How to make hamburger of an internet troll
63
The troll
Our latest discussion in this amazing learn how to series focuses on the various activities of and with the troll, and how to deal with him. It’s not enough that hubpages’ most famous troll is just that; evidently he is also the most active baiter, instigator, stalker, and thanks to his most recent award, quite an accomplished squealing little pig.
With the current rash of bans being served up, one would think those bans exist on a two-way street, yet the site’s most famous super-fanning troll continues to unexplainably reside within the safety of a ban-free zone. It’s a mystery to many.
It’s not enough that he does his provoking in the forums, it’s that he stalks, becoming an internet predator by following people into their personal hubs where he then continues his baiting and instigation tactics. Yes, all while safely residing within his glorious ban-free zone.
Protecting the troll
At all expenses, protection is key. In order to keep forums in a state of suspense, if not hysteria, many sites employ trolls in order to drive page views. Troll magnets are identified, and it is these magnets who then receive more than their fair share of baiting, instigating, and stalking, as has been obviously proven in recent hubs and forum threads.
Typical of the mind-f_ck game played by these small minds, the troll then uses words like decency in attempting to justify his existence and keep fans in his corner. While one or more of his multiple personality disorder accounts might be banned, his primary mug is not. The concept of condom use as a means of reducing the spread of a STD is an appropriate analogy.
Troll video
As the troll video shows, he is quite famous, dating back centuries, and has clearly established his own chapter in the annals of internet history. Although a graduate of internet predator 101 university, it’s a no-think program.
Total content
While a writing site may promote itself as a place where members are encouraged to produce quality content on a regular basis, this concept is not applicable to all. Many trolls believe that quality content resides within their 12,000 forum posts (yes, this is on one account alone), therefore complying with the total content theme, regardless of the fact that they may have fewer than 20 articles of questionable quality over a two year period.
Evolution of online behavior
Predictable
The online habits of the troll are quite predictable. Because of his inferiority complex and an incessant need for attention, he always shows up. Guaranteed. The troll is especially receptive to such sweet ditties as squealing little pigs, his diet dependent on such nourishment.
You might think that once the troll follows you into your personal hubs you should automatically delete his comments. While we do have the luxury of the delete from existence button, it should be used on a case by case basis. Consider this: his mentality is of a knee-jerk intellect. Sooner or later you can use this to your advantage, especially when he follows you or one of your followers into your hub. This territory is known as home-court advantage. The game has been given to you. You’ve won, and he’s the loser, for all the world to see.
Another great hub in the learn how to series brought to you in part by:
More on absurdities:
CommentsLoading...
hello maita,
yes, they wear many disguises, so it seems. indescribable is quite accurate. thanks for checking in!
Hi blue.I need to say something here.It is easy for a new member who doesn't now the game to be drawn in by trolls and become a bit of a troll him self hunting and stalking his attackers,becoming paranoid and reading insults in other folks comments.As you(and probably everyone ells on HP)know,that happened to me.My first post brought three trolls running and the persecution began.It wore me to the point of writing with out a doubt the worst comment ever written in the forums.Know the damage is done and I'm paying the price which is completely being ignored by people I would like to get to know.Some of the trolls operate under the guise of compassion on the surface presenting them selves as helpful and caring but if you look at there comments the truth comes out.They support each other and compliment each other to the point of writing Interview Hubs where they validate each other.I've rambled on long enough.I hope I'm in HP purgatory and may work my way out one day as I would hate to have to leave the friends I have made hear.I consider you one of them and hope you are not judged because of that...peace..
hi cheaptrick,
that's an astute observation about the "guise of compassion" and should be well noted by all. the con man knows many forms of deception, and were i the perpetual clock puncher versus a long-time self employed individual, i'd probably be unaware. instead, i've learned lessons the hard way and trust my gut instinct on everything i do. it serves me well. another great point you make is the validation game.
time always shows where a man and his word stand in the line of integrity.
thanks for stopping back by.
