http://www.nytimes.com/20...ref=slogin

dunno which forum this should be in, I would have liked to post it in the troll warning thread.

"Ultimately, as Fortuny suggests, trolling will stop only when its audience stops taking trolls seriously. “People know to be deeply skeptical of what they read on the front of a supermarket tabloid,” says Dan Gillmor, who directs the Center for Citizen Media. “It should be even more so with anonymous comments. They shouldn’t start off with a credibility rating of, say, 0. It should be more like negative-30.”

More from the self proclaimed troll Fortuny

" All that having been said, there are only two ways to deal with a troll:
1. Don't reply. Don't privately address him. Don't acknowledge his comments. Don't even make a passing reference in another blog post. Just pretend the troll doesn't exist. This gets rid of 90% of the trolls out there instantly. Then, if you're smart, shut up and quit blogging for a few days and logically re-evaluate the post that set the troll off. Chances are, there is a glaring flaw in your post that makes you look like an idiot or a nutjob, and that's why you got trolled. Don't post again until you're ready to amend it or defend it with better logic.

2. With the other 10% of trolls, you have to play the game. For every insult you receive from a troll, play along and join in the joke. If someone tells you're fat (because you probably are), don't get offended and rant. Just reply with a photo of a whale and say, "You mad skippy I'm fat! I would say this photo is me, but that wouldn't be fair. The whale isn't that big." If you can successfully take yourself and the insults less seriously, you will win the good graces of the troll and he'll either go away, or he'll chill out, knock off the insults, and you'll have made a new online friend. And trust me, it's good to have a troll for a friend.

Of course, now that I've revealed this, no troll is going to let up because you've all been warned and can no longer claim ignorance as an excuse. So, your only recourse is to just not be stupid and/or batnuts crazy on the Internets. If you can do that, everything will be just fine. However, just so I can be absolutely clear about this: if you escalate a war of words with a troll, you WILL lose. We know all the tricks. We have access to all the resources. We know all the laws. We're all friends with each other. We have done this thousands of times."

Mine is so friendly, that I can take him shopping with me.

This is an interesting article, I didn't know that there was a subculture of trolls
that target people.
Weird.

ZombieKitten said:

Read the whole thing and found it very interesting. Thanks so much!

wildgoldenhoney said:

I told you did't I!! Love would rain on you!

Feed it lots and lots of ice cream and it will never leave you!!!

omg...a reporter found out about img.4chan about 5 years too late.

LOL DESU DESU DESU

Dauphin said:

I'm sure they are onto bigger and better things, right?

darrenj said:

I do remember you saying that...

ZombieKitten said:

Thank you. Very interesting. Yep, you posted in the correct forum.

luv4u said:

Though as a matter of anyone's interest for anyone's site, not solely for this one

ZombieKitten said:

Interesting in general.
Never knew that some made it a way of life for themselves.

wildgoldenhoney said:

I knew hackers/virus writers did it for money, I guess they all start off by blackmailing and get on the payroll eventually with the big anti-virus guys

ZombieKitten said:

So that's how they make their money, I was wondering because the article said that
they make so many millions a month.

very interesting.. thx for posting... this particular part here is disturbing

“Lulz” is how trolls keep score. A corruption of “LOL” or “laugh out loud,” “lulz” means the joy of disrupting another’s emotional equilibrium. “Lulz is watching someone lose their mind at their computer 2,000 miles away while you chat with friends and laugh,” said one ex-troll who, like many people I contacted, refused to disclose his legal identity.

ZombieKitten said:

Done. Thanks.

Thanks for that article. Wow.....that's trolling on a level beyond the org. These trolls are hackers ruining websites and people's lives.....leading some to commit suicide. I've been to 4Chan's random board before out of curiosity. It's for people with incredibly short attention spans. Most people post as anonymous and there are lame topics literally every minute. Trolls love it there. I lost count of how many times racial slurs were thrown out there and don't let a girl post in there. She gets bombarded with "Show us your tits or get the fuck out" It's like a rule.