literature

Troll Hunting 101

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Literature Text

The internet is an interesting place.  It's full of strange creatures, interesting concepts, and even weirder phenomenon.  Created initially as a military project designed to promote quick communication between two parties, such as between military bases or throughout a complex, which later evolved into something far greater.  Now, it essentially does something that no other nation's communication policies have ever been able to accomplish; it's brought people together worldwide.

Unfortunately, as a result it's brought a very interesting mix into the fray...

With the internet quite literally being able to connect the Earth's 7 billion people together, land boundaries and national borders start to fade as we slowly begin to edge away from being different nations into one race.  While that's cool and all, as a result it's created its own mix of people that really aren't nice to hang around.  While every country, region, even town has its own loser that exists only to bring others down, at least locally one can do something to solve it through direct conflict.  On the internet, however, there is one boundary that separates all others and makes such conflicts null and void.

You see, though the internet connects everyone together, it does so through the power of technology.  Two laptops next to each other can be connected just as easily as the phone sitting in Seattle, Washington and the Desktop PC sitting over in Sydney, Australia.  With that in mind, people get a kind of courage one does not find in the real world.  It gives them an opportunity to do things under a different kind of mask and be incredibly hurtful to others.  A lot of people forget real easily that words can still inflict pain whether you're in the same building or across oceans, but there are some that do and relish every chance they get at causing pain.

They are called Trolls.

Defining a Troll

Trolls in the pre-internet dictionary describe a creature in Germanic mythology that appears somewhat humanoid, but tends to be unpleasant, ugly, and does whatever it can to cause pain to others, with humans on top of the list.  They tend to be hairy, covered in warts, with big noses and arms longer than their legs.  They also are described as having less intelligence than a human being, but contain a greater cunning and far greater capacities for the darker emotions humanity is known for (greed, wrath, sloth, occasionally lust, and envy being chief among them), but have very little or almost no capacity for the virtues humanity can achieve.  Though they are less intelligent than humans, they are physically stronger and can cause great harm before they are eventually driven away.

Internet trolls are rather similar.  In the real world, a troll can be anyone; mostly a person who's either a bully in real life or has been bullied enough to believe that he/she can only get what they want in their own natural element...namely the internet.  They can be rich or poor, big or small, and can come in all shapes and sizes.  Some trolls can be very surprising when seen in real life, or his/her appearance can come as no shock at all.  But on the internet they are all the same; they are grumpy, tend to have an overpowering and ugly reputation, seem somewhat humanoid, are rather unpleasant, and do whatever they can to cause pain to others.

Trolls come in various sizes, shapes, and behaviors on the internet.  Depending on the person who is on the computer at the time, they can start out deceptively; appearing friendly or complacent, essentially just an average Joe, and attempt to become your friend just enough to try and blackmail you or bring you down by claiming they know you.  They can also appear as a struggling minority, using their status as an otherwise persecuted group as an advantage to get what they want and driving guilt into those that don't comply with their wishes.

The fact that they can do this from a computer without you even knowing where they live or whether or not you can confront them in the real world makes it even harder on their victims.  For many who find the internet as the only place where they can get along with people or be accepted, to suddenly find themselves bullied like in the real world can be very upsetting especially on their first time.  They eventually find themselves feeling terrible on the inside and without any way to cope with it, they descend into that misery and become wanton puppets for the troll's delight.

Well, that's not exactly how it works, but you get the idea...

If there's one thing we know about Germanic folklore, it's that trolls can be found in any and every habitat.  The same goes with the online variant.  Any and every website that has a sort of community; Tumblr, Youtube, Steam, DeviantART; can have a potential troll hiding under a bridge.  Even places we don't expect, like Facebook or Twitter, can have a troll.  But once you find a troll, and he decides to target you, it isn't the end of the world.  You can fight back.  Here's how:

Troll Hunting for Dummies

So, you've got a troll after you.  First step; don't panic.  He or she (most likely a he) may be trolling you but they tend to rely upon your reaction in order for them to feel sated.  There are quite a few good steps that you should do and some things you should avoid before you decide to go in headfirst and try to fight back.

Step 1: Identify the problem.  The Troll's attacking you for a reason.  Most commonly it's because he sees you as an easy meal or less of a threat to him than other choice prey (there are some people out there that can be more than a mouthful for even a troll).  Many trolls are really good at reading psychological hints and actually do their research before they strike, so it's best to assume that the troll has some knowledge about who you are and what kind of person you potentially could be before they attack.

Step 2: Assert yourself.  You are still a person even if the troll says you aren't.  You have feelings, you are intelligent, and you have skills in what you like to do.  Nothing that the troll says changes that.  Simply asserting yourself as a living being with a purpose on this planet is a big step in the right direction.

Step 3: Hotkey /ignore.  Never feed a troll.  The longer you converse with a troll, the more you feed him, and the less likely he'll leave you alone.  Some trolls won't be sated until you completely disappear from the internet, so your best bet is to simply ignore him.  Using website settings to keep him from looking at your stuff is always the best bet.  The site's admins gave you those tools for a reason; use them.

Step 4: Alert your friends.  If a troll can't pick on you, there's a good chance he or she will pick on your friends.  Let them know that there's someone picking on you and stick together.  A troll is less likely to bother you if you have backup support.  There is safety in numbers.

Step 5: Do NOT troll back.  Bullying back does nothing and if the troll is smart he might use anti-troll methods against you.  Just because he's making you feel bad, trying to do the same back will solve nothing.  If you ignore him long enough eventually things will solve themselves. ^^

Conclusion

Trolls will be trolls, but in the end they are people too.  A large majority of trolls on the internet today are people who were bullied into what they do now the exact same way they are bullying you.  In real life, they could very well be people living in their parents' basement, socially awkward, and suffering from depression and other mental problems.  Though trolls are a problem, if people work together and promote goodwill eventually they will go away.  Who knows; maybe they just need a friend...
So, I've been having troll problems of late. A guy here on DA has been bothering friends of mine and has decided to target me as well. In just two nights the guy decided to steal some art and try and bully me into submission through journals and notes.

Of course, I've matured a lot since my first experience with a troll. I know what to do, I know how to do it, and I have support in the real world to keep me from feeling upset. So I did the mature thing and reported the guy. If I repeat it, hopefully through persistence the admins will solve the problem. Until then, I'll wait patiently, and in the meantime I recommend that if you guys get attacked by this guy you just ignore him and eventually the problem will go away.

I'm not going to post a link to who this guy is; I'm not promoting his sub-par art and sub-par behavior and comments on my page period. But if you're afraid that he's going to be a problem with you too ask me in a comment and I'll note you his name. He's done research on me enough to know a bit about myself based on my front page (though I've used the settings to ban him from my page), so there's a good chance he's gotten a list of my watchers. Our best bet is to unite together and support one another while this troll is still at large. Eventually, he'll leave us alone and go back to his lonely life on the other side of the world.

Until then, I hope you guys enjoy these tips on how to deal with trolls. Unite against bullying, everyone! Let's go a'hunting!

-Kerian

p.s. He'd better feel nice and safe that he lives all the way over in the UK. We Idahoans can be ebil little buggers at times, and I happen to have some evil knowledge on basic chemistry that can cause some pretty amusing problems. ^^ Of course, I don't support or condone using chemistry to cause a person's house to be filled up with smokey substances that cause mild discomfort and annoyance to human beings, but it's still fun to think about...
© 2013 - 2024 Kerian-halcyon
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