LOL
Excellent hub. I am learning a lot about trolls and such like. :)
Hello Blue Dog. I've often wondered if HP uses trolls to get attention on the site. In fact, it's possible one poster may actually portray several trolls. Internet writing sites usually have a few moles who are paid to tout the site and nay say those who complain about company rules or changes to policy.
I have been told HP has some of these paid members but I do not know if they pay trolls too. It is odd that HP staff doesn't seem to address the troll problem here or act to protect the members from their antics. Interesting observations.
lol, nice BD. you are in rare form here on your hubs. I think the trolls are just a few of the same people. they purposefully go into threads they have no interest in just to stir things up, as others have said, kind of a sick pack mentality of ridiculing others. there should be a notice by each posting on the left where it says, follow the forum rules, 'please don't feed the trolls'. if people would ignore their posts, they may start to back off.
if HP does use these controversial posters (that seem to appear often on the home page), that's real pathetic. I hope that's not true. how do they choose the home page hubs? by page views only? :/
TK came around one of my hubs back when I first started. When he began to throw out personal attacks I just deleted his comments. It took a while for him to get the message but eventually he realized he was wasting his time and never came back.
Just don't feed them. Don't feed the trolls. Don't feed the trolls. It's hard. But don't feed the trolls.
I think I'm gonna go check the forums now...
I don't think I have found any but I'll try to be aware.
hey mark,
yes, we all are. it truly is a remarkable learning experience. the more time we spend here, the more amazing the site becomes. like most things in life, you try to find the good while wading thru the muck.
thanks for coming by!
hey randy,
good points. there has to be controversy. seriously, imagine how boring the site would be if politics and religion were kept from the mix. throw in a few rules designed to be bent and/or broken, with decision making on those bent/broken rules being done by those with unknown leadership skills. do you know their leadership capacities? i don't. therefore, unknown. that's not a disrespectful comment, by the way.
also imagine how boring the site would be without the trolls. although an essential component, they've been allowed to run amok. that is not essential.
it's essential that
thank you for visiting.
rebekah,
hah! i wish rare form occurred more often! as the policy is currently set up and hp's interpretations of it are determined on a case-by-case basis, it is a blatant hypocrisy.
i'm not sure ignoring trolls is possible, well actually that part is. what's not possible is them backing off or going away. too much preferential treatment going around, that's for sure.
thank you for coming back around.
william,
i know, don't feed the trolls. guessing it's the humanitarian in me, seeing something so starved for attention, mentally undernourished, etc.
ah, yes, good ol' mish, uh, tk, his 30 day ban ought to be over by now. soon we'll be again blessed with his wit and wisdom.
hello dahoglund,
they're rather prevalent, chances are you'll come across one or more. good luck when you do!
They are everywhere. I wish we could get away from them but it just don't seem to work.
hi mp,
yes, it's like being caught in the rain without an umbrella.
thanks for taking time to read.
giggles!
NEWS FLASH to all who it may concern out there: HP's most notorious troll that only used initials in his/her user name, ahem, and who hails from midtown-rural Kansas with a face full of fur....has been permanently banished from the halls of HP!! That's right, ladies and gentleman, he is officially now hamburger meat!! Round 10, 3 strikes, and you are out...ding, ding, ding. lololol
Sorry my celebratory comments are so obvious, but Yeaaaaahhh! I feel so free, lol! And I would like to take the time to thank Jason M. of HP for this (long over due, unfortunately) moment.
hey jane, thanks for stopping in!
wow, lita, the tides are turning. i'd like to bring you down to earth, but will let you bask in your celebratory state! maybe there's a new hub there: how to make dog meat of an internet troll. dog face, dog breath, dog meat...
could it be possible that he'd return, like maybe as a snake's belly in a wagon's rut?
a great day for hubpages peoples of humanity. one down, ten thousand to go.
wonder how misha's feeling...
lol Perhaps Misha is feeling silly by now, for having supported ahem, dog face, BD/Lynn.... And yes, ahem dog face troll still lurks as the troll with my name spelled backwards (but only so much you can do in one day).
lita,
they're creatures of habit. (s)he too shall pass.
