Trolling: How to take action against online bullies

Though the Internet offers plenty of fun and op­por­tun­ity, es­pe­cially on social networks, there are also many negative trends, one of which is trolling. Trolls are users whose sole aim is to interfere with others, put people and companies in a bad light and cause as much damage as possible. Read on to find out what exactly trolling is, how you can recognise a troll, and how you can best deal with them.

Anyone par­ti­cip­at­ing in online dis­cus­sions or operating a social media profile as a brand or company has probably at some point ex­per­i­enced trolling whereby in­di­vidu­al users disrupt chats with in­ap­pro­pri­ate comments, verbally attack people, and provoke them. In short: they cause trouble in the comment sections. In harmless cases, these so-called Internet trolls are simply annoying; in the worst case, they might damage a company’s repu­ta­tion, or even spread fake news.

In short, the aim of trolling is to spread chaos. When the phe­nomen­on first emerged, it was primarily about the fun of dis­rup­tion. Peaceful dis­cus­sions were supposed to turn into heated debates through ac­cus­a­tions whereby the content of a debate became a minor matter. In gaming com­munit­ies, the term “griefer” is common: a user de­lib­er­ately sabotages the course of the game without violating any official rules.

Today, trolling is about much more – es­pe­cially when public figures and companies are the focus. Here, the aim is often to damage a repu­ta­tion or spread al­tern­at­ive truths. Examples of suc­cess­ful trolling include the 2016 US election, in which Trump won, pre­sum­ably supported by Russian trolls. Another example is dis­cus­sions on coronavir­us measures, spreading the rumour that Bill Gates was con­trolling vac­cin­a­tions in order to provide people with computer chips. Dis­turb­ingly, what sounds absurd to some can become an al­tern­at­ive truth for others, spread by trolls. Trolling can be in­cred­ibly powerful.

So how can you recognise trolling? Not everyone leaving a negative comment or review is ne­ces­sar­ily a troll. Often it’s simply an angry customer letting off steam. Companies should respond ac­cord­ingly.

With this in mind, it is usually easy to dis­tin­guish a troll from a serious critic based on the following criteria:

1. Comments do not refer to the content of a post or a dis­cus­sion in general, but are merely wild insults, pro­voca­tions, or personal attacks against other users or a company or brand.
2. Quotes and contents are taken out of context, twisted, and claims are made that cannot be sub­stan­ti­ated with a (reputable) source.
3. A single question is asked (re­peatedly), which does not ne­ces­sar­ily have anything to do with the actual dis­cus­sion.
4. Troll messages are often self-centred and ex­ag­ger­ated. For­mu­la­tions begin with “I...” and terms like “never”, “everyone” and su­per­lat­ives can be found. The ex­ag­ger­ated use of capital letters, ex­clam­a­tion marks and question marks are also common, as well as swear words.
5. Trolling of busi­nesses or politi­cians may involve users based abroad. Ac­cord­ingly, the punc­tu­ation, spelling, and grammar will be poor.

A wide­spread and important tip against trolling, es­pe­cially for in­di­vidu­als, is: ‘Don't feed the troll.’ If you become a target of a troll attack on your profile or in the comments section within a dis­cus­sion, do not respond. This may be difficult because we tend to want to justify ourselves or refute a rumour. Keep in mind that trolls are after having a stage for their hate and pro­voca­tion. When they don't get any attention, they often move on.

Un­for­tu­nately, this rule doesn’t always work for busi­nesses and those with public profiles, because ignoring a troll doesn't mean your followers will do so too. And as soon as someone else steps in (in defence of your company), trolling can quickly escalate. So before or if it gets to that point, here are tips for dealing with trolling.

Block the troll. This works across social networks and can be used by private in­di­vidu­als on a website. You can also report comments on Facebook and other platforms as in­ap­pro­pri­ate or offensive and blacklist trolls if necessary.

Write a netiquette for your online profile. These are guidelines on how companies and, above all, users should com­mu­nic­ate and discuss with one another which comments and content are pro­hib­ited, and when such comments and content may be deleted or users excluded from the dis­cus­sion.

With these rules, you gain virtual per­mis­sion to delete in­ap­pro­pri­ate comments. Because deleting content without comment can backfire and fuel a digital frenzy. Above all, serious users, who tend to be in the majority, prefer to know the rules. The rules on deletion of content should be com­pre­hens­ible to them.

If you must reply to a troll, do it once, briefly and based on facts. Because trolling is often about the same topic or the same lie, it may be a good idea to write a detailed and fact-based statement, if necessary, on your website, and to refer to it after an attack by a troll.

Use humour to deal with trolls. Ad­mit­tedly, it’s a fine line and should be well thought through, but above all remain honest and authentic. Used correctly, humour can silence a troll and at the same time convey a sym­path­et­ic image of yourself to the rest of your followers.

It pays to be humble. Admit mistakes and apologise. Sometimes there is a grain of truth to the most bitter troll comment. If this is the case: stand by it, prefer­ably in an official and public manner, as described in tip 3. This lets you take the wind out of the troll's sails and at the same time shows you take user questions and criticism seriously.