This graphic is floating around the Web in one form or the other. This version I found
at The Austrian Economists.
Trolls breed in dark anonymity online, breathing foul odors through cyberspace and causing enough mayhem to stress out even the Winchester brothers.
Everything good must have a bad side. For the Internet, it is trolls, hecklers who want to provoke, attack, and cause general chaos before moving on to the next victim. These nasty virtual creatures spread vitriolic prose, hoping it will catch like a virus at a site and are only too happy to engage with someone who dares disagree with them. They enjoy adding fuel to the cyber fire caused by their bad behavior. They thrive on it. Unfortunately, they leave a lot of hurt feelings in their wake. (See Wikipedia for more details on trolls.)
What you should know about trolls:
Trolls post anonymously. Typically, trolls will only use a first name, a fake name or a pseudonym like cuzgurlzrul152 when they spread their hate. Few are brave enough to put their real name, Web site and e-mail into a form so others can find them. However, anger THEM enough and they won't hesitate to find YOU on other Web sites.
Obsessive passion creates trolls. Some people become extremely passionate about a topic in forums, chats and comments. Sometimes, this passions turns otherwise nice people into trolls. The perceived anonymity of the Internet allows this transition to happen without any apparent backlash on the troll.
Kindness means nothing. You could leave an innocuous comment like, "Thanks! terrific article." and a troll will tear you apart. This is common on sites like Digg and YouTube. Note some of the hate comes from people with blank profiles.
Reason does not exist. Never, ever try to reason with a troll. You can be nice, with sound arguments to your case, and the trolls will pile on more hateful drivel. Don't bother with reason if they want to argue with you. You know those guys on talk radio who call in and talk so fast no one can get a word in edgewise? They have that hysterical edge and are determined to talk you down until you finally give up and let them have the point. Trolls are no different; they just work on a different medium.
Spammers can be trolls. People are passionate about certain issues, like politics and religion. One particular client I work with supports an issue that is contentious in some areas. Groups that are against any reforms in this area constantly leave the same, condescending, hate-ladden comments on blogs to discredit the opposition. Obviously, the groups are copying and pasting some "approved" text from someone and using that to spam comment sections. Delete these immediately.
Trolls sometimes stalk you. Sometimes trolls become so obsessed with your view point, they will follow you to other blogs and Web sites, or they will post nasty comments about you everywhere BUT your own site. You cannot control what others allow on their sites, but you CAN control what comments you allow at your own site.
Don't give trolls power. When a troll strolls into your Web territory, act fast. Delete their comments. Block them, if they continue. Legal action is sometimes necessary - but libel is difficult to prove, as attorney Joe Martineau discusses in this podcast.
If you haven't already, create a policy for comments and chats at your blog or Web site. Make it public and be sure to address troll-like behavior immediately. It varies what posts are considered troll-like behavior and what aren't. If trolls become a problem, get a program that allows you to trace ISP addresses so you know when the same troll visits your site.
Some site administrators happily allow troll comments to beef up site hits, while others delete immediately. You have to decide which procedure is best for your audience.
Tomorrow, author J.R. Turner guest blogs about her experience with trolls - one that lead to legal action.
Great post, Angela. I have had a few Troll attacks. I usually ignore them and let the comment ride unless it’s particularly offensive. I learned a while back to trust my readers. They can smell a troll and if trolls wants to make a fool of themselves, who am I to stop them? It takes two to tango, and once they see that they can talk until they are blue in the face and I will not respond, they usually leave in a huff.
Readers are smart and compassionate . They can see the juvenile antics of trolls. While trolls may fester and obsess, I just move on and forget it. Actually, I usually share a good laugh over the troll’s posts with a few private friends– that’s my dark secret
Great post!
Excellent post. I agree the worst thing you can do is try to reason with a troll. All this does is encourage them, and attract the attention of other trolls who arrive to join in the fun.
Also, I think any blogger who doesn’t implement moderation on comments is asking for trouble.
Thanks, Tony! You know, laughing is a great attitude to have. I’m not always that good at handling those types of comments. =0)
Nick –
I agree, I think bloggers should have some sort of policy to moderate comments and deal specifically with trolls. I did not have one until I had to deal with it myself – realized just how difficult it would be. As a former journalist, I am not at all for censorship, but idiocy, rude behavior and antagonistic attitudes are another story entirely. I had to be very clear with myself on that.
It is really tough to bear the brunt of troll activity on a site that doesn’t moderate, or where the site administrator takes joy in the number of hits received to a post just because of the troll’s behavior. That information will always be out there, just waiting to damage your brand.
On the other hand, if you already have a solid brand online, people will smell a troll immediately. I guess it is a matter of brand management and focus of online activities.
As you can tell, this is a topic I’ve wrestled with for a while, with my personal online use, as well as for clients. =0)
Thanks for stopping by!
Way to go, Angela! Having been “trolled” myself over a review, I appreciate this post more than you know.
Hey Carol!
It stinks when that happens. Unfortunately, it happens to everyone at some point in their online life. Once you get over the emotional upheaval of it, it is much easier to face the issue of trolls with cold, clear logic. Sometimes, though, it takes a while to get over the craziness of it.
Thanks for commenting!
I reread your post again. Great the second time around. I wanted to leave a fake flaming comment just for humor, but I couldn’t get it to sound right in my mind without coming across nastily sarcastic or honestly rude… so I will stick with the truth: Well done! All bloggers need to read this.