I was reading the blog of a friend a few weeks back when I noticed this ‘pest’ who kept on insulting her in the chatterbox. hiding behind the wall of anonymity of the internet, the dumbass jerk suddenly started posting vulgar messages for no apparent reason, trying to upset everyone on her site. now I know there are some things in life which simply drive you crazy and it’s only understandable that under the principle of ‘freedom of speech’, you actually have the right to criticize or pretty much say whatever you want about these annoyances in your life. in fact, I myself am not afraid to lash out at ppl every time I see them doing something which just pisses me off. still, while freedom of speech may guarantee the right to say what you want to say, bear in mind that it doesn’t mean you get to say it wherever you want to(e.g. you can’t just shout “Fire!” in a crowded theatre for fun). unfortunately, that’s the problem with these annoying assholes which we simply call “trolls” in the cyber community.
trolls are considered one of the greatest menace on the internet. lurking around forums, message boards and sometimes even chatterboxes (as I mentioned above) , these pretentious pricks delight themselves in sowing dissension among the denizens of cyberspace by luring them into heated arguments which lead to nowhere. trolls are said to be “inhuman”(after all they are trolls...okay, okay terrible pun) because they feel no remorse in harming or insulting other net users. it’s even worse because these bastards can easily manipulate ppl’s emotions like puppets, making others around them feel negative emotions at their will. they know what they say can trigger a terrible argument which eventually upsets everyone and they dwell on this feeling of personal satisfaction by making others miserable.
trolls are attention-seeking whores who want ppl to notice them by ensnaring some hapless victim/s into their devilish mind games. once you’re caught in an argument w/ a troll, the only person who is truly at loss is yourself. there are several types of trolls out there and each employs a different tactic to orchestrate their plans. some trolls act immature so that ppl would start to attack them. some use lies to draw the attention of curious users and others might just post controversial topics to dupe ppl into an endless, pointless debate. even though their strategies may differ, they are all similar in purpose: as a “flamebait” to start a “flame war” (basically, a flame war is where there is a heated argument between users who rapid-fire posts and counter posts at each other in a message board/forum and a flamebait on the other hand is a message/post which is intended to ignite the spark of a flame war). once the fight has started, these “warmongers” just sit back and relax while ppl futilely attempt to argue with them. you see now how scheming trolls are?
in any case, if you’re in a heated argument with another user and you’ve identified him (and usually it’s a him) as troll, just withdraw from the battle and DO NOT post/respond anything. it doesn’t matter how many facts and figures you could pull out, no matter how stylish your comeback may sound or harsh your insults might be, YOU WILL NEVER WIN in an argument against a troll. a true troll is impervious to any sort of criticism. they don’t have the slightest care of what you say and they don’t give any rat’s ass abt the points in your arguments. what they really want is your response. they are happy as long as you keep on talking to them. to quote Timothy Campbell’s Internet Trolls guide, “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”. and don’t even think that you can get away by posting a dramatic “Goodbye!” message because that’ll just convince the troll how weak you are and that he’s won the battle. as I mentioned before, trolls crave attention, be it negative or positive, so the only thing they could not stand is being ignored. a troll may start to become desperate by posting more vulgar and offensive messages but if no one responds to him how would he feel? dumb and lonely.
"a perverted troll who is shamelessly not wearing any pants. stone this blue-haired bastard to death!"
the theory abt trolls is that the motivation of their behavior is similar to that of any other user on the net; they want affirmation. again to quote Timothy Campbell, “regular net users know how delightful it is when somebody responds to something they have written. it is a meeting of the minds, which is an intellectual thrill, but it is also an acknowledgement of one's value — and that can be a very satisfying emotional reward”. basically, trolls are desperate to be noticed, hence why they are ruthless in their methods of garnering for some attention. another theory I developed on my own is that trolls revel on the idea that we live in an age full of pussified wussies who are easily offended/insulted by almost anything that we read or see. they are the perfect easy preys for trolls. in today’s society, it’s hard to find ppl who can tolerate any degree of criticism, even if it’s constructive and intended for self-reflection. trolls realize this and they put it to their advantage to wreak havoc and make ppl offended as their sick and twisted hobby. I guess ppl nowadays are overly-sensitive crybabies after all. a blog entry that was meant as a self-reflection to all could suddenly be interpreted as a personal attack on a particular person. now how stupid is that? then again, as a friend of mine once said “the internet is an electronic medium. you can never know the true, intended tone of a posted message”. nevertheless, at the end of the day, it still doesn’t solve the problem that there are trolls thriving on the net because we happen to be an easily-offended society who can’t just suck it up.
so what do we do abt these trolls? sure you can ignore them, but that’s possible only after you’ve recognized them. keep in mind that not every person who posts sth offensive-sounding is a troll because some ppl are just having a bad day or that “thing”(in the case of women). they may post a message that they may only regret later on. but if that person persists on being hostile and seems to be enjoying it, then you are definitely dealing with a troll. some trolls are so obvious because they make their appearance so apparent (like the chatterbox example above). once the sonovabitch has been identified, try to remind others without letting the troll know and everyone should completely ignore him. whatever you do, limit your reaction to the troll. if you must, delete his posts/messages. the troll might argue that he has the right of ‘freedom of speech’, but again as I mentioned before, under that same principle a troll also cannot say whatever he wants wherever he wants, esp if it’s in your own personal blog/website.
one other thing abt dealing with trolls is to have patience. in the case of the chatterbox example, it’s easy to spot that the jerk is just a troll wanting attention. no matter how vulgar and irritating his posts may be, try not to be fooled by being offended so easily because that’s just the reaction the troll is expecting. I know it’s not exactly easy being patient and having a high-tolerance for harsh derogatory statements but by giving the troll his desired response, you have unwittingly dragged yourself into his twisted little game.
speaking abt patience and tolerance, over the years I’ve learned that you can’t take it too seriously abt the many things ppl say abt yourself. I know there are ppl (esp girls) out there who simply hate me for whatever reasons, nevertheless I just don’t give shit abt it any more. so go ahead and call my blog lame in your own personal website which has a drab, green-colored background and a gay-sounding name like “Fantasy Forest”. for all I care, those who have been bashing me/my blog in their websites have inadvertently promoted it by giving me free publicity. in fact, feel free to e-mail me for those who have done this so that I can send you $5.00 (USD) via PayPal for the free advertising. I may not be immune to all forms of criticism, but I very well know that I’m not some dickwad who can easily be offended/insulted and more importantly, gullible enough to be tricked into arguing with a troll.
oh well…I’m done talking abt trolls for today. maybe I’ll take a break and go hunting those Jamaican-accented trolls in Warcraft III...
