The troll - what is this "beast" and how to deal with it? Who are the trolls?

Internet troll. Who are they and why are they doing this? Means of dealing with Internet trolls.

Who is the internet troll? What does the internet troll mean?

Troll is a user who communicates roughly, and also posts provocative posts and messages on various groups of social networks. Often such people write silly (sometimes even frankly "stupid") comments. We can say that the troll on the Internet is the one who behaves inappropriately, spitefully, and even "teaches" and provokes users to swear and negate.
Emotions are called trolling, which only works with very emotional or inexperienced people who have no idea what trolling is and who troll is. The most primitive way of fat trolling is to insult the opponent or his relatives, negative reviews about what is valuable to him. Now it’s almost no effect on anyone, besides, moderators on all resources mercilessly ban for this. Yes, and the "food", that is, other people's emotions, the troll will receive a minimum.
  Those. any troll message will be aimed at insulting or provoking. They will constantly touch upon “sore subjects” in order to evoke emotions in the rest, and negative ones.

Some signs of a troll.

Constant attempts to get personal in the conversation.
  Using the topic of the dispute only to provoke the emotional reaction of the interlocutor (demagogy).
  The pretense of nearness and ignorance - or vice versa, knowledge of everything in the world (usually the inverse relationship between the real and the shown is traced).
  Opinion radically different from the opinion of the local majority.
  Bad manners, boorish behavior (usually this is a sign of a fat, that is, uninteresting, obvious, troll).
  Filing g%: on the fan (touching obviously controversial provocative topics).
  Confidence that everyone else is “dull g%: but” and another demonstration of their superiority.

So what do such people do?

Of course, they are engaged in provocations. Trolls write provocative texts, mock users, insult, ask obscure and ambiguous questions. In general, they annoy and attract attention to inadequate behavior in every way.
Now this is already taking the turn of an ideological information war. The psyche of people is so shaken, and then these mercenary trolls poison, really pushing people to action.

How to distinguish a troll from a person?

Examine his profile. If at least 1-2 of the listed items, then this is a troll:
  - there is no personal photo on the avatar, but there is an incomprehensible, usually stupid picture .
- the troll has few friends, usually less than 10
- The troll page has recently been registered. This is easy to check against the troll's profile wall. Just look when he had the first post on the wall. If today or yesterday, then this is definitely a troll.
  - no personal photos. In general, there are few photos, and instead only a few pictures.
  - a typical troll is absolutely immune to criticism of itself, to the arguments of reason, to logic or to appeals to morality.

First of all, the troll never stands on ceremony with its opponents and does not choose decent expressions, it acts on the principle of “the worse, the better”, therefore everything is used - mate, accusations and insults.

And the more they answer him, the more he “starts up”. At the same time, the troll is absolutely not interested in your opinion, as such, it does not listen to the arguments, the main thing for it is to remove as many people as possible from mental balance, lower it to your level and make you communicate in your own language. In fact, the troll is a person who is amused by impunity for rudeness. The main part of those who want to troll on the Internet are those who solve their psychological problems in this way.

Why do trolls specifically cause people to abuse them?

Paid commentators. Do not forget about paid commentators, who are hired in order to revive the exchange of views on a particular site or group on social networks. Naturally, with intelligent comments this goal cannot be achieved, a scandal is needed. It is provided by paid commentators: the angrier their words, the more they respond to them and, accordingly, the higher the rating of this article and the entire site as a whole.

What can not be done with Internet trolls?

The desire to argue with the troll in order to prove to him how wrong he is is akin to desire, getting on all fours, mowing at the dog that barked you. The Troll will be rude to you, trying to provoke you to be rude or thoughtless. The classic troll technique is to say that you were scared of it or that you had nothing to answer.
If you tried to insult the troll, then he won, because he stole you to the negative. If you started to answer him, but then stopped talking - he won because he decided that he managed to offend you or that you have nothing to answer (like he "leaked" you).

Classification of trolls on the Internet.

