How to Deal with an Internet Troll
 

How to Deal with an Internet Troll

Translated to RPGWatch:

1
Make sure you're dealing with a troll. Sometimes, what appears to be a troll may just be a very stressed out person. Avoid getting heated yourself and try to ask kind questions or make kind suggestions before assuming the worst.

• Always assume good faith initially.
• Keep your sense of humor. You may be able to joke them out of their misbehaving.
• Consider ignoring them. Troll behavior directed at you will usually stop if you don't add fuel for them to play with.

2
Report via PM the troll to a moderator or site owner. An moderator or site owner will know how to deal with the troll and will know whether to ban or just edit/move posts.

3
Use the ignore feature.

That is all good, if this is posted here because of what has happened in the last few hours. I never once got into a conversation with the person that got themselves banned last night. Nor did in my post about title of threads here use his name.

This is actually something good to remember - I know I have personally responded to things based on the way something triggered me, and also seen others who seem to have something else on their minds … ;)

For me this one has often been able to put things into perspective
http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/pictu…&pictureid=228

4
Don't encourage obvious trolls on your forum by telling them they're entertaining?

You don't seem to understand the nature of a troll.

Telling them they're entertaining is discouraging, not encouraging. Well, if they actually believe you're telling the truth.

Trolls want to provoke people, not entertain them. They want to entertain themselves, though.

People who take them seriously and make what they're doing into a big deal are the ones encouraging them.

It's not rocket science. It certainly shouldn't be.

No.
Outtroll them.

Unleash joxer :)

You do talk some bollocks, Dart.

In the first place, if you have someone antagonising or bullying people for their own amusement, do you really think that having others laughing and encouraging them is detracting from their fun?

It might be the case that if a troll gets no reaction from anyone at all that he will lose interest. But, as you are so fond of pointing out, people are human, and if you antagonise them enough, someone is going to respond eventually. You might consider that stupid, but it is also stupid not to predict that it will happen. Once the troll has even one person's feelings to feed on, a gang of others providing even more attention by providing praise and laughter is hardly going to deter him. No, it's not rocket science - it's psychology. A disturbed person seeking attention doesn't really care what form that attention takes.

Secondly, a strategy of completely ignoring a troll and starving him of all attention may be your best option - if you are stuck with him. But, if you manage the forum, why would you not simply shut him down, when it is so obvious that someone is going to get upset sooner or later, and the ignoring strategy will fail?

Let's try to keep this on a reasonable level.

I don't know what you're talking about here. I'm talking about trolls. People who try to get a rise out of people - and who don't necessarily mean anything they say.

Declaring that you think they're not doing much harm and that they're fun in their own way is discouraging, not encouraging.

It's extremely basic psychology. They want to get a rise out of you - but instead, you deflate the situation and play along in a very limited way. That's frustrating and quite the opposite of what they're looking for.

As I said, not making it into a big deal and remaining calm is, in my experience, the best way to discourage this behavior.

You've changed "he's fun in his own way" into "he's entertaining" - because you missed the context. To me, it was obvious that Myrthos was saying he was a harmless little troll that was occasionally a bit amusing. That's discouraging - and I'm willing to bet that if CelticFrost and people like you would react the same way - it would be very discouraging.

I don't remember saying "praising and laughing" was a smart way to do it, though I'm not clear what situation we're referring to here.

But yes, people are often stupid - and as such, stupid things are going to happen.

There's no solution except to not be stupid in those situations, but that's not a guarentee.

Part of Watch policy is to be quite lax and tolerant, and that means some trolls have more leeway around here. I like that, because I haven't seen any alternative that's better for my preferences.

So, until such time as I see a better alternative, I willing support that position.

Because Watch policy is to be tolerant.

If you shut people down for trolling ASAP, you're going to have a lot of grey area situations that will get shut down prematurely or unfairly - and there's a real risk the Watch will turn into a rigid place with a much less colorful set of posters.

