Respaldo de material de tanatología

Situación actual de Sistemas de Foros

Situación Actual (Mayo 2010)

Internet es ahora lo que autores de libros de ciencia ficción manejaban en varios libros: Una red o un lugar virtual – Cyber Lugar, que fue creado especifícamente como un sistema descentralizado de defensa ( ver ARPA en google ), y que ha evolucionado hasta ser un lugar de encuentro, tribuna pública, mercado, o lugar de reunión.

Desde el punto de vista de lugar de reunión , siempre hay personas indeseables, y en la vida social normal hay instituciones dedicadas a detener a esas personas. La mayor parte de las personas no se dan cuenta que Internet tiene sus propios sistemas de defensa, entonces lo que hay que hacer es usar esos mismos sistemas de defensa.

¿ Cuando usar los sistemas de defensa ?

Cuando alguien trata de hacer lo que no debe hacer.

Nuestro objetivo como moderadores o usuarios es leer de los temas que nos interesan, dejando de lado a los que van contra los intereses de esa comunidad.

En 1995 era dificil en México entrar a Internet, por lo general solo los muy ricos , o estudiantes de la UNAM , o trabajadores del gobierno, tenian acceso a este recurso. En esa época yo era parte de la red FIDO y los nodos Tierras Extrañas y Coyoacan BBS. Varios años antes me comunicaba a BBS de estados unidos, y los desaparecidos “La cueva”, centurion, etc.

El año 1994 fue especialmente importante en México por la posibilidad para varios de entrar a ese mundo virtual. Reuniones que se hacían desde 1992 por personas de mi grupo de trabajo, entraron después a los BBS.

Empezó Internet y en el año 1995 algo pasó en el ambiente, algo se perdió por una serie de problemas económicos en México (que afortunadamente no me afectaron) mas una falta de censura y sentido común. 1995 Fue la muerte de varios sistemas de intercambio de noticias y el inicio de los primeros sitios web personales, no solo propios, sino de empresas.

Los foros de intercambio de opiniones entre usuarios han existido desde siempre, y con el fin de evitar costos, se han creado diversas alternativas que no implican en navegar en linea, y otras que usan “protocolos” diferentes. De manera general vamos a referirnos a todo sistema de intercambio de opiniones como FOROS, menciono las mas comunes pero no las unicas.

Algunos sistemas de intercambio de datos / Foros que incluso ya no existen:

Fido
Newsgroups
Majordomo – Listas Estilo Debian.
RSS
IRC
Foros Hotmail (msn groups)
Onelist/Egroups/yahoogrupos
Elistas
GoogleGroups
Blogs
Comunidades de Alojamiento
Emagister
Sitios alojados en hospedaje NOMINATIVO.
Sistemas de Foros Open Source y no Open Source.
El correo electrónico entra en un caso aparte, que veremos mas adelante, viendo l oque es el SPAM o correo no solicitado.

Todos los que vivimos en ciudades tenemos sistemas de defensa en las cerraduras de nuestras puertas. Un buen sistema de intercambio de datos está pensado para dejar entrar solo l oque se quiere, y expulsar lo que no queremos o no necesitamos.

Se supone que todos los foros tienen un objtivo y una temática. Si un foro no tiene reglas, es dificl hacerlas cumplir, y ninguna autoridad, ni control, puede controlar un desorden incontrolable.

Un vistazo rápido a cada sistema de Foros

FIDO: Sistema de intercambio de información bastante en desuso actualmente, pero que en la epoca de los BBS eran lo máximo
NEWSGROUPS. Creados originalmente como un sistema de clasificación de noticias, derivaron en grupos de conversación. Estan en desuso, por lo menos en comunidades de Habla Hispana; se usa sobre todo para cordinar cosas técnicas.
MAJORDOMO – Etc. Los sitios Linux, y algunos alojados en servidores linux tienen sistemas de listas , el mejor ejemplo son las comunidades de Debian. No tienen demasiado control, y pueden ser de tráfico pesado o consulta complicade en modo web.
RSS: Sistema de intercambio de noticias que se supone permiten tener las ultimas novedades. Versión moderna del teletipo, pero pocos usuarios lo usan realmente.
IRC: Siendo en un principio un sistema exclusivamente para personas versadas en informática, ha sido usado para varios usos, incluusive planificación de actos terroristas (buscar bajo IRC Hispano) Suele usarse para compartir archivos en canales, o almacenar archivos pero no para almacenar conversaciones. Fui operador de dos canales de IRC, pero actualmente solo lo usan personas que no tienen interés en la seguridad, o personas que lo usan por razones específicas.
FOROS HOTMAIL (msn groups): Empezaron siendo buena idea, pero los problemas de rendimiento por saturación son demasiados. Cuando cree el primero de los que tengo, en 1998, era el foro 58000 y realmente cada vez tiene peor rendimiento. Tiene problemas de seguridad y es especialmente malo para manejar multinombres.
ONELIST / EGROUPS / YAHOOGRUPOS Una de las opciones mas fuertes para manejar foros en cuanto a niveles de acceso y opciones de seguridad. El problema básico es el uso de la tecnología DomainKeys de Yahoo, aunque podemos revisar muchos detalles de quien escribe que, y donde, el rendimiento en grupos con mas de 20,000 mensajes va en declive.
ELISTAS : Otro sistema de foros que no he probado como administrador, pero bastante en desuso en habla hispana, segun lo que he podido ver. Como usuario standard sin embargo hay información suficiente para identificar multinombres.
GOOGLE GRUPOS: Sistema de foros de Google. Es complicado ocultar el contenido del foro a los motores de busqueda.
BLOGS: Especie de diario en linea donde se pueden escribir comentarios. Su principal problema es que los lectores no pueden saber quien es un multinombres y quien no. Suele ser Monólogo, en ocasiones escrito por un multinombres usandfo varias de sus propias identidades multiples para darse apoyo.
EMAGISTER COMUNIDADES DE ALOJAMIENTO: Entran en esta categoría las comunidades de alojamiento web gratis, principalmente angelfire, geocities, elgaleon, tripod, etc.
SITIOS ALOJADOS EN HOSPEDAJE WEB NOMINATIVO: Estos son sitios o foros de discusión que tienen su propio foro y nombre. Pueden estar basados en un sistema PHP o de manejo de informacion , casi siempre o de foros o de Mambo/Post Nuke/PhpNuke. Un buen ejemplo es www.cofradia.org. Por lo general solo el webmaster puede saber quien es y no es real.
SISTEMAS DE FOROS OPEN SOURCE: Sumado a lo anterior, varios proyectos estan enfocados a poder mostrar de manera clara en modo Web los mensajes, y no solo correo electrónico. Los mas comunes son phpBB , vBulletin, Invision. Por lo general depende de una base de usuarios leales en cuianto al tema, y los multinombres no pueden actuar mucho.
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Consejo : Es mejor tener tu propio sistema de foros que foros en egroups o similares.

Regla básica

Sugerimos a Moderadores de Foros o Razones Sociales, tener Muy visible un esquema de valores o reglas y código de ética en tu sitio.

Ejemplo de reglas de foro : http://rojointenso.net/reglas.html
Ejemplo de Código de ética : http://www.ojosalerta.org/codigoetica.html

Asegúrate que existan estas reglas :

* No identidades dobles.
* No permitimos nombres que sean intentos de suplantación.
* Están prohibidas identidades dobles en el entendido que es una cuenta una persona, excepto cuenta de admin por fines de respaldo.

Experiencias post 2009

Cuando la información que está abajo se publicó, llevábamos varios años lidiando en nuestros propios foros con personas expulsadas de ellos por comerciantes, drogadictos, o que le faltaban el respeto a las mujeres.

Queremos dejar claro que el problema enfrentado por vivelibre.org y Ojos Alerta AC en su conjunto, se debe a Trolls no necesariamente peligrosos, pero si persistentes e inclusive con características causadas por la locura o drogas.

Hemos comentado el nombre de Julio Juan Diana Da Silva, mismo que es importador de droga, se dice ministro de una secta a la que llama “templo de la serpiente emplumada”, “templo tolteca”, o kinam. A lo largo de lso años ha tratado de enviar matones en nuestra contra, siendo los eventos mas cercanos, de marzo del 2013.

Entendemos que hay personas que tienen mucho tiempo libre, pero la mayor parte de los problemas con trolls e resuelven hablando con las autoridades, y que es imposible razonar con un troll, aunque este caso no es tanto de trolls, sino de un fanático religioso idiotizado por las drogas. Puede leerse una cronología resumida en el sitio http://www.templotolteca.com.mx del hostigamiento realizado por estas personas desde el 2003.

Desde el punto de vista  Trolls, no solamente Julio Diana tenía unas 10 identidades (18 identidades al momento en 2010), sino que además de tratar de importar droga, el sujeto había tratado de crear una secta a la que llamó Templo de la serpiente emplumada, Kinam, Templo tolteca, o iglesia de quetzalcoatl. A partir de entonces, el consumo de drogas por parte de esta persona degeneró en vandalismo puro. No solo las personas de la secta Templo Tolteca han tratado de alterar la wikipedia, ( ver http://www.kinam.com.mx/wikipedia.html para mas detalles ) sino que han tratado de levantar falsos contra mí , desde tratar de crearme antecedentes penales, hasta casos claros de cyberstalking (acoso a personas conocidas mutuas).

Uno de los derivados que tuvimos recientemente en Ojos Alerta AC, Razón social que ha hecho este compilado de información y que aloja gratuitamente al sitio, es el reclutamiento de parte de la secta mencionada de Marco Antonio Arenas Chipola, expulsado de Nuestros foros y razones sociales cuando descubrimos que su comportamiento de Troll dentro del foro ROJOINTENSO.NET estaba enfocado a que Marco Antonio Arenas Reclutara gente para la secta de Julio Diana. Mas adelante supimos que no solo insultaba a mujeres (parte de sus actividades troll que ignorabamos), sino que Marco Antonio Arenas Chipola había tratado de estafar a un maestro de artes marciales… y que el, Chipola, nos había robado a un perro. ( https://ojosalerta.org para mas detalles )

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Algunas de las principales experiencias de estos años, son que las personas que cometen vandalismos o son trolls, tienen miedo a actuar de manera clara… y a la policía.

En el caso de Julio Diana da Silva, ha cometido acoso por varia de sus identidades y uso identidades oficiales falsas o caducadas en México. En el caso de Marco Antonio Arenas Chipola, presenta comportamiento de vandalismo y alucinaciones. No entran ninguno de los dos en categoría de Trolls, porque no los permitimos en nuestras comunidades ni proyectos globales. Sus acciones son de vandalismo en otros lugares, pero la policía estaría encantada de hablar con ellos.
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Las personas que hacen acusaciones que no pueden probar ( por ejemplo, el citado Marco Antonio Arenas Chipola acusa sin fundamento ni pruebas al autor de este texto como autor de fraudes, por ejemplo “el fraude del blog de musica electrónica” .

¿Fraude? El blog en cuestión no tiene absolutamente nada en venta ni se cobra nada, ni se permiten anuncios.

Las personas que son Trolls en casos extremos llegan a vandalismo , acoso o cyberstalking, y lo que están haciendo es delito. Los consejos básicos para lidiar con estas personas es avisar a las autoridades. Por otra parte es poco probable que Personas que realizan actos de vandalismo en internet puedan hacer algo efectivo, por lo general, personas como ellos tienen una tremenda impotencia y fenómenos de transferencia negativa, pero es mejor, en lo posible avisar a las autoridades.

La actitud del importador de droga Julio Diana da Silva cambió cuando lo expulsamos el 23 de Noviembre del 2004 por usar varias identidades, aunque en su momento lo atribuimos a su consumo de drogas ( informes sobre el masajista a domicilio que se dice sacerdote están en http://www.juliodiana.com incluyendo las pruebas de  sus intentos para importar droga ), y una relación parcial del acoso que está realizando la secta en sí http://www.templotolteca.com.mx

En el caso de Marco Antonio Arenas Chipola , sin necesidad de drogas está mostrando todo el comportamiento patológico, y esa actitud empezó al correrlo cuando en su blog empezó a insultar de manera directa a mi esposa y otras mujeres.
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Las dos preguntas básicas de sentido comun, son … ¿Como lo sabes? ¿Puedes probarlo?

En el caso del Troll mas insistente en foros de chamanismo, Julio Diana da Silva, no solo se dice sacerdote, sino que es evidente que nuestras acciones le han provocado problemas, ya que ha llegado a tratar que le demos limosnas para su secta, y está comprobado que segun el estamos bajo invasión de extraterrestres desde hace dos millones de años, link aqui :https://sectatolteca.com/pruebas/ ).

Son una secta sin reconocimiento académico que trata de enfocarse actualmente en captar personas de clase media o clase alta para tomar ejercicios fisicos de lso que no hay ningun criterio medico, para despues usar tecnicas de control.

Prueba Dos de la secta Templo Tolteca:
Dicen ser una asociacion religiosa, http://www.templotolteca.com/tse/sp/paginas/historia.html , pero te invito a que busques en la pagina de asociaciones religiosas de mexico http://www.asociacionesreligiosas.gob.mx/ y veras que no aparecen.
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En el caso de Marco Antonio Arenas Chipola, expulsado por pasarsela insultando a mujeres, y del que después se descubrió era ladrón, básicamente hay también confusiones de tiempo personas y lugar que llevan a situaciones imposibles. Como no puede probar lo que dice, es solo alguien que comete actos de vandalismo.
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En el caso de ambas personas, no pueden acercarse al sitio de nuestras asambleas sin ser detenidos por acoso y hostigamiento (Datos de las asambleas en http://www.ojosalerta.org ).
Alfonso Orozco Aguilar
Director General
Ojos Alerta AC

Alfonso Orozco Aguilar

Nuestra propuesta

Nuestra Propuesta

El objetivo de la guerra es siempre vencer. Se vence cuando el enemigo está destruido, o tiene tantas pérdidas que se va a dar lata a otro lugar.

Para nosotros victoria será que el enemigo u ofensor, nos deje en paz; solo debemos usar la autodefensa, que de por si es suficientemente agresiva.

Nuestra propuesta es, una vez se ha decidido que debe combatirse a los multinombres, o a aquellos que mandan SPAM, dedicarse a eso, sin pensar en victoria o derrota.

Aquellos que tienen una comunidad virtual y neutralizan a los multinombres / trolls terminan con un lugar mas sano, y tienen/tenemos la ventaja que somos los defensores, o las piezas negras del ajedrez.

Si bien esta propuesta de defendernos sin contra atacar, hace que sean versiones modificadas o mejoradas de trolls los que atacan, debemos considerar siempre cada ataque como el primero, y no debe importarnos quien esta causando el problema, sino evitar que lo haga, o que el problema se repita. Para fines prácticos no importa si son diez o veinte o treinta personas diferents que mandan correos tipo troll, o es una sola persona con problemas de personalidad múltiple.

Nos enfrentaremos pues a mutaciones, tanto de spam como de multinombres.

Debemos entender el problema, y considerar que la mayoria de las personas van a hacerlo desde otros países; una acción legal es dificil, pero algunos multinombres extremos amenazan con medidas legales, sin sustento por otra parte.

Nuestra propuesta en una frase: Utilizar los mecanismos defensivos de Internet, para regresarle a la persona que causa problemas los efectos deseados, sin caer en su juego, y presentando pruebas comprobables.

Notas sobre gestión de identidades

Gestión de Identidades

Gestión de Identidades y tecnología Liberty

Cuando un usuario interactúa con un servicio a través de Internet, con frecuencia tiene que autenticar su identidad, bien porque el servicio sea de pago o porque tenga restringido su uso por cualquier otro criterio. Para ello, el usuario abre previamente una cuenta con el proveedor del servicio y establece un identificador de usuario y una contraseña, junto con un conjunto de atributos que definen la identidad y preferencias del usuario y permiten personalizar el servicio. Se llama Identidad de Red al conjunto global de atributos que establecen la identidad y el perfil de un usuario en todas las cuentas abiertas por el usuario en la red. Hoy día las cuentas de usuario están dispersas en múltiples sitios en Internet, donde se prestan servicios de forma aislada y sin cohesión entre las múltiples identidades y preferencias del usuario.

Esta proliferación incontrolada de cuentas sin relación entre si conlleva una mala experiencia de usuario y merma su confianza en los servicios telemáticos. Además, presenta serios problemas de escalado, es un freno a la expansión de los servicios de comercio electrónico y atención al ciudadano y plantea un considerable riesgo de fraude por robo de identidad.