  Oddly enough, but trolling has its own classification. More precisely, the Internet troll can be different. In some cases, even recognizing such a user is difficult. So what types of inadequacies can you meet on the net? There are two concepts in total. This is a "fat" and "thin" troll.
  For example, “fat” is a typical inadequate. He simply attracts attention, often does not respond to adequate answers. Shy, trying, if something happens, to self-destruct. Fighting a fat troll is easy.

Usually so called users "near", with a shaky nervous system. As some say, a typical rebel schoolboy.

But the “thin” troll is already a more serious problem. Such recognition is not easy. And to figure out how to deal with trolls on the Internet of this type is also not always easy. Usually, the “subtle” are well versed in psychology, behave quite adequately, but manage to attract attention to themselves and also cause negative emotions in people. These are clever manipulators who always achieve their goal. Able even with complete calm to bring the interlocutor to hysteria and a nervous breakdown. Very dangerous, especially for those who succumb to psychological influence without any problems.

How do trolls earn on the Internet?

Payment for them is different. Some receive money for each reply to them, while others simply for each message of their own. In the second case, your answer and reaction are not important to the troll - it just makes money. The calculation of customers that people are silent, but they read and draw their conclusions.
  After all, something drives users when they "go crazy" on the network. It is earnings that become the main motivation.

Sometimes users turn to trolls to destroy forums and groups, and they are paid for this. The same applies to the "tricks" of various citizens.
  For example, if you want to play a trick on someone online and bring him to hysteria, turn to the troll. Perhaps this is all the user data earnings.
The troll raises the topic, which in this community should cause heated debate and quarrel, and enjoys the reaction. It is considered to be special chic for the troll to write only one, starting message in the subject, after which dozens of pages of disputes and quarrels of participants who have long forgotten who started it all will follow.

The main topics for srach and seething, in general, have long been known.

This is primarily politics, in the second story, followed by a series of sexual issues. For example, just mentioning the name of Stalin on almost any platform is enough to cause a fierce srach. Especially if this community does not adhere to a clear assessment of its activities. Supporters and opponents immediately rush in and start tossing each other tons of texts, historical calculations, analyzes, etc. If society is more or less intelligent. In a less intelligent society, participants begin to shower each other with tons of insults and threats. Someone banyat. The troll rubs his hands, “eats” and grows fat.

Trolling is more experienced in trying to pit different participants together, as if remaining aloof.

To do this, the troll must find two people with different looks and play on it. When they quarrel, everyone can form a support group. Moreover, if you do everything quite subtly - no one will notice the initiator at all and remember that everything started with his messages.

Rates approximately (3 years ago) And the payments are different, I know in one place they pay for a provocative comment - 15 rubles, for inciting a discussion - all 60 rubles. But they say that if they work officially and under control, they get from 15 to 20 thousand.

All this goes to keep attention to this or that group in a social network!

Trolls also receive money for directing discussions in the right direction, creating the appearance of public opinion, and provoking hatred of certain famous personalities or political forces.

Group trolling

The trolls raid consists in the fact that several trolls attack the participants together, causing everyone to be puzzled: they talked peacefully, where did these negatives come from? More subtle raids can have different scenarios. For example, two trolls start a dispute among themselves, each has a support group. When the degree of emotions reaches the desired level, one of the trolls suddenly agrees with the other and takes his point of view, starting to scold what he just praised with all his might. Those who are embroiled in a dispute on his side are confused.

Another option:

trolls breed people into emotions, and themselves somewhere on another resource (for example, in another group, if it happens on a social network) discuss the emotions of participants and laugh at them. At the right moment, one of the previously not participating trolls gives a link to the resource where the trolls laugh at their victims. Participants come, read and understand that they mocked them.
  The advantage of group trolling is that even a person who knows who the troll is may not be able to figure it out. “Well, this troll, and that one? Not everyone is around trolls? ”Not everyone will guess that trolls can act together.

How to behave with trolls on the Internet?

