Trolls on the Internet: learning to fight back. What does "troll" mean? How to properly troll people on VKontakte

In a dispute, truth is born, but this only happens if both opponents are adequate people. When one of them is a troll, the discussion makes no sense. Therefore, if on a social network or on a forum you come across a person who clearly wants to insult you, humiliate you and ruin your mood in every possible way, know: this is an “ordinary troll”, and he will not leave you alone. “Cleo” wants to warn its readers against meaningless communication with online energy vampires, and therefore, especially for you, we found out what distinguishes a troll from an ordinary user and how to resist the attacks of such provocateurs.

The term “trolling” has been floating around the Internet for a long time, but if you still don’t know what exactly it means, we’ll give you a quick introduction.

Trolling is a special form of online communication in which the so-called troll tries to psychologically crush his interlocutor: he insults, ridicules, touches a nerve, humiliates, causes anger and aggression, and provokes conflict.

There are several opinions as to why completely ordinary people, hiding behind avatars and nicknames, suddenly begin to “troll” others. Some people think that they are doing this just for fun: they are sitting at home, they are bored, they want to somehow entertain themselves. Others argue that trolls assert themselves in this way, trying to show others their superiority, demonstrate that they can outshine anyone and get away with it. Still others are sure: these people are real sadists; they take pleasure in torturing others, even virtually. Well, still others say that trolling is not just a modern phenomenon, it is a kind of profession, and such provocateurs are specifically sought out and hired by competitors of a company in order to achieve certain results. Of course, all these motives have their place: how many trolls there are, so many reasons for trolling, everything is very individual. However, there is something that unites all energy vampires - this is the tactics of their behavior. So, let's figure out how to quickly identify an “ordinary troll” and what to do to stop his attacks against you.

There is something that unites all energy vampires - this is the tactics of their behavior.

There are different types of trolls...

Internet users are accustomed to conditionally dividing all trolls into several types:

1. Offtopic troll (from the English offtopic - off topic). These trolls love to “stand out” - to write something that is completely unrelated to the topic of discussion. In a forum thread dedicated to cooking, they will easily offend one of the users by pointing out a grammatical error, and then come up with something else to offend the “victim.” But this will in no way relate to cooking.

2. Emotional troll. Such a troll is not distinguished by restraint, he will insult you with the most ugly words, appeal to other participants in the discussion, and create a real bacchanalia in the comments, trying to attract attention to himself.

3. Troll fighter for justice. His tactics are very interesting: he accuses his opponents of trolling, trying to remain “white and fluffy” in the eyes of other people and at the same time forcing his interlocutor to justify himself.

4. Troll is a fan of spoilers (from the English spoiler - to spoil). Typically, a spoiler refers to information relating to a popular film or TV series: for example, what will happen in the next episode. As a rule, people want to find out for themselves how the film will end, and do not like it when people talk about it on forums. Trolls take advantage of this and anger viewers of TV series and films.

Trolls lecture all participants in the discussion, telling them what is right and what should be done.

5. Know-it-all trolls. They are real intellectuals (at least they think so themselves), and more than anything else they want to show the whole world how smart they are. These trolls lecture all participants in the discussion, telling them how to do it correctly and how it should be done.

6. "Senseless" trolls. Why are they called that? Because they publish and write real nonsense: stupid pictures and texts that are not relevant, just a bunch of letters, links to dubious resources, etc.

7. “Relevant” trolls. They love to exaggerate topics that are currently on everyone's lips. As a rule, this concerns political realities. Moreover, a particular success for such a troll is to pit two discussion participants with opposing views against each other: for example, one who agrees with the president’s policy and one who, to put it mildly, does not support it.

8. Cruel trolls. It seems that nothing is sacred to them. They may write nasty things about a person who is no longer alive, or about someone who is struggling with a serious illness. For example, one of the recent cases is malicious comments under the news about Zhanna Friske’s illness.

How to resist trolls?

