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.

Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. 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). At the moment, the relative anonymity of the net allows trolls to flourish.

Trolls are utterly impervious to criticism (constructive or otherwise). 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.

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. Internet users sometimes let their passions get away from them when seated safely behind their keyboard. If you ignore their bluster and respond in a pleasant manner, they usually calm down.

However, if the person persists in being beastly, and seems to enjoy being unpleasant, the only effective position is summed up as follows:

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.

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.

If you feel you must say something, a discreet message to the system operator (and some of the others users, if you have their email addresses) is the best course of action. Incidentally, if you are writing the letter in an agitated state, it is a good idea to wait an hour and then give it one last review before you actually send it. That might spare you the pain of saying things that you don't really mean to people you like.

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 — more on this later.

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. They are also forced to decide whether or not to delete posts from well-meaning folks which have the unintended effect of encouraging the troll.

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.

Please remember that a troll does have an alternative if he has something of value to say: there are services on the net that provide messaging systems free of charge. So the troll can set up his own message board, where he can make his own decisions about the kind of content he will tolerate.

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. They might post a dozen messages, each of which contains 400 lines of the letter "J". That is a form of expression, to be sure, but would you consider it your duty to play host to such a person?

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.

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.

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.)

Bill, I thought that 007, no life ed, ed neisler, tdusucks, ken paaff, ta, 0000, cool hand, and the rest of these spammers were your friends. I had you all wrong. Troll is a lot nicer name that anything I would call them. It's good to see that they are getting you upset also.
STRONGER THAN DIRT

Soooooooo, are you saying your a flame warrior?

[quote=ajax]Bill, I thought that 007, no life ed, ed neisler, tdusucks, ken paaff, ta, 0000, cool hand, and the rest of these spammers were your friends. I had you all wrong. Troll is a lot nicer name that anything I would call them. It's good to see that they are getting you upset also.
STRONGER THAN DIRT[/quote]

What ajax,so you mean anyone that disagrees with you or the TDU in your mind is a Troll.GET REAL.

[quote=Bill]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.

Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. 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). At the moment, the relative anonymity of the net allows trolls to flourish.

Trolls are utterly impervious to criticism (constructive or otherwise). 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. [/quote]

Sure sounds like ajax-off (or whatever tdu phony) to me! Although the only suffering is his (her?) own!

cool hand, where did I say that? Bill don't agree with me, Alex, Vegas Jim, hell I could list people ad nauseum that don't agree with me. They are not trolls. Just misinformed. I don't put krask or stever in there either. Nope, I think I was very explicite on who I think is a troll. But please don't prove me wrong. I appreciate all of you. The trolls validate me being a union dissident and will bolster my claims for reparations for damages in the future. So please keep up the good work.
STRONGER THAN DIRT

Poor whiny "chicken little"!

"Chicken Little":

The only thing your posts validate you being is a deluded fool!

As to your claim for reparations, would you be looking for money or maybe sanity?

I would say I am sorry for getting you upset but I'm not sorry.

And to think; you don't upset me, you entertain me. Although you are a very crude form of entertainmant!

Ajax you dont know how bad that hurts coming from you Just to let you know though the FOG has lifted from my eyes 8O I see that i was misinformed and now see the ERROR of my ways I will no longer pick on ED or say mean things about the TDU.IM SORRY!

trolls, where did I say that you upset me. I have come to understand that there will always be people that can't accept the truth. Quite frankly the truth is hurtful to some people. But you trolls are more that welcome to keep up your stupid comments. I appreciate all of them. I do, really. Keep it up, you are doing a good job. It's not the time to stop.
STRONGER THAN DIRT

[quote=ajax]cool hand, where did I say that? Bill don't agree with me, Alex, Vegas Jim, hell I could list people ad nauseum that don't agree with me. They are not trolls. Just misinformed. I don't put krask or stever in there either. Nope, I think I was very explicite on who I think is a troll. But please don't prove me wrong. I appreciate all of you. The trolls validate me being a union dissident and will bolster my claims for reparations for damages in the future. So please keep up the good work.
STRONGER THAN DIRT[/quote]

Ajaxoff look in the mirror and you will see the first troll. You believe everybody should sit back and let you talk to them like a dog. I certainly don't sit back and take smart remarks from and scub bag. Oh, this poor jerk is talking to head shrienks and trying to say we made him crazy. Nobody has to make you nuts. You were nuts when you started posting on T-net. Watch out boys he is threatening us about a law suit.

He seems to get nuttier by the post, although ajax-off has always demonstrated his stupidity.

When he says reparations I have to assume he wants his scattered brain repaired, and the nasty tdu tumor removed!

Poor "chicken little".