Respond to provocations.   The main thing is to remain completely calm. Your answers should be reasonable, balanced. Try not to show that you are annoyed and put on emotion troll posts. After all, this is precisely what he achieves! As soon as it is noticed from your answers that you are not responding to provocations, they will leave you behind. The more indifference you show to the provocateur, the less interesting you will seem to the troll. Yes, sometimes it’s not so easy to keep calm. But no aggression, even if you really want to.
  Please note. telling the troll that he is a boor, a bastard and an idiot is the stupidest thing you can do. The troll just expects you to break loose, yell and wave your hands - he only needs it. When you are calm, answer him specifically, and if he continues to carry the blizzard, leave, the troll does not reach its main goal - it does not breed you to an emotional reaction.
  It is impossible to convince the troll - it has a completely different task.

Ignore is the best and most effective option.which can only be offered is simply ignoring.

Just do not notice the troll, do not respond to its provocations - show that you do not care about him. The main thing is no aggression, only peace. Even if they brazenly get into your dialogue, don’t notice it. In general, with any provocateurs, ignoring is the best weapon. Interest in you will simply disappear, because there will be no emotions and attention needed by the troll on the network. So, it makes no sense to have a dialogue with you. It is a waste of time that will not bring any pleasure to a fool.

Contact the site administration (for example, through the button "complain - insult)to provocateurs banned.

It sometimes helps, to answer in one word: "Thick."   Or: “A young troll, for the first time in her life, is trying to get food for herself. How touching. "

The most useful thing you can   to write is to remind other participants in the discussion that one does not have to enter punctuation with the troll. But do not pay public attention to the troll by publicly complaining about it.

Remember! Do not feed the trolls with negativity.   If h the man begins to get angry, nervous, curse, and this only makes the troll more angry.   If you were attacked by a troll, then most likely we are promoting some useful and productive idea.

An Internet troll is someone who joins a discussion or comment on a material in order to upset the interlocutors or break the conversation. It often seems that the comments of the trolls have no real purpose other than the desire to upset all the other participants in the conversation.

In one of the scientific journals on the study of personality and individual differences of a person, an article was published that confirms what we all suspected for a long time: Internet trolls are terrible people.

An intelligent, thinking, educated, honest person is not dangerous to you,
  the rest should be feared under any circumstances - these are potential trolls that poison life at the slightest opportunity.
  author unknown

Character type research

What type of people does dirty tricks when communicating on the Internet, Canadian scientists decided to find out. They conducted two online studies with more than 1,200 people, and along with a survey on behavior in online comments, they gave everyone a personality test. They looked for evidence that trolling is associated with the “Dark Four” personality traits: narcissism, shamelessness, psychopathy and sadism.

Research results

They found that the performance of the Dark Four was the highest among those who noted trolling as their favorite Internet activity in the survey. To understand how strongly these traits are common among Internet trolls, see this excerpt from a study:
Look how low the “Dark Four” is for everyone except the trolls! Their points for all four characteristics are higher on the chart:

findings

The relationship between trolling and the Dark Four is so important that the authors of the study write in their article:

"... the associations between sadism and GOIT (Global Internet Trolling Evaluation) scores were so strong that we can say for sure - online trolls are typical everyday sadists."

Trolls really enjoy what they do to you badly.

Remember!

The next time you come across a troll on the Internet:

• These trolls are really difficult people.
• Your suffering brings them pleasure, so the best thing you can do is ignore them.

Today we’ll talk about who the trolls are on the Internet and learn how to distinguish these characters and protect their nerves from their antics.

A troll is a user who has become famous for his constant trolling. In general, it is difficult to give a definition to this phenomenon, because the name of such a character is, by and large, in no way connected with his “professional activity”. From English, “trolling” translates as “spinner fishing”. Analogies can be drawn, but very subtle and indirect: the troll also “fishes”, throwing a spinner, that is, any provocation and pulls out “fish” - the most unrestrained and naive users who simply don’t know who they are contacting. Speaking of who the trolls are on the Internet, it is also necessary to indicate the connection of the name of a group of users with mythological characters of the same name, nasty and malicious creatures, hunting for small dirty tricks.

Summarize: the troll is a small network bully who gets indescribable pleasure by watching the skirmish provoked by him in the comments / chat / on the forum or continuing to participate in it. Provocateur, instigator of conflicts, petty dirty tricks - there are many synonyms.