There is such a thing as “feeding the troll.” This means giving him reasons for more and more new comments, maintaining his interest in the discussion with his response. And, probably, the most important thing in the fight against a troll is not to feed it. Of course, some famous bloggers sometimes cannot stand it and respond to their trolls in their own manner (rudely, harshly, without choosing words), but this does not stop online energy vampires. On the contrary, they begin to act even more actively, unless they get banned for their comments and actions. We advise you not to get into a quarrel with such a person: you still won’t be able to reason with him, but you will hear a bunch of nasty things addressed to you and ruin your evening. If it is necessary to give any response to his comment, then let it be as calm and concise as possible. This behavior does not suit these pests, and sooner or later the troll will simply not be interested in communicating with you.

Although storytellers endowed trolls, the heroes of Scandinavian fairy tales and legends, with unpleasant qualities that allow them to do nasty things to anyone, people themselves did not miss the opportunity to learn to ridicule each other, to offend each other with words and ambiguous hints. This behavior is called trolling. What it means to “troll” is worth understanding.

What is trolling?

The ugly troll creatures took special pleasure in the little dirty tricks they did to people: they jumped for joy, grimaced and made faces with delight. This manner of behavior turned out to be very tenacious and migrated from children's books to the media and the Internet. Trolling is mocking provocative behavior transferred from everyday life to the Internet.

What is trolling?

Initially, trolling was a special style of fishing with moving bait. Today's “catchers” look for their victims not in the river, but on political talk shows, in scandalous radio and television programs, during conversations on everyday topics, and on the Internet. What it means to troll is the desire to delve into “someone else’s dirty laundry”, to look into the keyholes of celebrities’ houses. And the “stars” themselves sometimes smear each other with mud with some strange delight.

In everyday life, there are also enough people who want to “make” acquaintances and strangers in public transport, shops, and cinemas. This behavior makes it clear that trolling is mocking, rude, insulting, pitting people against each other, deliberately causing their negative attitude towards an event or manner of speaking.

Trolling - psychology

Educators, sociologists, and psychologists are looking for an explanation of why some people like to be trolls, and although there is no exact definition of what trolling means, researchers agree that its foundations are laid in a person in childhood and adolescence, and the main reason is pedagogical and social neglect. Families give birth to it:

disadvantaged, leading an asocial lifestyle, where the child does not receive love, care, behavioral and communication skills.
outwardly prosperous, but with frequent scandals, insults and humiliation of each other;
middle-income families where parents are busy with themselves and business, and the best they can do is buy expensive toys and dress their child beautifully, believing that this has exhausted their parental duty;
families with high incomes, where all the child’s whims are fulfilled and form in him the concept of his own exclusivity, and in his actions - permissiveness.

Reasons for trolling

A wide range of reasons for trolling can be found by visiting online forums and reading the opinions of their visitors. As a rule, it does not evoke approval and support, especially the manner of dialogue, accompanied by insults and humiliation of interlocutors who are committed to peaceful communication. Trolling in the comments of forum members is defined as:

desire to attract attention;
inability to conduct dialogue;
low level of education and upbringing, small;
an attempt to stir up the listless participants in the discussion without trying to humiliate or insult them;
anger at everyone and everything, a desire to throw out one’s grievances on others:
the desire to stand out among peers;
desire to take revenge on someone specific;
give a deliberately negative assessment of an event that is not such in order to evoke the same negative emotions, force one to be indignant or make excuses;
the desire to simply have fun, watching how, in response to neglected trolling, some lose their temper, while others make excuses and humiliate themselves.

Trolling - pros and cons

If we assume that trolling in general can have a positive meaning, then only for the troll himself, who receives moral and sometimes physical satisfaction from the opportunity to troll others. If this happens on the Internet, then the feeling of impunity strengthens it even more. For those who have experienced what it means to troll, there is no need to talk about the advantages. As for the general impact of trolling, it leads to the splashing out of negative emotions, increases the level of aggression, and negatively affects mood.

What is trolling on the Internet?

The opening of many Internet forums has also given rise to trolls. If in fairy tales these are made-up characters, then on the Internet they are very real people, although by their nature they are not much different from evil, ugly mythical creatures. Not having to meet face to face makes internet trolls feel quite comfortable. For this reason, trolling on the Internet is thriving. Interestingly, trolling on the Internet is not limited to those who mock others for their own pleasure.

There are trolls who make money from this by fulfilling someone's order and directing trolling against a specific person. If the troll does not go beyond what is permitted, he will not be banned and can continue to troll a specific person or event for as long as he likes. To achieve their goals, trolls can use not only , but also leave provocative comments on news feeds, and they may not even correspond to the topic of the information, which, to the troll’s delight, will cause a negative reaction.

