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Author Topic:   Internet Troll!!!!
Solane Star
Knowflake

Posts: 5378
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted March 05, 2007 12:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solane Star     Edit/Delete Message
In internet usage, then, a troll is someone who deliberately posts derogatory or inflammatory comments to a community forum, chat room, newsgroup or a blog in order to bait other users into responding.

Although the immediate analogy is to the bridge and the tale of the Billy Goats Gruff, I guess the related verb could come from:


troll(trl)
v. trolled, troll•ing, trolls
v. tr.

To fish for by trailing a baited line from behind a slowly moving boat.
To fish in by trailing a baited line: troll the lake for bass.
To trail (a baited line) in fishing.

Another useful definition would come from a misquote of Jack London's famous definition of a scab:

"After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, the vampire, He had some awful substance left with which He made an internet troll. A troll is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a water-logged brain, a combination backbone made of jelly and glue."

Either way, I've never seen what's so clever about it.

Since I visit message boards and read blogs to see the opinions and postings of people I like and respect, when a troll turns up, looking for trouble, it's almost always someone I like or respect who's bearing the brunt.

Now the protest "that's not fair" belongs in the playground, and should stay there. But that's the thing: as far as trolls are concerned the internet is their playground: a place where they can say what they want, post what they want, no matter how harmful and damaging... and get away with it.

I wish there was a solution to these idiots, but I can't think of one, to be honest. They're the internet equivalent of junk mailers: as soon as one is shut down, another will pop up out of the dirt and start spreading their excrement around.

Solutions have been tired, and you'd think that after years, people could have come up with something foolproof. But, you see, making something foolproof is rather difficult, if only because these fools are so damned ingenious. They know how to upset and irritate you. The subject is almost irrelevant, just as long as it causes disruption.

In just the past few months, I've seen:

- a professional creator's blog have to consider removing the comments section because of some idiots posting obscene comments

- A Jewish forum (i.e. a Forum about Judaism) hit by someone ostensibly proseltysing - bad enough - but it turned out later it was just a troll posting material he knew would cause problems for the forum management

- a childrens' (pre-teen) community website having to temporarily suspend their message boards when some idiots thought it would be clever to post dirty jokes

So, what to do, what to do...?

Ignoring them leaves their... let's be kind and call them 'assertions'; no, bugger kindness nonsense live and unchallenged, but to refute their comments merely, in the parlance, 'feeds the troll'.

A policy of polite argument and 'showing them the error of their ways' is like teaching an elephant to tap dance: you won't succeed, and you'll irritate the elephant.

For internet trolls, of course, feed upon irritation. It's mother's milk to them.

So what to do?

When speaking about this to a friend, she said that she liked the policy that the administration of the V Forum tend to follow: attempt sensible conversation and when that proves impossible mock, and wind-up until comedy value expires before lock out.

I've got a lot of sympathy with that angle, to be honest.

After all, the trolls ain't going to be losing any sleep or missing any fun if they can, so why shouldn't others in the Forum. And yet, when the stupid sods are locked out, the whinging and whining is enough to wake the dead. "We've got opinions and the right to air them!" Sure, and I'm sure they have backsides as well, yet who benefits if they are exposed to the public?

I believe it was Kurt Busiek, some years ago, when this was discussed (specifically the booting of someone from an online forum), who said "restriction of venue is not restriction of speech". And you know what? I kind of agree with him. Locking someone out of a Forum doesn't restrict their right to say what they wanted to say; it just moves where they say it. Of course you wouldn't expect trolls to understand this. Thankfully it's rare these days that anyone is stupid enough to protest that getting booted breaches their First Amendment rights to free speech. Though to be fair, at least they're consistent: if they're daft enough to protest on these grounds, they're also too daft to understand the explanation as to why they're wrong.

No, the trick is to re-register under a new name and attack the Forum again.

I knew one troll who had, in the space of about two years, sixty different IDs, all with Compuserve; you'd think that after being kicked out that many times, someone would kind of get the point, hmm?

My own personal policy is to say that if anyone wants to disagree with me here, on the blog or elsewhere, feel free - after all, I've had comments to this blog disagreeing with stuff I've written ranging from comic books, to my views on Israel, to my domestic political opinions. But - at least on the blog - trolls get their posts deleted or screened so the only person who sees them is me. What happens here is out of my control, but even if they're trolls, I'd probably welcome some comments...

There is a solution, of course - we just haven't thought of it yet.

By Lee Barnett

*****

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Solane Star
Knowflake

Posts: 5378
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted March 05, 2007 12:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solane Star     Edit/Delete Message
Quote from above:

Either way, I've never seen what's so clever about it.