Se entiende por Gestión de Identidades a la disciplina que trata el problema de la gestión de acceso de los usuarios a recursos de red en sus aspectos técnicos, legales y de negocio. A nivel técnico, la gestión de identidades tiene que ver con áreas como la seguridad en redes, la provisión de servicios, la gestión de clientes, el registro único de usuario y la prestación de Servicios Web.

Existen dos enfoques básicos para la gestión de identidades en servicios de red. El primero es el enfoque centralizado, donde una única entidad gestiona atributos y elementos de identificación de todos los usuarios de servicios de red y ofrece servicios de autenticación en nombre de los proveedores de servicio. Como ejemplo de este enfoque podemos citar la iniciativa .NET Passport de la empresa Microsoft. El enfoque alternativo es el descentralizado o federado, en el que los proveedores de servicios finales o de autenticación federan sus sistemas de gestión de identidades para permitir que los usuarios naveguen entre servicios sin re-autenticarse, aunque sin poner en riesgo la privacidad de los datos de usuario o la seguridad en el acceso a los servicios.

En Septiembre de 2001 se creó la Alianza Liberty con el propósito de elaborar un conjunto de estándares para Gestión de Identidades Federadas. Se trata de un consorcio de empresas, proveedores e instituciones interesadas en proporcionar estándares y directrices para gestión de identidades federadas con garantía de privacidad y seguridad para la información de Identidad de Red de los usuarios. La idea básica del proyecto es proporcionar un mecanismo abierto y estándar de Registro Único (Single Sign-on) que incluye autenticación descentralizada y autorización desde múltiples proveedores. El mecanismo de Registro Único permite a un usuario registrarse en un proveedor de servicios de gestión de identidades y que el registro se transfiera de forma transparente cuando navega hacia otros proveedores de servicio sin necesidad de autenticarse de nuevo. La infraestructura de gestión de identidades propuesta debe soportar todos los dispositivos de acceso desde los más convencionales a los más novedosos.

Fig. 1. Concepto de Círculo de Confianza.

En el enfoque del proyecto Liberty, los proveedores de servicio se asocian en Círculos de Confianza (Circles of Trust) que se apoyan en la tecnología Liberty y en acuerdos operativos donde se definen relaciones de confianza entre los proveedores (Fig. 1). Por otra parte, los usuarios pueden federar las cuentas aisladas que tienen establecidas con diferentes proveedores dentro del Círculo de Confianza. En otras palabras, un Círculo de Confianza es la federación de un conjunto de Proveedores de Servicio (SP) y Proveedores de Identidad (IdP) que tienen relaciones de negocio basadas en la arquitectura Liberty y una serie de políticas y directrices que permiten que los usuarios realicen transacciones con los proveedores de forma segura y transparente. Los Proveedores de Identidad serían proveedores de servicio dispuestos a gestionar la identidad federada de los usuarios de los servicios del Círculo de Confianza y ofrecer a los proveedores de servicio incentivos comerciales para su afiliación. Un ejemplo típico sería el de una compañía aérea como proveedor de identidad de las empresas afiliadas a su programa de fidelización.

El proyecto Liberty plantea el diseño de una arquitectura y un conjunto de protocolos que deben proporcionar soporte a la gestión de identidades federadas. El desarrollo del conjunto de estándares y recomendaciones se ha estructurado en tres fases:

Fase 1. Identity Federation Framework (ID-FF): Especificación de una serie de protocolos que permiten llevar a cabo la Federación de Identidades, el Registro Único de Entrada (Single Sign-On), la utilización de Pseudónimos globales y el Registro Único de Salida (Single Logout).
Fase 2. Identity Web Services Framework (ID-WSF). Especificación de un marco de trabajo para la construcción de Servicios Web basados en Identidad: descripción y descubrimiento de servicios, autenticación, acceso a atributos compartidos, interacción con el usuario para solicitud de directrices de privacidad, etc.
Fase 3. Identity Services Interface Specifications (ID-SIS). Definición de unos servicios específicos basados en identidad que hagan uso del marco de trabajo desarrollado en la Fase 2: perfil personal, perfil de empleado, servicios de presencia, localización, alerta, calendario, monedero, etc.
Liberty en el contexto de los servicios de Internet móvil

Entendemos aquí los servicios de Internet móvil como una adaptación de los servicios y aplicaciones de Internet al entorno de los terminales móviles con capacidad de proceso local y de conexión en red en base al protocolo IP desde redes de acceso celular de banda ancha. Se trata de servicios en parte limitados por la menor capacidad de proceso, almacenamiento y presentación de los terminales celulares, pero también más sofisticados por las capacidades de movilidad, localización y control de presencia junto con las posibilidades de aplicación de nuevos modelos de negocio innovadores o más propios de las redes privadas gestionadas por un operador que de las redes públicas como Internet. Estas características propician la aparición de nuevos servicios que pueden llegar a ser viables desde el punto de vista del negocio: servicios basados en localización, servicios P2P, servicios de pago por móvil, etc.

Troll segun wikipedia del 2005

Wikipedia

Tabla de contenidos

( wikipedia al 8 nov 2005 )
1 Etimología
2 Uso peyorativo
3 Círculos viciosos
4 Cultura troll
5 Los trolls como falsificadores de identidad
5.1 Prehistoria
5.2 Los trolls en los años 1990
6 Identidad
7 Uso
8 Los trolls en diferentes medios de Internet
9 Ejemplos
9.1 Trolls de un solo golpe
9.1.1 Trolls disruptivos
9.1.2 Trolls que buscan atención
9.2 Otros ejemplos
10 Motivación
11 Soluciones y alternativas
12 Utilidad de los trolls
13 Comportamiento
14 Una visión alternativa
15 Véase también
15.1 Subculturas específicas de trolls
15.2 Ejemplos notables de trolls
15.3 Miscelánea
16 Enlaces externos
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Etimología

El uso contemporáneo del término surgió en los grupos de noticias de Usenet a finales de los años 1980. Suele creerse que es un diminutivo de la frase trolling for suckers (aproximadamente, «pescando bobos»), que a su vez deriva de la expresión inglesa trolling for fish, alusiva a una técnica de pesca en la que se va dejando tras un bote un sedal con cebo o señuelos para atraer a los peces.

El uso de la palabra se generalizó probablemente debido a su apropiado segundo significado, el de los troles de la mitología escandinava y los cuentos infantiles, retratados a menudo como criaturas feas y odiosas inclinadas a la maldad. La imagen del trol bajo el puente en El gruñido de los tres chivos enfatiza el desagrado del trol por los extraños dentro de su entorno físico, particularmente por aquellos que tienen la intención de pastar en sus dominios.

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Uso peyorativo

Peyorativamente, el término «troll» se usa a menudo para calumniar a los oponentes en debates acalorados, de forma parecida a como se usa el término noob en los juegos en línea. Tanto quien dice ser un troll como quien niega vehementemente serlo usan el término, demostrando a terceras partes neutrales que ambos lo son en realidad. Así ha surgido en algunos círculos la opinión de que el plural, trolls, es un término válido, y que, dado que se necesitan dos para que pueda comportarse como trolls, no lo es referirse a alguien en singular, como «troll». Otros, sin embargo, creen que sólo se necesita un bote para «trolear» y que los peces eligen si muerden o no, por lo que afirman que una única persona puede hacerlo sola. Una vez más, debe tenerse en cuenta que para algunos peces morder el cebo es un reflejo condicionado.

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Círculos viciosos

Cada usuario tiene sus razones para comportarse como un troll. Un factor común a la mayoría de ellos es el deseo de llamar la atención. Escriben mensajes incendiarios, sarcásticos, disruptivos o humorísticos destinados a arrastrar a los demás usuarios a una confrontación infructuosa. Cuanta más atención obtengan las actividades del troll por parte de los usuarios, más persistente será el comportamiento del troll en el foro. Esto ha hecho que surja el protocolo a menudo repetido en la cultura de Internet: «No alimente al troll» (Don’t feed the troll).

A menudo ocurre que alguien escribe un mensaje sincero sobre el que será emocionalmente sensible. Los trolls habilidosos saben que una forma fácil de enfadarle es afirmar deshonestamente que dicha persona es un troll. En otras ocasiones una persona puede no entender o encajar inmediatamente en las normas sociales de un foro donde la mayoría de los participantes sí lo hacen. Como resultado, actuar ligeramente fuera de las normas (a menudo no intencionadamente y por razones legítimas) hace que dicha persona sea calificada de troll. A veces puede ser difícil distinguir entre un usuario que simplemente no está familiarizado con los protocolos sociales de un foro y uno que se comporta intencionadamente como un trol. Desafortunadamente, muchos usuarios reaccionan agresivamente a la primera impresión de un supuesto troll, lo que a veces lleva a nuevos usuarios disgustados a convertirse en auténticos trolls.

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Cultura troll

Esta cultura parece haber ido más allá de la vaga identificación mitológica escandinava e incluye algunos elementos de la cultura celta, como una especie de estatus para los poetas y retóricos más efectivos entre ellos. La «facción roja de Wikipedia» fue un notable grupo de este tipo, que empleaba retórica en gran parte marxista. Similarmente, la Anarcopedia emplea cierta retórica anarquista y parece fomentar activamente la autoidentificación y la identificación de facción entre los trolls. En un menor grado, también lo hace Consumerium.

La larga historia de los trolls y el fuerte apoyo hacia el discurso anónimo y pseudónimo en Internet sugieren que la historia del troll anónimo está sólo en sus comienzos. Si puede considerarse como una «cultura», formada por gente que no se conoce entre sí salvo mediante la experiencia común de ser rechazados en foros de Internet es cuestionable, pero algunos afirman que es posible y que ya está ocurriendo.

Hay fuertes evidencias de ello en la existencia de foros que afirman existir específicamente para dar apoyo a los trolls, para intercambiar trucos e identificar blancos que otros trolls pueden estar provocando o discutiendo fructíferamente.

La cultura troll se observa mejor en los trolls que no conocen a los otros con los que trabajan. Debido a que los métodos comunes de crear mensajes incendiarios son muy conocidos y objeto de bromas en muchos sitios de Internet, es a veces posible para un troll identificar a otro troll en acción. Un troll actuando sobre otro troll crea a menudo tal cantidad de aparente drama entre ellos que se toma en serio por observadores que no sean trolls (especialmente si toman partido por algún bando). El resultado final es que los dos trolls pueden colaborar para lograr que la discusión de foro gire en torno a ellos o que una conversación se salga de tema más eficazmente que si lo hicieran sin ayuda.

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Los trolls como falsificadores de identidad

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Prehistoria

Antes de que Deja News comenzase a archivar Usenet, los informes sobre los trolls eran imprecisos, habiendo pocas pruebas que estudiar. Sin embargo a partir de entonces los enormes archivos han estado disponibles para los investigadores. Puede que el primer (aunque poco documentado) caso sea la saga de 1982-83 de Alex y Joan en los foros de CompuServe. Van Gelder, un periodista de la revista Ms., documentó en 1996 el incidente en un artículo en dicha publicación. Alex (en la vida real un psiquiatra cincuentón muy tímido de Nueva York) se hacía pasar por una rimbombante y antirreligiosa mujer muda llamada Joan, atada a una silla de ruedas tras un accidente de coche, «para poder relacionarse mejor con sus pacientes femeninas». Esta farsa se prolongó durante dos años, y Joan llegó a convertirse en un personaje enormemente detallado con una colección de relaciones emocionales. Todo empezó a venirse abajo cuando Joan persuadió a una de sus amigas en línea para que tuviese una aventura con Alex.

«Incluso aquellos que apenas conocían a Joan se sintieron implicados —y en cierta forma traicionados— por el engaño de Alex. A muchos de nosotros nos gusta creer que la comunidad en línea es una utopía del futuro, y el experimento de Alex nos demostró a todos que la tecnología no es un escudo contra las mentiras. Perdimos nuestra inocencia, cuando no la fe.» (Van Gelder, 1996, p. 534)
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Los trolls en los años 1990

Una de las primeras referencias a un troll en el archivo de Usenet de Google fue hecha por el usuario Mark Miller sobre otro usuario llamado Tad (8 de febrero de 1990) [1]. Sin embargo, no está claro si el término «troll» se usó en su sentido actual, o si fue simplemente una elección casual de un epíteto:

«Estás tan lejos de ser capaz de entender algo de lo que cualquiera dice aquí que esto sólo lleva a la inutilidad. Lo verdaderamente triste es que de verdad crees que estás ganando. Eres un terrible despilfarro de recursos naturales – por favor reintégrate en la cadena alimenticia… estúpido troll flatulento.»
El más probable origen del término puede hallarse en la expresión trolling for newbies (que significa aproximadamente «pescando novatos»), que a principios de los años 1990 se hizo popular en el grupo de Usenet alt.folklore.urban. Su uso era algo diferente a la actual noción de troll, siendo una broma privada relativamente suave de los usuarios novatos consistente en hacer preguntas o mencionar temas de conversación tan trillados que sólo un usuario novato respondería a ellos seriamente. Otros extendieron el término para incluir la práctica de representar el papel de un usuario seriamente desinformado o ingenuo, incluso en grupos donde no se era un participante habitual, pero estos intentos fueron a menudo más broma que provocación. En tales contextos, el sustantivo «troll» solía referirse al acto más que al autor.

Algunos usuarios veteranos de Usenet continuaron insistiendo en estas primeras definiciones incluso después de que el término fuese aplicado más generalmente a las acciones incendiarias previamente caracterizadas como flamebait.

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Identidad

En la literatura seria la práctica fue documentada por primera vez por Judith Donath (1999), quien usó varios ejemplos anecdóticos de diversos grupos de noticia de Usenet en su discusión. El ensayo de Donath trazaba la ambigüedad de la identidad en una «comunidad virtual» incorpórea [2]:

«En el mundo físico hay una inherente unidad con el yo, pues el cuerpo proporciona una convincente y práctica definición de identidad. La norma es: un cuerpo, una identidad. […] El mundo virtual es diferente. Está compuesto de información más que de materia.»
Donath proporciona una concisa visión general de los juegos de falsificación de personalidad que surgen de la confusión entre la comunidad física y la epistémica:

«Los trolls juegan a falsear su personalidad, aunque lo hagan sin el consentimiento de la mayoría de los jugadores. El troll intenta pasar por un participante legítimo, compartiendo los intereses y preocupaciones comunes del grupo. Los miembros de los grupos de noticias, si son conscientes de los trolls y otras falsificaciones de personalidad, intentan distinguir los mensajes auténticos de los escritos por ellos y, tras juzgar a un usuario como troll, obligar al ofensor a abandonar el grupo. Su éxito en lo primero depende del grado en el que ellos —y el troll— entiendan las pistas de la identidad, y su éxito en lo segundo, de si el placer del troll se ve lo suficientemente disminuido o atenuado por los castigos impuestos por el grupo.»
«Los trolls pueden ser molestos de diversas formas. Un troll puede desbaratar la discusión en un grupo de noticias, diseminar malos consejos, y dañar el sentimiento de confianza en la comunidad del grupo de noticias. Más aún, en un grupo que se ha vuelto sensible a los trolls —donde el índice de engaños sea alto—, muchos que honestamente hacen preguntas ingenuas pueden ser rápidamente rechazados como trolls. Esto puede ser bastante desalentador para un usuario nuevo que tras atreverse a escribir su primer mensaje es inmediatamente bombardeado con airadas acusaciones. Incluso si las acusaciones son infundadas, ser clasificado como un troll es bastante dañino para la reputación en línea de uno.» (Donath, 1999, p. 45)
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Uso

El término «troll» es altamente subjetivo. Ciertos lectores pueden clasificar un mensaje como troll mientras otros verán el mismo mensaje como una contribución legítima a la discusión, aunque sea controvertida. El término se usa frecuentemente para desacreditar una posición contraria o a su proponente mediante el argumento ad hominem. Igualmente, decir que alguien es un troll significa hacer suposiciones sobre sus motivos, que pueden ser incorrectas y constituir por tanto un ejemplo del error fundamental de atribución. Dejando aparte los motivos del autor, los mensajes controvertidos tienen muchas posibilidades de atraer una respuesta correctiva, protectora o violenta de aquellos que no distinguen entre las comunidades físicas reales (donde la gente está realmente expuesta a algún riesgo compartido de daño corporal por sus acciones) y las comunidades epistémicas (basadas en un mero intercambio de palabras e ideas). Normas de tratamiento, o etiqueta, que se originaron en tales comunidades físicas son con frecuencia aplicadas ingenuamente al discurso en línea por los recién llegados que no están acostumbrados a la gama de puntos de vista expresados en línea, a menudo anónimamente. De esta forma, tanto los usuarios como sus mensajes son comúnmente calificados de trolls cuando ofenden al grupo. Además, la gente puede estar más inclinada a usar epítetos como «troll» en las discusiones públicas en línea de lo que lo estarían en persona, ya que los foros en línea pueden parecer más impersonales.