To me it just seem trolls have way too much time on their hands, and rather than do something like read a book or write a hub, they like to pick on others. They are insecure and jealous little creatures, and have never progressed beyond junior high. I have been off the forum for several days now, and I have to say I actually feel better. I know there are interesting discussions to be had there, but I just to not miss all the other behavior.
hi sweetipie,
that's it, vacant minds.
yes, the forums are something. there's really not much content to them, maybe one or two discussions, but for the most part, menial nonsense. quite frankly, i have little time for them. writing and researching for several blogs is almost more than i can stand, but am loving the education part of it.
i'm happy to have come along to the forums when i did, for without that timing i might have missed out on the likes of you, lita, uw, ralph, and a handful of others who have made the place refreshing. can't imagine what my thoughts would be if i were to stumble into the forums today for the first time.
I'm starting to post more again but I'm definitely not commenting on some of the more controversial threads where the same stuff gets regurgitated again and again no matter what the topic.
hi uw,
yes, it's a bit redundant at times. once in a while there might be something of relevance, but it's equal to searching for crumbs on the floor after my dogs had first dibs. it still seems more enlightening to go into the comments of certain hubbers.
Hello again Blue.
Imagine if you will what its like to have a computer given to you and not even know how to turn it on.
Books and beginner courses are fine but as all things far from the reality and lacking the nuances of what the Internet is like.
Imagine further that you were raised to believe that 95% of people are good caring decent folks.
You are a sheep among wolves on the Web.
You do not yet have the skills to exploit the abilities of your computer which greatly hinders expressing yourself.
You do not know the ins and outs of manipulating the features on the sites you have been drawn to.
What do you suppose happens in the mind of such a person?
hello ct,
that's an interesting point of view, and a good question. one would think that the mind, while not in scramble mode, is certainly in a place of unfamiliar territory where the #1 rule is survival. how does one survive in that terrain? you trust your instincts, and little else.
"manipulating the features on the sites you have been drawn to" sounds like there's an agenda of sorts. then again, there are obviously those who bring their personal agendas to the table. that is unfortunate, because it's happened time and time again, with the result always being one of two possibilities: 1) failure of the personal agenda's relationship with a given cause or 2) failure of the chosen cause as a result of the personal agenda's inability to see clearly.
but i digress. the mind of such a person, as you ask, makes decisions based on background. background includes parental influence, societal inequalities, and, for some, military brainwashing. for the sake of brevity here, we'll save the military's use of thought control for another time.
although i too was raised to see the good in our fellow citizens, that form of teaching is becoming increasingly irrelevant in modern society. long gone are the days when a man's handshake was his word, his badge of honor. that 95% number you refer to is also long gone. in its place is a consumption driven populace with an appetite for greed, sensationalism, and deceit.
those survival instincts are dependent upon one's ability to think with a level head while in that difficult or hostile situation. the internet is, as you suggest, infested with wolves who's only desire is a perverse stimulation of a severely limited cerebral cortex. residing within that arena of wolves is a small handful of people who appear to be what they present themselves as. but do we really even know if that's an accurate observation?
it's been an interesting week on hubpages, certainly getting the new year off with a bang.
yes.
A particular troll with the initial M. has not had any activity on the forums since I emailed hubpages staff a quote from one of his forum posts earlier today.
Sadly it seems I spoke too soon.
:(
We have 3 trolls in one thread :)
http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/32776?page=2
Lets just ignore them and let them keep going on about being ignored :)
uw,
lita's euphoria was short-iived. somehow we all should have known.
and the three stooges on that other thread, well...
william,
it is sad indeed.
sorry, lita, i posted the comment above before checking messages. hoping someone can fill me in here thru a pm.
