This diary has been a collaboration of the Partners and Mentors group with input from Admin.
Welcome, New Users, to Daily Kos, from your host smileycreek. This Diary is intended to help you understand how and why you should ignore any trolls you encounter on this site.
Yes, even if you're brand new here and not a Trusted User with super troll-smiting powers, you should know why best policy is to ignore any trolls who temporarily stray here. According to recent research published in Personality and Individual Differences, internet trolls are generally Machiavellian, narcissists, psychopaths or sadists who interact only to disrupt, divide, and create misery. They really are horrible people.
The next time you encounter a troll online, remember:
- These trolls are some truly difficult people.
- It is your suffering that brings them pleasure, so the best thing you can do is ignore them.
While our unique community moderation tools generally take care of these folks in short order it is still important that you remember:
Follow us below the orange troll-trap for more.
If you've spent any time reading comments on articles or even youtube videos you know this: The internet can be one giant steaming cesspool of ugly. From Gamergate to gawking over some actress' eyelift gone awry people can be spectacularly mean online. One of the first things I most appreciated about Daily Kos when I started poking around during the 2008 primary season was how civil most of the discourse appeared. Yes, people were arguing politics (and little did I know about the great pie wars I'd just missed) but I didn't see the level of invective, racism and filth found on other sites, many of which are now disabling comments altogether.
Let's start by getting our definitions straight:
A troll is not somebody who disagrees with you.
An Internet troll is someone who comes into a discussion and posts comments designed to upset or disrupt the conversation. Often, it seems like there is no real purpose behind their comments except to upset everyone else involved. Trolls will lie, exaggerate, and offend to get a response.
Both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others. Sadists just want to have fun ... and the Internet is their playground!
What I didn't see when I first arrived was how the unique community moderation system at Daily Kos deals with the deliberately divisive. The ugly comments were still there, but just "hidden" from the casual reader and available only for viewing by Trusted Users.
What's a Trusted User?
A trusted user is a community member who has been here for at least three months and who has built up enough mojo in the form of Recommendations to their diaries and/or comments to be given the community moderation tool of Hide-rating. A Trusted User can quickly lose their community moderation ability if they wield this power unwisely.
Objectionable comments are never deleted, though to a new user it may seem as if they've been scrubbed from the site. They have simply been hidden so that only Trusted Users can see them. In this way more casual visitors to the site are spared wading through the swamps to access the discussion at hand. If you accumulate enough hide-rates or HR's over time you will find yourself banned, or as the locals call it, bojo (for boney mojo, i.e. the skull-and-crossbones image that appears on the banned user's profile page).
Administrative control of trolls is strong on this site, with the succinct official site policy summary of "Don't Be a Dick" (DBAD). If you're not sure what constitutes "being a dick" around here, just read kos' Community Guidelines. You're allowed to argue passionately and vehemently so long as you follow these guidelines. Many trolls and spammers are taken out immediately by software developer elfling's robo-crew, who have been carefully taught how to sniff out the most egregious offenders. What admin can't accomplish the community must, by HR'ing or ignoring, and by not arguing, engaging or giving mojo in the form of tips and recommends.
Here's a handy primer on internet trolling, in case you're still not sure who the trolls are:
"Trolling is not a game of solitaire.
The only way to beat a troll is to not play the game."
You will notice that commenting has been disabled for this video.
Another study from Stanford found:
By studying four large comment-based news communities, we find that negative feedback leads to significant behavioral changes that are detrimental to the community. Not only do authors of negatively-evaluated content contribute more, but also their future posts are of lower quality, and are perceived by the community as such.
Interestingly, the authors that receive no feedback are most likely to leave a community.
So there it is again: Ignore the trolls!
How to Ignore a Troll:
(This may be harder than it looks, because everyone has an opinion.)
If you run across a trollish comment or diary, treat it as you would a puddle of unidentified bodily fluids on a sidewalk outside a hospital. Walk around it, don't stop to look at it, don't stand around discussing it, and whatever you do, don't stick your nose in it!
A Trusted User or Admin will be along soon to clean up the hazardous waste.
Remember:
If it seems like someone is just trying to piss you off, it's because they are. Getting upset or angry fuels their narcissm, sadism or psychopathy.
You will not change this person's mind. Resist the temptation to try.
You will not convince them of the superiority of your argument.
No matter how smart or knowledgeable you are, you can't win with a troll.
Trying to talk sense into a troll just makes you look stupid.
What to do?
Have a good laugh and move on. Do not reply to or engage the troll.
Do not tip or Rec the diary or comment. Doing so can cost you your rating abilities.
Notify an admin, the Help Desk, or a Trusted User.
There are plenty of excellent diaries and wonderful discussions to take part in. Find one.
If you are a Trusted User: Hide Rate the comment with a brief explanation from the Community Guidelines if it isn't completely obvious. Otherwise move on without attempting to reason with or argue with the offender, thereby depriving the troll of its life-force.
Trusted Users can also ignore trolls by going to Edit Profile/Comment Preferences and underneath where you enter your signature line click NO for Display Hidden Comments.
