"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience." - anon

An Internet troll is a person who takes pleasure in sowing discord on the Internet, an individual who enjoys creating conflict. He or she creates and fuels arguments that upset other members of the online community. Their aim is to provoke biased others to take up their cause. The overarching goal is to damage people, entities, or ideas with which the Internet troll disagrees, or to provoke controversy.

Internet trolls have been described as "sad people, living their lonely lives vicariously through those they see as strong and successful”. They typically possess a poorly developed set of social skills and have difficulty viewing their actions from the perspectives of their victims. They may be callous to the fact that they are harming real people, instead viewing Internet users as "digital abstractions". They may thus feel no remorse for harm they cause, and in fact may judge their own level of "success" by the amount of that harm. Most are impervious to rationale, mature arguments against their wares, and will protest that their right to free speech is being curtailed if ever there is an attempt to call them on their trolling.

The original definition of "troll" was much narrower. When first used, it meant an Internet utterance (or the person making that utterance) that was deliberately incorrect and was intended to lure innocent readers to reply with a correction. The troll or his or her confederates would then ridicule the responder for not having realized that the original statement was a joke.

Internet trolls are additionally interested in meeting their own attention-needs, which are often unmet in their real life, and may suffer from various psychological disorders. Whether trolling is a protected free speech activity or whether it amounts to libel and defamation depends upon the nature, content, and result of the statements by the troll.

How to Deal with an Internet Troll:

Remember, trolls feel rewarded by creating the biggest altercation possible. They want to get a reaction out of you. When you fight with a troll, he wins. When you reason with a troll, he wins. Any time that you give a troll attention, he gets exactly what he wants.

The best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them. When you ignore a troll, he doesn't get the satisfaction of creating an escalated conflict.

If you decide to leave a discussion because of the negative tone, do not dramatically announce that you are leaving. While that message may make you feel better, it only convinces the troll that he is winning.

You may also bring an abusive post to the attention of our moderators. Please only do this if the comments violate our Terms and Conditions. Violations of our terms and conditions include any post that constitutes a criminal offense, pornographic content, an impersonation of an entity without permission, or an unsolicited promotion. A strongly stated opinion is not a violation of our Terms and Conditions even if it is stated in a way that you feel is insulting or hateful.

Please remember: the best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them.

similar thread! I like this quote

"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience." - anon

My sister, a die hard liberal, told me this quote that she nevertheless thought Bob Dole said:

"When you lower yourself to a pig's level, you end up muddy, the difference is the pig enjoys it"

Something along those lines, the words may not be right but I liked the sentiment.

NDRU said:

similar thread! I like this quote

"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience." - anon

My sister, a die hard liberal, told me this quote that she nevertheless thought Bob Dole said:

"When you lower yourself to a pig's level, you end up muddy, the difference is the pig enjoys it"

Something along those lines, the words may not be right but I liked the sentiment.

I had no idea that other thread had been posted while I was constructing this one (...it wasn't there when I started it). The fact that two of us were thinking along the same lines at the same moment says a lot for what's going on with the Org these days.

I like your sisters reporting of Bob Dole's alleged quote, sounds like something he'd say, lol.

sounds like my middle child except he doesn't need the internet to be a little troll

ZombieKitten said:

sounds like my middle child except he doesn't need the internet to be a little troll

Just ignore him.

Fauxie said:

ZombieKitten said:

sounds like my middle child except he doesn't need the internet to be a little troll

Just ignore him.

I have Human Services to worry about

ZombieKitten said:

Fauxie said:

Just ignore him.

I have Human Services to worry about

The internet told you to do it, silly.

Fauxie said:

ZombieKitten said:

I have Human Services to worry about

The internet told you to do it, silly.

actually, you've given me an idea

to make an account for him HERE!!!!

he can take his irrational arguments to a place where he will get the attention he craves so desperately

that's brilliant

PDogz said:

NDRU said:

similar thread! I like this quote

"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience." - anon

My sister, a die hard liberal, told me this quote that she nevertheless thought Bob Dole said:

"When you lower yourself to a pig's level, you end up muddy, the difference is the pig enjoys it"

Something along those lines, the words may not be right but I liked the sentiment.

I had no idea that other thread had been posted while I was constructing this one (...it wasn't there when I started it). The fact that two of us were thinking along the same lines at the same moment says a lot for what's going on with the Org these days.

I like your sisters reporting of Bob Dole's alleged quote, sounds like something he'd say, lol.

it's serendipitous (sp? serendipitaciousness?)

i feel bad to say this, but i'm kind of glad i'm not the only one experiencing something like this. sorry you are having trouble, but glad there's someone else in this boat.

here is my ultimate conclusion: be careful. even if you think you are making an offhand remark on a casual thread, here on a website devoted to the musician prince, crazy people can and will take your random comments seriously, and might even invest personal energy into somehow 'getting' you unlikely and insane though that might seem. there are some truly unbalanced folks on the internet. and, i think that the internet gives them special range and powers.

it's my own fault when i think about it. i should spend less time here, fooling around, when i should be working on other things.

ZombieKitten said:

Fauxie said:

The internet told you to do it, silly.

actually, you've given me an idea

to make an account for him HERE!!!!

he can take his irrational arguments to a place where he will get the attention he craves so desperately

that's brilliant

XxAxX said:

PDogz said:

I had no idea that other thread had been posted while I was constructing this one (...it wasn't there when I started it). The fact that two of us were thinking along the same lines at the same moment says a lot for what's going on with the Org these days.