Since I visit message boards and read blogs to see the opinions and postings of people I like and respect, when a troll turns up, looking for trouble, it's almost always someone I like or respect who's bearing the brunt.

Now the protest "that's not fair" belongs in the playground, and should stay there. But that's the thing: as far as trolls are concerned the internet is their playground: a place where they can say what they want, post what they want, no matter how harmful and damaging... and get away with it.

I wish there was a solution to these idiots, but I can't think of one, to be honest. They're the internet equivalent of junk mailers: as soon as one is shut down, another will pop up out of the dirt and start spreading their excrement around.

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Solane Star
Knowflake

Posts: 5378
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted March 05, 2007 12:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solane Star     Edit/Delete Message

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Solane Star
Knowflake

Posts: 5378
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted March 05, 2007 12:41 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solane Star     Edit/Delete Message

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Bluemoon
Knowflake

Posts: 4456
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 12:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bluemoon     Edit/Delete Message
In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who enters an established community such as an online discussion forum and intentionally tries to cause disruption, often in the form of posting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, incorrect, inaccurate, absurd, or off-topic, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others.

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Bluemoon
Knowflake

Posts: 4456
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 12:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bluemoon     Edit/Delete Message
lol, Star, we think the same!

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Bluemoon
Knowflake

Posts: 4456
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 12:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bluemoon     Edit/Delete Message
Troller is looking for a response...ANY response, and he will chum the waters with complaints, insults, compliments, and inflammatory tidbits hoping that someone...ANYONE, will take the bait. Generally quite harmless - practices a form of catch and release. Nonetheless, he can upset the delicate ecology of a discussion forum. Once a forum becomes aware of his presence, however, all feeding activity ceases and Troller must move on to more promising waters.


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Solane Star
Knowflake

Posts: 5378
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted March 05, 2007 12:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solane Star     Edit/Delete Message
I know we do, baby!!!!

Chat Room Losers & Trolls
by Victor Thorn


The biggest losers on the Internet (and maybe in the entire world) are the low-life trolls who continually hang-out in the various “patriot” chat rooms and message boards and don't do anything else. Not only are these places cesspools, but they’re notorious for being infiltrated by government spooks, agents, plants, shills, and losers.

Now don’t get me wrong: there are people who participate in certain online groups for one specific reason: to get and share valid news and information. These people genuinely seek knowledge, and they're the reason why discussion forums were originally created. So, please note that this article isn’t directed at them.

Instead, I’m talking about the lurkers, keyboard commandoes, and bottom-feeders who act as cancers in these little chat rooms and discussion forums. I mean, don’t any of these guys have jobs, girlfriends, or lives? Well, we know Phil Jayhan doesn’t have a job; that’s why he’s constantly begging for money in his little chat room. And incredibly, there are idiots who are stupid enough to give him their hard-earned money. It’s mind-blowing; but P.T. Barnum was right: there’s a sucker born every minute.

What these guys remind me of is Star Trek trekkies, or teenage video game addicts with their cute little nicknames (i.e. Snaggle Dog, the Enforcer, Commander Pod, etc); or maybe they simply live in their mother’s basement and geek-out all day long on the pathetic message boards because they don't have anything else to do.

Worse, many of these sites were actually created by the CIA in the first place, and the jerk-offs who linger in them are paid by intel agencies to promote their agenda. So, whenever somebody criticizes Alex Jones or Jeff Rense, these trolls circle their wagons and pounce on them with a vengeance. And you know its true because the same cretins are in all these different forums operating under the same exact modus operandis.

Can you imagine how pitiful the payroll CIA slithering worms must be who lurk in these chat room sewers? All day long they sit and watch, making sure nobody questions or exposes their infiltrator colleagues. I can’t think of a worse fate, and I can't help but wonder: how can these judas goats live with themselves? No wonder they're all so miserable. Who wouldn't be?

What these guys (they’re almost invariably male) who lurk in the little chat rooms remind me of are sixteen year-old high-school girls who sit around gossiping all day on their cell phones. Think about it. These are grown men acting like teenage groupies, swooning over their “heroes.” And for some reason I thought people in the patriot movement were supposed to be independent-minded. But these losers are the epitome of GROUP THINK where their “leader” sets the tone for a particular topic and all the other obedient lemmings follow suit.

It’s nothing but a groupie mentality, and the worst part is: even the people who run these sites think the lemmings are losers and useful idiots. They’re laughing at them, thinking, “I can’t believe these suckers are stupid enough to do my dirty work for me.” You’re their sheep that they pat on the head like obedient little zeroes. But hey, at least they’re part of a GROUP, regardless of how pathetic and inane it is.

