How to deal with trolls

How to deal with trolls I'd like to start a discussion for how to deal with trolls. If you have been following this site for any length of time, you know trolls have been a problem for everyone from Trent on down to ordinary NIN fans. And it gets worse: this abhorrent behavior is now spilling from the internet into real life. Here are some examples from journalists: Civility: Now that's a stupid idea! Are we really debating health care? Because these examples are very recent they cite behavior in response to current events, but the troll problem pervades much more than that. So what do you do to deal with trolls on the internet? What do you think is the best way for websites to deal with them? And what do you do about trolls in "real life"? http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818457#msg-818457 Fri, 24 May 2013 18:37:05 -0700 Phorum 5.2.7 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,829666#msg-829666 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,829666#msg-829666
Just treat it as any normal situation. But yeah, I can agree with everybody here. It's very fucking annoying and ridiculous. I wish ppl could grow up too.]]> ChaseNine General Discussion Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:36:10 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,828861#msg-828861 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,828861#msg-828861 freakish777 posted:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/troll_slayer.png

The best thing about this is the ALL CAPS page from Twilight. It may as well have been written in all caps, since every page had one fucking paragraph in a HUGE FONT.

Oh yeah, back on topic. The best thing to do is ignore trolls in the same manner that you would ignore the babbling crackheads on the bus. Once you engage them in any way, they will not leave you alone.]]> nat General Discussion Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:51:18 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,828793#msg-828793 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,828793#msg-828793 www.pitt.edu]

LOL!]]> LisaM. General Discussion Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:45:30 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,828782#msg-828782 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,828782#msg-828782 janedoepa General Discussion Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:34:44 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820871#msg-820871 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820871#msg-820871
As Lisa M. and some others here know I've been plagued by not only crap on "YE OLDE NIN BLOG" and here, but also had situations where I've run into people at concerts, and outside of them on vacations, who made all sorts of derogatory comments about my physical appearance, my level of intelligence, my being somehow affiliated with NIN as a employee, even, and this is the one that makes me laugh the most especially given the recent turn of events, that I'm Trent's GF! ROFL (YEAH like that's ever happening - not that I don't find him attractive I do, but I DOUBT that would be returned in kind YA KNOW?! :S). There have also been comments in reference to posts I've made here. Personally, I tend to be more of a peaceful live and let live person at heart so... I try my best to "rise above" and ignore it whenever possible. I immediately bow out or remove myself from any situation, if at all possible, or completely ignore it and then try and deal with it by pleading my case here or at some later time. A few times I have escalated it to Moderators.

Unfortunately, ignoring it/rising above it gives the trolls a sense that you're somehow weak, when in all actuality you're trying to make sense of, let's face it, a crazy situation and remain safe. I've tried reasoning with the Trolls and that also is a NO GO. IMHO, (From what I'm able to gather of my own experiences and in an attempt to put myself in their shoes /understand them) I think some people, for whatever reason, can't cope with certain issues in their own lives so they take it out on complete strangers. I think for some it's a sick form of entertainment or a way of playing a prank. For others it might actually be jealousy or a feeling of inadequacy in their own lives/minds when they compare themselves to others, and instead of taking control of their lives and changing themselves, they just make excuses and attack others while licking their wounds so to speak. For others still it may be genuine mental illness (Which is where it gets scary). MOST of the above I have learned to either forgive or feel compassion for on some level the last one, (mental illness) I seem to have run into more often here and it's fucking scary. (Pardon the French)
Some of the comments have been quite cruel and abusive; things I would never DREAM of saying to another human being, especially a complete stranger. I had also hoped that when Trent and Mari announced their engagement A LOT of this crap would have stopped/ that it would have been a wakeup call to a lot of people, but it's almost like people don't want to believe it? I wonder if they don't see it as YET ANOTHER ARG? IDK. Really I don't think you can wrap your head around why people do crazy stuff like this because it makes no sense. What is even more disturbing is that it is not just fans in their late teen or early 20's, it's my age and even much older, they are from all races AND I seem to run into them more in New Jersey...it's REALLY weird.

I actually wondered at some point if someone WAS playing a joke on me or trying to tell me something or if it was EVEN the SCIENTOLOGISTS getting back at ROB and NIN for protesting them as ANONYMOUS. LOL IDK. :S I wish I could tell you what works. I found that just ignoring it as much as possible helps and prevents the situation from escalating out of control, but believe me there have been times I've wanted to punch someone's lights out and had I been a "lesser" human being I probably would have. However I don't think anyone on here, not even Mr. Trent is worth a wrap-sheet/criminal record. I think ultimately it might be about control for these people. So keeping your cool is important, if you let this "get: to you you'll become paranoid REAL quick and the fact is that while you can't control their behavior you CAN ABSOLUTELY 100% control you're response to it. IN MOST cases if you ignore something it eventually goes away and if it doesn't you escalate it until it does.