Cuando se aplica apropiadamente al comportamiento en línea intencionadamente disruptivo, la palabra «troll» convierte económicamente un código abstracto de conducta en línea en una imagen concreta. Los participantes experimentados en foros en línea saben que la forma más efectiva de disuadir a un troll normalmente es ignorarle, ya que las respuestas animan a los auténticos trolls a continuar escribiendo mensajes disruptivos en dichos foros: de ahí el frecuente aviso de «Prohibido dar de comer al troll». Enviar esta señal públicamente, en respuesta al comportamiento de un troll para desanimar más respuestas puede disuadir al troll. Sin embargo, también puede tener el efecto contrario, pasando a ser él mismo comida para el troll. Por tanto, cuando un participante en un foro ve una respuesta aparentemente inocente a un troll como potencial comida para éste, puede ser más prudente enviar el aviso de «Prohibido dar de comer al troll» en un mensaje privado (por ejemplo, por correo electrónico).

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Los trolls en diferentes medios de Internet

Los trolls actúan de formas distintas en diferentes medios. Empezaron en grupos de noticias, y a medida que Internet ha evolucionado, así lo han hecho los trolls.

Usenet — las jerarquías de los grupos de noticias limitan la exposición de los trolls, pero el envío cruzado de mensajes (crossposting) puede superar esta limitación. Algunos ISPs imponen límites al número de grupos de noticias a los que un mismo mensaje puede cruzarse. Como ejemplo notable, alt.net instituyó un límite de envíos cruzados después de que los trolls en ese sistema hubieran llegado a ser tan escandalosos que Peter da Silva inició una campaña en otros sistemas para cesar el intercambio de noticias con alt.net hasta que hicieran algo para resolver el problema.
Listas de correo — normalmente están controladas por moderadores, por lo que los participantes indeseables pueden ser expulsados rápidamente.
Foros basados en SlashCode — usan un sistema de puntuación de forma que los lectores pueden moderar cada mensaje al alza o a la baja desde su calificación inicial. Los lectores pueden entonces elegir ignorar los mensajes que los demás han «moderado a la baja». La coordinación de los trolls es particularmente importante, dado que los primeros mensajes tienen más probabilidades de ser leídos que los siguientes. Un troll ideal debería generar discusión y respuestas acaloradísimas sin más intervención por su parte.
Wikis — su modelo plano, asíncrono y abierto permite a cualquiera escribir cualquier cosa. Los usuarios trabajan para deshacer los cambios negativos usando herramientas de reversión disponibles de serie, pero esto requiere a cientos de voluntarios para vigilar sitios extensos y populares. Los trolls tienden a ser más sutiles que en los grupos de discusión, con frecuencia aportando material que podría ser legítimo, pero provocarán controversia desafiando la actual estructura de poder. La dificultad se agrava por la imposibilidad de discernir si un usuario está simplemente exponiendo una opinión controvertida o es un troll.
Weblogs — en su forma más común como púlpito personal con la posibilidad de que cualquiera deje comentarios, los weblogs populares resultan con frecuencia eficaces trampolines para los trolls, mediante comentarios incendiarios o entradas provocativas. La facilidad con la que los weblogs pueden ser enlazados anima a la propagación del troll.
IRC — la naturaleza abierta de la mayoría de los canales de IRC en las redes populares permite que cualquier troll potencial entre y utilice cualquier técnica de abuso, desde la simple inundación de basura a comentarios sutilmente irritantes, que cosechan respuestas airadas. La relativa facilidad con la que pueden evadirse los bloqueos de canales y servidores, y la naturaleza volátil de muchos usuarios de IRC puede permitir a los trolls perpetuarse indefinidamente.
Juegos multijugador de acción en primera persona — el juego en línea suele atraer a gran número de varones adolescentes, que se aprovechan de la atmósfera combativa y su anonimato general para menospreciar a otros jugadores. Véase pwn y noob para mayor información. Matar en grupo y romper las normas sociales del juego para fastidiar a otros jugadores se consideran también actividades propias de trolls.
Juegos de deporte en línea — Un troll se infiltrará en una liga en línea gratuita con múltiples equipos desde diferentes cuentas e identidades e intentará entonces retorcidos intercambios de jugadores para mejorar un equipo. El troll dejará numerosos mensajes en el tablón de anuncios de la liga desde sus diferentes identidades para dar la apariencia de legitimidad a un comportamiento a todas luces ilícito. Los jugadores que objeten a la obvia complicidad suelen recibir un baño de insultos y otros intentos de evasión.
Foros — Sean de la clase que sean, atraerán trolls. Su comportamiento no difiere mucho de los anteriores ejemplos. No hay casi ningún foro libre de trolls, con la única excepción de algunos sitios muy pequeños y de aquellos que establecen políticas excepcionalmente estricta sobre los trolls.
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Ejemplos

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Trolls de un solo golpe

Los mensajes de un troll de un solo golpe intentan ser disruptivos y tienden a ser muy obvios para asegurar que reciben respuestas enfadadas.

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Trolls disruptivos

Mensajes fuera de tema — «¿Puede ayudarme alguien a hacer una página web?» «No: esto es un foro de música.»
Ensanche de páginas — Enviar mensajes con grandes imágenes llenos de caracteres como la W para hacer ilegibles los mensajes anteriores.
Material ofensivo — Tales como incluir archivos de sonidos molestos o imágenes perturbadoras en un mensaje, o enlazar a sitios impactantes que contengan dicho material. Con frecuencia estos enlaces se disfrazan como enlaces legítimos.
Mensajes incendiarios — «Eres idiota por incluir este tipo de mensajes en tu lista.»
Desvelar la trama (es decir, escribir «spoilers») de películas y libros populares sin avisar, a veces subrepticiamente enterrados en mensajes por lo demás inocuos.
Volver a iniciar una antigua discusión o reciclar un tema anterior (bump) muy controvertido, particularmente en comunidades en línea pequeñas.
Escribir deliberada y repetidamente mal los nombres de los demás usuarios de la discusión con el propósito de molestarlos o irritarlos.
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Trolls que buscan atención

Este tipo de trolls buscan lograr tantas respuestas como sea posible y absorber una cantidad desproporcionada del total de atención colectiva.

Mensajes que contienen algún fallo o error obvio — «Creo que Mar adentro es la mejor película de Santiago Segura.»
Pedir ayuda para una tarea o problema inverosímil — «¿Cómo sazono mi olla? No quiero que todo lo que cocine en ella sepa igual.»
Mensajes intencionadamente ingenuos — «¿Debo poner aceite de oliva en el agua para hervir pasta?»
Escribir intencionadamente un argumento escandaloso deliberadamente construido en torno a un fallo o error fundamental pero embrollado. Con frecuencia el autor se pondrá a la defensiva cuando el argumento sea refutado, pero muchos pueden, sin embargo, continuar el hilo usando más argumentos erróneos, lo que se conoce como «alimentar» el troll.
Un subtipo del anterior es la demostración falsa de un importante problema matemático no resuelto o una imposibilidad (por ejemplo, 1 = 2). Sin embargo estos mensajes no siempre son trolls y a veces son como mínimo matemáticamente interesantes.
Mensajes políticamente discutibles — «Creo que José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero es el mejor/peor presidente de la historia.»
Enviar imágenes políticamente sensibles en lugares inapropiados.
Fingir ser inocente tras participar en una «guerra de llamaradas» (flamewar).
Escribir quejas fuera de tema sobre su vida privada o incluso amenazas de suicidio: a veces se trata del troll «plañidero».
Responder paranoicamente o pluralizando a opiniones personales emitidas por individuos diferentes — «Os ponéis de acuerdo para llevarme la contraria, seguro que en realidad no pensáis igual.»
Insultar a otros por su mala gramática u ortografía, lo que puede ser un tema muy sensible, por el abuso de jerga o abreviaturas típicas de SMS, o incluso insultar a otros por su mala gramática usando mala gramática, provocando un efecto «irónico» que puede a menudo llevar a la gente a recriminarles su hipocresía.
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Otros ejemplos

Algunos trolls pueden denunciar una determinada religión en un grupo de noticias religioso, aunque históricamente se ha llamado a esto flamebait (ver más arriba). Como aquellos que se enzarzan en una «guerra de llamaradas» (flamewar), los supuestos o autoproclamados trolls de Internet a veces recurren al doble sentido o al despiste en la búsqueda de sus objetivos.

Un caso particular de la segunda variedad (mensajes incendiarios) implica enviar contenido totalmente contrario a los intereses (declarados o implícitos) del grupo o foro. Por ejemplo, enviar recetas de carne de gato en un foro sobre animales de compañía, teorías evolutivas en un foro creacionista o mensajes sobre lo aburridos que son los dragones en el grupo de Usenet alt.fan.dragons.

El «troll títere» entra a menudo en un foro usando varias identidades diferentes. A medida que una identidad atrae comentarios cada vez más críticos de otros miembros del foro, el troll entra a éste usando una segunda identidad para apoyar a la primera. El troll incluso puede escribir mensajes con esta segunda identidad para criticar los de la primera y así ganar credibilidad en el foro.

El envío cruzado (crossposting) es un método popular elegido por trolls de Usenet: un mismo mensaje puede ser discutido simultáneamente en varios grupos de noticias no relacionados e incluso opuestos, lo que probablemente termine en una «guerra de llamaradas» (flamewar). Por ejemplo, un mensaje-señuelo (flamebait) contra la comida rápida podría enviarse cruzado a grupos sobre la alimentación sana, la ecología y los derechos animales, así como también a un grupo sobre un tema totalmente ajeno, como la inteligencia artificial.

Un ejemplo de troll con éxito es el archiconocido hilo de Usenet Oh how I envy American students («Ay, cómo envidio a los estudiantes estadounidenses») que obtuvo más de 3.500 respuestas. Este troll fue escrito por alguien haciéndose pasar por un estudiante europeo, y enviado con acierto a todos los grupos de noticias de institutos y universidades, dejando entonces que los estudiantes americanos hiciesen todo el trabajo de difusión. El hilo estuvo activo cerca de un año (generando de media una respuesta cada 160 minutos) y su mejor golpe fue cuando una inocente estudiante estadounidense no sólo perdió su cuenta de Internet sino también que fue expulsada del instituto por abusar de los ordenadores, pues de alguna forma logró cargar con la culpa de haber comenzado el troll.

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Motivación

Los «trolls» autoproclamados pueden designarse a sí mismos como abogados del diablo, tábanos sociales o «alborotadores culturales», desafiando el discurso dominante y las asunciones de los foros de discusión en un intento de romper el status quo de pensamiento grupal — el sistema de creencias que prevalece en su ausencia.

Los críticos han señalado que los auténticos «abogados del diablo» generalmente se identifican a sí mismo como tales por el bien de la etiqueta y la cortesía, mientras que los trolls pueden rechazar ambas. La mayoría de la discusión sobre qué motiva a los trolls procede de otros usuarios de Internet que afirman haber estudiado el comportamiento de los mismos. Hay poca literatura de investigación que describa el término o el fenómeno. Los comentarios de usuarios acusados de ser trolls podrían ser poco fiables, puesto que podrían de hecho estar intentando estimular la controversia más que avanzar en el entendimiento del fenómeno. De la misma forma, los acusadores está con frecuencia motivados por un deseo de defender un determinado proyecto y las referencias a que un usuario de Internet sea un troll podrían no tener base en las metas reales de dicha persona. Como resultado, identificar las metas de los trolls resulta casi siempre especulativo. Aún así, varias metas básicas han sido atribuidas a los trolls, según el tipo de disrupción que se piensa que están provocando.

Las motivaciones propuestas son:

La actividad de un troll puede describirse como un experimento de contravención que, gracias al uso de una personalidad alternativa, permite probar o romper los límites sociales habituales y las reglas de etiqueta sin consecuencias serias. Esto puede ser parte de un intento de comprobar los límites de algún discurso, o de identificar personalidades reactivas. Al eliminar identidades e historias de la situación, dejando sólo el discurso, algunos científicos creen que es posible llevar a cabo experimentos de ingeniería social usando métodos propios de trolls. Sin embargo, pocos creen que las organizaciones de trolls estén involucrados en la ciencia, y unos pocos individuos dispersos sin métodos ni tesis particulares no pueden ser descritos como científicos, aunque puedan sin embargo estar involucrados en alguna investigación.
Búsqueda de atención anónima: El troll busca dominar la discusión provocando enfados, y efectivamente secuestrando el tema de conversación.
Diversión: Para alguna gente resulta divertido pensar que otra persona se enfada por lo que digan completos desconocidos.
Petición de ayuda: Muchos supuestos trolls, en sus mensajes, señalan perturbadoras situaciones sobre la familia, las relaciones, las drogas o la escuela, aunque generalmente es imposible saber si tales situaciones no son más que parte del troll. Algunos creen que este comportamiento es un agresiva forma de confrontación en la que los trolls buscan una especie de fuerte guía sentimental en un foro anónimo.
Los trolls autoproclamados y sus defensores sugieren que su comportamiento es una forma inteligente de mejorar la discusión, o un método alternativo de ver las relaciones de poder en grandes wikis públicos.
Proponerse un desafío a uno mismo: Sólo para ver si puede hacerse con éxito, por ejemplo un miembro de un foro se registra con un nuevo nombre no identificable para ver si puede engañar, y por cuánto tiempo, a los demás miembros. Esto se conoce en algunos círculos como «troll Loki».
Hacer perder el tiempo a los demás: Uno de los aspectos más importantes en la actividad de un troll es la idea de que empleando un solo minuto en escribir un mensaje adecuado se logra que muchas otras personas pierdan varios minutos de su tiempo, provocando un efecto cascada. La mayoría de los trolls disfrutan con la idea de que pueden desperdiciar el tiempo de los demás con comparativamente poco esfuerzo por su parte.
Efecto dominó: Relacionado con la diversión, pero de una manera más específica, significa comenzar largas reacciones en cadena en respuesta al mensaje inicial de uno. Consiste en lograr una respuesta desproporcionadamente grande a una acción pequeña. Esto resulta parecido a cómo un niño pequeño que se pierde (pero que realidad se está escondiendo) puede actuar con regocijo al ver un gran número de personas emprendiendo una búsqueda masiva en respuesta a su supuesta desaparición.
Efectuar un cambio en las opiniones de otros usuarios: Un troll puede sostener posiciones extremas para hacer que sus creencias reales parezcan moderadas (esto implica con frecuencia el uso de un títeres que jueguen el papel de policía malo) o, alternativamente, jugar el papel de abogado del diablo para fortalecer las convicciones opuestas (con las que suele en realidad estar de acuerdo).
Probar la integridad de un sistema contra ataques sociales u otras formas de mal comportamiento: Por ejemplo, violar descaradamente los términos de uso para ver si los administradores del sitio emprenden alguna acción.
Superar sentimientos de inferioridad o impotencia mediante la experiencia de controlar un entorno.
Autopromoción.
Luchar contra el pensamiento grupal: Muchos trolls defienden sus acciones afirmando que hay que sacudírsele de encima el conformismo a la gente.
Sátira: En estos casos, los individuos no piensan en sí mismos como trolls, sino como humoristas o comentaristas políticos incomprendidos.
Satisfacción producida por los ataques personales.
Acoso: Por ejemplo, seguir a una persona —que haya sido hostigada en un foro pero que ha decidido evitar convertirse en víctima marchándose a otro lugar— y emplear tácticas de troll en el nuevo foro hasta lograr que éste sea un lugar incómodo para dicha persona.
Bajar la relación señal-ruido: En Slashdot, puntos que podrían usarse para moderar temas interesantes se desperdician en moderar a la baja cosas como dibujos ASCII del hombre goatse. A ciertos umbrales, esto rebaja la calidad de los comentarios.
Probar una personalidad alternativa anónimamente.
Vaciar un foro: lo que suele ser sólo factible si el foro es pequeño.
Es difícil estimar las motivaciones de los trolls, dado que la mayoría de las justificaciones ofrecidas por los presuntos trolls no son más que ardides tramados para continuar con la travesura que imaginan que han emprendido. Esto resulta desafortunado porque, como lo anterior supone, hay razones legítimas para emprender el tipo de acciones propias de los trolls. Sin embargo, la etiqueta es lo suficientemente simple y sencilla como para que la mayoría de la gente prevea los propósitos manifestados por los trolls autodeclarados sin llegar a recurrir a estos métodos. Dado que hay un amplio espectro de posibles motivaciones para los trolls, resultando algunas de ellas benévolas y otras claramente malévolas, calificar a usuarios de trolls en el sentido negativo resulta con frecuencia imprudente.