A few signs of a typical troll

The troll, like any web user, has distinctive features, and now we will list several features of a typical troll.

In order not to become a victim of trolling and not expose yourself in the end, it is not enough to know who the trolls are on the Internet, you also need to be able to distinguish them. Fortunately, this is not difficult to do, because all trolls behave stereotyped. How exactly, see here:

So, the troll on the network:

Troll Classification

It's time to talk about the types of Internet trolls: so, to your attention a brief, but quite capacious classification of trolls.

Internet trolls have two “breeds” that differ in their methods of activity:

1. Fat trolling is preferred by near-minded individuals, most often by schoolchildren, whose main goal is to attract maximum attention to themselves. It’s easy to crack them, and fight too, such trolls are timid and disorderly only until they are repulsed. There is little harm from their activity, the maximum, a spoiled mood and shaky nerves are especially impressionable.
2. Troll acting subtly. A much more dangerous character. A good psychologist and manipulator, who does not just achieve hype around him, but can fulfill more global goals, even to cover up one or another resource. There are not so many real professionals in the network, but they do more harm than all the fat trolls combined.

The word "troll" came from the depths of centuries, originating in the traditions, tales and tales of Scandinavia. Who are trolls? Sometimes in Old Norse legends all evil spirits were designated like that - giants, sorcerers, witches. But more often these are mountain giants, frightening people with their ugly appearance, monstrous size and hostile actions.

Translated from the Swedish "troll" - witchcraft, charm, the Norwegian word "trollskap" - magic - also has the root "troll".

From generation to generation, stories about those who encountered the troll were transmitted. Such ballads, legends and traditions have come down to us. You can meet trolls high in the mountains or in a dense forest, there are those who live ... under the bridge. And according to some legends, these creatures settle in underground castles and palaces. They feed on meat, not disdain and humanity. It looks like a gigantic boulder or a mountain covered with heather, moss and trees. To match the size and strength of the troll: it can easily lift a centuries-old tree or a huge rock. And if a few trolls fight, the earth will tremble!

In most cases, the main enemy of trolls is the sun, turning them into stone. That is why, according to Scandinavian beliefs, many rocks and mountains are trolls frozen forever, who did not have time to get to a safe place in time and were caught by a sunny sunrise.

Who are the trolls on the Internet

Of course, the term “troll” on the net did not come from a creature from the past, but from the English word trolling, which means anglers “catch on a spoon”. "Trolls" on the Internet have been nicknamed those who, posing as others, chasing one of the users, provoking virtual skirmishes, displaying aggression in network communication, and behaving insultingly. By analogy with dangerous magical creatures that do evil, Internet pests began to be called trolls.

Virtual conferences, forums, portals and social networks are the main habitats of Internet trolls. Today they are already creating their own communities, exchanging experience in trolling.

In Internet terminology, a “troll” is a person who posts rude or provocative messages on the Internet, for example, in discussion forums, interferes with a discussion or insults its participants. The word "trolling" can characterize either directly one message, or in general the placement of such messages. The term “trolling” is also used to describe the activity of trolls in general.

In general, such behavior falls under the definition of hooliganism (not necessarily in a legal context), being one of its forms. Some people trolling for their own entertainment, enjoying their own actions. It happens that the goal of trolling is just people trying to attract attention to their person or fanatically believing in anything. Trolls engaged in this type of trolling enjoy the process more than the result, and never reveal their own data. It happens that one person starts several accounts on one site, the main of which is used for its intended purpose, and the auxiliary one is used for trolling. Trolls themselves divide trolling into “thick” and “thin”. “Fat” trolling is always visible at first glance, it consists in defiant behavior, direct insults and unambiguous violations of the rules. “Thin” trolling is much more difficult to recognize, its success and degree of impact depends on how well the troll understands people. The “thin” troll knows perfectly all the rules adopted in the place where it is a troll, and acts on their verge without directly violating it, often forcing the administration to exceed its authority or to violate its own rules. A successful “thin” trolling may not even be detected.

