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Ah, thank you! This incident unfortunately occurred outside of SG, and I had assumed the mod there would be as good as the mods here. Alas, I was very mistaken! At the same time, I now realize how lucky we are to have great SG mods who step in when needed! (I assume that's why it seems we have so few trolls on SG :)
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I tend to do one of two things once I actually engage a troll in a convo.
First thing (not recommended) If it's some sort of discussion topic, then no matter how controversial or just plain stupid, I just fully engage them in it. Someone is arguing that killing kittens is fine? Game on. Mostly done when I just have spare time, they tend to tire out quicker than I do.
The other thing (recommended) is the "Ok" tactic.
Simply reply to whatever their posts are in the shortest way possible, ideally one word only. "Ok", "Alright", "No", "Never" etc.
You put in next to no effort, and if the troll wants to continue his antics (hoping for a better reaction) he'll be wasting more time.
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It is the same tactics I learned to deal with bullies when I was younger.
Whenever they said anything I responded either with ok or and?
After saying and? 10+ times in a row they either get physical thus get kicked out of school or they find a new target.
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I totally agree with the recommended tactic, it's definitely something that always works perfectly both on the Internet and, adapted, in real life ^^
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Depends on the specifics. Stay brief, stick to facts, point out the fallacy of their argument and don't get distracted into arguing tangential issues. Point out that personal insults and baseless statements about your beliefs are the last refuge of someone arguing a point without supporting facts, and that debates are won with cogent argument, not by shouting the loudest or the last. Summarize the issue, pointing out the truth and the flaws in their points. Report them when they abuse you.
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Just stop the discussion with them. Don't reply witty, don't try to be cool, just let them without an answer/reaction. It's easier for you to ignore something before it really starts, than getting into it and being invested (even if it's just a 2-message back-and-forth with them)
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Whatever makes you feel OK. Weak answer, but way I see it, trolls just want to make you angry. So what's important is to figure out how to get rid of all those shitty feelings, which for some people might be arguing to hell an' back anyway :| Usually disengaging is best, but if that doesn't sit right with you, no point doing that. If they're still on your ass or spamming or pissing off others, reporting is good.
Whatever gets you or them away, basically. Gives ya time ta cool off, settle down, put it back in perspective. Good approach to real life dirtbags, too 👍
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If the forum allows it reply to them with nothing but "your mom" jokes. Or pretend you're their neighbor and bring up all kinds of embarrassing details about their life, like how their incontinence supplies got delivered to you by mistake again.
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Having been an active and nerdy redditor for nearly 10 years and a frequent debater on the old school message boards before it I can try sharing what I think makes up my troll condom lol. My best advice is to never blatantly insult them back, sarcasm and things like it can work great but never pass that fine line from an argument into a verbal fight. Don't ever let them pull a straw man on you either, stick to the fact or argument that was worth you responding to in the first place and ignore any 'shitposting' they do besides it. If you've never heard of them then learning what ethos, logos, pathos, and kairos mean would give you an advantage over lots more than just trolls though :D
If they're trying to accuse you of something damaging/false, the best tactic in my mind is to respond calmly (or at least passive aggressively) explaining what they were saying isn't true and give your best evidence supporting that. Ethos can be very effective. People likely won't take the side of someone belligerent if the community isn't toxic or circle-jerking, so even if they said waters wet people might disagree with them. It's also blatant bullshit so if you calmly give all of your evidence that's more than enough as long as it isn't like a pack of trolls and just a lone wolf :)
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provoque them over and over with the few words posible, but enough words to make him write more and more, when you get bored write something like....
1-my lines worte during our conversation ----> X number
2-your lines wrote during our conversation ----> X number
3-your wasted your time to look like a fool and i got a fun sesion reading your no sense things, enjoy your day Mr troll you have been trolled BY "your name"
4- go to his profile in steam and if you can write on it, write signed by "your name" and thanks for the funniest session of my life.
5-insta block him forever and ignore his message forever or until you are bored and start the process again from point 1
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Simply reply with 'cool story bro' or something similar or don't reply at all. Remember, they feed off the replies, so perhaps not giving them more fuel is the best option. I know the empty feeling one gets when a conversation goes this way, but yeah, moving on is probably the best tactic.
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Simply ignore them. They crave attention in whatever form and manner.
Deny them that and they will eventually move on.
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Thanks, everyone! :)
I'm going to take the 'just ignore' tactic as being the most comfortable for myself. Too easy for me to make a complete fool of myself doing anything else. :) And, in my case, I think my falling into the troll's trap caused problems for a bunch of other people who were trying to continue holding a meaningful conversation that I had initially started. I ended up derailing myself and everyone else. If I had just continued to be silent, and allowed the troll to say, 'tidhros still hasn't responded to my completely false accusations, so clearly that means everything I said is actually the truth!', anyone following closely to the conversation would realize what a complete idiot that troll was.
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My advice is to put this person on ignore (and report them) so that you aren't tempted to respond to their BS. Sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference between someone who is trolling for lols and a narcissist who will do anything to get a "win" on an internet forum. Both kinda act the same, pulling straw man arguments to win at all costs. They all suck. You're never going to win the argument against any of these people because they're willing to twist whatever you say, even when they agree with you, to put you on the opposite side.
If the forum has a block/ignore feature. Do it. Trust me, it works. They get the message and move on to someone else when they see that you're skipping over every one of their posts. Their shitposts aren't worth reading. :)
Even I found myself having to block someone on a forum where I was staff. I've got a pretty thick skin, but on occasion, there has been one or two people that actually learned how to get under my skin. The person was skirting within the rules while blatantly targetting me. He was posting after every one of my posts. From the outside, it was really subtle, but being the target, you know exactly what's happening. I was like "Guys, I'm putting this user on ignore for a few weeks because I can't stand him. You guys watch him because I can't see what he's doing." IT WORKED! This user wanted to get a rise out of me, just so he could scream admin abuse/bias, when he'd get punished. I knew what he was up to. You're only human, same as me. There are tools there to make life on the internet so much easier. :)
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Apparently, trolls take pleasure in getting negative reactions. I took the advice of never feeding the trolls when one troll made their first 2 posts on a dead serious topic, each time getting worse when I ignored them; however they refused to give up and posted a 3rd time painting everything I had accomplished in the exact opposite light (though obviously for those who would follow closely, the troll's lies would be blatant). I suppose it was unhelpful that I was also distracted by a big project going on.
Long story short: Accidentally fell into a troll's trap -- first time ever. What's the best thing to do afterwards? (Besides being wiser and avoiding future trolls' traps)
Small gib to help me get back to a better ratio
p.s. Also, it seems that only responding to the positives in any post might be a good solution to avoid trolls' traps, and if it's impossible to find any positives then simply ignore the post until the poster changes their tone or topic, let their actions speak for themselves. And if anyone naively falls for their lies, it's fine to correct them as long as they genuinely believe the lies and are trying to do the right thing based on the incorrect information. :) Hope this post and the answers it gets is at least semi-useful to people!
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