I'm thinking that being cognizant of the issue when it arises, especially in real life, and maybe carrying a small digital recorder, taking pictures of the person making the comment, recording dates and times of the incident etc. might all be things that one could do to document the harassment, especially if it goes off line. That way if, God forbid, it gets to the point where you need to involve the police or even the FBI, or whatever agency in your respective Govt's handle such things, then you've got a documented trail of evidence. In all honesty I believe anything that gets taking off this forum and becomes repeated, constitutes stalking and harassment, at least in the U.S., in the least. That said I'd hate to have to escalate something to that level because it would ultimately reflect negatively on NIN/Trent Reznor, which is NOT something I honestly, would never want to have happen. I KNOW the trolling is a negative reflection already, something he and NIN have experienced firsthand, but the way the media and other agencies are, they'd skew it, the way they did the whole Ozzy Osborne, Judas Priest teen suicide thing in the 90's, and next thing you know NIN would get blamed for all sorts of crazy shit.

I WISH I KNEW why people feel the need to ASSUME things, why they feel the need to OR that they even have the RIGHT to verbally assault people but...I have been trying to limit my time on here as much as possible and have even pulled away or tried walking away. It doesn't stop it though. It's really kind of scary. Ya know I came here to get back in touch with a part of myself and meet other older fans, hang out, maybe make some pen pals etc. And I probably would have been able to do that more if I hadn't run into some of the shit I did. I didn't even DREAM of any of the rest of this crap ever happening. I'm a weary person to begin with and this crap just threw up a WHOLE bunch of BIG OL protective walls with me. SO...:S Sucks huh? YEAH I know. In an ideal world we shouldn't even have to deal with this crap but...]]> janedoepa General Discussion Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:55:38 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820822#msg-820822 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820822#msg-820822 Laur1981 posted:

Or just fucking ignore them. I don't understand why that concept is so difficult for people to grasp.

This.

And..

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yFeC-Omt3c8/SK6Z1ZDjz2I/AAAAAAAAAao/IjytkOstgxM/s400/258Troll_spray.jpg

]]> xjinxremoving General Discussion Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:18:26 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820294#msg-820294 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820294#msg-820294 xantres posted:

So what do you do to deal with trolls on the internet? What do you think is the best way for websites to deal with them? And what do you do about trolls in "real life"?

"troll", "spam" etc are the easy and typical ways to ridicule and dismiss something said, you don’t like on an online conversation

technology forum:

-hey im an engineer and im thinking about buying a mac, any opinions ?
-macs are super fast
-macs are totally professional
-eeeeh since you are an engineer you might want to consider a pc since software like mathcad are not available for mac
-ignore that troll macs are awesome
-yeah don't feed the troll macs rock!

(yeah that happened to me)

what im trying to say is terms like troll and spam etc are abused a bit and have lost their meaning to me. if someone is making no sense just ignore them]]> gaaira General Discussion Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:33:49 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820156#msg-820156 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820156#msg-820156 vampirebunnypersonaljesus General Discussion Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:25:21 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820126#msg-820126 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,820126#msg-820126 LisaM. posted:

I think trolling involves a deliberate intent to cause some kind of harm to the target, be it physical, mental, social or what have you, and most of the time it's easy to distinguish between that and just plain ignorant, idiot BS.

This assumes the troll's "target" is an individual, as opposed to say, an entire community (in which case, spewing random BS and pretending to be ignorant works, as it will get a rise out of the community).

]]> freakish777 General Discussion Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:57:08 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,819694#msg-819694 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,819694#msg-819694 Laur1981 posted:

Suge posted:
You eat them. Everyone knows this.

This.

Or just fucking ignore them. I don't understand why that concept is so difficult for people to grasp.

Most of the time that should be the case, but when they take it to the level of doing something like accessing your personal information, hacking other's accounts, taking what you've put on the internet and using it for some destructive purpose, then that's a little hard to ignore and requires action. I know you take your chances when you post photos and participate in public forums and such, but it's too bad that not everyone can have the same respect for others that most seem to.]]> LisaM. General Discussion Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:43:06 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,819597#msg-819597 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,819597#msg-819597 Laur1981 posted:

I don't understand why that concept is so difficult for people to grasp.

Because for some of us it's fun to poke at them until they self-destruct.]]> jayetheartist General Discussion Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:31:32 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,819300#msg-819300 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,819300#msg-819300 Suge posted:

You eat them. Everyone knows this.

This.

Or just fucking ignore them. I don't understand why that concept is so difficult for people to grasp.]]> Laur1981 General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:15:14 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818820#msg-818820 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818820#msg-818820 Imaginary_Kevin posted:

Trolls say things just to get a rise out of people whether they believe them or not. I have not read all of your posts on this board, but what I have read seems to be well thought out, articulate and opinionated. Healthy debate is good. You are not a troll.]]> jabuddha General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:48:02 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818799#msg-818799 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818799#msg-818799 LisaM. General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:40:54 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818793#msg-818793 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818793#msg-818793
That said, it can be difficult sometimes to tell who's trolling and who's just ignorantly spewing BS because they don't know better/the truth (in these cases I tend to come down pretty hard).

