The official AR Troll thread

[Friend]

The object of this thread is to bring together a definitive document to cover the utter sadness of the Internet troll. Usually, a troll is nothing more than a passing nuisance, but, as this page will show, they can be a worry (stalkers). However, it is almost invariably an inadequate individual who can be safely ignored.

This page will define the activity, and help with early recognition; once acknowledged, trolls can take up residence, and, like athlete's foot, can be difficult to shift. And when you've finished here, I recommend this fairly comprehensive guide to managing sad thirteen year olds loose on Mom's computer.


What Is A Troll?

The term derives from "trolling", a style of fishing which involves trailing bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The troll posts a message, often in response to an honest question, that is intended to upset, disrupt or simply insult the group.

Usually, it will fail, as the troll rarely bothers to match the tone or style of the group, and usually its ignorance shows.


Why do trolls do it?

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!).


How can troll posts be recognised?

No Imagination - Most are frighteningly obvious; sexist comments on nurses' groups, blasphemy on religious groups .. I kid you not.

Pedantic in the Extreme - Many trolls' preparation is so thorough, that while they waste time, they appear so ludicrous from the start that they elicit sympathetic mail - the danger is that once the group takes sides, the damage is done.

False Identity - Because they are cowards, trolls virtually never write over their own name, and often reveal their trolliness (and lack of imagination) in the chosen ID. As so many folk these days use false ID, this is not a strong indicator on its own!

Crossposting - Any post that is crossposted to several groups should be viewed as suspicious, particularly if unrelated or of opposing perspective. Why would someone do that?

Off-topic posting - Often genuine errors, but, if from an 'outsider' they deserve matter-of-fact response; if genuine, a brief apposite response is simply netiquette; if it's a troll post, you have denied it its reward.
Repetition of a question or statement is either a troll - or a pedant; either way, treatment as a troll is effective.

Missing The Point - Trolls rarely answer a direct question - they cannot, if asked to justify their twaddle - so they develop a fine line in missing the point.

Thick or Sad - Trolls are usually sad, lonely folk, with few social skills; they rarely make what most people would consider intelligent conversation. However, they frequently have an obsession with their IQ and feel the need to tell everyone. This is so frequent, that it is diagnostic! Somewhere on the web there must be an Intelligence Test for Trolls - rigged to always say "above 150"


Who is at risk?

Any newsgroup, bulletin board, forum or chatroom can attract trolls, but they don't have the brains to attack nuclear physicists, and they are drawn to the quick response where sex, religion and race are found; so politics is easy prey.

One troll famously tried to infiltrate a mensa group; the results read like 100 trolls and one regular, it didn't have a chance - but it was stupid enough to persist until removed.


Should You Be Concerned?

Usually, no, though fractured funny bones and occasional waves of nausea have been reported.

When a troll become persistent and personal, you may need to consider the possibility that it has fermented into an Internet Stalker - equally pathetic, if not more so - but sometimes requiring weedkiller.

[JC.1987]

Also... it is not wise to feed the trolls.. as they tend to reproduce and spread like a bad case of herpes. And for every troll that gets banned.. 2 more are created (but i think this is a myth)

[Mr.Rose]

Or admin can give me their IP's and i can trace them down to their front doors and kick their head in. .

[MuscleScience]

How about this little tidbit.

7. Dealing With Trolls

Trolls are here for one reason. TO PISS PEOPLE OFF!
Solution, dont take the baited trap they are laying for you, simple as that.

[The Deuce]

MR. ROSE YOU THINK LIKE ME.. Please admin.. that stuff is public knowledge anyways right.. BIG BROTHER or something.. we can find out anything about anything.. nothing is secret anymore.??? I'll take some IP's and do some hunting..

[Mr.Rose]

haha, . It's not to hard to hack through the board and find that titles/nigga guys IP, but I'm going to leave this board alone, lol.

However, if i get his IP, i can track him down anywhere on the web and f*ck him up, send him virus, trojans, batch files, god damn, i can do so much... got to thank the university of sydney for teaching me so much about computer and software.... first lecture in our lecturer tells us that me must never misuse the information given, sorry but i cant keep that promise. .

hehe.

[stevey_6t9]

your all trolls

[Bojangles69]

You SHOULD really edit a section about pseudo trolls.

A pseudo troll is a newbie who has most likely never posted on an internet forum before. They are unaware of the mass of personalities on a forum, and deal with everyone like they would in their own social circle.
They then get labeled a "troll" by longstanding members which creates a ripple effect that causes them to act MORE LIKE a troll when in fact they are just a regular new member.

Be careful throwing the troll label around because once its mentioned the stigma of a troll is near impossible to avoid, which will result in a ban when other members really just made it impossible for them to not behave like one.

Thats why its a good idea to wait for ip confirmation before you attempt feeding them. At which point a real troll will eat till it dies..

[amcon]

great post

[MaNiCC]

Sticky this lol

you should add an Ar's current trolls list, name and shame

[stpete]

Nice post Friend.

[jbm]

[jbm]

[Mr.Rose]

bahahaha,

jbm you made my day, naw that girls too sexy to be eaten by trolls. Dammit, I'll save her!

[Charlie6]

yea trolls are lame. more than lame. they're UBER lame