Do Not Feed The Trolls
Do you go through your comments and find that one comment (or maybe more) where the commenter is either goading other commenters or even trying to goad you into an argument? What is your reaction? Here's my advice:
Trolls have existed since USENET was the Internet service of choice. Heck, I think they existed back before the Internet took off, when BBS's were the primary online communication services.
Troll tactics include attacking regular commenters, attacking authors, making out like the troll is a victim or a savior of some kind, making comments that require an angry response as the only kind of response suitable and other things that generally don't go with good conversation practices.
The best way to defeat a troll is to ignore a troll. A troll will not hang around and comment further if he or she does not get a response. I spotted a troll earlier today. He was an ugly critter. He was easy to spot. He didn't leave any kind of URL in the header of the comment. Trolls are notorious for not identifying themselves with anything but their first name or some strange phrase.
If you think you saw the troll, let me know. I want to make sure I'm not seeing things.
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To be frank, I've been driven off forums, not only by trolls but by the boring people who respond to trolls like they are genuinely interested in the debate.
I'm not sure whether you've read my recent article
What's wrong with online tech forums.
An older one:
Why I don't debate online these days
On a lighter note, how to interpret common phrases used in online discussion:
A guide to online forum posting
By the way, where is the comment in reference?
I read them before, but I had to go read them again to refresh my memory. Wait a second! You don't participate in debates. Why are you here?
So what's the debate about? I don't see one
I don't want to list the comment. I want others to see it for what it is and not taint it with my own opinion. If it takes a year to find it, so be it.
Finding a comment on your blog is worse than finding the 43,238 millionth grain of sand on the Sahara desert.
Good advice RT.
These type of creatures were on forums before.
Now they are on blogs.
IMHO, they just want some attention. But by doing that, they will loose the attention forever.
[...] posted an article on his blog with a piece of advice which is fairly common on the internet: do not feed the trolls. But day after day, month after month, year after year, trolls continue to enjoy the same level of [...]
Well RT you have had more than one troll comment on your site. I have read several that weren't very nice. I have had a couple on mine and I just delete their comment and move on. I love your work here and I intend to visit you everyday that I have a computer in front of me. Have a great day.
RT, how did you get a picture of me from the 80's? That's not very nice!
If you looked like that in the 80s, I'd hate to see you now!
yeah I found a couple of trolls on my blog(s), one kept on commenting even when being totally ignored (on my personal blog), it was soo funny, I like making fun of trolls! eventually that troll will move on and comment on another blog, i will probably miss him, he's funny! lol
It's dangerous to feed trolls as you end up on the platter. I just delete them and let them go hunting
I sometimes chew trolls for breakfast, then spit them out to the fire.
[...] Originally Posted by GreekSlav No, I do not speak SlavoSkopian. What is that, anyway? The Bulgarian dialects of FYROM. To everyone else: Please Do Not Feed The Trolls. [...]
[...] Posted by Draco The Bulgarian dialects of FYROM. To everyone else: Please Do Not Feed The Trolls. I was simply asking a question, but your comment was the trolling one. A little funny, too. [...]
my suggestion, just kick the troll out..dont let them come again..
sorry..off topic a bit..
wah..this keywordluv is nice too..(1st time using it)
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