Algunos usuarios de foros de Internet están considerados como «cazadores» o «provocadores» de trolls. Entran voluntariamente en conflicto cuando los trolls surgen. Con frecuencia los cazadores de trolls son tan disruptivos como éstos. Un único mensaje de troll puede ser ignorado, pero si diez cazadores de trolls «saltan» siguiéndolo, dirigirán el hilo fuera del tema.

Sobre los conflictos relacionados con los trolls, hay seis grupos en los que podría clasificarse a los usuarios:

Trolls: Usuarios que provocan conflictos activamente.
Cazadores o provocadores de trolls: Se comportan de acuerdo al principio del «segundo golpe». No inician el conflicto, pero lo intensifican en cuanto empieza. Con frecuencia usan otros trolls como excusa para su propio mal comportamiento, y en muchos casos califican a un usuario como troll, a pesar de los propósitos de éste.
Indiferentes: Intentan ignorar el conflicto, continuando con el tema original de discusión. Suelen expresar despreocupado desdén hacia el troll, pero no persiguen insultarle activamente. Se comportan como hermanos mayores, repartiendo sabias palabras tales como «No alimentéis a los trolls» u otras frases hechas que normalmente significan lo mismo: «Ignorad al alborotador y así se rendirá y se marchará.» Este tipo de respuestas puede tomarse como un comportamiento pasivo-agresivo de provocador de trolls.
Moderadores: No los moderadores del sistema, sino los usuarios que intentan «resolver» el conflicto, contentando a todas las partes si es posible.
Espectadores: Se apartan del conflicto. En casos particularmente malos, abandonarán el foro asqueados.
Secuestradores: Comienzan una discusión fuera de tema en respuesta a los mensajes provocativos de un troll.
No-trolls: Usuarios que son calificados de troll por otros usuarios o incluso moderadores para ser silenciados y desacreditados más fácilmente.
[editar]

Soluciones y alternativas

En general, la sabiduría popular aconseja a los usuarios evitar alimentar a los trolls, e ignorar las tentaciones de responder. Contestar a un troll lleva la discusión inevitablemente fuera del tema, para consternación de los espectadores, y proporciona al troll la ansiada atención. Cuando los cazadores de trolls se abalanzan sobre ellos, los indiferentes responden con «YHBT. YHL. HAND.», es decir, «You have been trolled. You have lost. Have a nice day.» (en inglés «Has picado. Has perdido. Que tengas un buen día.»). Sin embargo, dado que los cazadores de trolls (como éstos) son con frecuencia buscadores de conflictos por sí mismos, quien pierde no es el bando del cazador, sino más bien el resto de usuarios de foro que habrían preferido que el conflicto ni siquiera hubiera surgido.

FAQ Alt Troll

FAQ Alt Troll

Cappy-Bob Hamper
Jan 16 1999, 3:00 am show options
Newsgroups: alt.troll
From: C…@Cuba.net (Cappy-Bob Hamper) – Find messages by this author
Date: 1999/01/16
Subject: The alt.troll FAQ!!
Reply to Author | Forward | Print | View Thread | Show original | Report Abuse
I have thrown together a rough draft just for fun. Take a look at it
and add/subtract/suggest…
Tell me what you think…..
———————————————————————-
Welcome to Frequently Asked Questions about Alt.Troll
———————————————————————
This document is designed to answer the frequently asked questions
about Usenet trolls, trolling and the alt.troll newsgroup. This FAQ
was created for information only, and how you use it entirely up to
you. The existence of this document is in no way intended the grant
license or permission to violate your news providers Terms of Service
(TOS) rules or indicate the acceptability of anything described
herein. Be sensible.
If you are taking the time to read this FAQ, you:
a.) Want to find out more about trolls and trolling
b.) You are morbidly curious. Car wrecks also fascinate you.
If you cruised into cyberspace today and forgot your sense of humor at
home, please turn around and go get it. You’ll need it while reading
this document, as it is intended as parody.
Copyright (c) 1999 by Cappy Hamper
————————–
The following persons have contributed to this document at some point
in its evolution:
JB, O, BJ, DH, Dwtv, etc. (contibutors will be credited)
The following persons have had been unwittingly plagiarized:
Chuck Harrington
This document was written by Cappy Hamper (Cappy_Ham…@hotmail.com),
with contributions from my cat, and somebody else at some point. It
is copyrighted. The copyright is to prevent anyone from editing or
selling this material. Feel free to redistribute it in any form as
long as it is unaltered in content and no credit or money is taken for
the contents themselves. Comments, questions, contributions or ideas
should be mailed to the email address above or posted to alt.troll.
—————-
CONTENTS
—————-
Part 1: TROLL? I THOUGHT THAT WAS ONLY IN FAIRY TALES.
1a) What is trolling?
1b) What is a troll?
1c) Why do trolls troll?
1d) When is a troll not a troll?
1e) Who are the trolls on real life?
1f) Trolls suck.
Part 2: WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF TROLLS? I STILL DON’T GET IT.
2a) The STRAIGHT UP ASSHOLE FLAME TROLL
2b) The CLUELESS NEWBIE JOKE TROLL
2c) The HIT, RUN AND WATCH TROLL
2d) The CONFIDENCE or TACTICAL TROLL
2e) The CREATIVE CROSS POST TROLL
2f) The GANG TROLL
Part 3: SHOULD I GO OUT AND START POSTING NOW? I’M A BADASS TROLL!
3a) So trolling is OK then?
3b) Is any newsgroup a potential target?
3c) What are the penalties for trolling?
3d) What is a TOS agreement?
3e) What is a netcop?
Part 4: HOW DO I HIDE MY IDENTITY? I WANNA BE A COVERT TROLL!
4a) How can I post anonymously?
4b) What news reader should I use?
4c) What news server should I use?
4e) What if I get TOSed?
Part 5: HOW TO DEFEAT TROLLS
5a) What about anti-troll sprays and powders?
5b) Should I compliment a troll?
5c) How do I get trolls out of my kitchen?
5d) Can I get my panties unbunched?
Part 6: About the alt.troll FAQ
—————
PART ONE
—————
TROLL? I THOUGHT THAT WAS ONLY IN FAERIE TALES.
1a) What is trolling?
The use of the word “trolling” comes from the fishing technique where
a baited hook is dragged through the water, in an attempt to attract
and catch a fish. Usenet trolling is the act of posting an article, or
“troll” (baited hook) in a Usenet newsgroup (the water) with the
intention of attracting the native inhabitants (groupers) and
provoking an emotional response (caught!). The phrase was originally
coined as “Trolling for flames”, where the posters intention was to
incite a “flame war”, the Usenet intellectual equivalent of a bar
fight.
1b) What is a troll?
It is convenient that the word “troll” has multiple meanings. Aside
from the fishing example above, “troll” also is the name of a mythical
creature, generally thought of as ugly, fat, cantankerous,
wart-covered, smelly, and completely unlikable. Since trolling is
typically thought of as a detestable and unsavory activity performed
by loathsome, contemptible hooligans, the name “troll” fits them quite
well.
1c) Why do trolls troll?
There are as many reasons as there are trolls. Many trolls are just
practical jokers attempting to amuse themselves and their audience.
Some have genuine animosity toward a particular group or individual
that they believe has done them wrong. Some are just loathsome,
contemptible hooligans bent on disrupting the ordinarily peaceful
exchange of useful information for their own perverted pleasure.
Usenet provides a medium to create and express oneself, and gives the
added dimension of anonymity, allowing the troll to create and express
emotions, thoughts and ideas that he/she might not ordinarily express.
For many, Usenet is the first and only place their creative works will
ever be “published”. Trolling, for many, is a creative endeavor, an
art form if you will, misunderstood by many, appreciated by a few, but
valid to the writer none-the-less.
1d) When is a troll not a troll?
If trolling is performed for any reason other than for an artful form
of expression or harmless amusement, it is a crime and the criminal
should be punished accordingly. Trolling is not about tricking senior
citizens or lonely spinsters out of their nest eggs, making dates with
teenage girls, verbally abusing or otherwise hurting anyone, or
bringing about the end of Usenet. If you are an asshole, sociopath,
disgruntled postal worker, on a power trip, or are unusually cruel,
get some therapy or a house pet. Trolling is not for you.
1e) Who are the trolls in real life?
Doctors, lawyers, clergymen, truck drivers, real estate agents,
college students, university, professors, mechanics, politicians,
circus clowns, professional mercenaries, cowboys, eccentric
billionaire software tycoons, warehousemen, movie stars, hit men,
landscapers, authors, policemen, tax collectors, TV news anchors,
sports figures, farmers…er, well, some of them have jobs doing
something.
1f) Trolls suck! Get a life you loser. Stop posting your smelly crap
all over my Usenet!
I’m sorry, this is a FAQ. You’ll have to rephrase that in the form of
a question.
—————-
PART TWO
—————-
WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF TROLLS? I STILL DON’T GET IT.
The following is a list of common troll styles. This list should not
be considered exhaustive, as there is not way to predict what those
pesky little trolls will come up with next. However, here are some
typical and widely used forms, the names of which have been coined by
the author:
2a) The STRAIGHT UP ASSHOLE FLAME TROLL- Easy. The troll will post a
message with a very inflammatory header that will guarantee furious
replies. An example would be a post in ALT.SKINHEADS with the header,
“YOU BUNCHA RACIST ASSWIPERS EAT DOG CRAP BISQUITS!” The body might be
a single sentence like “There’s a revolution coming and we’re gonna
gang-rape all your zit-covered skinhead women, you cowardly redneck
assholes!” Bubba and all his friends down at the gun shop will be
more than happy to attempt to out-vulgarize the troll, and the troll
will gleefully reply until the thread takes on a life of it’s own.
2b) The CLUELESS NEWBIE JOKE TROLL- The troll will either post a new
message or follow up on a previous thread with a funny, usually
blatantly incorrect or ironic header, and a witty or outrageously
stupid body. An example would be a post in ALT.SATAN with the header
“CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW MANY OUNCES ARE IN A PENTAGRAM?” This
may not get any replies, but the joke has been made. The troll can
chuckle to him/herself for hours.
2c) The HIT, RUN AND WATCH TROLL- The troll will drop a single post
with a disagreeable header and creative content, then sit back and
watch the thread run it’s course. An example would be a message in
REC.PETS.CATS with the header, “CATS SUCK DOGS BUTTS AND SO DO THEIR
OWNERS”, filled in with a few lines about why dogs are better than
cats. The thread will erupt with indignant cries of “bigot” and “not
my kitty!” followed by follow-ups of the wiser groupers telling
everyone not to respond to trolls, then disagreements between the
members…etc. A variation is to add a little creativity to the same
idea, such as the header, “HOW DO I KEEP MY DOG FROM CHASING CATS?”
Then fill in the body with a few lines graphically describing how your
dog often comes home with lifeless kitties in his mouth. Or better
yet, post a “RECIPE FOR CHINESE FELINE FOO YUNG.” This can die
immediately or go on forever.
2d) The CONFIDENCE or TACTICAL TROLL- The troll will begin by posting
a few messages in a given NG that are on-topic, if not slightly
over-the-top. Methodically, the troll will begin writing the messages
to be a little more sarcastic, silly, or even more over-the-top than
the last one, until the group finally catches on that the poster is a
troll. By that time the troll has had plenty of fun, and can go on
his/her way to the next group. An example would be a message in the
alt.alien.visitors NG with an initial post, “HOW DO I KNOW IF I’VE
BEEN ABDUCTED?” The troll would ask believable questions and seem
legit at first. As groupers began to reply, the troll would add to the
story line and let it develop into a full scale story of an abduction,
sexual probing, missing time, mutilated farm animals, aluminum foil
hats, and ongoing communications where the aliens have announced that
they are coming to land the mother ship in Las Vegas and turn it into
a casino/theme park. Here is where the frustrated writer/troll does
his work, and is often the most entertaining thread to follow if you
are a troll fan.
2e) The CREATIVE CROSS POST TROLL- The troll will select two or more
NG’s where the groupers are already against each other, and start a
fight between them. An actual example was the message cross-posted in
alt.fan.howard-stern and alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, “HOWARD STERN KICKS
RUSH LIMBAUGHS ASS!” The body explained in some detail why Howard is
better than Rush. This is not a troll to the Howard groupers, but
definitely is to the Ditto Heads. The Rush groupers took offense,
blasted out several replies, the Howard fans replied, and a war broke
out between the two groups that continues to the day of this writing.
Of course, a few trolls jumped in and fanned the flames occasionally.
The two groups didn’t realize (or didn’t care) that every message was
cross-posted to both groups, so in effect they were tolling
themselves. Brilliant.
2f) The GANG TROLL- A single troll will invite others to join a
successful thread, or a group of trolls will agree to launch a
simultaneous attack on a pre-determined target NG. Coordination is
done by e-mail, on the home newsgroup (alt.troll), ICQ, or some other
method of communication. The trolls may choose to argue opposite sides
of the issue, half pretending to be groupers who are over-the-top and
fight back against the evil trolls, or all just blast away at the
regulars. An individual may also be the target, in which case the
trolling may cross NG borders. The gang troll can be performed in
tandem with any of the other trolling types to completely befuddle the
NG. This can be done for a few days, stopping as suddenly as it
started, or go on until the group (or individual) self-destructs.
——————-
PART THREE
——————-
SHOULD I GO OUT AND START POSTING NOW? I’M A BADASS TROLL!
3a) So trolling is OK then?
No! Trolling is offensive and rude. It upsets and even infuriates
people and makes them yell and spit and stomp around in their offices
and computer rooms. You may be responsible for giving someone a stroke
or a brain hemorrhage. Trolling is definitely frowned upon by your ISP
and/or news provider. The only ones who think trolling is funny are
the trolls. So unless you’re a troll, trolling is not funny. Remember
that. Do not laugh at trolls. They suck.
3a) Is any NG a troll target?
Technically, yes. However, the wise troll knows how to choose his/her
battles. Most trolls prefer to stick with the more arcane and/or
socially stunted groups. Likely targets may be groups dedicated to any
rock star, movie star, TV star, make of car, house pet or other
animal, obscure religions, radicals, hate groups of any kind, nuke
(anything), cartoons, drugs, alcohol, stupid collecting activities and
the like. Some of the more genteel trolls may advocate avoiding groups
engaged in genuinely academic, mainstream religious, warez related, or
otherwise non-frivolous discussions. There are plenty of the former to
keep even the most industrious troll busy for a thousand years.
3c) What are the penalties for trolling?
You cannot be fined, jailed, or permanently separated from your
computer. You will not get your fingers broken by Bill Gates. You will
not be killed and eaten by netcops. What will happen is that the
groupers will yell and scream. They may follow you around and troll
you back. They may threaten to get you TOS’ed (have your account
suspended), and can successfully do so if you have not hidden your
identity. However, there are approximately 4.7 trillion ISPs in every
metropolitan area. You can simply open a new account. In addition,
getting caught trolling from your company’s computer network will
likely result in your immediate dismissal. (More time for trolling!
Yeee Haw!)
3d) What is a TOS agreement?
The Terms of Service, or TOS agreement is the list of rules that ISP’s
and news servers provide to users. Generally, the agreement will
directly or indirectly warn against trolling, referred to as
intentionally disrupting, threatening, flooding, or spamming on
Usenet. If a user is caught trolling, his/her account may be
suspended. This is referred to as getting “TOSed”.
3e) What is a Netcop?
A “Netcop” is a Usenet vigilante. A newsgroup hall monitor. They
cruise the streets and alleys of Usenet in search of bad guys. Their
goal is to stop to trolling and other types of free expression, and to
send Usenet into a fit of blandness.
(In reality, they are figments of their own imaginations. A properly
educated troll in the correct state of mind does not fear these rabid
guard dogs. Their bark smells of cat crap and the only bite they have
is that of the fleas on their hairy butts. CH)
—————–
PART FOUR
—————–
HOW DO I HIDE MY IDENTITY? I WANNA BE A COVERT TROLL!
4a) How can I post anonymously?
It is common for groupers to use false identities, or “Nyms”, when
posting messages. This is especially important if the nature of the
message implicates the author to any wrongdoing. But even if you use a
nickname, your newsreader and ISP post enough information in the
headers of every post to easily attract an abuse complaint to your
ISP. However, it is possible to post messages in such a way that it is
practically impossible to trace the message back to you or your news
service. Trolls do this to avoid getting TOS’ed. This section will
cover a few possible methods. Remember, none of these is foolproof and
under no circumstances should you try any of this, as it may be a
violation of your TOS agreement.
Hacking the headers in Forte’ Agent: This is the best method since you
can change your name (nym-shift) and other fields at will. Properly
hacked headers will not only protect your identity, but if
appropriately worded, can add fun to the troll. The header hacking
programs will add space and change headers in full versions of Agent.
Go to http://www.skuz.net/madhat/agent/patch.html for downloads and
instructions. You can change the domain name, your posting name, your
email address, and the Path and the NNTP Posting Host entries. It will
also add a few extra “vanity” X-headers so you can customize and add
amusing text. THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH ALL ISP’S! Some providers
override the attempt to cover your tracks. Always post a message to
alt.test and look at all the headers (type “H”) to see what is still
showing. There should not be any reference to your ISP’s domain name
or IP address anywhere other than the inbound section of the path.
Always save a backup of your agent.exe file before hacking!
Dejanews: http://www.dejanews.com Dejanews is an Internet based news
provider. You can read and post to all non-binary newsgroups through
your web browser. Dejanews requires a mail-back verification before
you can post. Go to http://www.hotmail.com and set up a mailbox. When
you set up your account with Dejanews, use the hotmail account to
register with. Then post away! It is possible to have several accounts
active at once. If you get TOSed on one, set up two more. This method
is not completely anonymous. Since the IP address of origin is posted
in the headers, you could be traced back to you ISP. However, unless
you’re dangerous or really make someone mad, no one will go to the
trouble.
Anonymous Remailers: There are several free anonymous mail2news
programs and services as of this writing. They’re great if you want to
post the all the secret launch codes for the American nuclear arsenal
to alt.nuke.usa without any fear of being caught. Mostly they are a
hassle. These links will take you to sites with excellent information:
http://www.dnai.com/~wussery/news3nym.html
http://www.skuz.net/Thanatop/intro.htm
4b) What news reader should I use?
Forte’ Agent is preferred by most everyone as the best all-around
newsreader. The freeware version can be downloaded at
http://www.forteinc.com. Upgrade to the full version right away. You
should pay for it, because the good folks at Forte’ worked hard to
produce an excellent product. Do not find one of the key generators on
the internet and crack it for free.
4c) What news server should I use?
If you use a premium news server, like Newscene
http://www.newscene.com or Airnews http://www.airnews.net, you will
have full access to all newsgroups, near perfect propagation when you
post, and complete posts for all your binary file downloading needs.
In addition, most premium news providers do not add or override to
your headers, making the header hacking procedure above work
perfectly. They do cost around $10.00/month, but worth it.
4e) What if I get TOSed?
Don’t. But if you do, get another account.
—————-
PART FIVE
—————-
HOW TO DEFEAT TROLLS
Part 5: HOW TO DEFEAT TROLLS
5a) What about anti-troll sprays and powders?
Try this: Spray a little Cruex around your CPU, monitor, and keyboard.
Make sure you lift up your mouse and give his undercarriage a good
dose. Sprinkle baking powder on your sheets and in your shoes. Gargle
with four ounces of Isopropyl alcohol, DO NOT SWALLOW IT! Then
collect and incinerate all of your undergarments and “personal
appliances”.
5b) Should I compliment a troll?
Yes. Say, “My you look pretty today! Have you lost weight?” It drives
them crazy.
5c) How do I get trolls out of my kitchen?
You can’t. Buy extra food and throw an old towel in the corner for
bedding. If you try to make them leave, they’ll just get mad.
5d) Can I get my panties unbunched?
Not likely. Try some WD-40
————–
PART SIX
————–
ABOUT THE ALT.TROLL FAQ
This section is for people who want to know more about the
FAQ itself, and for those who want to be a part of
maintaining and distributing this document. First we will
start with a Version History of the alt.troll FAQ:
——————————–
Version 0.1: This version. Revisions will be 0.2, 0.3, etc.
Version 1.0: This will be the first full version when completed
Version 1.x: This will be the mini FAQ for periodic posting to the
alt.troll NG.
Future Versions: TBA