Trolls Unique to Daily Kos
Keep in mind the site's motto and purpose:
Electing more and better Democrats
(and Don't Be a Dick in your interactions)
The Concern troll: Pretends to be on your side while arguing against actually acting like a progressive/liberal/Democrat because it might backfire or upset someone (i.e., a Republican). If you see a user reply with Thank you for your "concern" they are pointing out this form of trolling.
The Campaign troll: Usually attached to a single candidate (or more rarely an issue, say, a gun control bill) and never interacts anywhere that isn't related to that candidate or legislation. These are one of the two most likely to be paid trolls, the other being the corporate shill, which other than spammers is quite rare. (h/t Meteor Blades)
Obvious Outsider, aka the "You people" troll: Seen on a regular basis but with the lifespan of a fruitfly, this one drips condescension for the site, its members, and the left in general. You will know them by the explicit or implied insults, such as "You people are in a bubble"....."you libtards"....."you lefties".....etc. Apparently they don't know -- or care -- that this is a site dedicated to electing more and better Democrats.
The RWNJ: Spouts Republican talking points as indisputable fact. Claims are easily traceable to everything from Fox News to Alex Jones. These also have a remarkably short life span.
The Sneaker Troll: Plays nice until a bit of protective mojo is built up then lets it rip. Identified by community howls of, Why isn't this user bojod already? May drop in on community diaries in order to replenish mojo. Known to show up in dead threads where it can get away with more shit-stirring.
The Whack-a-Troll:
This is a free-wheeling, equal-opportunity disrupter who will jump from thread to thread and diary to diary until he manages to provoke someone. Trusted users generally catch on to this act rather quickly, so you can just ignore comments that are deliberately rude and inflammatory. (h/t nomandates)
The Threadjacker: This may be a single-issue troll who brings his pet outrage into unrelated threads, or he may be unable to restrain his animosity for certain users wherever he may find them. If you're wondering how a diary about subject A just devolved into an acrimonious snipe-fight over entirely unrelated Subject B, there's usually a threadjacker behind it.
The Sympathy Troll: See: The Nephew. While not always easy to spot, this troll uses up a tremendous amount of community resources, including money and offers of offline physical assistance. While kossacks tend to be kind-hearted and helpful, discretion and common sense are advised lest you get sucked into a massive and potentially expensive or even dangerous psychodrama.
Sockpuppets & Zombies: Long-time users all know of at least one; but like Beetlejuice and Rumplestilsken the mere use of their name may revive them from the dead, so please don't specifically mention any! Sockpuppets are illegally co-existing alter-egos, since you are only allowed one identity on dkos. Zombies are banned users back from the dead to taunt their enemies one more time. For someone who has just arrived on the scene they show an astonishing grasp of community norms, ancient feuds and internecine squabbles and know exactly whose buttons to push.
The Contrarian Martyr Troll:
Shows up to present what they claim is an "opposing" view that they say isn't discussed or considered on the site because we're just a left wing echo chamber. Then when they get shouted down, they claim to be persecuted. The fact that no one agrees with them and that their views are heavily criticized is "proof" that the community is doctrinaire and close-minded.
As for dealing with them, back during the DADT debates, many LGBT users tried to adopt a "do not reply" policy for known trolls. The first user to reply to the troll's comment would post simply "Do not reply" or "DNR" with no text. Other users could then just rec the DNR comment. (h/t Fog City John)
The Purity Troll: This one's liberal credentials on a single issue (or on every issue) are impeccable, beyond reproach, and always superior to yours. You'll never measure up, so don't even try. Move along.
The Pragmatic Progressive troll: In a mirror image of the Purity troll, this one is condescending towards all forms of activism because in the "real world" of politics, America is a center-right nation, progressive policies will never pass, liberals just don't get it, etc. So we shouldn't even try to move the Overton Window, since it's just so "impractical." Works to depress everything from liberal enthusiasm to getting out the vote. (h/t Fog City John)
The 'Splainer troll: These show up in diaries by/about groups who suffer some form of discrimination to mansplain/whitesplain/etc. why the privileged group are the real victims and so the diaried group should quit whining. (h/t belinda ridgewood)
The Conspiracy Theorist: (CT) While not always a troll in that some actually and sincerely believe this stuff, this Pocket Einstein just knows that everything is part of a greater conspiracy and he's the only one smart enough to root it out and explain it to us rubes. Since conspiracy theories are expressly prohibited by kos, ignore or Hide Rate this user with a brief explanation that CT is expressly forbidden, and move on before you get sucked into the contrails or lose a kidney or something.
So there's our list. I'm sure you have more! Join us in the comments, and, as always:
Got questions? Comments? Ideas? We're all ears-- just join us in the comments. And remember: Since this diary is for New Users no question is too basic, no matter how long you've been here!
For More Helpful Diaries, Check Out Our Archives:
Everyone is encouraged to review some of the previously written goodness that survives here in the DKos archives, going back to WNU founder ek hornbeck and including the list of teaching diaries republished to our Group page.