If you want that to happen, then I can see your point.

CelticFrost had a major reaction which was obviously based on a very current personal experience.

Is it ok to let him, personally, decide who's going to be shut down - or should it be a moderator decision influenced by the majority?

That said, once a troll crosses the line - which is currently a moderator decision - then I think it's absolutely correct to shut him down. They've done it many times before - and they'll do so again when they think someone crosses the line.

Ohh, sounds like I missed a bit of drama. Fill me in here, people, what did I miss?

Some troll having a ball, apparently. The debate seems to revolve around who's to blame for the troll having a ball.

Personally, I don't fret over other people having a ball regardless, just as long as they're not doing perceivable harm.

Hmmm … I thought it was about whose ball it was and if the troll was sharing … or was it about whether the ball was over- or under-inflated … or maybe what they wore to the ball - and if someone lost a glass slipper? I guess I have no idea what was going on …

I had simply made a post if titles with shock value only were needed here and pointed out the last two threads made with for this reason. I did not say anything about the poster of these threads unlike other people here in other threads.

I did a couple post deeper into the thread why I was posting the question at the time I did. Though I still did not attack anyone personally or find the need to go off.

So please tell me first how was I taking anything personally, second though it really doesn't matter have someone write the things he did about children etc.

I didn't say anything about taking it personally, I said you reacted strongly based on a personal situation.

Are you denying that was a factor?

I am not sure how I reacted strongly. I am not sure how something that is personally situation would not be taken personally.

Honestly, I think you really need to take a good look at your own actions in this situation and try to be accountable instead of feigning ignorance because the people in charge don't agree with you.

Since you've always seemed reasonable to me, I trust you could do that if you could get past this feeling of indignance you seem so keen to hold on to.

You let some tool get under your skin and you've turned the whole thing into a pointless war of principles that doesn't belong on the Watch.

In my opinion, that's more harmful than the nonsense this guy spouted that meant nothing at all. At least, I couldn't make any sense of it.

It was nothing but obvious troll-bait and you swallowed it whole like some puritan watching Game of Thrones for the first time.

The fact that you guys are still discussing a minor troll event 2 days after the troll left shows that you are not very good at ignoring trolls at all. :p

A troll seeks attention and wants to provoke a negative reaction.
Ignore him, let the mods handle him or just compliment him away.

Humoristic anti-trolling is fun, too, but needs a lot of time, a silver tongue, a thick skin and of course you should never get angry at all.

I am seriously not holding on to anything and trying to have a conversation with you.
If I was holding on to something I might have gone off like the person in question. If you believe the thread I posted asking if this was entertaining enough was an over reaction to what I read then I am sorry.

If the people in charge like shock value titles here that is fine as well. Like I have stated a few times I was posing a question a if they were needed here. Pointing out there are a millions of places on the internet for things like that.

I never said once I wouldn't come here or would think any less of they were something people thought should be here. Again I will state I never had a problem with the poster in question as I never engaged that person. I never even read what was in those threads.

I think you are looking for more out of this than what is really here. We can go back and forth on the subject. Though I am not going to change my mind on this.

I don't care if those head lines are here though wish they did not show up on the main page when posted or replied too. Also I don't like threads asking for money here.

I don't own the board, don't plan on opening my own board so at end of the day if they these things show up they show up. I might, mostly will pose the question is this the place for them.

If someone wants to over react going off on my family that is up to them.

Well, I thought your post on the subject represented a strong reaction. That's my perception, though, and people feel differently about these things.

Here, I'm arguing how you can discourage trolls by not playing their game - and I think you played their game.

That's all, really.

Obviously, you think shutting trolls down when they say something you find offensive is the way to go - and that's certainly one way to moderate. That said, I don't remember you saying how moderators should figure out who finds what offensive - which is the first question that will lead you towards what I'm warning against if we go down that path.

But you're right, we're going in circles and there's no reason to go on.