“What is a troll?” you might ask – and no, it’s not a little ugly creature that lives underneath a rock and annoys Ronja in the woods. I’m talking about the scum of the interwebs: the real troll.
In the world of the internet, a troll can be spotted in many ways. A troll is someone that will go against the direction of the people it is around, posting inflamatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in a discussion board, blog, or thread with the sole purpose of causing controversy or simply to enrage or make fun of the people involved. Many times, trolls can be funny, but usually this is not the case.
There are different ways a person can become a troll, once they become trolls, they stop being people in the eyes of the internet. Most of the time trolls, in real life, are geeks who have nothing better to do than go on 4chan and play WoW in their parents’ basement. Trolling can be done by posting comments that contradict common knowledge in order to get a lot of comments back, that deliberately insult the readers of a thread, or causing misfortune to the readers who are not aware that they are being trolled and are not familiar with it. There are also the real-life trolls, though these are rarely seen, they are pranksters who just mess with people. Trolls are always anonymous, therefore not many are seen in reality.
Some of you might be familiar with the troll face:
This character is what is most commonly used to personify a troll. If you encounter and identify a troll you must remember some of the basic rules of the internet, these are the ones concercing trolls:
– Rule #14 – Do not argue with trolls, it means they win – Do NOT feed the troll. This means that if you spot a troll, IGNORE IT! If you engage in an argument with the troll, it has already won.
– Rule #19 – The more you hate it, the stronger it gets – I think this rule speaks for itself.
– Rule #20 – Nothing is to be taken seriously – Anything anybody says can easily be ignored, this rule especially applies for trolls.
The sole purpose of a troll is to cause revolt and misfortune, though sometimes extremely humorous, trolls are never to be accepted, so remember, don’t feed the troll, and most importantly: don’t be a troll!!
By: Humberto De Armas, IB12