How to identify a troll and get rid of it

[JFG]

Identifying a troll.  Trolls do the following 

• Off-topic comments: Disruption is the aim of the game here. A troll deliberately posts irrelevant remarks to annoy and disrupt others.
• Condescending tone and refusal to acknowledge evidence: This one is a dead giveaway that someone wants to argue just for the sake of it. If you notice provoking comments like “Why are you getting so angry?” or “Calm down”, you know it’s a troll trying to dismiss your argument and annoy you further. Ignoring hard facts is another sign of a troll, since they’re not looking to draw any conclusions from their ‘argument’.
• Overexaggerating: While most people use words that aren’t absolute, there’s no middle ground for trolls. Everything has to be on the extreme end of the spectrum. Instead of saying “often” or “sometimes,” they’ll say “always” or “never.”

Here’s how you can shut them down.

1. Don’t Feed the Trolls

The classic internet adage still holds merit. Trolls thrive on emotional responses to their provocation.

2. Disarm Them With Humor

Such like with kindness, trolls aren’t usually equipped to respond to humor. Their goal is to make people mad, not make them laugh.

Laughter is troll kryptonite. 

[kvbarkley]

Certain topics can attract vigorous discussion that can be troll like, like all the discussion about the R1. On the Apple board, and I suspect they do it here to, they would allow "honey pots" threads that have a lot of troll like behavior that seemingly should be shut down. The idea is to contain this in the honey-pot, which is what we see here.

[JFG]

Hi kvbarkley, 

I did notice that it was contained in the honey pot.  Nevertheless its always good to know how to identify a troll and how to handle and get rid of it.  I'm all for vigorous discussions however when the discussion continues in circles and facts are overlooked then one knows that its a troll. I at first was drawn into his arguments but eventually realized that he was a troll arguing for the sake of arguing..   I  think that not feeding a troll and disarming them with humor and kindness are good tactics.

[John_SD]

The R1 thread clearly has you rattled.  You said yesterday you were moving on. Before offering groupwide advice to others, why not take your own?

[JFG]

John_SD 

I have moved on, however I was wondering how I let myself get sucked into the argument after realizing and after someone mentioning that the person was a troll.  So I refreshed my knowledge of trolls and thought it be a good idea to do a post and share it..  I moved on. Have you read my post on the new game changers the EOS R1X/R1S  ?  I myself I'm looking forward to receiving my new R5 Mark II with the Cooling Fan grip and extra batteries that I preordered.  Should be arriving in 22 days, more-or-less. 😆   What are you upto, John_SD?

[Tintype_18]

And I always thought the trolls lived under a bridge.