For those readers of a certain age – of which I am one – I am not referring to the creatures from fairy tales that lurked under bridges and had issues with goats. On this occasion I mean the vermin which infests the Internet. Having been online the best part of twenty years I have come across them frequently, and the advice I was given when I first started on the Internet all those years ago still holds true, and is the title of this blog. So, what does it mean?
A troll in the Internet
sense is not 'a nasty person', or 'somebody who I don't agree with'
per se, although elements of both come into the manifestation of a
troll. A troll to put it bluntly, is a brainless cretin who has
nothing better to do with their time than to upset others, and who
derives enjoyment from the outrage and upset their comments and
actions engender. So, they spend their time posting inflammatory
comments on the Internet, and then sit back revelling in the uproar
their effort has caused.
Examples:
(NOTE: I am not
in any way advocating the below nor
am I saying I hold either of the following opinions, they are examples
only.)
On a Christian based
mailing list:
Anyone who believes in
God is a moron.
For reasons which
should be obvious to all, if this were a genuine post it is a
statement intended to enrage the members of the mailing list.
On Twitter:
People who use Twitter need to get a life!
There was an actual
example on Twitter the other day which I will not repeat as I then run the risk of upsetting people who may not have seen the original, and that is the exact opposite of the purpose of the blog. However, I will say it was clear to all that the poster intended to offend
as no apology was made for any offence which may have been caused,
indeed judging by their Timeline they appeared to revel in the
attention. Others commented in the poster's defence saying it was
'obviously' a joke. Had this been true then the poster would
have followed up with an apology for their ill-judged humour but they
did not, and I therefore reject the 'joke' defence out of
hand. This is a classic example of the Troll in action, and
regrettably their intended reaction occurred judging by the responses
that were posted, and comments made, both on Twitter and Facebook.
This is a clear hallmark of a deliberate troll, an offensive remark made with no attempt to apologise once the offence it has caused becomes obvious.
There is of course a
very important point that must be made here. As a rule a
Troll's intent is simply to upset and enrage people, it is not to
break the law; after all they need their continued liberty to pursue
their hobby of upsetting people [I do wish blogs had a sarcasm tag!].
Therefore it must be clearly understood that comments which clearly
have illegal content such as those inciting violence or hatred
against others are not Trolls in the true sense and are a definite
exception to the rule stated in the title above. However I am sure
that you dear reader have the ability to tell the difference between
the two types and act accordingly.
Thus to the advice.
Don't Feed The Trolls. As outlined above, a troll's raison d'etre is
to upset and enrage people and to revel in the resultant reactions of their
offences. If they do not get any reaction and they are starved
of the attention they crave their impact is effectively neutered.
While it is true that some may be persistent and try greater and
greater means to offend, many will just give up and go away. Of
course there is the possibility that some of the more cretinous
individuals may cross the line and end up making slanderous or
otherwise illegal comments at which point they may be reported to the
relevant law enforcement authorities, however I think – at least
hope – that these are in the minority.
In a nutshell, if
someone posts a comment you find offensive, step away from the
keyboard, think to yourself 'Are they doing it just to get attention
and/or upset people?' and if they are ignore it. Put simply in four
words.
Don't Feed The Trolls.