digibutter.nerr

[Zelnor]

Hello guys. Most of you will have noticed that everyone at Digibutter is concerned about the future of the site, many say that they cannopt stand how we flame each other or make 10.000 topics a day with nothing serious inside. Some people blame the local forum trolls.
And this is where my error starts. I have had the arrogance to tell you to stop flaming and be nice to each other. And in a timespan of 15 minutes after I have posted the suggestion I broke my own rule by flaming Evangel like 3 or 4 times. So I owe you an apology for being an arrogant, digibutter-saviour-wannabe. I will try a different course of action, and the next time when I try to make things better I will follow my own rules.

Also I'd like so say anotehr thing. Whilst looking through Wikipedia I stumbled across a link to a very interesting site, which showed me an article about the motives and symptoms of trolls. It can be found here.
I take the freedom to cite it here:

What Is A Troll?

The term derives from "trolling", a style of fishing which involves trailing bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The troll posts a message, often in response to an honest question, that is intended to upset, disrupt or simply insult the group.

Usually, it will fail, as the troll rarely bothers to match the tone or style of the group, and usually its ignorance shows.

Why do trolls do it?

I believe that most trolls are sad people, living their lonely lives vicariously through those they see as strong and successful.

Disrupting a stable newsgroup gives the illusion of power, just as for a few, stalking a strong person allows them to think they are strong, too.

For trolls, any response is 'recognition'; they are unable to distinguish between irritation and admiration; their ego grows directly in proportion to the response, regardless of the form or content of that response.

Trolls, rather surprisingly, dispute this, claiming that it's a game or joke; this merely confirms the diagnosis; how sad do you have to be to find such mind-numbingly trivial timewasting to be funny?

Remember that trolls are cowards; they'll usually post just enough to get an argument going, then sit back and count the responses (Yes, that's what they do!).

How can troll posts be recognised?

* No Imagination - Most are frighteningly obvious; sexist comments on nurses' groups, blasphemy on religious groups .. I kid you not.
* Pedantic in the Extreme - Many trolls' preparation is so thorough, that while they waste time, they appear so ludicrous from the start that they elicit sympathetic mail - the danger is that once the group takes sides, the damage is done.
* False Identity - Because they are cowards, trolls virtually never write over their own name, and often reveal their trolliness (and lack of imagination) in the chosen ID. As so many folk these days use false ID, this is not a strong indicator on its own!
* Crossposting - Any post that is crossposted to several groups should be viewed as suspicious, particularly if unrelated or of opposing perspective. Why would someone do that?
* Off-topic posting - Often genuine errors, but, if from an 'outsider' they deserve matter-of-fact response; if genuine, a brief apposite response is simply netiquette; if it's a troll post, you have denied it its reward.
* Repetition of a question or statement is either a troll - or a pedant; either way, treatment as a troll is effective.
* Missing The Point - Trolls rarely answer a direct question - they cannot, if asked to justify their twaddle - so they develop a fine line in missing the point.
* Thick or Sad - Trolls are usually sad, lonely folk, with few social skills; they rarely make what most people would consider intelligent conversation. However, they frequently have an obsession with their IQ and feel the need to tell everyone. This is so frequent, that it is diagnostic! Somewhere on the web there must be an Intelligence Test for Trolls - rigged to always say "above 150"

Okay, that was merely the whole article, but I think it's worth the filespace. The parts which I find most interesting are made clearly visible.
Of course you will ask "What the hel does that wacko german expect to reach with that ?" I hope to help to identify those who are trolling in this forum.
But to successfully conquer the danger of trolls, we must know how to get rid of them. THe same website has the answer, and I will cite it here :



Troll eradication is one of those jobs that is dirty but necessary, like pouring salt on slugs.

Don't feel guilty about it; scientists assure us that they feel nothing. Maybe the slime protects them, who can tell. Who cares?


Internet Troll
Under Bridge Troll Internet Troll

Every Internet user has a responsibilty to help in eradicating trolls. You may find them amusing, and might enjoy teasing them (You pulled the wings off flies, right?). But face it, they are a waste of space, and the internet would be a better place without them.

What you can do depends on whether you are a Usegroup user, forum member, moderator, lurker, group member ... whatever. But whoever you are, you should be able to pick up a few tips here. This page does get updated from time to time - I'm still learning, and good things come out of the discussions at the Flayme Forums.
Ignoring

The key to trolls is their social inadequacy - once rumbled, they quickly go rabid - and their lack of intelligence. Let's face it, no intelligent person would bother. This means that any response is a response to a sad thicko; why bother?

There is no better way to shift a troll from a newsgroup than simply to ignore it. Sometimes, that is not possible; perhaps it has succeeeded in upsetting people.

It can be tempting to play games with the troll, they are easy to wind up, and watching them in contortions of fury feels like justice. But think before you do this - not out of mercy to the slug - but because it is boring at best for your fellow members, and irritating at worst; you may be labelled a troll yourself. Best to ignore.
Branding

Never address the troll ("Troll Off ...") as any direct response simply feeds it. Search for the troll by name or slogan. Send a message, headed

"Troll Alert - [troll's name]"

to the group, with text along these lines:

Spiro@peace.love (not its real name)
is a troll. It regularly frequents at least twenty news groups, including many
rabid/sex/racist groups. Normally, it starts off with reasonable, even witty lines,
but rapidly drifts into lies, abuse and stupidity.
Check its details at Google
Groups. It is a sad creature, deserving of pity, not anger. Any direct response
simply feeds it, but it will go away if you ignore it.

The key to success is a cool, measured, accurate posting. In my experience, unless the group is silly (in which case, they deserve a troll or two) this never fails.
Mocking

If you really must address the troll, give it this URL: http://www.flayme.com/troll/trollone.html
(It really is totally harmless: just a well designed .gif ...)

But in general, talk about it, not to it (but the best advice is still to ignore its posts).
Confusion

The average troll is pretty thick, so confusing them is fairly easy, and also serves to unite the rest against the troll.

"Sorry, but that'll lower your overall score on my Troll-o-Meter to 4.6" Curtis Desjardins response to one troll banished it instantly, and I still laugh every time I think about it; he's left no room for the idiot to come back for more.

Ask awkward questions (do not expect answers) but the best advice is still to ignore its posts.

Okay, most of those mght not be very effective and they are a start.

Here I'd like to apologize once more, because the arrogance that is sometimes visible in the article is also like my arrogance, because I thought I was better then the trolls here when I was not really - I fed the cirlce, I flamed him which was exactly what he wanted.

Any other ideas on that matter ? I oersonally will ignore any posts or PM's or whatsoever from my presonal favourite troll, Evangel (who else ?) and write in any thread as if he wouldn't exist.