Mordax et al

fromlylat:

Alright, folks. Some people may have noticed that I respond to a lot of troll posts. Like, a LOT. This is for a pretty simple reason: if you ignore a troll, they’re not going to stop. They’re never going to stop. They’re just going to keep on switching targets, making new posts, and harassing people. Eventually, this will usually elevate to full on harassment. Why? Well, think about it. When you say something, and people ignore you, aren’t you just going to say it louder? Exactly.

Ignoring trolls does not work. If anything, it’s only harming other people, because they’re either going to change targets, post again, or escalate. That is the opposite of helping.

“But what if everyone ignored them?”
Then they would only escalate. Why? Because if you scream louder, someone will notice.

The only way to stop a troll is to fight, or better yet, educate. Unfortunately, fighting is often your primary, or only, option.

How do you fight a troll? Well, first you beat it to a fine pulp, and then light it on fire, or burn it with acid. Crap, wait, wrong kind of troll.

How do you REALLY fight a troll?
This is a multi-step process.
1. Know your shit. Be educated in the topic you are defending. If you aren’t, do some quick research, or fake it till ya make it.

2. Be firm, but don’t be a dick. I mean it. No death threats, heck, no threats, period. This doesn’t mean to pad your response out with fluff, again, be firm.

3. Win gracefully, but lose even more so. Even if you don’t get a response, don’t dance on their grave, geez. That sets a poor example for everyone else who stumbles across your post. Same goes for losing gracefully. Sometimes, you blow it. It happens. In that case, admit defeat, learn from your mistakes, and carry on. Showing defeat is important. If your partner in the conflict responds, politely remind them that you’re done, and tell them to not be a dick. Will it impact them? Probably not, but it exposes them as an asshole.

There ya go. This post applies to everyone. Save a life, whack a troll. No, seriously. By removing the fun from trolling by proving that you have real actual intelligence that you know how to use, you could literally save a life. I mean, what’s to stop one of these assholes from suicide baiting someone, aside from many, many, reasons to stop trolling.

This has been a PSA by a pissed off otherkin. Have a nice day.