FAQ Anti troll (En inglés)

FAQ Anti Troll

Anti Troll FAQ.

Subtitled
What is a troll,
what do they do,
why do they do it,
and what can one do about them?

Last modified 29/9/2002

——————————

Subject: 1. Introduction and Intent

This FAQ describes what a Troll is, what they do, what can be
done about them, together with some suggestions as to why they do
may it. Other FAQs on similar subjects, have not covered the
?philosophy? and ?organization? behind this phenomena, and have
not covered the intent of destruction which is now evident.

While every usenet user has been the victim of Trolls, very
few have had the opportunity to study many thousand troll
posts and look for patterns. They are therefore unaware of
the methods used. It is important that all usenet users
have access to as much information as possible. A person
who has only experienced the Crosspost Trolls in a Sub
Target newsgroup will naturally suggest inappropriate
measures.

I have only included things which the Trolls have demonstrated
that they are well aware.

This FAQ is coordinated by Dave Fawthrop
<dave@hyphenologist.co.uk>.</dave@hyphenologist.co.uk>

This FAQ is held at
http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile. Feel free to
incorporated the URL into sig files etc, and post in full
to any newsgroup which has problems. All usenet posts by
Dave Fawthrop, are PGP signed.

——————————

Subject: 2. Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Table of contents
3. What is a troll?
3.1 The old definition
3.2 the drivel Troll
3.3 The destructive Troll
3.4 The nasty Troll
3.5 The evil and illegal Troll
3.6 How they are organised
4. What do they do?
4.1 Drivel
4.2 The crosspost Troll
4.3 The request for assistance.
4.4 General nastiness
4.5 Personal attacks on individuals and groups.
4.6 Forgeries
4.7 Setting X-No-Archive: Yes
4.8 On Topic Trolls
4.9 Disrupting usenet
4.10 Hipcrime
4.11 They read newsgroups
4.12 Generate splits among subscribers
4.13 Bullying
4.14 Threaten to infect computers with viruses.
5. What can be done about them?
5.1 Ignore them and they will go away?
5.2 Use a Killfile
5.3 A moderated newsgroup
5.4 A purely robomoderated newsgroup
5.5 A Yahoo Group Listserver
5.6 Cancel posts
5.7 LART (report to ISP)
5.8 Trim the newsgroup line
5.9 Give them a good st*ff*ng
5.10 Follow up the offending posts.
5.11 Digitally Sign Posts with PGP.
5.12 Continue posting On Topic posts to the newsgroup.
5.13 Unsubscribe
5.14 Tempt them back into the mainstream of usenet
5.15 Reclaim Troll threads
5.16 Retromoderation
6. Why do they do it?
6.1 The Infant or Attention Seeker theory
6.2 The retired bitter old person theory.
6.3 The insane person theory.
6.4 The just evil theory.
6.5 The sad git theory.
6.6 The loser theory.
7. Definitions
7.1 Target Newsgroup
7.2 Sub Target newsgroup(s)
7.3 Old Target newsgroup(s)
7.4 Troll communications newsgroup(s).
7.5 Sockpuppet
7.6 Morphed Identity
7.7 Morphed Subject
7.8 K00k or kook
8 Links
9 Disclaimer

——————————

Subject: 3. What is a troll?

There are four basic types of Troll.

——————————

Subject: 3.1 The old definition

The old definition of a Troll is one who posts to generate
the maximum number of follow ups. These are a very minor
irritation, and can be considered to be advantageous to
newsgroups.

——————————

Subject: 3.2 The Irritating Troll

Some merely post drivel, or tirades against netnannies and
netcops, often at a BI of over 20. In general they cause
little real damage to newsgroups.

——————————

Subject: 3.3 The destructive Troll

In about the year 1999 a new breed of Troll appeared who
have the declared intention of destroying a specific Target
newsgroup. This is done by a variety of posts, (see
Section 4) intended to drive normal posters away from the
specific newsgroup.

When the percentage of Troll posts, including followups
exceeds about 75% of the total posts, most readers seem to
just give up and unsubscribe. Usenet, and particularly the
uk.local.* hierarchy is for most users a hobby and if that
hobby ceases to be enjoyable, the obvious answer is just to
find another hobby.

Once a specific Target newsgroup has been laid waste as
was uk.local.birmingham it becomes a Old Target newsgroup,
This happened in about February 2000 it is being maintained a
wasteground by crossposts from the current Target ng.
Alt.astrology.metapsych at the time of writing is totally
destroyed by destructive trolls. This is repported at:
http://www.astroconsulting.com/FAQs/abusive_ISPs_list.htm
>>>
Here is a useful FAQ that explains what has happened to
the group I created alt.astrology.metapsych:
http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile/anti_troll_faq.htm
<<< —————————— Subject: 3.4 The nasty Troll If anyone does anything which will interfere with the troll’s ability to cause mayhem, they can become very nasty, posting from obviously incorrect variations of the name etc. insults, call them netcops, netnannies, homosexuals. Various off usenet methods are also used to force the victim to stop posting: Subscribing the victim to hundreds of unwanted pornographic email newsletters, and sites. Complaining to employers about non existent misdemeanours. Sending garbage emails without indication of sender. Telephone calls at dead of night. Harassing the close relatives of victims. —————————— Subject: 3.5 The evil and illegal Troll If anyone does anything which will interfere with the troll’s ability to cause mayhem, they also forge posts in that persons name and internet address and libel them on usenet. Both these are illegal. —————————— Subject: 3.6 How they are organised They use private listservers to communicate between themselves. An archive of one such listserver is at http://www.uklocaltrolls.fs2.com. For less important communications, they use Troll Communications newsgroup(s). The listserver must have an owner(s) who can approve or deny access. Other than that anarchy reigns where each member does what he/she thinks fit. Thus because no leader or committee exists coordination with the group is impossible. Any agreement reached with one or more can instantly be abrogated by others. Coordinated action can occur where it forwards their general aims. —————————— Subject: 4. What do they do? There are several quite formalised methods of trolling. Non of these actions occurring singly or in moderation indicate a troll attack. When they occur in combination or large amounts they may indicate a troll attack. —————————— Subject: 4.1 Drivel Posts without interesting content are simple to produce. Cascades have a long history on usenet, usually containing wordplays round a specific theme. The Trolls version is a cascade of drivel. two persons working online to the same newsserver can throw a thread between themselves and create very large numbers of posts. One person can throw a thread between two or more sockpuppets. —————————— Subject: 4.2 The crosspost Troll This is perhaps the most effective Troll in that it produces large numbers of posts with little effort from the Troll. An inflammatory post is made to a group of Sub Target newsgroups, say cooking, politics or guns. The Target Newsgroup is included in the ng list. The innocent posters to the Sub Target newsgroup continue to discuss this in the normal way without noticing that the posts are also going to the Target Newsgroup. This is commonly combined with The Request for Assistance troll —————————— Subject: 4.3 The Request for Assistance. This is similar to The crosspost Troll but it is crossposted to Troll Communications newsgroup(s). Thus any Troll subscribed to a Troll Communications Newsgroup(s), may troll newsgroups to which he/she is not subscribed. An example where uk.local.yorkshire is the
Target newsgroup is:
>>>
From: “Sharon Thorman” <sharon@hotmail.net>
Newsgroups: alt.golf.perfect-impact,alt.fan.karl-malden.nose,
alt.alien.vampire.flonk.flonk.flonk,alt.redheads,
england.chat,uk.local.yorkshire,soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm,
alt.pro-wrestling.wwf
Subject: Re: Troll Owned and Operated
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 10:36:57 -0400
Organization: Altopia Corp. – Usenet Access –
http://www.altopia.com
Message-ID: <akinab$qot$0@pita.alt.net>
References: <1e75b4dd9bc46d05f93670d9bf359a06@xganon.com>
xganon <remailer@xganon.com> wrote in message
news:1e75b4dd9bc46d05f93670d9bf359a06@xganon.com…
> Please add alt.golf.perfect-impact to all x-poastes.
> We need traffic to be eligible for valuable prizes.
<<< It is commonly combined with The crosspost Troll —————————— Subject: 4.4 General nastiness The Target newsgroup is flooded with nastiness, name calling and swearing, and flame wars, mostly between themselves. This can be a great off put to new subscribers. An interesting variation is for one of their number purports to object to swearing, while encouraging others, off newsgroup, in the practice. —————————— Subject: 4.5 Personal attacks on individuals and groups. Selected individuals are subjected to quite vicious personal attacks throughout usenet. Examples are: “fucks animals!” “is a cannibal” “is a hermaphrodite!” “is a molester of boys” “in panties gets fucked up the arse” “is a Nazi!” “is a cocksucking queer” “is a hermaphrodite just like Maryanne Kehoe” “molests boys on American Airlines” “Sexually harassed by” “is an anthrax pervert” “AT GAY PARTY” “sucks his father’s cock” “is a pervert” “hated wherever he goes!” “White Racist” “Usenet spammer!” “Usenet k00k!” “I hope you die SOON”. As will be seen several of these are libelous, and thus illegal Groups such as the regular posters are attacked similarly, —————————— Subject: 4.6 Forgeries They regularly forge the identities of posters who they do not like. This can vary from badly spelled versions of their name and/or email address, to forgeries which the average reader would not be able to detect. At times this can reach a bizarre condition where they troll using a forged identity at a Breidbart Index of well over 20. They then at every opportunity call the victim a troll. Larting the offender is often effective because ISPs recognise the seriousness of this offence. Where Forgery is done via an anonymous remailer complaints to abuse@thelastremailerinthechain may well be effective. The remailers administrators do not like their facilities being misused, and have ways of combatting this. It is also worth registering with http://www.paracrypt.com/remailerabuse/ —————————— Subject: 4.7 Setting X-No-Archive: Yes There are several usenet archive sites where posts are kept for ever. If one is doing something underhand, illegal, or very nasty, it is an advantage to do the dirty deed, create mayhem, and then let all evidence disappear when the servers delete the posts when they are 7 days old or whatever limit is set on that server. This can be compared with a town centre with CCTV cameras, where the vandals begin a systematic to trashing of an area by disabling the CCTV system. When combined with other practises in this section X- No-Archive: Yes can be particularly damaging. —————————— Subject: 4.8 On Topic Trolls A bizzare troll post has emerged where On Topic posts are used to troll a newsgroup. There is a WWW site which contains out of copyright Yorkshire Dialect poetry and readings. This site has been copied and each poen individually posted to uk.local.yorkshire in a single day. This is very irritating but disobeys no ISP or Usenet rule. Several other vareiants of this troll have been seen. —————————— Subject: 4.9 Disrupting usenet Usenet and its procedures were designed in the days when usenet was a group of likeminded organisations and individuals, working together to create a worthwhile whole. It was not designed to withstand sustained attack by those intent on destroying usenet. The Trolls disrupting usenet by using the holes in existing rules to harm usenet. This is normally done in the *.config and *.management newsgroups. —————————— Subject: 4.10 Hipcrime This is a program which splits a large file into sections and creates an individual post from each section. It also has other functions, not relevant here. On one particular night they posted 1700+ posts a total of 30Mbytes+. On another ocasion they posted many identical copies of freeware programs each copy being more than 100kBytes long. —————————— Subject: 4.11 They read newsgroups That they read newsgroups is on the face of it obvious. They are thus privy to any discussions about countermeasures. It is clear that they adjust what they do to reduce the effect of countermeasures, and further their general aims. —————————— Subject: 4.12 Generate splits among subscribers. Any tensions within a newsgroup are deliberately increased. —————————— Subject: 4.13 Bullying The Trolls often demand the right to post anything and everything to a newsgroup. If anyone or any group opposes them they threaten to continue, for longer. —————————— Subject: 4.14 Threaten to infect computers with viruses. They regularly threaten to infect opponents computers with Viruses and/or Trojans. It is difficult to prove where a Virus or Trojan originated, so I cannot prove that they have ever carried out this threat. Running one of the commercial anti virus programs to permanently monitor incoming newsgroups, email, etc is always a Good Thing and to be recommended. —————————— Subject: 5. What can be done about them? The actions taken by a person, or a group, against Trolls depends on many factors, technical expertise, personality, equipment available to name but a few. Below are listed some possible actions with advantages (Pro) and disadvantages (Con) given for each. —————————— Subject: 5.1 Ignore them and they will go away. This is the traditional usenet method of dealing with Trolls, and is regularly suggested. It is similar to the method use to train dogs, and very young children, ignore bad behaviour and reward good behaviour. Thus it is only likely to work if the, The Infant or Attention Seeker theory, is true Pro: If you are subscribed to a Sub Target newsgroup this is quite a reasonable method. The normal change of Sub Targets will ensure that they do “go away”, convincing you that this is an effective way of dealing with the problem. It however leaves the Target newsgroup in exactly the same mess as it was before. If you are confronted with a minor attack by merely Irritating Trolls, or inexperienced and disorganized Trolls, this may also work. Con: If you are subscribed to a Target newsgroup, this is impossible, as up to 90% of posts may be trolls. As the Intension is to destroy the Target Newsgroup, they will *never* go away. On any newsgroup there are a mixture of subscribers, non of whom has any ability to control the postings of other subscribers. Human nature dictates that someone will *always* reply to a good troll. Arguably this section should be headed “If *everyone* ignores them and they will go away.” which is arguably impossible to attain. In the case of uly after a full week of almost total ignoring of a specific troll made him so angry that he invited in other trolls. After that a massive and damaging attack began. uk.local.yorkshire contained this telling sentence. > Most people like the countryside, but not everyone is
> willing to tread shin deep through pig shit to get
> to a meadow.</remailer@xganon.com></akinab$qot$0@pita.alt.net></sharon@hotmail.net>

——————————

Subject: 5.2 Use a Killfile

There is a killfile FAQ at
http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile giving information
about how to use killfile facilities many newsreaders.
Almost all newsreaders will kill individual threads and/or
posters. Some have more complex, and wide ranging facilities.