What I meant by manipulating features is tech proficiency.IE tracking comments,responding quickly to comments,uploading video,uploading photos into Hubs etc.Whats a back link?how do tags work?etc.These things don't seem to be covered in FAQs.I still am not sure what a widget is or how it benefits,or RSS.Terminology alone is intimidating.I'm terrified to even Look into my Registry cause I've been told it could kill my computer.An agenda was the furthest thing from my mind.The computer world and terminology combined with the Net is like trying to keep track of a thousand flies in a cloud of a million at the same time lol.
hi ct,
my apology, didn't mean to come across as you having an agenda. all that you mention is actually not intimidating, perhaps daunting at first. it's a huge learning curve, like a foreign language. frustrating at times as well. six months ago i knew little. today i know a little bit. there are some good hubbers with some valuable info: sunforged, ryankett, mark knowles, dale mazurek, and darkside for starters. and read, read, read. start with a grasp of the basics, expand in small steps from there.
i'm thankful to have a partner who can help me out. creativity is my strength. technology is a weakness, at least for me. she carries the load in that department.
Ok,I get it.I should "Endeavor to persevere"as Roosevelt said to the Indians.Look what happened to them lol.I have a life Jammed with responsibility.More than a Few people depend on my making the right decisions.I have to steal time for HP and to be honest I don't know why I keep coming back considering...HP is like a Drug! lol.
I just learned from an HP mentor that I don't have to go into the Forums to keep my Hub rank ,which I still don't realy understand, up.That I should respond to comments on my Hubs.That people rarely mean what they say on the surface here.I suppose I'm a bit thick but Hay Y'all I get the hint now lol.
Denying something never convinces people but for the record"This person sounds familiar" is'nt me".
peace
yes, the hp rank is a mystery to many, and of benefit to a select few. evidently, being in the inner circle has huge rewards. just scroll through a few of the "100" hubbers for validation of that statement. illiterate, hysterical, and poorly produced hubs that are in a manner going against everything they suggest we do to help drive traffic to our pages. fyi, consider some "how to" hubs, as they tend to generate traffic. satire works well too.
the more time you spend here the more you will see deception running uncontrolled. from the top down.
correct, the reference to "familiar" is not you. it is tk, the site's most obnoxious troll who just got lita sorensen permanently banned from the site. he has returned as the new avatar listed in the link that you referred to, and is obviously connected to the operations of the site.
Lita?Holy crap!She's one of the funny posters,always made me laugh with her double entendres.This is a sad day...
yes.
I still cannot quite understand wha a troll is I am European) - someone who is repeatedly and deliberately controversial?
There is a double meaning to it Nick, but when I was a kid a troll was a monster that lived under a bridge.
I think that internet trolls got the name because they went trolling for controversy, just like you troll for fish. In other words, they don't really want to add anything to the discussion, they just want to start fights.
But they are also quite troll-like in the 'monster' sense of the word as well.
Have you ever read J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit?"
lol Good one Blue! As you know, I've been baited, more than once, but DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS!! is the best advice. Ignoring with no reaction works, though this particular troll followed me for a while. He's disappeared from my shadows...at least for now. Bring 'em on and don't feed he animals. lmfo (thanks, needed a good laugh today)
hi beth,
it's been a crazy few days around here. will be curious to see whether recent events continue to unravel.
thanks for stopping in!
Pure and total crap that does nothing to help increase Hubs Rankings, what outside traffic wud even understand this purile crap !
i only approved it so i could report it. smooth move.
Blue,sorry to be a Pest but.Is there a way to jump more than 4 pages when browsing hubbers?I'd like to read some work by lower Hub rank writers but jumping 4 pages at a time takes for ever.
dude, that Internet stalker video is quite painful,
but the article was pretty cool.