What is the purpose of trolling on the Internet?

Trolling people is often practiced on forums, social networks and on thematic websites of various types. The trolls’ desire is to provoke participants by any means, to force them to splash out negativity and aggression. Very often it does not have a serious goal, but is caused only by the desire to assert oneself and mock others, having fun.

Types of trolling on the Internet

Trolls on the Internet can be found on any forums and websites, even those where they shouldn’t exist, but trolling has become especially widespread on social networks. This is not surprising, because there are tens of thousands of interested participants here, and it would be unforgivable for a troll not to take advantage of such a wide audience. There are different types of trolling, here are some of them:

Trolling for fun; Moreover, such trolls often come up with unusual nicknames for themselves in order to remain unrecognized, believing that they will be completely unrecognized, and this gives them the right not to be shy in verbal expressions and emotional assessments.
The desire to assert oneself. This is typical for dull people who have not been able to realize themselves in this life. They consider attacks on famous, successful, accomplished people to be the best way to assert themselves.
Reputation trolling, implying damage to the reputation of a person, more often a competitor in business or political struggle. Often this type of trolling is used as a method of revenge in.

How to learn to troll?

Some Internet users have a desire to learn how to troll people, how to learn it. One could answer that this is not a science whose art needs to be studied, but life shows that trolling skills will not hurt if you encounter a troll in real or virtual life. There are many trolling techniques and you can master them if you want. Here are some of them.

There is no need to answer any question directly.
You need to formulate your statements in such a way that your opponent constantly makes excuses.
No need to be rude - the moderator can easily ban you. But caustic jokes are quite appropriate.
If the troll himself does not have enough arguments to object, it is better to ignore this topic.
Absolute confidence and calm are important for trolling - this infuriates opponents.

How to troll people correctly?

Trolling masters claim that there is nothing wrong with it, and this is a great way to relax, unwind, and have fun. At the same time, a real troll cannot be disturbed from a state of balance - he is calm and, which removes the opponent from a state of balance, who becomes more and more incensed from this. You need to know how to learn how to troll subtly so as not to offend a person and have fun yourself.

Pranksters have achieved perfection in this matter, examples of trolling of which have become the property of not only network users, but also a large television audience. Experienced journalists working on central television channels also do not hesitate to troll politicians or show business stars. To properly troll people, you can use different techniques, for example:

avoid direct answers to your opponent’s questions;
write correctly, but if mistakes are made, respond to your interlocutor’s comments on this matter that this is not a Russian language lesson;
calmly refute any obvious statement;
assert that the facts presented are unreliable;
when the troll is asked to justify his position, he throws out the phrase that the interlocutors do not know how to read or listen carefully.

Initially, social networks were created so that people who are at a great distance from each other could freely, and most importantly, freely communicate with each other, exchange information, emotions, and so on. At first, the matter was limited to correspondence, then services with voice and visual communication operating online appeared. Unfortunately, today all these resources are often used, to put it mildly, for other purposes. Judge for yourself: on VKontakte, on Facebook, on Skype, and on all other services, they simply chat among themselves, making fun of each other, or even openly ridiculing the qualities of their interlocutor. This type of virtual communication in violation of site rules and the ethics of network interaction, which most often manifests itself in the form of bullying and offensive behavior, is commonly called trolling. And lately this phenomenon has been gaining momentum.

Getting to know the youth concept

It is worth noting that trolling can also have, so to speak, friendly overtones, that is, your close people simply came up with some kind of joke for you so that everyone would have fun and laugh. In this article we will look at how to troll a person, what dialogues you should be careful of, so as not to become a victim of such a prank. Friends are one thing, and a professional troll is quite another. After all, it also happens that unfamiliar people, or even strangers, try to play a prank on you. They know how to troll a person, what strings they need to grab, so as not to humiliate him, not to offend him, but simply to play him very “hard”. Well, let's move on to a more detailed consideration of this issue.

What should a professional troll remember?

