Attack of the Internet Trolls!

Are you part of a message board that has that one person who seems to want to cause nothing but problems? He posts inflammatory opinions and statements about others and either disappears from the thread or continues to rile everyone up. You're confused because the attacks don't make any sense because there was no reason for the poster to go on the attack. People who post inflammatory posts for no reason other than to rile people up are better known as trolls. In the following article you'll gain a little insight into why a troll does what a troll does.

Here's a scenario. A mom participates on a discussion board that has mothers who had children the same year as she did. The topic she's participating in is about breastfeeding in public. This is a highly volatile topic on any message board but sadly this board has a resident troll. The mom is against breastfeeding in public because of personal reasons, which angers some women, but not to the point where they feel like attacking her. The troll though realizes that this situation is the perfect time to start on the attack. The mom is attacked about not being tolerant and being a prude, etc. Because this troll started the attack other mothers on the board join in on the attack because now they feel comfortable attacking the mom. The troll helps fuel the fire with a few more posts and then leaves the thread never to be seen again in the thread.

Why did this troll feel the need to attack the mom? Plain and simple it's the attention the troll gets from attacking people. Whether it is from people agreeing with the troll or people defending the poster that was attacked, any response is seen as attention for the troll and that makes her happy. The troll is especially happy when the mom that was attack goes on the defense and tries to justify her reasoning and how she parents her child. The mom doesn't understand the attack or understand that she shouldn't respond to the attack. As the mom gets more and more agitated over the attacks the troll keeps at it and gets even sillier as the thread goes on. What the mom doesn't realize is that with every post she's giving the troll what she wants, attention.

How do you deal with a troll if you encounter one? First and foremost, don't respond. There is a saying, "Don't feed the trolls" which means don't respond to them. If you don't respond they won't get the attention they crave. After a while of you not responding to them, they'll get bored and most likely move on to a new victim.

Never feel the need to defend your self. You don't have to justify your actions to anyone, especially a troll. Even if others jump on the bandwagon, they don't deserve explanations either. When you defend yourself you're putting emotional time and energy into your posts, energy that is better used elsewhere. A troll isn't emotionally invested in your posts, they don't care if you're hurting or are angry. So you shouldn't care about defending yourself to them. Don't give more than they give.

Last but not least, if you are feeling really angry about the attacks and it's starting to affect you in real life, it's time to leave the message board. No online community is worth you feeling depressed.

Overall it's hard to ignore a troll but in the end it will save you the time and effort it takes dealing with one and it will save you a lot of emotional heartache if you don't respond.