This is a good article. But I don't think I would recognize a troll if one jumped up and bit me on the A$$. But maybe if I get a troll, I can take him home with me and keep him as a pet
ct,
don't have an answer for that one, as that's the only way i know myself. personally, it seems like another way to drive page views. sort of like google, rarely does one go past page three or four, and is why the first page rarely changes faces.
hi larry,
glad you enjoyed the article. yes, unfortunately, that was the video's intent.
thanks for checking in!
hello lois,
if you find one, keep it on a short leash. actually, you'll probably need several leashes, as they tend to run in packs (with themselves). whatever you do, should you decide on one as a pet, keep it a secret. you'd be better off with a dog, heck, even a cat for that matter.
thanks for stopping by, and welcome to hp!
Loved reading this hub Blue! Great job with this. One thing I have noticed by trolls is their ability to declare themselves the "victim of attack." They always cry foul when they are confronted and never hear what everyone is saying to them.
hey michael,
yes, that victim card gets played out nicely. especially cute is the phrase "is that a personal attack" used to manipulate the audience.
thanks for checking this out!
Its been interesting reading through the comments here. The forums seem to be a little better in the last week. Do you really believe the trolls are created by the leaders?? I don't think so, I really believe they are stalkers, or other hubbers who don't want their real identity revealed.
I can't believe Lita is banned permanently, while I didn't interact with her in the forums (I don't interact with really anyone), the comments I did read from her suggest she is a well educated woman with a good head on her shoulders and was being followed by the doggy.
I will continue to stay out of the radical forums - politics and religion, seriously, they both just go in circles.
hey BD, have you heard from lita? I do miss her also, she is one of the educated, intelligent people that wrote on HP. it's sad to see someone like that go. the trolls are everywhere so it's just shaking them off and ignoring them.
enjoy the weekend!
hi jane,
thanks for coming by. yes, in answer to your first question. by observing and interacting, and lastly, thru dialogue with staff, a resounding yes. not only are there trolls on staff, there are also several hubbers connected. throw in what you suggest, stalkers and hidden identities. how would you run a business based on page views. what activities would you allow and support in order to drive those views? how would you reward those in your favor?
quality content? one doesn't even have to use a fine tooth comb on that one, a rock rake will work just fine. go thru the hubbers list, make a list of the poorly written hubs being produced, then ask yourself how those people have the author scores and hub scores they land.
lastly, how would you reprimand those not in your favor? bans? low scores?
hey rebekah,
yes, we remain in contact. she's a warrior, i think she'll be fine. it is sad to see, but life goes on, and the implosion is one day closer.
you have a great week-end as well.
BD, it seems we are in a sad state of affairs here then. I would hate to think of an implosion. I would think that the staff would run an honest website. I have seen the article writing go down hill and I do wonder where some of those people get 100 hub score all the time. I have said this before, the bottom line does count, but without the writers, there would be no bottom line. Really, where else can you go to write quality & make a few pennies?
jane,
yes, sad indeed. as is so often the case, personal agendas overpower what was originally a great concept. it happens everywhere, hp is no exception.
i'm happy to hear others are noticing those near perfect scores that help drive page views to mediocre writing. connecting the dots has never been easier.
yes, you are correct again, it is indeed about the bottom line. that bottom line should be heavily dependent upon those good writers you refer to. if it is not, then the site should not market itself as a writer's site. directly connected to that bottom line, as i posted in another forum on another site, i find it highly insulting when a staff member here uses the name "jolly banker" in his email address.
What a hub about a troll I do have to say myself I truly enjoyed this one and you were inspired by the threads. There are women trolls out there to, I have seen them with my own eyes, lurking around the corners trying to reel the men in to and upsetting the women. Great hub this one made me smile! :)
hi aevans,
yes, there are definitely women trolls in the forums. there are also men posing as women trolls. it's all rather messy, and juvenile.
glad it made you smile, and thanks for checking in!
prettydarkhorse Level 2 Commenter 2 years ago
good job hehe, sometimes I cant really distinguish them or maybe I am too nice, trolls are really I dont know how to explain them.....indescribable -- low self esteem maybe,,, Thank you blue