It should also be remembered that in addition to purely subjective manifestations, trolling was adopted by the fighters of information wars. In this case, the purpose of trolling is, in particular, to divert attention from sensitive topics and turn constructive discussions into a skirmish. One of the methods of attack is an aggressive throwing in slander, incriminating evidence, rumors, etc.

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Etymology

In this sense, the word first appeared in Usenet conferences in the late 80s and comes from fishing on a towed bait.

The word gained popularity probably because of its second meaning, namely “trolls”, which are often mentioned in the folklore of the countries of Scandinavia, in particular in children's stories, as ugly, unpleasant creatures created to do evil and do harm.

General thoughts

The main purpose of trolling is to bring discord into society in any way. The inflammatory, sarcastic, provocative, or humorous content of the troll’s messages is designed to persuade other users to engage the troll in a futile confrontation. The more violently the society reacts, the more likely the further trolling by the initiator is, as this confirms his confidence that certain actions achieve his goal of causing chaos. Thus was born the phrase, often used in Internet culture: “Do not feed the trolls.”

It happens that a person posts a message in the forum in which he sincerely and openly expresses his feelings. Experienced trolls know that the easiest way to get him crazy is to declare him a troll. Or, for example, a person does not immediately understand how to fit into the social framework of any forum. As a result of his actions, even at least slightly inconsistent with the norm (often unintentional and having good reasons), he is affixed with the label “troll”. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish a user who is simply unfamiliar with the generally accepted norms of the forum, from a user who intentionally trolls. Many users react aggressively at the very first trolling-like actions of beginners, which sometimes makes the latter as real trolls. The term “troll” is not a label, it is not “stuck” to anyone, but is intended to understand the problem and to teach oneself how to resist such a phenomenon as trolling.

Troll culture

The development of trolling and excellent opportunities for anonymous communication on the Internet indicate that the history of "anonymous troll" is just beginning. The fact of the existence of a "culture", founded by strangers who are united only by expulsion from online forums, is doubtful. But there are those who really argue that this is possible and even already occurs in reality.

There is convincing evidence of this - the existence of forums whose participants claim that these forums are dedicated solely to supporting and developing trolling, exchange tips and look for new goals for fruitful trolling.

One of the best examples of the manifestation of the troll culture is the solidarity and cooperation of two of its representatives unfamiliar to each other. Since they have common methods and are often the reason for jokes known on the Internet, sometimes one troll is able to identify another directly “at work”. Their supposedly trolling against each other often creates huge noise and simulates dramas that are seriously taken by outside observers (especially if they support one of the parties). As a result, joint trolling diverts the discussion from the topic more efficiently or focuses the discussion around the initiators than if each of them did it independently.

Trolling in the 90s

One of the earliest references to the word “troll”, which can be found in the conference archive on February 8, 1990. However, it remains unclear whether this was a use of the term “troll” in the sense in which it is known today, or was it just a randomly chosen epithet:

« You are so far from being able to understand any of the things that anyone here says that there is no use at all. What is really sad is that you are sincerely convinced that you are gaining the upper hand. You are just a waste of natural resources - be kind, return yourself to the cycle of nutrients. Go die in a dream, you're useless pompous troll ».

More likely is the origin of the term “trolling” from the phrase “trolling for newbies”. newbie   - newbie), popularized in the early 90's in one of the Usenet groups, alt.folklore.urban. The use there was somewhat different from the modern meaning - it was a relatively mild joke that was understandable to “friends”, applied by old users to questions or topics so exaggerated that only a novice would have reacted sincerely to them. In the future, the term also included a situation where someone intentionally posed as an extremely incorrectly informed or misleading user, even without being a regular at the conference - most often this was perceived not aggressively, but as a joke. In this context, the word “troll” usually refers to an action, not an author.

Some Usenet’s old-timers continued to insist on these initial definitions even after the term was applied more broadly to inflammatory actions previously described as “flames”.

Identification

The first mention in serious literature belongs to Judith Donat, who in 1999 used several curious examples from various conferences at Usenet’s in her judgments. She emphasized the ambiguity of identification in a free “virtual society”:

In the physical world there is an inborn unity with oneself, because the body provides the necessary and acceptable identification. The norm is: one body - one person.<…>   In the virtual world, everything is different. Everything is based on words, not facts.