Pro:

One only sees posts from each thread, or by each Troll,
Sockpuppet or morphed identity a few times to determine the
true nature of the poster.

Con:

You might miss something important, such as a libel against
oneself. However an important post will usually start a
thread and you may well see someone else’s follow ups.

It takes quite a bit of effort, and knowledge for someone
subscribed to a Target newsgroup to maintain a killfile.
For someone subscribed to a Sub Target maintaining the
killfile is easy, and recommended.

Very few posters know of the existence of killfile
facilities, and some cannot handle them when pointed out.
The old hands on usenet can not understand why newbies
cannot do what the old hands find so simple.

Even very technically savvy, usenet hands are often
unwilling to subscribe to the Target newsgroup. The hard
grind of keeping the killfile working may be considered
more bother than the subscription is worth.

——————————

Subject: 5.3 A moderated newsgroup

A Moderated newsgroup is almost impossible to troll.
misc.kids a newsgroup for parents and carers for kids,
rather than the kids themselves, had trolling problems as
recorded in http://www.misckids.org/history.txt
>>> The misc.kids.moderated effort began sometime in the
summer of 1996, when a regular poster to misc.kids, Roger
Hunt, suggested to the newsgroup, as well as others who were
former regular posters, that we establish a moderated
alternative to misc.kids. This time, unlike previous
occasions when this type of suggestion was made, many people
seized upon the idea. Misc.kids had suffered several troll
invasions; many regular and trusted posters had left; and
the level of discourse had declined. Colleen Porter did a
straw poll on some issues related to creating a new
newsgroup and got 199 responses. Those responses have been
thoughtfully considered throughout this creation process and
form the basis for much of what appears in the RFD. <<< Towards the end of 1997 misc.kids.moderated was created see: http://www.misckids.org/ After the creation of misc.kids.moderated the level of _destructive_ trolling of misc.kids fell drastically. At the time of writing, misc.kids.moderated is a small but thriving newsgroup, also misc.kids is a large newsgroup, but riven by On Topic disputes. On a superficial examination it could be concluded that the creation of mkm was a waste of time and effort, because mk now has only minor problems. On a deeper examination, it could be concluded that the existence of mkm protects mk from the worst of the outright trolling, presumably because in the case of drastic problems, subscribers could move to mkm. Pro: It works and is a traditional usenet method of solving the problems of troublesome newsgroups. Con: It requires a permanently on line machine. It requires a moderbot to handle much of the work. It requires a team of moderators ideally about six to handle posts which the moderbot does not approve. It requires a very well written charter, with specific moderation guidelines, otherwise the moderators will end up accepting or rejecting posts on personal preference. The Trolls will try to become moderators, and cause mayhem. Changing from a non moderated to a moderated newsgroup is *extremely* difficult. A new newsgroup with the same name but .moderated would normally have to be created. This would need an RFD and vote in the uk.* hierarchy, if that is where the newsgroup is to be situated. —————————— Subject: 5.4 A purely robomoderated newsgroup A purely automatic moderation system which will reject all crossposting. Also limit the number of posts which can be made by a single poster in a day, and similar problems. This is being discussed at the time of writing on uk.net.news.config subject: RFD: uk.net.news.beginners Pro: It might work, or at least improve matters. Con: It requires a permanently on line machine. It requires a very well written charter, with specific moderation guidelines, Changing from a non moderated to a moderated newsgroup is *extremely* difficult. A new newsgroup with the same name but .moderated would have to be created. This would need an RFD and vote in the uk.* hierarchy. Nobody knows how well it would withstand an onslaught by determined and well organised Trolls. —————————— Subject: 5.5 A Yahoo Group Listserver If things get too rough the existing group of posters could move to an invitation only Yahoo Group, or a UK Yahoo group. This has been done successfully with uk.local.yorkshire where most of the posters have moved to Tykesground. Pro: The Trolls can be effectively kept out. The group of reasonable posters is kept together. Con: Yahoo posts do not thread as usenet posts, on some newsreaders. The list owner is Ghod. He/she must be trusted, and treat the group with a light hand. People get bored, lose Internet access, die and so on, and thus unsubscribe. In the longer term, new recruits must be found or the group will wither and die. The Trolls have effectively won, and the newsgroup will probably wither and die. The Trolls hate it and treat the Yahoo group as an affront to the their ability to control the Target Newsgroup. They will fight harder, and *never* go away. —————————— Subject: 5.6 Cancel posts Traditionally posts which exceed a Breidbart Index of 20 or any of the other usenet rules may be cancelled. For unix users, there is a system NoCeM which lists posts with a BI above 20, and prevents you from downloading them. Pro: It gets rid of offending posts. The Trolls hate it. For forgeries of oneself there is good justification for cancellation. Con: Cancelling other peoples posts is not for the uninitiated. Cancellation does not work on all newsservers. It must be done quickly, or it is not worth doing. The posts get to the users machine where cancellation has no effect, harm is done before the canceller sees the post. Most troll posts are not strictly against the usenet rules and guidelines. In these cases, it is difficult to justify cancellation. —————————— Subject: 5.7 LART (report to ISP) Where a Troll breaks the rules of usenet or their ISP an email or “LART” to abuse@ISP,name will often persuade the ISP, newsserver operator, or their upstream providers to cancel a users account. Pro: It often works. It is traditional usenet practice. Con: Free ISPs are ten a penny, and the Troll can easily get another account and continue as before. Some Trolls can have several paid for internet accounts. Some of the worst trolls take care not to break their ISPs Terms and Conditions, or usenet rules. ISPs are reluctant to act without evidence of an offence. —————————— Subject: 5.8 Trim the newsgroup line With the crossposting Trolls one can follow up the posts asking only those in the Sub Target newsgroups to trim the newsgroup line, when following up. Remember not to ask the Troll Communications newsgroups to trim the newsgroup line. Pro: It reduces the inadvertent crossposts by up to 90% Con: The Trolls notice that it has been done, and replace the crossposts. Newbies, do not have a clue, and ask what on earth you are talking about. —————————— Subject: 5.9 Give them a good (virtual) st*ff*ng. This is the preferred method on uk.rec.motorcycles, a robust newsgroup. Pro: It is very satisfying. Con: Some would say that it makes things worse because it gives them the attention which they crave. At best it becomes a war of attrition. In the Target newsgroups there is nothing to loose, so one might as well try to wear them down. —————————— Subject: 5.10 Follow up the offending posts. It is always possible to follow up troll posts. Pro: For forgeries of posts in your name, and libelous posts, A follow up is an effective rejoinder, because of the ineffectiveness of Cancel posts. For The Crosspost Troll, warning the Sub Target newsgroup(s) of the list of crosspostings, is effective in reducing the damage. For The Request for Assistance Troll, only the Target Newsgroup and the Troll communications newsgroup(s) will see the followup so they are not effective. For combined Crosspost Troll combined with a Request for Asistance Troll, only the Sub Target newsgroups should be warned. Con: In general just following up is not a good idea. —————————— Subject: 5.11 Digitally Sign Posts with PGP. If forgery is a problem, one can sign posts with Pretty Good Privacy. This is free for non commercial use and may be found at http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html. There are USA and Non USA versions available. Non USA users should ensure that they get the non USA version. This does not stop the forgeries, but does allow the reader to check if a post comes from the person it appears to come from. Continuous surveillance of incoming email etc. for viruses and trojans is essential for those using a PGP sig. If your machine becomes infected with a backdoor trojan the digital sig may be compromised. —————————— Subject: 5.12 Continue posting On Topic posts to the newsgroup. Those who find themselves subscribed to a Target Newsgroup, can agree amongst themselves that they will not be driven away by the Trolls. If they just keep on posting On Topic posts, the Trolls can never totally win. Better, new subscribers will find something interesting to read amongst the dross, and filth. If someone includes the URL for the killfile FAQ http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile in a sig, and perhaps posts the whole thing weekly, new subscribers will learn very quickly how to use killfiles, and so not see the trolls. —————————— Subject: 5.13 Unsubscribe When a ng is troubled by trolls it is always possible to just unsubscribe. Pro: From a purely selfish point of view this is by far the easiest thing to do. You can happily transfer your subscriptions to less troubled ngs. Problem solved! Con: From the point of view of usenet as a whole, it is absolutely the worst possible course of action. Whether the trolls are the infantile kind with a strange sense of fun, or the evil kind intent on destruction, the result will be the same. No On Topic posts, lots of ridiculous troll posts, dead newsgroup. This is what happened to uk.local.birmingham, when a group of reasonable posters including Iain Bowen just unsubscribed. It has never recovered. —————————— Subject: 5.14 Tempt them back into the mainstream of usenet Trolls sometimes post reasonable things, these can be followed up Pro: It may improve matters. Con: Those who believe in a strict “ignore them” policy will not use this. —————————— Subject: 5.15 Reclaim Troll threads There is sometimes a small point of general interest in troll posts. Careful snipping and follow ups can create interesting threads. Pro: It irritates the Trolls. Con: Reasonable posters may already have killed the threads —————————— Subject: 5.16 Retromoderation Two forms of retromoderation already exists on usenet, namely: Spam canceling. This function is not automatic at the time of writing. Spam is *detected* automatically but the canceling is done manually by volunteers. Also binaries, except tiny ones, posted to text newsgroups are automatically cancelled. It would be possible to write scripts which would automatically detect and cancel posts to any specific newsgroup or newsgroups which contravene some parts of the newsgroup charter. Examples would be excessive crossposting, and perhaps hipcrime attacks. Pro: It may be effective against crossposting Con: Most Troll activities could not be reliably detected automatically. A human retromoderator would have great difficulty determining exactly if a specific post was to be cancelled. Retromoderation is intensely disliked by usenet generally. The Troll communications newsgroup(s) used changes rapidly It would be impossible to list, Troll communications newsgroup(s), in a charter because the trolls would just use a different newsgroup. —————————— Subject: 6. Why do they do it? No one knows why the Trolls act as they do, but there are several theories. Clearly an individual Troll may be in one, or several of these groups, or indeed in none at all. It is difficult to believe, but possible, that a totally normal person would become a Troll. —————————— Subject: 6.1 The Infant or Attention Seeker theory Some believe that the trolls are just adults who brains and morals have not developed beyond childhood, and they are just behaving as attention seeking children. —————————— Subject: 6.2 The retired bitter old person theory. There is evidence that some Trolls are retired persons, with a good pension and little to do with their lives. They may have suffered a personal loss such as the death of a much loved spouse which warped their outlook on life. This type is particularly dangerous, because they may have ample funds to buy computer equipment, own multiple domain names, and multiple access to the internet. Worse they may have, say 8 hour per day to invest in their “hobby”. —————————— Subject: 6.3 The insane person theory. Some Trolls may be clinically insane, indeed one posts as Mogadon John which may indicate that he/she is taking this *major* tranquiliser, or it may just be a joke. —————————— Subject: 6.4 The just evil theory. There are people in this world who enjoy destruction. Some enjoy murdering children. Some enjoy sexually abusing children. Some Trolls may be in a similar category. —————————— Subject: 6.5 The sad git theory. There are unfortunately people with such restricted lives that they cannot think of anything useful or constructive to do with the powerful and expensive kit which they are using. —————————— Subject: 6.6 The loser theory. This theory is that the Trolls are just losers who cannot succeed in anything in their real lives. They can however disrupt usenet with relative impunity. —————————— Subject: 7. Definitions Some of the terms used may not be familiar to all readers, and indeed I have been forced to invent some definitions. —————————— Subject: 7.1 Target Newsgroup(s) The newsgroup(s) which they are attempting to destroy, at the time of writing, May 2002, two are uk.local.yorkshire and comp.os.linux.advocacy (thanks to mjcr) —————————— Subject: 7.2 Sub Target newsgroup(s) The newsgroups(s) which they are using to flood the target newsgroup with Off Topic posts. These are continuously changed, examples are the cooking newsgroups, the guns newsgroups, and the political newsgroups. All of which may be relied upon to follow up inflammatory posts which are on topic to them, but off topic to the Target newsgroup. —————————— Subject: 7.3 Old Target newsgroup(s) The newsgroup(s) which have been made into a wasteground by the Trolls, and are being maintained so by using crossposts from the target newsgroups. At the time of writing, end 2001, one is uk.local.birmingham. —————————— Subject: 7.4 Troll communications newsgroup(s). These are ngs used by the trolls for non important communications, such as the Request for Assistance. Typical ones are alt.troll, alt.alien.vampire.flonk.flonk.flonk, alt.fan.karl- malden.nose, alt.hackers.malicious. If a troll is subscribed to one of these he/she may assist in trolling many Target newsgroups, using the request for assistance troll. The ngs used for this purpose change regularly. —————————— Subject: 7.5 Sockpuppet A Sockpuppet is when a poster has several usenet identities, either just different names and email addresses from a single account. Alternatively several email identities with valid email addresses and email accounts. —————————— Subject: 7.6 Morphed Identity A morphed identity is when a poster has one usenet identity, which changes in detail, to outwit killfiles. For instance the name may remain the same and the email address change, or the name and/or email address may contain accented characters which are changed for different versions of the same letter. —————————— Subject: 7.7 Morphed Subject: A morphed Subject: is when a poster changes the subject line, in some visually insignificant way in the middle of a thread to outwit killfiles set to that thread. —————————— Subject: 7.8 K00k or kook A general insult used by Trolls. One who displeases or opposes Trolls —————————— Subject: 8. Links Using a search engine such as http://www.google.com/ is the best way to obtain up to date information on Trolls, but some worthwhile links are included here. net-abuse-faq/troll-faq URL: http://ddi.digital.net/~gandalf/trollfaq.html net-abuse-faq/spam-faq URL: http://ddi.digital.net/~gandalf/spamfaq.html Google Usenet and Bulletin Board Abuse URL: http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/ Abuse/Usenet_and_Bulletin_Board_Abuse/ Spam-L FAQ URL: http://www.claws-and-paws.com/spam-l/resources.html The Art of Lart http://web.thock.com/lart/ —————————— Subject: 9. Disclaimer This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the author/maintainer/contributors assume(s) no responsibility for errors or omissions,
or for damages resulting from the use of the information
contained herein.

