INTERNET TROLLS: What they are and how to get rid of them?
If you consider yourself to be pretty active on social media or other types of online communities, you may have experienced what many internet users call “being trolled.” So what is a „troll“ in this sense?
Although many people use the term in contexts where a sense of humor is appreciated, the truth is that Internet trolling can get pretty nasty and isn’t always a laughing matter. The Urban Dictionary has a bunch of definitions under the term “trolling,” but the first one that pops up seems to define it as simply as possible. So, according to the Urban Dictionary’s top rated definition for “trolling”, it can be defined as:
„Being a prick on the Internet“ because you can. Typically unleashing one or more cynical or sarcastic remarks on an innocent by-stander, because it’s the internet and, hey, you can.”
Application of the term troll is subjective. Some readers may characterize a post as trolling, while others may regard the same post as a legitimate contribution to the discussion, even if controversial. Like any pejorative term, it can be used as an ad hominem attack, suggesting a negative motivation.
As noted in an OS News article titled „Why People Troll and How to Stop Them“ (25 January 2012), „The traditional definition of trolling includes intent. That is, trolls purposely disrupt forums. This definition is too narrow. Whether someone intends to disrupt a thread or not, the results are the same if they do.” Others have addressed the same issue, e.g. Claire Hardaker, in her PhD. thesis „Trolling in asynchronous computer-mediated communication: From user discussions to academic definitions“. Popular recognition of the existence (and prevalence) of non-deliberate, „accidental trolls“, has been documented widely, in sources as diverse as Nicole Sullivan’s keynote speech at the 2012 Fluent Conference, titled „Don’t Feed the Trolls“, Gizmodo, online opinions on the subject written by Silicon Valley executives[11] and comics.
Those who aren’t quite as familiar with the Internet slang definition of “troll” or “trolling” might automatically think of the mythical creature from Scandinavian folklore.The mythological troll is known to be an ugly, dirty, angry creature that lives in dark places, like caves or underneath bridges, waiting to snatch up anything that passed by for a quick meal.The internet troll is a modern version of the mythological version. They hide behind their computer screens, and actively go out of their way to cause trouble on the internet.
You can find trolls lurking around almost every corner of the social web. Here are some specific places that are well known to attract trolls.
YouTube video comments: YouTube is notorious for having some of the worst comments of all time. Some people even call it “the trailer park of the internet.” Go and have a look through the comments of any popular video, and you’re bound to find some of the worst comments ever. The more views and comments a video has, the more troll comments it’ll probably have as well.
Blog comments: On some popular blogs and news sites that have comments enabled, you can sometimes find trolls cursing, name-calling and just causing trouble for the heck of it. This is particularly true for blogs that cover controversial topics or for the ones that tend to rack up a lot of comments from people who want to share their opinions with the world.
Forums: Forums are made for discussing topics with like-minded people, but every once in a while, a troll will come in and start spewing negative words all over the place.
And of course Facebook, Twitter and other social networks: Now that almost anyone can comment on a status update, reply to a tweet, converse in a community thread or send an anonymous question, trolling is absolutely everywhere that people can use to interact.
Instagram is especially bad, because it’s a very public platform that people use to post photos of themselves — inviting everyone and anyone to judge their appearances in the comment section.
There are some types of trolls „lurking around the Internet“. I will list some of whom, you can meet down on the Internet.
The insult troll; The persistent debate troll(This type of troll loves a good argument. They can take a great, thoroughly researched and fact-based piece of content, and come at it from all opposing discussion angles to challenge its message), The grammar and spellcheck troll(You know this type of troll. They’re the people who always have to tell other users that they have misspelled words and grammar mistakes. Even when they do it by simply commenting with the corrected word behind an asterisk symbol, it’s pretty much never a welcomed comment to any discussion. Some of them even use a comment's spelling and grammar mistakes as an excuse to insult them) etc.
Trolling has been explained by a psychological concept called the „online disinhibition effect“. This effect suggests that social barriers to negative behavior are lowered because of the way the internet allows users to remain anonymous and invisible. People are allowed to express themselves more freely than they would in face-to-face encounters and disregard moral responsibilities. For anonymous users, there are no repercussions for bad behavior. They are able to reveal aspects of their personality that are held in check by social etiquette and rules.
Research has found that when anonymity was removed from social media sites, it reduced the amount of trolling, but people wanting to continue antisocial behavior would resort to creating fake profiles.
If a troll tries to provoke you, just ignore them. They’re not worth your time or emotional distress. Try not to take anything personally and remind yourself that their bad behavior does not change who you are.
Remember that a person who seems like a troll is actually the one suffering in some way and is trying to distract themselves and make themselves feel better by taking it out on you. If you can, try to have a good laugh and think about how sad it is that people actually feel the need to insult complete strangers on the Internet
The best way to handle an internet troll is to stop feeding the troll. Ignoring the troll sometimes works. It may become bored and forage for food elsewhere. But, there are times when trolls refuse to leave. If a troll remains on the scene, then it is time to block that individual from commenting. Banning an unwanted troll is like putting out a fire, it is far better to lose one tree than let the fire consume the entire forest.
