How to troll....
Mar. 26th, 2004 04:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
I know I'll eventually regret posting this, but here it is:
1. Don't troll on a brand new account. The first thing one does when encountering a suspiciously trolly post in their comm is look at the userprofile. New accounts stand out, because one immediately asks "how did he find us so fast?"
2. If you MUST troll on a new account, invent some reason why it's new. I heard about this comm from my friend, joined livejournal, and decided to post. This won't fool anybody, but at least it'll look good.
3. Join more than one community, and have more than one interest. NOBODY is only interested in george bush, or childfree, or autism. Really. (Side question, what is up with the trollishness in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
asperger? You'd've thought we'd be an out of the way comm, but noooooo, that's just not to be, is it?)
4. It goes without saying, or should, that your interests shouldn't wildly vary from those in the community you're trolling. If you're trolling a community about breastfeeding, your interests shouldn't include ANYthing derogoratory towards kids or parents. If you're trolling a gay community, having something like conserving marriage as your interest is a bad idea.
5. Have a few friends and friends-of. Makes you look realistic. Make fake accounts, even. EVERYBODY has somebody on their friends list, or their friends-of list.
6. Make more than one post in your journal. Maybe two. These posts should most definitely not talk about your diabolical plan, unless your diabolical plan involves getting caught. Well, trolls do get caught, because eventually everyone will see right through them, but...
7. If you're going to back down from a fight, do so with class. Don't just wuss out and stop posting, INSULT people. We expect it. Similarly, if you're going to argue for the sake of it, at least pretend to be sensible. Randomly insulting people, no matter how well you spell it, is an immediate sign. But then, if you were going to be sensible, you wouldn't be a troll. I guess that I'm asking too much there.
Seriously, this must be troll season, they're popping up everywhere, and most of them don't even know the first thing about it. It's no FUN making fun of them if they can't even troll properly. Sheesh, I could do a better job.
If you don't know how to recognize a troll, and feel you may have encountered a particularily clever one, here are a few more hints:
Trolls like to twist your words. You say "I disagree with saying the Pledge every day" and they say "You just said you hate this country and god!!!!!" This is a dramatized example, many times it's much more subtle.
Trolls never hit the issue. You mention that a brand new account makes one seem suspiciously trolly, they keep saying "so I disagree with you, that makes me a troll?" because THAT makes you sound stupid, while your real reason doesn't.
Trolls often have bad spelling/typing skills, but GOOD trolls know this and type very well. They also pick on spelling errors, however, so do many non-trolls.
When dealing with a troll, EVERYTHING will end up being blown out of proportion. "I disagree" becomes "you are a moron". This is very amusing, because they themselves use deliberately inflamatory language. They don't say "I disagree", instead they say "this is ridiculous"... even without proof.
Trolls never feel they have to share the burden of proof. Ever. They also back out of doing any research, often not even deigning to read what you have presented as evidence.
Anything else?
1. Don't troll on a brand new account. The first thing one does when encountering a suspiciously trolly post in their comm is look at the userprofile. New accounts stand out, because one immediately asks "how did he find us so fast?"
2. If you MUST troll on a new account, invent some reason why it's new. I heard about this comm from my friend, joined livejournal, and decided to post. This won't fool anybody, but at least it'll look good.
3. Join more than one community, and have more than one interest. NOBODY is only interested in george bush, or childfree, or autism. Really. (Side question, what is up with the trollishness in
asperger? You'd've thought we'd be an out of the way comm, but noooooo, that's just not to be, is it?)4. It goes without saying, or should, that your interests shouldn't wildly vary from those in the community you're trolling. If you're trolling a community about breastfeeding, your interests shouldn't include ANYthing derogoratory towards kids or parents. If you're trolling a gay community, having something like conserving marriage as your interest is a bad idea.
5. Have a few friends and friends-of. Makes you look realistic. Make fake accounts, even. EVERYBODY has somebody on their friends list, or their friends-of list.
6. Make more than one post in your journal. Maybe two. These posts should most definitely not talk about your diabolical plan, unless your diabolical plan involves getting caught. Well, trolls do get caught, because eventually everyone will see right through them, but...
7. If you're going to back down from a fight, do so with class. Don't just wuss out and stop posting, INSULT people. We expect it. Similarly, if you're going to argue for the sake of it, at least pretend to be sensible. Randomly insulting people, no matter how well you spell it, is an immediate sign. But then, if you were going to be sensible, you wouldn't be a troll. I guess that I'm asking too much there.
Seriously, this must be troll season, they're popping up everywhere, and most of them don't even know the first thing about it. It's no FUN making fun of them if they can't even troll properly. Sheesh, I could do a better job.
If you don't know how to recognize a troll, and feel you may have encountered a particularily clever one, here are a few more hints:
Trolls like to twist your words. You say "I disagree with saying the Pledge every day" and they say "You just said you hate this country and god!!!!!" This is a dramatized example, many times it's much more subtle.
Trolls never hit the issue. You mention that a brand new account makes one seem suspiciously trolly, they keep saying "so I disagree with you, that makes me a troll?" because THAT makes you sound stupid, while your real reason doesn't.
Trolls often have bad spelling/typing skills, but GOOD trolls know this and type very well. They also pick on spelling errors, however, so do many non-trolls.
When dealing with a troll, EVERYTHING will end up being blown out of proportion. "I disagree" becomes "you are a moron". This is very amusing, because they themselves use deliberately inflamatory language. They don't say "I disagree", instead they say "this is ridiculous"... even without proof.
Trolls never feel they have to share the burden of proof. Ever. They also back out of doing any research, often not even deigning to read what you have presented as evidence.
Anything else?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 03:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 04:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 04:07 pm (UTC)I'm not trolling. Would you willing to accept an apology for me possibly being too bullheaded about the issue?
no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 03:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 04:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 04:07 pm (UTC)I'm not trolling. Would you willing to accept an apology for me possibly being too bullheaded about the issue?
no subject
Date: 2004-03-26 04:12 pm (UTC)