——————————

Dave Fawthrop
Computer Hyphenation Ltd,
Hyphen House, 8 Cooper Grove, Halifax HX3 7RF, UK,
Tel/F/A +44(0)1274 691092. M: +44(0)7720455248,
16 years of Word Splitting. Hyphenologist is sold as
C source code and splits 50 languages.

How To Handle a Troll (Es otro)

Howto 2

This is just a mirror of spiralx.dyndns.org/howto.html since
it is no longer online.

The /. troll HOWTO

This is version 0.6 of a troll HOWTO, sort of a companion piece to jsm’s
excellent troll FAQ. As a draft, comments and criticism are always
welcome, if not appreciated 🙂

Section 1 – Trolling techniques

There are techniques used by successful trolls to elicit the maximum
amount of responses from unthinking /.ers. This section is dedicated to
explaining how to use these in the course of your trolls. Remember
though, a great troll can break any or all of these and still be
successful…

* *Timing*

Because you’re posting as an AC, your troll will generally be
ignored in favour of posters using their accounts, and so getting
in early is essential. A good guideline is to get into the first
20 posts, so that people reading the article will see the troll
before it is swamped out. One way of increasing the speed with
which you get your troll into play is to prepare them beforehand,
and then quickly customise them for the current article. This is
easier than it sounds since /. typically repeats stories with
small variations and runs lots of similar stories.

Note that this is why Jon Katz stories are pretty worthless as
trolling material – by the time you’ve found the article and
prepared a troll there’s already 50+ posts on it, most of them
flaming Jon Katz anyway 🙂

* *Exposure*

Once you’ve got your troll in, you need people to actually read
it. You also want replies – /.ers are more likely to read your
troll if it starts a large thread. You also want to remember that
some people have set their comment thresholds to values higher
than 0 – to get the attention of these you either want to get your
post moderated up (see Style, below) or get a reply which gets
moderated up to 4 or 5, in which case your troll becomes visible
to all.

* *Accounts*

An alternative to the time-honoured tradition of AC trolling is
that of creating a “troll” account. This gives you the advantage
of posting at 1 rather than 0, and slashbots are more likely to
take you seriously, especially if you at least sound reasonable.
If you do this, try to avoid posting stuff where it is obvious
you’re a troll under the account – post it anoymously instead –
some slightly more canny readers actually check your user info
before they reply. Not many though 🙂

The ultimate goal of the troll account is to secure the +1 bonus,
which is currently received once you hit 26 points of Karma. To
get there, employ the techniques of karma whoring that we see
every day on /. and watch the karma roll in. And of course once
you get the +1 bonus, the world is your oyster in terms of /.
Posts made at a default of 2 hit even those people with the
threshold of 2, are more likely to get moderated up even further
if they are at all coherent, and people tend to lose their
critical thinking abilities in the face of the +1 bonus. Milk it
for all it’s worth.

* *Layout*

To get people reading it a troll needs to be easily readable. Make
sure you break it down into easily digestible paragraphs, use HTML
tags where appropriate (but always make sure you close them
properly) and use whitespace appropriately.

* *Size*

Generally a troll shouldn’t be too short, otherwise it’ll get lost
in the crowd. A workable minimum is a couple of medium paragraphs.
Conversely, it shouldn’t be too long, or no-one will bother to
read it. Keep it to a happy medium.

* *Spelling*

Whilst spelling is important if you want the troll to be taken
“seriously”, key spelling mistakes can draw out the spelling
zealots, especially if you mis-spell the name of a venerated /.
hero, like Linus Torveldes or Richard Strawlman (thanks dmg).
Related to this is the use of the wrong word, explaining an
acronym as being something it isn’t or making a word into an
acronym even when it isn’t.

* *Subject*

The subject line needs to draw attention to your post without
making it obvious that it is a troll. A simple statement of the
main point of your argument can work here.

* *Style*

Once you realise that most moderators don’t bother to read past
the first paragraph or two, you can use this fact to craft trolls
that can be moderated up as “Insightful” (note that I mean this in
the /. sense rather than the real-world sense). Start off fairly
reasonable, making statements that are /. friendly and not being
too controversial. As the troll goes on, make it more and more
controversial, building it up for the /coup de grace/ in the final
paragraph.

* *Linking*

As we all know, a post with links

is considered “informative” by the /. crowd. Moderators love it,
and they rarely check the links, so be sure to include as many as
possible. And make them wrong – a link to the Perl website

should instead point to the Python website

instead, and vice versa. The other alternative to incorrect links
is “useful” links to places like www.linux.org

and www.microsoft.com

i.e. places /.ers could never have found on their own 🙂

* *Feeding*

The ideal troll requires no feeding – it runs on its own,
generating flamewars between clueless /.ers for your amusement.
But often a troll requires some help and so you should consider
feeding it. Feeding is best reserved for people making either
completely clueless responses, people making responses with holes
in, or those wonderful people who write a 2000-word point-by-point
rebuttal of your troll.

* *Know your audience*

Always keep in mind the kind of things advocated on /. so that you
can play on and against them. This is why anti-Linux, creationist,
gun-loving, pro-corporation trolls work well – the vast majority
of /.ers hold the opposite viewpoints. And if a few people agree
with you, so much the better – it merely validates your viewpoint
in the eyes of readers.

* *Arrogance*

Be arrogant. You, as a troll, know that you’re right. No other
explanation could exist. The wronger the “fact”, the more
assertively you should state it. Make it clear that you are better
than everyone else – you know the truth and they are just too
stupid to realise it. Use plenty of sarcasm, and use “quotes” to
show it to people too dumb to realise.

* *Offensiveness*

Being offensive in your initial troll can be counter-productive –
it causes moderators to mark you down as flamebait in general. But
if you’re feeding, then you can get away with calling /.ers all
kinds of things. Make broad generalisations about /. readers –
call them “long-haired Linux zealots”, “socialist open-source
bigots” or whatever. Stereotyping is encouraged – people always
want to think that they’re an individual, and will point this out
to you given half a chance.

* *Indifference*

Great for articles with a political or social bent, this kind of
troll expresses complete indifference to the topic at hand,
wondering who on Earth cares about it. An alternative method is to
say that the topic only concerns a certain group of people –
criminals, idiots, hackers (always use this instead of crackers)
or whatever group you want to offend.

* *Sympathy*

Appear to take the same stance as the people you’re trying to
troll – claim you’re as much a fan of Linux as the next man,
but… This way you can make all kinds of claims in the sure
knowledge that you actually know what you’re talking about. A
great phrase to use here is “In my experience”. Remember to act
like all the things you’re pointing out are unfortunate but true.

* *The common touch*

Always accuse /.ers of being elitist. This is an easy thing to do
seeing as a lot of them are. Claim that is their grandmother
couldn’t use it, then they are just into it to feel better than
Joe Sixpack rather than “doing it for the average user”. This is
always great for working into anti-Linux trolls – attack
command-line tools and poorly designed desktops.

* *The 31337 touch*

The opposite of the above. Claim that technology or whatever is
only for the elite of society and that any attempt to open it up
for everyone is wrong, an attack on intellectualism and possibly
even dangerous. If people were meant to understand these things
then they would, and it’s their fault if they’re too stupid to learn.

* *Contradiction*

Never be afraid to contradict yourself, even in the space of a
single sentence. The phrases “I am a top programmer who codes in
VB” or “I am a supporter of open source who uses NT at work and 95
at home” will be sure to get a response from some weenie smugly
pointing out the contradiction. Confuse the issue more by engaging
in contradiction when you are feeding – this will confuse /.ers
who will then make even more stupid replies, leaving them even
more wide open for response.

*Clues*

If you’re feeling brave, give the reader clues that this is an
obvious troll. The classic example here is dmg’s stock phrase “I
am often accused of trolling (whatever that is)”, but also feel
free to use phrases like “I have not read the article, and I don’t
know much about XYZ but I feel I must comment”. If anyone responds
to a troll with these kinds of clues in it, feel free to bask in
the glow of knee-jerk /. responses.

* *Denial*

If you’re unlucky someone will accuse you of being a troll (surely
not!) and try and ruin it for you. If you don’t want it all to end
there, then be sure to counter it by accusing them of being
small-minded and petty, saying that it’s easier for them to say
it’s a troll than to accept that people have different opinions.
Be sure to say this in the subject line, especially if their
subject was the infamous “YHBT. YHL. HAND.”

* *Claiming credit*

Given that /. has its community of regular trolls (hi guys!), it’s
only polite to publish your troll on one of the so-called “hidden”
forums for all to see and admire. This way, you get to bask in the
praise of other trolls, they get to contribute to your’s if they
want to, and you get an easy way to find the troll later on when
you want to check on its progress 🙂

As for when to post it, that’s a matter of opinion really. You can
either post it straight away or leave it will after people start
biting. Remember that the troll forum is also frequented by
non-trolls, and sometimes you may get a self-declared
“troll-buster” try and expose you. But remember, /.ers always post
before thinking, and often it doesn’t matter at all.

There is no real current forum at the moment thanks to various
spammers hitting the sids, but try trolltalk
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=trolltalk
the original troll sid started by 80md and osm way back in the
day. Generally all postings are done there as an AC, with your
name at the end of the post. Include a link to the troll somewhere
in the text, which ideally will be directly to the post and its
replies – click on the #XX link in the thread to get there.

* *Ending the troll*

Sometimes you just get bored with a troll, or people start posting
genuinely thoughtful stuff in reply (it does happen). When this
happens it might be time to own up to the troll with a helpful
“YHBT. YHL. HAND.” post. Sometimes people will carry on a
discussion of the issue, and if you’re really lucky (and it was a
great troll) they will completely fail to believe you and carry on
arguing. If that happens, pat yourself on the back for writing a
great troll 🙂

* *The cheap $3 crack*

Finally, when all else fails and your troll gets moderated down to
(-1, Troll) within ten seconds of you posting it, the only
honourable thing to do is to accuse the moderators of smoking the
cheap $3 crack (again) and give up 🙁

Section 2 – Types of troll

1. *The Maniac*

Probably the most popular kind of troll, the Maniac holds an
opinion on something, and won’t budge from that opinion no matter
what evidence to the contrary is presented. If challenged, the
Maniac will simply get more and more agitated and abusive,
deriding his opponents as “idiots”, “wrong-thinking”, “dangerous”
and “subversive”. Generally the Maniac takes a position that
opposes the prevalent /. beliefs, but a similar effect can be
achieved by taking a typical /. viewpoint and pushing it to
ridiculous extremes.

Maniacs can be crafted for practically every article /. posts,
although some are more obvious targets than others. Civil liberty
articles, especially on things like censorship, DMCA, UCITA that
really get /.ers riled up, are usually extremely fruitful grounds
for a well-crafted maniac. The other obvious type of article is
anything which could possibly involve religion, especially
evolution 🙂

Here are some fruitful avenues to explore:

* The Right-Wing Maniac

Always popular, the right-wing maniac (RWM) is a
God-fearing, gun-toting, flag-waving American, and proud of
it. They don’t care about the rest of the world, unless it’s
to “prove” that America is better than everything else, and
they cannot stand liberal whining over civil rights. They
hate the moral decay of America and want it to revert into a
nation of heterosexual, Christian whites like it was meant
to be. Woe betide anyone that dares to suggest otherwise.

* Religion

There are two ways to approach this kind of maniac. The
harder to pull off is the militant atheist, but this is
quite common amongst /. posters and you would have to be
very offensive to get this to work. Of course with religion
trolls, the argument can go on for ever once it’s started…
The more common approach is the Christian fundamentalist.
They are ignorant, intolerant and bigoted in the extreme.
For them the Bible is the inerrant word of God revealed to
man – it contains no flaws and no contradictions. Thus they
are strict Creationists – mentions of evolution or cosmology
will set them off on vitriolic rants. Flaming denunciations
of anyone daring to contradict the “Word of God” are the way
to go, and any kind of proof can always be ignored by
appealing to “secular humanist brainwashing”. And let’s not
forget, the USA is the greatest nation on Earth because it
has the righteous power of Jesus Christ behind it.

* Ideology

Pick a philosophy, any philosophy. This troll is a troll
with a cause – they have found some kind of ideological
truth, and are out to expose every other philosophy as a
sham. Whether it be libertarianism, objectivism, communism
or capitalism, this troll will point out the obvious “flaws”
in any other philosophies, whilst spouting dogma about their
own. And the best thing is – you don’t even need to know
that much about what you’re spouting – making doctrinaire
mistakes will get both sides of the argument flaming you,
adding to the fun.

* Software

This is an old favourite and crops up in many forms,
covering the gamut from OS maniacs (Linux zealots,
MS-apologists or embittered BSD fanatics), language maniacs
(Pascal vs. C, C vs. C++, C++ vs. Java, Perl vs. Python, VB
vs. everything), application maniacs(GIMP vs. Photoshop,
Netscape vs. IE, vi vs. emacs) and also includes people who
complain about how technology should only be for the 31337
hackers.

* Guns

Americans love their guns, and will always fight
passionately for their Constitutionally guarenteed rights to
bear arms and shoot people. Even the slightest hint of
criticism of this will bring down the wrath of a thousand
and one enraged gun-owners on you, so it’s always a great
point to work into a troll 🙂

2. *The Expert*

The Expert is someone who is “savvy” in their particular field,
and is perfectly willing to give their opinion on any topic even
vauguely related to their field. The Expert is most likely to be
from a field which /.ers as a rule despise – the classic example
is dumb marketing guy, but try consultants, lawyers, politicians,
lobbyists, executives, journalists (just think Jon Katz). With
this kind of troll sweeping statements with little content are the
norm, along wire dire portents of future catastrophe and dark
hints of “insider knowledge”.

Some possible angles to exploit:

* Industry knowledge

The expert knows the computing industry from the inside – as
a long-term pro, they can dispense knowledge knowing that
they can “speak for the industry”. Their smug
self-satisfaction is bound to annoy, as is any suggestion
that things aren’t the way that /.ers would like it – saying
“Linux requires the rock-solid guarantee of a trusted
company like Microsoft” or “Apache cannot be trusted for
mission-critical enterprise platforms” is guaranteed to get
you denials explaining exactly why you’re wrong, in
excruciating detail.

* Helpful hints

With their tech-savvy (or law-savvy or whatever) experience,
the expert is obviously the best person to point out what’s
wrong with things or to give out useful “factual”
information. In fact this probably works best with lawyer
trolls – for all that /.ers protest “IANAL”, they certainly
seem to think they could be, and any mistakes you make will
send them rushing to prove themselves by correcting you.

3. *Offtopic Trolls*

Not really a “troll” in the strict Jargon File sense of the word,
but they certainly should be included here 🙂 This category
includes parodies, offtopic weirdness any all kinds of amusing
stuff. Not really my area of expertise, this stuff is mainly done
by gnarphlager and opensourceman. Thanks to gnarphlager for this
section.

Offtopic trolls, like any other, come in almost as many colours as
an iMac, but generally not as cute. But then again, a good
offtopic “troll” can affect more people than a repulsive little
gumdrop on your desk, because you need to have someone SEE your
desk before they can react. Simple? Moreso than even my overblown
prose could indicate. Some basic examples:

1. The serial troll

Write a story. Keep expanding it. It doesn’t matter what
article you post it under, so long as it’s high up. If you
want people to recognize you, pick a couple themes or
symbols, and carry them on throughout the story. Other
alternatives include back linking or including the entire
story, but adding more each time. Be funny if you want. Or
if you don’t feel like being funny, just be really weird.
Someone will react.

2. The random troll

This has nothing to do with anything. Be it a stream of
consciousness rant, or a description of the corner of your
desk. Another favorite is a monologue, read as if spoken
from any one given entity to another. The more outlandish,
the better (a pair of socks talking to a mousepad, for
example). If you really wanted to be artsy, work in an
actual metaphor or legitimate meaning behind it, but it’s
not necessary.