In all honesty, these guys are even worse than Rush Limbaugh’s Ditto-Heads. Here’s an example why. We recently heard about a thread on Phil Jayhan’s panhandling site where the baby boys were crying, “What would we do if Alex Jones ever died? How would we survive?”

Can you even for one second believe it? What would they do? Here’s a suggestion: GROW UP! Become your own person. Get a life of your own instead of sucking on Alex Jones’ teet.

Listen: you’re adult, grown men whose highest aspiration is to be what … a sycophant? My God, how can you wake up in the morning and look yourselves in the mirror?

These people aren’t patriots … they’re SHEEPLE! They’re followers, just like the goobers who sit in front of their TVs and watch CNN or FOX. They’re potatoes, roots, slugs, mold, and infected diseases all wrapped up into one. And on top of that, they’d rather accept the BIG LIE than face reality – that way that don’t have to be alone. They'll still have their group of other losers who are equally as sorry, worthless, and wretched.

I could continue, but I have a suggestion for all the little chat room groupies and plants. Get a big black magic marker, and then write in huge capital letters across your forehead:

LOSER

Then, every day when you’re sitting in your mama’s cellar geeking out on your miserable little message boards, take your magic marker and write LOSER over and over again on your forehead until it finally sinks in.

Grow up and quit being so worthless.


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Bluemoon
Knowflake

Posts: 4456
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 01:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bluemoon     Edit/Delete Message

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Solane Star
Knowflake

Posts: 5378
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted March 05, 2007 01:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solane Star     Edit/Delete Message
Is this the one Blue?????

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Bluemoon
Knowflake

Posts: 4456
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 01:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bluemoon     Edit/Delete Message
no, but that is a good one!

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Solane Star
Knowflake

Posts: 5378
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted March 05, 2007 01:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solane Star     Edit/Delete Message
AAHHH My favorite colour troll " Green "!!!

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Bluemoon
Knowflake

Posts: 4456
From: Stafford, VA USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 03:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bluemoon     Edit/Delete Message

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Kamilla
Knowflake

Posts: 860
From: NJ USA
Registered: Apr 2006

posted March 05, 2007 04:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kamilla     Edit/Delete Message

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Xodian
Moderator

Posts: 1699
From: Canada
Registered: Dec 2006

posted March 05, 2007 06:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Xodian     Edit/Delete Message
Actually people usually mistake an internet troll with something which I refer to as an "online cynic."

Yep there is a difference:

Read this (yep... me wrote it Lol!)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=145125292&blogID=234947402&MyToken=2c7741c9-b220-41bf-bf6b-5f148a50a914

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sunshine9
Knowflake

Posts: 913
From: Durham, NC, USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 07:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for sunshine9     Edit/Delete Message
Oooh, picture games - I love to play those!

How about this one?

or this one?

or this happy little fella?

or this ostrich troll? I thought trolls were happy, cute critters, until I saw this toothy ostri-troll!!

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sunshine9
Knowflake

Posts: 913
From: Durham, NC, USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 07:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for sunshine9     Edit/Delete Message

Awww... that's so sad - he's cute!!

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sunshine9
Knowflake

Posts: 913
From: Durham, NC, USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 07:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for sunshine9     Edit/Delete Message
THis guy looks like the Harry Potter troll:

This is what a troll looks like IRL, apparently. Do they have to have potbellies; what do you think? :

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sunshine9
Knowflake

Posts: 913
From: Durham, NC, USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted March 05, 2007 07:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for sunshine9     Edit/Delete Message
oops, a dp.. will add another picture instead *edit*, or two:


Sunshine

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Solane Star
Knowflake

Posts: 5378
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted March 05, 2007 09:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solane Star     Edit/Delete Message
Nice Troll Spray!!!! LOL!!!

I'm going to buy me a case of that stuff!!!!

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SkyFysh
Knowflake

Posts: 54
From:
Registered: Feb 2007

posted March 06, 2007 05:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SkyFysh     Edit/Delete Message
Hi Solane,

My feeling is to assume for the best with people. Why perpetuate the circle of hurt by ridicule. If poeple act inappropriatly just ignore them. If it get's way out of line talk to the proper people. I feel when we lashout at people and attack , we create a circle of hurt and it doesn't do us or the "troll" any good.It jusr fuels the cycle of hurt. Ignore the bead if you can, assume for the best and lead first with understanding and forgiveness. Then as a last resort correct the individual, but always with love.That's the challenge of spiritual life I think !!!!

Thanks for your thoughts,

Sky

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