Everyone has a different opinion on what a troll is. Here’s what I would call it from experience.

•    Someone who directly attempts to bother someone else without a care for their opinion or feelings, without stopping.
•    Someone who plagiarizes/copies someone else’s work and does not give credit/claims it as their own work.

Now what is NOT a troll
•    Someone who insults someone else in a heated argument. If two or three people are arguing, and the lips are flying, who’s really trolling if they’re all doing it?
•    Someone who pranks someone but does not go out of bounds (according to whoever’s opinion), and if they do, correct themselves.

Now how should these be handled? Well let’s remember what the reporting options are.

•    Spam: Something that is completely irrelevant to the group or location it is in, and is not important or needed. Granted these can be alright, say if someone is asking for advice on a personal and important matter. But if they were to post such things like “I got a new dog!” or “Who likes Willy Wonka?!” it should be reported as such. HOWEVER, before reporting, every user should be informed that their comment/picture/article/etc. is irrelevant, and asked to remove it. If the person gives a good reason to keep it that is fine, but if they do not, and still keep it, you can report it.
•    Inappropriate: Sexual, Gory, Potty-mouthed, etc. Anything that isn’t necessarily offensive by definition, but definitely not wholesome. Graphic details can be allowed if it’s important to the plot of a story, or if a mark of some sort is important (as long as not too revealing). These should not be allowed. Now to those who say these are fine, look back at what this is called “Inappropriate”. So yes, it counts. Now what would be the approach? Like before, one should inform the person, complaining about the issue, and ask them to edit it. If they do, they can keep it, but if not, report.
•    Abusive: Now this can be said for any DIRECT insult, like Racism, or simply calling someone out in an insulting picture, article, video, and of course, comment. If this is seen I personally would just go straight to the reporting, but there are rare cases when the insulter will agree to remove the insult. If not, report.

Now I know that this might offend certain people, but to those it might, I don’t mean to. This is my opinion, and I thought it through.

People, if there’s a troll, it’s like a Virus. If you don’t get it soon it’ll spread; whether it be by asking it, reporting it, or otherwise. No this does not mean you should say “GO HANG YOURSELF!” It means you should say “We don’t appreciate this. Go away or stop.”

Now sometimes just ignoring the troll is the option. For instants, if a troll makes a troll comment in a forum, simply ignore it. Why? Because the troll hates being ignored. He or she wants a LOT of attention, and that’s how they get it. So don’t give it to them. Just ignore them… in most cases.

If any troll attacks someone, or steals art, or spams, you have the right to tell them to knock it off. You can even warn/threaten them saying “Hey, if you don’t stop, I’ll report you.” Why? Because that’s what the reporting button is for. If someone is harassing you, and doesn’t stop, you have a right to report them.

Now if a troll claims to say they’ll stop, and they do indeed stop, simply report the trolling they did, not them. If they start to abuse this however, and continue, no matter what you do, why report the entire long list of pictures when they’re the problem?

If you feel wrong about doing this, tell the owners of the site about the troll, and ask them to intervene. Make it so they keep the troll from being able to post certain pictures, or write certain articles.

Remember, the troll is a person, but so are thieves with guns, pointed at your head. And if you think that the troll is harmless on the internet, they aren’t always. There are hackers, and some hackers don’t stop with your computer, they find and kill you.

Now how do you avoid being a troll as well? Think the word “Professional.” How would a professional person handle the matter? A tall person in a suit, with a briefcase, combed hair. Picture yourself like that. If a man started running around flailing his arms, would you start flailing yours and yell and cuss like him? No because that would be being like him.

The point I’m trying to make there is that you should keep calm, and not give him what he gave you. Don’t post pictures insulting him (which admittedly I’ve done >__<), and don’t comment about “hey remember that last troll?” because to them you’re honoring their memory. They’re memory should not be honored, at least when they’re being a troll.

For me when I see a troll attack me, I report what they troll with, and I comment to them being all random and friendly. Why? Because it’s fun, and it’s not trolling. They can go all “You fat ugly person!” and I’ll just be “We are friends now! *huggle*” If you want to take that approach by-all-means.



So I’m sorry to Rawrmonster here, who I’m sure disagrees with a lot of what I’ve said. I love that you are willing to defend those who you find being abused, but while every life can be saved, the internet is not someone’s life, and if it is, it shouldn’t be. They can move on, and granted we can to, and we should, but we should not have to. No one should have to stand for trolling, and no troll should go unpunished.

Four steps

1.    Ask: them to stop trolling
2.    Warn: Them that you won’t sit by and let them attack you.
3.    Attempt: to remove their attacks
4.    Go: to a higher power for help.


Hope this helped.

Eat Pie and Prosper