In this type of "art" it is important first of all to keep a person on the hook. For every troll, the most important point is the manifestation of negative emotions of the interlocutor, who, in fact, is the victim of his oratorical and logical (and sometimes completely devoid of logic) mockery. Experts in this matter who know how to troll a person say that the main thing is to tease your opponent without truly insulting or humiliating him. But a troll is simply obliged to evoke feelings such as awkwardness, inability to say anything in response, etc., in his victim. It is also worth remembering that a person must be kept in constant tension, either increasing it or decreasing it, but not completely eliminating this feeling. So, now let’s move on to more specific examples of how to troll a person: let’s look at what you can say and what you can’t.

The basis of any trolling

Let's start with the simplest - with “inconspicuous” remarks that can be thrown as if in passing, by chance. They can relate to a person’s appearance, his mannerisms, clothing, or style of conversation. And if you correspond online, then the main target will be literacy. True, there is one nuance here: when you make fun of someone’s mistakes, don’t get into a puddle yourself! Sometimes we listen to our interlocutor, look at him, accepting everything as it is, and do not look closely at the details. But if you are

If you do, that is, start reading every phrase carefully or pay attention to how the colors are combined in his clothes (or maybe he doesn’t know how to dress stylishly at all), then there will certainly be a reason for trolling. For example, you are attracted to a girl who looks like a goth: black clothes, dark, catchy makeup, etc. As a rule, subcultures suggest that you should definitely wear sneakers or similar not very attractive shoe options. To such a female person, you can subtly hint that it is very difficult to distinguish her from a guy.

How to troll a person on VKontakte

This social network is literally a battlefield for various masters of oratory, who take it out on people who are weaker in this field of activity to the fullest, or simply practice their eloquence. If you also want to poke fun at someone, here are some tips for using the resource mentioned. The most common ways to troll a person is to find fault with his holy of holies on the Internet, that is, his nickname or avatar. See what exactly causes you the most confusion, and

take action. The second option is to troll in dialogues. You can approach a person with some plausible, but not very decent request. Of course, everyone will refuse, but in response we write: “Okay, I thought you wouldn’t mind receiving a substantial amount.” The conversation will go like clockwork, no doubt about it. The main thing is that you will understand what kind of person is in front of you. Maintain the conversation by constantly making fun of the other person, but without insulting him. True masters can present everything in such a light as if the opponent himself “ran into them”, and they only calmly responded. Yes, and at the end, say that you will post all the correspondence on a popular public page... A new round is guaranteed!

How to troll a person: looking for weak points

This method is a little more complicated, and is designed so that you can identify the real shortcomings of your interlocutor, which really bother him. This may be his inability to write correctly or excessive use. Perhaps your sacrifice will do anything for the sake of money or for the sake of fame, etc. In general, we look for such “Achilles heels” and put pressure on them mercilessly. For example, you are trying to make fun of a pathological liar who, even in small things that make no difference, avoids a direct answer. We tell him that life is probably so easy (without telling the truth); we ask who exactly he is lying to and how, but we ask all these questions with sarcasm. If the victim notices that you are trolling him, deny it and continue with your conversation. Such a liar can also be caught red-handed. Often people who lie do not remember everything that they have already told and to whom. All you have to do is carefully monitor the development of events, and at the right moment remind him of another version that he expressed earlier.

How to troll someone on Skype

Taboo for every troll

When starting to engage (or rather, have fun) with this type of oratory, it is important to know how to troll a person without swearing, without insults and open claims. Otherwise, you risk getting banned, and besides, even people with a low IQ instantly realize that they are being scammed and stop such communication. Who should I troll then? Be polite, gallant, choose your phrases carefully and pay attention to what they say to you. But in no case give in to your interlocutor, always insist on your topic, on your judgments. It is also not advisable for the victim to constantly keep him in suspense, attack him with unexpected questions and statements.

A few final words

In order for trolling to be beautiful and interesting, and first of all for you, be a master of this matter. Don't be rude, don't swear, don't yell at your interlocutor. All you need is to find his weaknesses, read his fears, discover those topics that are “sick” for him. Press on these points during the conversation, look for details that make him fly into a rage, but under no circumstances flare up in aggression and anger yourself.

Surely you have heard the word “trolling” more than once: this is the name of a special form of social provocation, usually used when communicating online or by telephone. To understand what the phrase “trolling a person” means, you can try to find an analogy from everyday life.