EDIT: Trolls in real life, find a situation which you know will end badly for them and put them in it where they can't resist stirring the pot (preferably involving law enforcement).]]> freakish777 General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:32:59 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818755#msg-818755 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818755#msg-818755
As for the question on trolls in real life, I think sometimes politicians are far too soft on them. I think John McCain said it best. I forget what the context was but someone was doing that BS nitpicking, at some tiny sentence fragment of a statement he made, that politicians like so much. When he made his statement, he literally told them to "lighten up and get a life". I'll try to find that link but that kind of response from a politician dealing with such ridiculous crap is great.

LisaM. posted:
I define trollish behavior as anything that is counterproductive and/or pisses off others, even if it's subversive, or "silent" in some way, i.e., not outwardly acting like an asshole, but is causing some discord.

I was actually about to ask what you guys define trolling as. As someone who hates general idiocy and can be extremely opinionated, I get in a lot of stupid debates with people about stuff : p That's been happening more and more recently, and I never really know if that counts as trollish behavior or not.]]> Imaginary_Kevin General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:29:45 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818727#msg-818727 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818727#msg-818727 xantres posted:

Suge posted:
You eat them. Everyone knows this.

Ha! If you mean diffusing trolls' BS with humor, I agree. If not, than do you have any recipes I could borrow?

Diffusing them with humor, yes. When that doesn't work, I have the perfect recipe for troll stew.]]> Suge General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:58:40 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818672#msg-818672 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818672#msg-818672 xantres posted:

What about trolls in "real life" such as at the healthcare debates, parties, et cetera? Ignoring someone doesn't work when they are shouting so loud that all intelligent talk is drowned out. The only way I have found to deal with this is total avoidance of those people and/or situations.

I think each situation has to be sized up according to what's actually going on at the time the person is being a troll; sometimes just walking away may work, maybe start imitating them so they see how stupid they look, or even just call them on it, point blank. Asserting that you have the upper hand, or at least making them think you do, could diffuse the situation.

I define trollish behavior as anything that is counterproductive and/or pisses off others, even if it's subversive, or "silent" in some way, i.e., not outwardly acting like an asshole, but is causing some discord.

An example of this happened where I work, not long ago: I work in a hospital laboratory, and when I came in at the start of my shift, I found that there were a whole bunch of inpatient blood draws that were going on 2 hours late, as in "no one went up to get them". So after watching what was going on in that section of the lab for a few minutes, I saw that two of the workers were purposefully stalling and hoping that the other one would go up and do the blood draws, all the while, pissing each other off and everyone around them, because it was their duty that day for this, and they also delayed patient care. So, I quietly went over, took the pile of lab slips, divided them in half and handed one to each person and said "You, and you--get upstairs now and draw these patients. I'll cover down here for you until you get back."

They didn't even know what to say to me, but they sure hurried their asses upstairs--and I'm not even their supervisor! So I think in any troll-situation, you have to appear to have the upper hand, even if you feel like you don't.]]> LisaM. General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:00:50 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818640#msg-818640 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818640#msg-818640 Suge posted:

You eat them. Everyone knows this.

Ha! If you mean diffusing trolls' BS with humor, I agree. If not, than do you have any recipes I could borrow?

marodi posted:
...when does trolling become harrasment?

Interesting! It is very subjective - some people are more sensitive than others. What bothers me isn't the harassment, it's the distraction from the topic at hand.

LisaM. posted:
...by all means, charge a "Troll Fine" to their MasterCard upon deletion of their account.

You make some very good points. It would be great if there could be a Troll Fine on free sites. If only there was a way to give trolls a taste of their own medicine; a way to inconvenience, annoy, and slight them the way they do others. What if accounts were suspended - no PMs, message board, or other website goodies during the suspension. Also all links to the website could go to an unrelated page a la the Rick roll.

What about trolls in "real life" such as at the healthcare debates, parties, et cetera? Ignoring someone doesn't work when they are shouting so loud that all intelligent talk is drowned out. The only way I have found to deal with this is total avoidance of those people and/or situations.]]> xantres General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:19:41 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818609#msg-818609 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818609#msg-818609 Suge General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:56:12 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818572#msg-818572 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818572#msg-818572 Suge posted:

You eat them. Everyone knows this.

That might explain why I've been coughing so many hair balls lately.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd119/marodi511/troll.jpg

BLEH!

edit: okay, it was a lame attempt at being funny. I blame it on being bored.

For me the question is more this one: when does trolling become harrasment? I agree that idiots need to be ignored but sometimes, it goes beyond trolling.]]> marodi General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:28:53 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818514#msg-818514 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818514#msg-818514 Suge General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:32:53 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818466#msg-818466 Re: How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818466#msg-818466 LisaM. General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:40:35 -0700 http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818457#msg-818457 How to deal with trolls http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?7,818457,818457#msg-818457
Civility: Now that's a stupid idea!

Are we really debating health care?

Because these examples are very recent they cite behavior in response to current events, but the troll problem pervades much more than that.

So what do you do to deal with trolls on the internet? What do you think is the best way for websites to deal with them? And what do you do about trolls in "real life"?]]> xantres General Discussion Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:33:26 -0700