3. The vaguely related troll

Start out with a comment about the article. Have a definite
opinion of it. Then, after a little while, disintegrate into
randomness. All roads eventually can eventually lead to
cheese (yum), Natalie Portman, cannibalism, toasters,
squirrels, futons, you name it. All it takes is a little bit
of creativity. Oh, and feel free to use other trolls’
motifs. Open source and all that 😉

General tips:

* If it’s funny for a fleeting moment, then it’s worth posting.
* Puns. Puns are only less vile than mimes, but it’s hard to
mime on /. So feel free/obligated to litter your offtopic
and random bits with puns. Hurt the bastards. And if they’re
sick enough to laugh at them, then they’ll eventually end up
here 😉
* Obscure cultural references and injokes are always good.
SOMEONE will get them eventually.
* Several drafts of a serial or random post are common, but
true elegance is being able to come up with something on the
spot that still makes the top 40 posts (on a post-heavy article)

Section 3 – Useful trolling links

The following links contain background information useful for trolls
needing quick quotes and “expert” opinions to include.

1. *General purpose links*

* ddi.digital.net/~gandalf/trollfaq.html

– How to deal with USENET trolls – learn your enemy 🙂
* www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html

– A List Of Fallacious Arguments – Learn them and use them
liberally
* www.altairiv.demon.co.uk/troll/trollfaq.html

– USENET troll HOWTO
* www.baiting.org

– Baiting.org
* www.fieldingtravel.com/df/index.htm

– Fielding’s DangerFinder – A guide to what and where’s
dangerous

2. *Religious links*

* www.godhatesamerica.com/

– God Hates America
* www.chalcedon.edu/creed.html

– The Creed of Christian Reconstruction
* www.demonbuster.com

– How to cast out your demons and do spiritual warfare
* riceinfo.rice.edu/armadillo/Sciacademy/riggins/things.htm

– Things Creationists hate
* www.icr.org/

– Institute for Creation Research
* www.xenu.net

– Operation Clambake – The fight against Scientology on the net
* www.hom.net/~angels/

– Citizens for the Ten Commandments
* www.bju.edu/rcnbc.html

– The difference between Catholics and Christians
* www.geocities.com/prazske00/biblequotes.html

– Bible quotes by category

3. *Political/economy links*

* www.aynrand.org

– The Ayn Rand Institute
* www.reason.com

– Libertarian site
* www.freerepublic.com

– Right-wing stuff
* www.jbs.org

– Excellent site for all kinds of right-wingery
* www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html

– Web economy bullshit generator

4. *Crackpot science links*

* www.fixedearth.com

– The Earth Is Not Moving
* www.jir.com/index.htm

– The Journal of Irreproducible Results

[Site Meter]

Copyright © 2001 James Skinner <mailto:spiralx@munting.co.uk></mailto:spiralx@munting.co.uk>

How Handle a Troll

How To Handle a Troll

Contents
Change Language

Part One: Introduction
Part Two: What is a Troll?
Part Three: Are there different sorts of Trolls?
Part Four: Why don’t people like Trolls? Surely they’re just having fun!
Part Five: How do people respond to Trolls?
Part Six: What is a good way to deal with a Troll?
Part Seven: What about other types of Trolls?
Part Eight: Will This Advice Get Rid of All Trolls?
Part Nine: Who is NOT a Troll?
Part Ten: About this site
Part Eleven: Anti-Troll Links
Part Twelve: Example of Troll Threads (Links to a new page)

Introduction
‘Anyone can speak Troll,’ said Fred dismissively, ‘all you have to do is point and grunt.’
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” – J.K. Rowling (2000)
This page is a step by step guide to handling a Troll on Usenet, or any other discussion forum on the Internet. Or, more precisely, it is a step by step guide to beating a Troll at their own game.
There are too many Trolls that infest Newsgroups and discussion forums – this site gives you some ideas about how to stop their antics permanently.

Before we begin, though, understand this: the best way to deal with a Troll is to ignore them entirely. They are not worth your time, however you may feel about their comments.

However, this site recognises that sometimes you may be unwittingly drawn into a ‘conversation’ with them. This site will help you to deal with that situation.

“How To Handle A Troll” is updated on a semi-regular basis. You might like to visit this page again to learn new tactics against the Trolls. Similarly, you might like to let your friends know about the site. After you have finished reading, please link to this guide from your website.

Don’t let anyone get destroyed by the Trolls!

What is a Troll?
The best way to know what a Troll is, is to see what they do. The following link is a humourous look at how to Troll, even encouraging people to take up the habit. Note how the author himself distinguishes between the Trolls who are just trying to gain attention, or are trying to create havoc.
Yet the author has made a fatal flaw: He fails to see that ALL Trolls crave attention. That is the sole reason they exist – whether or not they want to feel that they have achieved something (even if it is destruction) or to be recognised for doing something deviant, they want just a little attention in their direction.

Remember: Without attention, Trolls are nothing. They have no audience, and no victim. To read the website, click here. NOTE: The previous website has been removed. I will try to find a replacement site that demonstrates Troll mentality, but until then, you’ll have to make do with my explanations, sorry!

I would encourage you to read the whole page. We’ll come back to it later, but it is well worth it anyway.

The mentality of a Troll is obvious – he wants a cheap laugh, and that is all. The offense that may be caused is of no concern to him, as are any other ramifications of his actions.

This Usenet post describes what many people consider to be trolls. There are hundreds of such definitions across the ‘net, on various different websites (including this one, and many that are linked on this site). Ultimately, these many definitions of trolls, all vary slightly, but they all sum up to this:-

Trolls are a nuisance. They purposefully cause annoyance to other users, but their approach can, and does, vary. Some trolls are obvious, some are not. This website attempts to show you some of the different approaches that trolls take – to keep you, as an Internet user, prepared.

Are there different sorts of Trolls?
Yes. There are several types of Trolls, and each is discussed on in more depth later in this site. They are: The Bored’s, The Liars, The Confrontationalists and The Controversials
Many Trolls just want to be a nuisance. They’re kids who aren’t mature enough to have a sensible conversation. These Trolls fall under The Bored’s category, but that does not necessarily mean that all Trolls are children. Many “mature” adults find enjoyment in Trolling groups.

But there are other trolls who set out to cause havoc. This may include posing as a regular poster in the group (then acting in a way to deflame that person’s good name). Or it may be to draw members of the group into an argument.

You can read about that sort of behaviour here. Here, a Troll has managed to draw people into an off-topic discussion that has resulted in an innocent poster losing his ISP access. This is all part of the entertainment for the Troll.

NOTE: The previous website has been removed. I will try to find a replacement site that demonstrates Troll mentality, but until then, you’ll have to make do with my explanations, sorry!

Why don’t people like Trolls? Surely they’re just having fun!
Trolls are a nuisance, as they frequently set out to antagonise other people who post in the same forum. For example, take the following post by “Drew” in the Usenet foum alt.tv.star-trek.enterprise
LOW RATINGS NOBODY WATCHES IT LIKE STNG STNG HAVE THE MOST RATINGS.
By the way, you can Click Here to see the message on Google

The above message is a prime example of a Bored Troll post. It is almost unreadable, atrocious grammar, and blatantly insults the show that the newsgroup focuses upon. The Troll is probably a bored teenager.

STNG is supposed to read ST:TNG (or, Star Trek:The Next Generation). The bad spelling is a part of the Troll – attempting to provoke insults from the regulars about his spelling.

Responses such as “You’re an idiot. You can’t even spell.” is what the Troll is hoping for. This way, he can draw you into a prolonged argument about who is the bigger idiot. Sensible ways to respond (if you have to at all) are discussed below. Trolls who throw insults across the ‘net are Confrontationalists and relish seeing any response that indicates the respondee is wound up, or aggravated by their Trolling.

It is fair to assume that people who regularly post to an Enterprise newsgroup will be fans of the show. By saying that the show is not up to par, “Drew” is hoping for other posters to get angry with him, degrading themselves to the mentality of schoolchildren in the process.

Trolls are the Usenet equivalent of the School bully. They don’t have to be that big, hard, or clever to throw their weight around – but they do enjoy watching the over reactions of the other posters.

Their messages are poorly laid out – usually on purpose, with bad grammar, spelling, and, more often than not, written entirely in caps.

Some Trolls can be entertaining, but that may not be their intention, nor may that be the intention of any troll.

The Troll Sukami Master infests the newsgroup alt.fan.harry-potter (among others), and after one post titled “Trollness”, OnsenMark followed up with… (click here for google)

serj_tankian, you aren’t. Hell, even the freakin’ *Boinger* is more entertaining than you, and s/he misspells every single word!
But Sukami Master isn’t trying to entertain the group. He (it is usually a he) is trying to entertain himself. Perhaps this highlights just how shallow Trolls really are. So, in response to the question (finally), yes, trolls are just having fun, but at the expense of every one else in the group.

Trolls will happily do the exact opposite of what you want them to do. Sukami Master might be accused of being a “boring” troll, but he gains a reaction every time, because he does not act how people expect a troll to act.

How do people respond to Trolls?
Usually the most obvious way – they get offended.
“Drew”‘s post was not as offensive as many you may have come across. Others pick on individuals – either by name calling, personal insults, or by posing as that person to degrade their character.

Naturally, people don’t like this! Who would?

And so, the general result is a range of insults flung across the Internet which does nothing but antagonise the regulars on the board, and entertain the Troll.

What is a good way to deal with a Troll?
It depends upon the Troll – If you realise that a Troll is just trying to wind you up, or offend you, Be Calm. Don’t rise to them.
Let’s take the example of “Drew” again. How would you react? These are three responses to “Drew”…

yeah right.
do you trolls really thing your lies are even SEMI BELIEVEABLE????

enterprise has a guaranteed 6 years. ratings might not be great, but what’s UPN going to replace it with? the Hughleys?

This is possibly not the worst way to respond – but it does show the Troll that you have been wound up by their post. There is a certain amount of gratification for him in that!
Quoting your side of the argument to him will not help. Even quoting facts will not help. Across the great Internet divide, facts may as well be nonsense figures.

By “SHOUTING” you are expressing your anger, which to him is humourous. He is safe in his room, and so such agression means nothing to him.

ST:TNG was a first run syndication show. Ratings work different for syndicated shows, than network shows. High ratings for a syndicated show could be considered low for a network show. Believe me when I say that there will be a season 2 of Enterprise, and I imagine a season 7.
Again, quoting facts will do nothing, except possibly force an argument that he will relish in, and, whether or not you win intellectually, he will draw out until you couldn’t stand it any longer through mis-quotes (of your posts), lies, and perjorative comments.

Facts and arguments are a waste of time.

You may have a valid point about the low ratings, in comparison to some shows that have had a few more seasons to be developed. ST-TNG definately was a very popular show a few seasons into its run!
However, could you not use capslock all the time, as it can be rather difficult to read, and to some, it can seem like you are shouting.

Start with a compliment! As shown above, accept that they may well have a valid argument, and therefore have a necessary place within the forum.

Keep Calm! Don’t let your anger show through.

Compliment them before any criticism – and keep that criticism to a minimum. They don’t how to react. Before long, they may find themselves drawn into sensible conversations with the group.

If possible, make any criticism sound like a criticism of yourself, not them. Here, the responder has made the caps problem seem like the readers fault, rather than the posters.

What about other types of Trolls?
Some Trolls will pose as regular members of a forum – either by pretending to be someone else, or by joining in some conversations, letting their subversiveness slip through very slowly.
For example, this Troll started by joining in some conversations on the alt.movies.spielberg group. “Togetherinparis” slowly began to lie, about progressively implausible situations, until eventually most regular posters left the group. Now, several years on, the Troll appears to be the only person left in the group – still proclaiming that he came up with the ideas for Minority Report, The Force (as in Star Wars) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

How is the best way to deal with this? It may be difficult to recognise his lies to begin with, and then it is easy to fall into the trap of outright believing him.

As soon as you recognise a Liar, don’t try to get him to prove his facts – it’s impossible across Usenet, and he knows this.

You may like to try some of the above tactics – try to draw him into a sensible conversation, without dropping to his level.

But, ultimately, there can be only one way to deal with him: Killfile him. Do not let yourself be seduced into having an argument over the validity of his “facts”.

Other Trolls will try to draw you into a futile argument by a variety of means, but usually by saying something controversial.

A Trolls message may be as simple as “Prove that God does not exist” that has been crossposted to a range of religious newsgroups. A Troll is usually idnetifable, as he will often refuse to take a stance on either side – at one time arguing that God exists, and another that He doesn’t.

These Trolls are Controversials.

A Trolls message will often be crossposted to one or more newsgroups that have nothing to do with the subject. By clicking here you can read a Troll thread that spanned for more than four hundred messages – just because it was a controversial subject, and in spite of the fact that the subject had nothing to do with one of the forums in which it was posted.

Trolls revel in their threads lasting such a long time – the longer a thread is, the more legitimate users have been sucked into their little game.

All Trolls, Controversials, Liars, Boreds and Confrontationalists use “Logical Fallacies” – in other words, they lie, change their minds, or otherwise simply claim any perspective other than the concensus.

Logical Fallacies can be a legitimate form of discussion in many instances. But Trolls can use this to their advantage, suggesting that fallacies arise in their “opponents” arguments, where, in truth, those fallacies may, or may not exist.

For example, in the following theoretical trollish encounter, the USER follows some of the above steps when approaching the troll…

In Newsgroup alt.movies.spielberg … TROLL: SPIELBERG’S FILMS SUC!
USER: Do you think so? I have always felt that the critique of a film-maker lies with their audience. Personally, I quite enjoy Spielbergs films, however it is good to see an opinion other than a positive one addressed.

At this point, it is unlikely that the Troll would respond – he has made his statement, and enough people may have argued against him that he is wrong, causing havoc in the group, that his work has already been done for him. We will presume, however, that the troll wishes to create a prolonged thread about Mr. Spielbergs work.

TROLL: You know that Spielbergs films suck! If one meber of the audience dislikes the film, then it sucks for them. Therefore, Spielbergs films SUCK!
Arguing with the troll will get you nowhere. The counter-argument misses half the point, and they will claim the same of you. What’s the best way of dealing with this sort of Troll?

Ignore it. Killfile the thread.

Others will join in, undoubtedly – but the more people ignore it, the better. Even by acknowledging to the Troll that you know what it is (“You are a Troll! Go away!”) will boost his ego.

Like the best way of winning a fight, the best way of beating a Troll is to not get involved. That way, you can’t get hurt.

So, in brief…

BE CALM – Don’t rise to their antagonising attitude.
DON’T LOWER YOURSELF TO THEIR LEVEL – Don’t start throwing insults at them. It’s what they want.
PAY A COMPLIMENT – It is the last thing they are expecting – and the opposite of what they want.
ENCOURAGE THEM TO JOIN IN – Let them know they have valid points, and make their faults seem like yours.
But, above all else, USE YOUR KILLFILE – It is there for a reason, and it is your most powerful weapon.

Will this advice get rid of all Trolls?
No. There will always be the persistent ones, and their will always be people in the discussion forum who will inadvertently feed the Trolls ego.
But even for the Trolls that don’t completely disappear, your actions will sow the seed of doubt in their minds about their passtimes. For Trolls that just won’t go away, there is always the ultimate weed-killer application – The Killfile!

If worse comes to worst, however, don’t say anything. Ignore them. Killfile them, and any thread that gets created by the topics they start. Frankly, they are not worth the time of yours that they will waste.
Who is NOT a Troll?
Just because someone has said something you happen to not like, it does not mean that they are a Troll. They may just not like you, or you may have a difference of opinion. It happens! Deal with it.
If a post is on-topic, assume that it is not a Troll. The more wayward it gets, the more likely it is to be one.

This takes a little bit of common sense. In uk.media.dvd for example, Off-Topic posts are common, and Trolls are infrequent, partly because of this relaxed attitude.

Everyone posts something they regret later on – so give the poster some leeway. If they really offend you, just Killfile them – I can’t say this enough.

Similarly, YOU may be accused of being a Troll. In which case, don’t get upset. Find out what it is that people don’t like you doing, and stop it. Or move on to another, more accomodating group. There’s no real harm done.

About this site
This site is pretty basic, I know. But the advice is solid. Over time, I may improve the look of this site, but frankly, I would prefer to keep it as it stands, as long as it is readable.
My email address isn’t published here. I am already susceptible to so much Spam it’s unbelievable, and I do not wish to become involved in any flame wars with any trolls. If you honestly wish to contact me, your wishes will have to go unfulfilled. If necessity arises, I may contact you.

Do I still post on Usenet? Occasionally – but not as much as I used to. I tend to lurk now, reading all your messages instead(!)

But please, if you find this site of use, link to it from your website (please!), add the URL to your signature file for Usenet, add the URL to your signature for your outgoing emails. Spread the word, and defeat the Trolls!

Source: http://www.angelfire.com/space/usenet/#language