Welcome! This FAQ is written to help you identify and deal with the dreaded troll, an overabundance of which occupy alt.aol-sucks. This is especially important if you're new to a.a-s or even Usenet in general, as much of this information can apply to other newsgroups. Any questions or suggestions should be directed to the authors. Now on to business:
A troll is someone who posts primarily for the purpose of drawing attention to himself (or herself), usually negative attention. Trolls are also known to post solely to disrupt a newsgroup, distracting readers from the original point, thus defeating the group's purpose. They frequently post from anonymous or forged accounts.
The best reason to ignore trolls is that if you give them the attention they desire by responding to them, they can, in time, rip a newsgroup apart. In reality, most seem to be sad little people with no lives; why encourage them to waste yours on their spew? When in doubt, ignore. If you simply cannot help yourself, one good defense is to write a response, but delete it without posting it -- or perhaps even e-mail it to a friend. These actions let you vent your spleen without giving the trolls the verbal spanking they crave.
There are different types of trolls, so they use different techinques. Some are obvious to even the rawest newbie, some more subtle in their methods. Generally, if you get the feeling that you simply have to respond, you probably shouldn't.
The following is a definitive list of troll types and their prominent features, written by Charles Miller. It should help guide you on the path to troll identification.
This troll is the standard Usenet troll: a one-off joking post. It is simply an off-topic game of "spot the deliberate misteak." These posts are generally harmless, and in this author's opinion are often funny.
Look out for: "You shouldn't make so many speling errors or grammermistakes"; "everyone knows Speilberg directed Star Wars"; and anything crossposted to alt.stupidity or alt.religion.kibology.
This troll is the same kind of person who posts "Get a life" to theStar Trek newsgroups, "God is dead" to the christnet groups, and "AOLRoolz!" to alt.aol-sucks. The idea is to make one post, leave, and thenforget the newsgroup even exists.
Identifying marks: ALL CAPS SUBJECTS such as "AOL IS THE BESTINTERNETS!!!," constant mispellings, no real argument; "get a life," "if you don't like AOL, don't use it," and "you're all just racists."Usually posts with a forged header to avoid any repercussions.
Best defense: Ignore.
This troll is the sort of person who has read a couple of posts on the newsgroup and wants to join in the fun. Unfortunately, the fun that he sees is the responses that the other trolls are getting.
Identifying marks: Similar to a hit-and-run, but posts more than once and seems to know something about regular posters. However, he has no real knowledge about the group, and that shows -- for example, he will assume that someone has been posting for longer than he really has or call a regular a "newbie."
Best defense: Ignore at first. If they persist, firmly tell them to stop.
This is not a true troll. This person really believes that AOL sucks or that AOL should be defended. The problem is that this person also brings along a number of serious social problems, which may includethe need to post 50 times a day, a total inability to understand logic, or an irrational hatred of women, certain races, or individual posters.
Identifying marks: He will look okay at first, just another AOL attacker or defender. However, when this person is challenged, the social problems will appear. He will often berate others for straying from the topic.
Best defense: Flame their ass for a while. You don't want to look likeyou condone ahtisocial attitudes or are being defeated by faulty logic.However, there comes a point where this person must be publicly sent to Coventry (or just killfiled).
This troll, for whatever reason, feels the need to disrupt the group. This troll has read the newsgroup and knows who is who. The disruptive troll also has a good idea of what posts and issues we respond to most vehemently.
This troll does not go away until he wants to. He is here primarily to be responded to, and so any response is a good one, even if the response is the vilest imaginable.
This troll is laughing at you every time you reply to him. He is looking at the screen, thinking "How could that sucker fall for that again?"
Identifying features: The only true distinguishing feature of theDisruptor is an uncanny ability to annoy as many people as is humanlypossible, combined with the fact that he shows every intention of staying in the newsgroup, regardless.
Best Defense: An honoured position in the global killfile.
NO! That would just feed their need for attention. The most important message of the Troll FAQ is that trolls should not be rewarded with public recognition, they should just be ignored. Putting up a list of trolls is an almost criminally stupid idea. It is obvious that anyone who would suggest it after reading this FAQ is in desperate need of a visit from the clue fairy. Cull her favor by lurking and learning, not expecting to have your hand held.
Since writing the troll-definition, we have been struck by how many trolls post from fake aol.com addresses so they can pretend they use and love AOL.
Before replying to any post that you think may be a troll and that boasts an aol.com address, take ten seconds to CHECK THE HEADER. Headers of posts made from AOL bear some easy identifying marks that are often missed by forgers.
In an AOL-posted header:
Path: Should end in !something.news.aol.com!not-for-mailFrom: screenname@aol.com (ScReEn NaMe) -- The name in parentheses should match the screenname in the address, except that the address will be in all lower-case, and will notcontain any spaces.
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com -- As far as I know, AOL users can not change this line.
X-Admin: news@aol.com -- This line is inserted by AOL.
Here is a legitimate AOL message ID:
<19970302151700.KAA19402@ladder02.news.aol.com>
Before the period, the format is always the date and time in the format YYYYmmDDhhMMss, Eastern US time. This date and time should match the message's Date: header, at least with the online reader. The next part will always be three letters, followed by a few digits, no more than 5. It will always look like a UNIX sendmail ID. The address should always be ladder02....
NNTP-Posting-Host: ladder02.news.aol.com
Please note that it is still possible for all of the above to be forged. A genuine-looking header does not make for a genuine post. Even if the post is made from AOL, it is still impossible to tell whether it has been made by a three-year devoted user or a 10-hour trial user. Be warned.
UPDATED: Monday, September 01, 2003
This FAQ was written by:
Charles Miller and J.J. Pearce
With help from: Mimi Kahn.
Currently Maintained by: Dan B.
And inspired by more trolls than we care to mention...