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Daffy Duck · 11-03-2009, 02:53 AM

It is hard when there's no moderators, but it's possible to still be a good forum.

Since I started using forums many years ago, I've found the best way to handle trolls is to treat them as if they're not a troll. When they say something negative, you ignore it or don't respond. Trolls are like most people... they want attention, and you can train them how to act by only praising them (giving them attention) when they do something positive.

Learning how to deal with online trolls has helped me offline. It taught me how to not get caught up emotionally because of what other people do. I'm able to stay very calm, even in the midst of chaos. Some of my friends have commented that it's one of the things they admire about me.

Your other option is to completely ignore them as if they're not there, and that's an okay thing to do, depending on the circumstance. If everyone hates a troll, then it made sense to me to usually just ignore them. But if I was the only one who had a problem with a troll, it meant one of two things. One, that they were actually being nasty and no one had picked up on it yet. It was usually just a matter of time before they got themselves banned. Or two, that they just didn't get along with me for some reason, and I was able to remedy that most of the time by changing my approach with them (usually by praising their positive aspects).

Something funny happened once or twice. The troll was so confused by how I was always nice to them that they decided to leave the forum completely! When all you're looking for is conflict, it makes no sense to stay around people who are nice to you, does it?

11-03-2009, 02:53 AM	#3 (permalink)
Daffy Duck Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3,001	It is hard when there's no moderators, but it's possible to still be a good forum. Since I started using forums many years ago, I've found the best way to handle trolls is to treat them as if they're not a troll. When they say something negative, you ignore it or don't respond. Trolls are like most people... they want attention, and you can train them how to act by only praising them (giving them attention) when they do something positive. Learning how to deal with online trolls has helped me offline. It taught me how to not get caught up emotionally because of what other people do. I'm able to stay very calm, even in the midst of chaos. Some of my friends have commented that it's one of the things they admire about me. Your other option is to completely ignore them as if they're not there, and that's an okay thing to do, depending on the circumstance. If everyone hates a troll, then it made sense to me to usually just ignore them. But if I was the only one who had a problem with a troll, it meant one of two things. One, that they were actually being nasty and no one had picked up on it yet. It was usually just a matter of time before they got themselves banned. Or two, that they just didn't get along with me for some reason, and I was able to remedy that most of the time by changing my approach with them (usually by praising their positive aspects). Something funny happened once or twice. The troll was so confused by how I was always nice to them that they decided to leave the forum completely! When all you're looking for is conflict, it makes no sense to stay around people who are nice to you, does it? Last edited by Daffy Duck; 11-03-2009 at 03:02 AM.