“An electronic mail message, Usenet posting or other (electronic) communication which is intentionally incorrect, but not overtly controversial (compare flame bait), or the act of sending such a message. Aims to elicit an emotional reaction from those with a hair-trigger on the reply key. A really subtle (one)makes some people lose their minds.”
Yes folks, I’m talking about those who live under the bridge and desire that we follow them there.
“I believe that most trolls are sad people, living their lonely lives vicariously through those they see as strong and successful.
Disrupting a stable newsgroup gives the illusion of power, just as for a few, stalking a strong person allows them to think they are strong, too.
For trolls, any response is 'recognition'; they are unable to distinguish between irritation and admiration; their ego grows directly in proportion to the response, regardless of the form or content of that response.
Trolls, rather surprisingly, dispute this, claiming that it's a game or joke; this merely confirms the diagnosis; how sad do you have to be to find such mind-numbingly trivial timewasting to be funny?
Remember that trolls are cowards; they'll usually post just enough to get an argument going, then sit back and count the responses (Yes, that's what they do!).” http://www.flayme.com/troll/#How
How can you tell if a post is from one of these friendly folks? You can’t easily, especially with these professional ones, and those who pretend to be ‘insiders.’ It doesn’t matter as long as you don’t reward them anyway!
“There is no better way to shift a troll from a newsgroup than simply to ignore it. Sometimes, that is not possible; perhaps it has succeeeded in upsetting people.
It can be tempting to play games with the troll, they are easy to wind up, and watching them in contortions of fury feels like justice. But think before you do this - not out of mercy to the slug - but because it is boring at best for your fellow members, and irritating at worst; you may be labeled a troll yourself. Best to ignore.” http://www.flayme.com/troll/#How
Here are the five types identified loosely;
"A group is considered to be cohesively destroyed when two-thirds to three-quarters of the messages are a result of [trolls'] comments," Wood explains. They often target new users, who are more likely to take offense” or take their side. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1173450669;pp;2
So remember Lace’s Mantra??? ReportIgnoreDonate really IS the best way to deal with trolls. If you let them ‘trigger’ or ‘take over’ the discussion, then no one wins. Remember, HQ is in charge of deciding what posts to remove, often remove posts with or without their being reported, and ALWAYS have the final say about things; IT’S NOT OUR BLOG. Let’s get back to why we were invited here in the first place!!
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