Once upon a time a troll was just an ugly creature who lived under a bridge and tried to trap the three Billygoats Gruff. Modern trolls hide in chat rooms and forums and post wind-up messages to trap innocent posters into apoplectic replies, or bully them to distress. Sometimes they are cruel attacks on a previous poster, sometimes what seems at first a genuine query which draws the responder into a more and more angry exchange.
How to identify a troll :-
1 The poster may have an unfamiliar name or pseudonym, which has not been used before on the forum. They will probably never post again under that name.
2 If it is in the middle of a thread the post is often on a sensitive subject, or one on which others have already expressed several different opinions. It takes the strongest opinion yet posted, and carries it beyond that to extremes. Or the troll pretends to feel insulted by something innocuous in a previous post and goes on at length about their wounded feelings, hoping to sow discord among other posters.
3 If it starts a new thread, it often takes a provocative stand and challenges readers to disagree. The troll is looking for several different responses, hopefully contradicting each other and starting a good old set-to while they sit back and enjoy the mayhem.
4 The language used is generally too strong and intemperate for the subject and is calculated to hurt and insult.
5 If it smells like a troll, it probably is one. Trust your instinct if you feel you are being wound up.
How to frustrate a troll -:
1 Don't get wound up.
2 Don't get angry with them for being a troll - the poor things must have a very boring life if they have to resort to winding up strangers for entertainment.
3 Don't respond - except possibly for a very short post to indicate to the next unsuspecting reader that you smell a rat.
4 Report the post to Gransnet.
Angela Rayner lashes out and calls Sunak “pint sized loser”.
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