At its core, provocations, deliberate incitement and deliberate misleading of an opponent are close to the phenomenon of trolling. Typically, trolling consists of all of the above in different combinations, and the process can be short-term or drag on for long hours or days.

What does it mean to troll a person?

The circumstances under which interlocutors begin to troll each other can be very different: a “troll” can hide under the guise of anonymity (and this often happens) or be openly personified - this is often done by people interested in openly shocking their interlocutors and striving for recognition, popularity and publicity.

The concept of “trolling” is rooted in the slang of participants in online forums and other virtual communities: in English, the word trolling means fishing with a lure, and in modern Russian it means provocative behavior on the Internet.

Another popular version explains the origin of the concept, linking it to Scandinavian mythology, which describes certain “trolls” - unpleasant, downright ugly creatures that constantly caused harm to others.

The Oxford Dictionary entry on trolling mentions both versions.

A striking example of trolling is a provocative phrase, as if accidentally released in a general chat, or a comment of the same kind under material published online. Most often, users troll each other on social networks, on news and thematic sites, conferences and forums: in this case, a person gets almost limitless opportunities for trolling, since there is no physical and visual contact to expose or control the “trolls”. You can create absolutely any virtual image and use it "to the fullest".

How to troll people correctly?

It’s not difficult to learn trolling, but not everyone can become a high-flying bird. The most common way to troll people is to present yourself as a typical user of the community in which you plan to launch your activities. Think about what problems should be shared, what topics to be interested in.

Once you get used to the role well, you will be able to carry out subversive activities in all directions: one phrase appropriately inserted into a discussion can produce a bomb effect and anger dozens of users.

Trolling can be “subtle” or “thick”, and of course, it is most interesting to troll a person subtly - in this case, he most likely will not immediately understand that he is being provoked. But the troll will also require more endurance and imagination. “Thick” provocations are recognized faster, and in communities with a high sensitivity to trolling, such statements can be immediately followed by a ban.

But even if you have learned how to delicately troll your virtual interlocutors, think three times before getting involved in this, of course, fascinating process. In general, trolling is assessed as a negative phenomenon and very often the attitude towards a person who constantly provokes interlocutors to aggression and bewilderment develops accordingly.

Want to learn how to do it right?

Then follow a few fairly simple principles:

always prefer “thin” trolling to “thick” trolling; it is difficult to achieve the desired reaction with overt “attacks” and jokes - most likely, the interlocutor will immediately stop the dialogue, recognizing the troll from the first phrases;
think about the consequences of your actions: if you know that the person you are communicating with is in a state of deep depression or for some other reason is experiencing serious mental discomfort, you should not cause him additional trauma - it is better to choose another object;
because trolling is "game of fake identity", according to D. Donat (researcher of the phenomenon), the better your virtual image is developed, the easier it will be to troll your interlocutors;
the more often trolls appear in a community, the higher the sensitivity of other participants to provocations; accordingly, even harmless hints and phrases can cause a hyperreaction;
if you are a troll, this does not mean that you have a reinforced concrete nervous system; by provoking people (even very restrainedly), you need to understand that in response you may have to hear a lot of bad things;
in order not to be exposed immediately, switch your opponent’s attention to all sorts of unimportant details, then he will be forced to constantly prove, comprehend and challenge something, therefore, there will be almost no time and energy left for your exposure;
for effective trolling, you should learn to argue not unfoundedly, but reasonably - find sources that you can refer to, and criticize the sources that your interlocutor refers to;
nothing is more annoying than being accused of incompetence (people tend to believe that they are doing the right thing and wisely), and successful trolls use this technique at every opportunity;
demagoguery is also useful, especially if your arguments are presented cheerfully and calmly - learning this manner of presenting information is not difficult, and your opponent will certainly be enraged by your self-confidence;
find weak points in your interlocutor’s argumentation: if his comment contains up to 90% of irrefutable facts and only 10% of controversial information, focus on these 10% and escalate the atmosphere, ignoring the remaining 90%;
never stop arguing first, maintain the argument until your opponent’s patience is completely exhausted;
Do not stoop to rudeness; caustic irony combined with emphatically polite formulations works much more effectively.

Having learned to drive your interlocutors to a white heat in a matter of seconds, do not use your secret weapon for any reason, and also do not slide into banal rudeness, even when your opponent shows obvious aggression.

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