Some webmasters have to endure conscientious users telling them that they are “acting like dictators” and should never delete a single message. These people may be misinformed: they may have arrived at their opinion about a troll based on the messages they see, never realizing that the webmaster has already deleted his most horrific material.
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Just how much can we expect of a webmaster when it comes to preserving the principles of free speech?
Some trolls find sport in determining what the breaking point is for a particular message board operator.
Perhaps the most difficult challenge for a webmaster is deciding whether to take steps against a troll that a few people find entertaining. Some trolls do have a creative spark and have chosen to squander it on being disruptive. There is a certain perverse pleasure in watching some of them. Ultimately, though, the webmaster has to decide if the troll actually cares about putting on a good show for the regular participants, or is simply playing to an audience of one — himself.
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What about Free Speech?
When trolls find that their efforts are being successfully resisted, they often complain that their right to free speech is being infringed. Let us examine that claim. While most people on the Internet are ardent defenders of free speech, it is not an absolute right; there are practical limitations. For example, you may not scream out “Fire!” in a crowded theatre, and you may not make jokes about bombs while waiting to board an airplane. We accept these limitations because we recognize that they serve a greater good.
Another useful example is the control of the radio frequency spectrum. You might wish to set up a powerful radio station to broadcast your ideas, but you cannot do so without applying for a license. Again, this is a practical limitation: if everybody broadcasted without restriction, the repercussions would be annoying at best and life-threatening at worst.
The radio example is helpful for another reason: with countless people having a legitimate need to use radio communications, it is important to ensure that nobody is ‘monopolizing the channel’. There are only so many clear channels available in each frequency band and these must be shared.
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When a troll attacks a message board, he generally posts a lot of messages. Even if his messages are not particularly inflammatory, they can be so numerous that they drown out the regular conversations (this is known as ‘flooding’). Needless to say, no one person’s opinions can be allowed to monopolize a channel.
The ultimate response to the ‘free speech’ argument is this: while we may have the right to say more or less whatever we want, we do not have the right to say it wherever we want. You may feel strongly about the fact that your neighbour has not mowed his lawn for two months, but you do not have the right to berate him in his own living room. Similarly, if a webmaster tells a troll that he is not welcome, the troll has no “right” to remain. This is particularly true on the numerous free communications services offered on the net. (On pay systems, the troll might be justified in asking for a refund.)
Why Do They Do It?
Affirmation. Regular net users know how delightful it is when somebody responds to something they have written. It is a meeting of the minds, which is an intellectual thrill, but it is also an acknowledgment of one’s value — and that can be a very satisfying emotional reward.
Trolls crave attention, and they care not whether it is positive or negative. They see the Internet as a mirror into which they can gaze in narcissistic rapture. If you want a deeper analysis than that, perhaps a psychologist can shed some additional light on the matter.
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Conclusion Next time you are on a message board and you see a post by somebody whom you think is a troll, and you feel you must reply, simply write a follow-up message entitled “Troll Alert” and type only this: The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding others not to respond to trolls.
By posting such a message, you let the troll know that you know what he is, and that you are not going to get dragged into his twisted little hobby.
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Resources: All the sources I used where not available anymore and the links where dead so I removed them, since it was pretty long time ago since I first posted this. If you somehow can get me a working link of original work that I have quoted here, then by all means please let me know, since I always give credit where credit is due.
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Tags: Internet, Internet-Troll, Internet-trolls, messageboard troll, messageboard-trolls, Trolls