I like your sisters reporting of Bob Dole's alleged quote, sounds like something he'd say, lol.

it's serendipitous (sp? serendipitaciousness?)

i feel bad to say this, but i'm kind of glad i'm not the only one experiencing something like this. sorry you are having trouble, but glad there's someone else in this boat.

here is my ultimate conclusion: be careful. even if you think you are making an offhand remark on a casual thread, here on a website devoted to the musician prince, crazy people can and will take your random comments seriously, and might even invest personal energy into somehow 'getting' you unlikely and insane though that might seem. there are some truly unbalanced folks on the internet. and, i think that the internet gives them special range and powers.

it's my own fault when i think about it. i should spend less time here, fooling around, when i should be working on other things.

Actually, it's not that I'm having trouble, it's just that I recognized a problem, a pattern of behavior infecting The Org, and wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page as how to deal with individuals who have nothing to do with their time but run around and appear on every thread in an attempt to bring them down into discord.

For me, trolls are hilarious to watch in action because they're so damned predictable. But I've been watching a lot of people here seriously getting their feelings hurt, and wanted to do my part to mitigate the problem.

.

[Edited 7/14/10 18:04pm]

PDogz said:

XxAxX said:

it's serendipitous (sp? serendipitaciousness?)

i feel bad to say this, but i'm kind of glad i'm not the only one experiencing something like this. sorry you are having trouble, but glad there's someone else in this boat.

here is my ultimate conclusion: be careful. even if you think you are making an offhand remark on a casual thread, here on a website devoted to the musician prince, crazy people can and will take your random comments seriously, and might even invest personal energy into somehow 'getting' you unlikely and insane though that might seem. there are some truly unbalanced folks on the internet. and, i think that the internet gives them special range and powers.

it's my own fault when i think about it. i should spend less time here, fooling around, when i should be working on other things.

Actually, it's not that I'm having trouble, it's just that I recognized a problem, a pattern of behavior infecting The Org, and wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page as how to deal with individuals who have nothing to do with their time but run around and appear on every thread in an attempt to bring them down into discord.

For me, trolls are hilarious to watch in action because they're so damned predictable. But I've been watching a lot of people here seriously getting their feelings hurt, and wanted to do my part to mitigate the problem.

.

[Edited 7/14/10 18:04pm]

well, i wouldn't say that my feelings are hurting. i was just pissed off that there is someone in the world who's callin' me out because of an offhanded comment i made a while ago, here on this website.

i think i am dealing with the world's biggest poor loser/poor sport.

XxAxX said:

PDogz said:

Actually, it's not that I'm having trouble, it's just that I recognized a problem, a pattern of behavior infecting The Org, and wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page as how to deal with individuals who have nothing to do with their time but run around and appear on every thread in an attempt to bring them down into discord.

For me, trolls are hilarious to watch in action because they're so damned predictable. But I've been watching a lot of people here seriously getting their feelings hurt, and wanted to do my part to mitigate the problem.

well, i wouldn't say that my feelings are hurting. i was just pissed off that there is someone in the world who's callin' me out because of an offhanded comment i made a while ago, here on this website.

i think i am dealing with the world's biggest poor loser/poor sport.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that not everyone on the Internet is playing with a full deck, lol.

The kind of person who looks for arguments or confilct on the internet is the kind of person who's either -

1. too much of a pansy to argue in real life so they do it online or

2. is constantly bullied or put down in real life so needs to argue or bully others online to get a sense of power or confidence

I see it all over the place, on forums, youtube, facebook, even here on prince.org

You see all these people having really long arguments over absolutley pointless subjects & you just think "My god, these people have so much time on their hands, why are they bothering with all this bickering? What does it achieve???"

A lot of them are adults too, I'm talking 30/40/50 years old... what the hell! Get a life...

& the worst part is, not only are they making an ass of themselves but they're making an ass of themselves in the view of the whole world

Sad...

TheScouser said:

The kind of person who looks for arguments or confilct on the internet is the kind of person who's either -

1. too much of a pansy to argue in real life so they do it online or

2. is constantly bullied or put down in real life so needs to argue or bully others online to get a sense of power or confidence

I see it all over the place, on forums, youtube, facebook, even here on prince.org

You see all these people having really long arguments over absolutley pointless subjects & you just think "My god, these people have so much time on their hands, why are they bothering with all this bickering? What does it achieve???"

A lot of them are adults too, I'm talking 30/40/50 years old... what the hell! Get a life...

& the worst part is, not only are they making an ass of themselves but they're making an ass of themselves in the view of the whole world

Sad...

Can you imagine: Being so miserable with your personal life, that you find relief in starting fights and causing chaos on the Internet? You hit the nail on the head: SAD! I just feel bad when I see innocent people get lured into a troll's trap, by trying to reason with them or otherwise fighting back with them. Trolls defy reason, and there's nothing they love better than getting down & dirty - takes their mind off their life that sucks out loud.

NDRU said:

similar thread! I like this quote

"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience." - anon

My sister, a die hard liberal, told me this quote that she nevertheless thought Bob Dole said:

"When you lower yourself to a pig's level, you end up muddy, the difference is the pig enjoys it"

Something along those lines, the words may not be right but I liked the sentiment.

how about this....in a plate of eggs and ham, the chicken makes a contribution, but the pig makes a commitment

Is there some drama going on in one of these forums?

SoulAlive said:

Is there some drama going on in one of these forums?

There was some drama going on in several of these forums, but seems to have subsided for the moment.

PDogz said:

SoulAlive said:

Is there some drama going on in one of these forums?

There was some drama going on in several of these forums, but seems to have subsided for the moment.

Ah