Trolls on LCE

Any online community, sooner or later, attracts Trolls. Just like spam on blogs, trolls are an ever-present bane to those who run or value online community. In the event you're not familiar, you can read one of many explanations of trolling, but if you've spent any amount of time online, you probably already know. 

I've read more guides to trolling than you can shake a quarterstaff at in an effort to understand and therefore better combat them, but the heart of the issue is always same--and something I still fail to grok on an emotional level--a singular goal of trolling is disrupting  the trolled community. The more dissention sown, the more emotion wasted, the more "successful" the troll is deemed. The very heart of trolling is to rain on somebody else's parade. They feed off of other's energy.

Many (if not most) of our members may even be surprised that trolling is an ongoing issue here. That's pretty cool, actually! Means we've gotten better at spoting and nuking the losers before they make much impact. But you can rest assured they come and no doubt will continue to do so. I won't, however, tell you how I spot them. So you'll just have to take my word for it that they are here. (If you are a member who suspects someone of trolling or has any other concern about what you see on this site, please feel free to contact any of the staff with your concerns. It will be treated confidentially.)

Bottom line for trollers, troll wannabes and/or anyone nuked from this site for trolling: We have a ZERO tolerance policy on trolls. As long as I run this site, that will not change. You don't get the benefit of doubt. There is no appeal. There are no second chances.  There is no trial in the court of public opinion. There is no  divide and conquer. There is no back and forth email debates about whether or not you were "really" trolling--or just an incredibly misunderstood, pitiful soul crying out for help (insert phony tear on cheek here). I will not outline exactly how you were identified to help hone your ugly art. 

And what about the geniuinely poor, misjudged noob who may be misidentified as a troll and gets nuked unfairly? Judging from the response when I nuke a troll, you'd think there is a near 100% false positive rate! Well, that's just too bad. The internet is a big place.  There are plenty of forums where trolls, real or doppelganger, are tolerated. This is not one of them.

You may have guessed correctly that this community is run by folks who care about helping other people. Otherwise, why bother, right? Many trolls try to exploit that fact. It won't get your far. The fact we do care a great deal about helping others is exactly why I am so adamant about maintaining the Zero-Tolerance Troll Policy: the work we do here is very important. We give people information, support, encouragement and tools to help them be healthier. What we do has the power in some cases to save lives. Stack that up against someone's ego, trolling games, or even massive-if-not-malicious cluelessness, and it's not a hard call to make.

I don't care why people troll. That's a matter between the troll and somebody who gives a rat's patootie. To be honest, trolls disgust me. I find it irredeemably vile when people use their energy to hurt others. Not that I'm going to fight with trolls, mind you, because I won't be bothered. Trolls are better slayed than engaged. Got my fireball spells at the ready and I'm more than happy to use 'em.

Die, trolls. Die.

photo credit: Doug Wildman