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What is Trolling
Trolling is when a member of an online social community deliberately tries to disrupt, attack, offend or generally cause trouble within the community by posting offensive comments, photos, videos, GIFs or some other form of online content. You can find trolls all over the Internet – on message boards, in your YouTube video comments, on Facebook, on dating sites, anywhere people can freely post to express their thoughts and opinions.
The internet troll is a modern version of the mythological version. They hide behind their computer screens, and actively go out of their way to cause trouble on the internet.
Like the mythological troll, the internet troll is angry and disruptive in every possible way - often for no real reason at all.
Types of Trolling
There are many types of trolling on the internet. Some are mild while others are more serious and severe.
In one variation, the person acts as a fan or supporter and then gives constructive criticism to show their hostility.
Another one is called “gaslighting.” When someone is gaslighting they present a false narrative or information to make the person doubt their reality.
Another popular variation is dogpiling. In dogpiling, a group of trolls work together to overwhelm the target. They use many different tactics in combination to question, threat and insult the person’s social account and silence, discredit or humiliate them.
Lifewire.com suggest there are ten types of online troll:
1. The Insult Troll
2. The Persistent Debate Troll
3. The Grammar and Spellcheck Troll
4. The Forever Offended Troll
5. The Show-Off, Know-it-All Or Blabbermouth Troll
6. The Profanity and All-Caps Troll
7. The One Word Only Troll
8. The Exaggeration Troll
9. The Off Topic Troll
10. The Greedy Spammer Troll
It is important to be aware of each of these.
Why do people Troll?
Watch this video on why people troll on the internet
*Why do People Troll video goes here
What to do if you encounter trolling
You should not respond or provoke a troll because that is their goal. If they cannot get a reaction from you, they will likely stop. Other steps include:
You can also report the abuse to the social media platform and block the person. You can do this on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and all social media platforms.
Closing off comment sections entirely from a blog post, video page or topic thread.
Reporting them to the authorities
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