Original text   (eng.)

In the physical world there is an inherent unity to the self, for the body provides a compelling and convenient definition of identity. The norm is: one body, one identity. ... The virtual world is different. It is composed of information rather than matter

Donat gives a brief overview of games speculating on discrepancies between physical and virtual societies:

Using

The term “troll” is very subjective. Some readers may characterize the message as trolling, while others may regard the same message as a legitimate contribution to the discussion, even if the opinion expressed is controversial. This concept is often used to discredit an opponent or his supporter with a biased argument. Likewise, calling someone a troll means probably making incorrect assumptions about the author’s motives. However, regardless of its motive, such controversial messages usually cause a corrective, patronizing, or indignant response. The answer is those who do not see the difference between the real, physical community (where people put themselves at some risk of bodily harm as a result of their actions) and the virtual community based on a simple exchange of words and ideas.

The culture of discussion in the real world (etiquette) is often naively applied to online communication by newcomers who have no idea about it. Accusations of trolling are usually (and sometimes mistakenly) expressed by people who are hurt by living things.

In one of the Internet Movie Database community forums, it was argued that the words “opinion” and “leave” are not available to a typical troll.

Used in appropriate cases in relation to provocative online behavior, the word “troll” economically converts an abstract collection of manners into a specific type.

Experienced forum participants know that the most effective way to stop the troll is to ignore it, because any answer encourages the real troll and gives it a reason and the opportunity to continue to write provocative statements. They also write "please do not feed the troll" to warn others. However, this warning can also cause the opposite effect, becoming food for the troll. Therefore, if a forum member encounters a clearly innocent answer to the troll, a warning in personal correspondence would be more prudent.

Complete ignoring the troll can also have a negative side. A new participant or a guest of the forum, seeing a message from the troll that has not received a single response, may come to the conclusion that this message carries "truth" or some fact that does not need proof or even minimal comment.

Examples

   One-day troll

Messages by the one-day troll are clearly provocative and can trigger aggressive responses.

Provocateur troll

• Offtopic: Messages that are inappropriate to the focus of the forum.
• Page inflation: Posting large images to make previous posts difficult to read.
• Media attack: hearing-annoying sound files, shocking images in a message, or links to resources with similar content. Often links are masked.

Motivation

Those who recognize themselves as “trolls” can present themselves as “devil's advocates” (“gadfly”, “counterculture figures”, “forum warriors”), challenging public opinion in an attempt to break the group status quo. It is argued that true “devil advocates” always identify as such, out of respect for etiquette and courtesy, while trolls ignore etiquette and courtesy in general.

Alleged motives of a person trolling:

• Trolling can be used as an experiment in which, due to anonymity, it is possible to test the boundaries of people's patience and violate etiquette without serious consequences. This may be a desire to make sure the scope of the discussion is strong or an attempt to test people's reactions.
• Anonymous search for attention: the troll seeks to dominate the discussion, causing anger.
• Entertainment: some are amused by the idea that a person is hurt by the statements of completely strangers.
• Anger: Using trolling to express hostility to a group or a point of view.
• A cry for help: many trolls in their messages complain about life - family, relationships, school, work, health (although in principle it is impossible to know whether this is only part of trolling).
• Self-identifying oneself as trolls and their advocates believe that trolling is an advanced method to improve discussion or balance of power.
• Challenge: you just want to make sure whether you are capable of this, and whether it is possible to succeed in this - for example, fooling users by creating a different nickname and personality.
• Wasting the time of others: one of the most attractive goals of trolling is to spend as little effort and time as possible to provoke others into a meaningless waste of as much effort and time as possible.
• Changes in the views of the whole group: inflate the issue under discussion to such an extent (usually using clones) to force people to reconsider their own views on it.
• Checking the operation of the system: for example, to see how those who monitor order react to a clear violation.
• Overcoming inferiority or helplessness complex by gaining experience in environmental management, even virtual.
• Self-affirmation.
• Satire: in these cases, people consider themselves not trolls, but misunderstood comedians or political