14 Characteristics of a Classic Internet Troll

What exactly is an internet troll? How can you spot one with any degree of certainty? Aren't they just people who express a contrary opinion? Who are you to call anyone a "troll"?

To answer such questions, and to help you detect the presence of that peculiar species of creature called the internet troll, no matter where they may be slithering, here's a list of Key Troll Attributes commonly found in the wild. When you see someone engaged in any, or a combination of, these behaviors, they are almost certainly the entity known as the troll.

(1) Posts inflammatory comments, not to engage in serious conversation, but to "grief" or annoy an online community.

(2) An obvious glee and elated satisfaction is aroused in them when people join the fight and reply to their deliberately disruptive comments.

(3) Copies and pastes large blocks of text to appear scholarly or to exhaust the readers of a topic thread, thus driving away legitimate posters of sincere comments. These blocks of text are often recycled and appeared on a variety of threads.

(4) Tends to avoid complimenting people who disagree with them, even when those in opposition to the troll make some valid points.

(5) Shuns any conciliatory statements like "You have obviously spent a lot of time studying this subject, and I'm not certain how to reply to your last remark, so let's shake hands, part as friends, and move on."

(6) Never ends a debate with "Thanks for the discussion" or "I'll consider what you say" or any other finalizing remark, because they love arguing and disrupting civilized conversations.

(7) Keeps an argument going a lot longer than a normal person would, to the point where people will start asking a moderator to turn off comments or block the troll. However, sometimes people will do this just because they can't tolerate contrary opinions and are angry at seeing them posted to a thread they enjoyed reading. The mark of a troll is to keep hammering away at a point in an obsessive manner.

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so you can read the text.

(8) Acts innocent when called a troll, and states "I'm just stating my opinion, and you can't handle it", but the reality is they are not innocent, they are trouble-makers who only post inflammatory remarks, rarely contributing any real value or good information to a discussion.

(9) Starts saying filthy words and making wild accusations when confronted. Their hostility and provoking rhetoric escalates when you ask them if they are simply trying to stir up trouble.

(10) Will often preface their attack with a back-handed compliment. "I know you are well-intentioned, but stick to issues affecting our local community" or "you seem like an educated person, but..." 

(11) Will bring up issues they are angry about, no matter what the topic of a thread is. 

For example, they will say things like "sounds like the Open Source movement" or "reminds me of Tea Baggers" or "you're sounding like a typical commie libtard now" or "you sound like some irrational Creationism crank" or "you atheists are all the same", or whatever it is they're hostile toward, in an attempt to hijack the thread and start a new argument within the current debate.

(12) When people realize or are warned that the person is a troll, and the troll is then ignored, and nobody will respond to anything they say, the trolling person tends to give up and go to some other thread. They crave attention and they try to get it by being obnoxious in a juvenile, or pseudo-scholarly, manner.

(13) They use a nickname, are anonymous, or use a real sounding name, but do not embed a link to their blog or website in their name, as is common in comment forms. This lack of accountability enables them to get away with saying anything they want, to anybody, and even tell outright lies about what they saw or heard.

(14) They, when not confronted or exposed sufficiently, will seek to have the last word in an online discussion. When nobody responds to their last troll comment, they will proudly proclaim that they "won" what they fantasize as a "contest" or "battle".

Blogocombat means friendly online discussions, as well as heated debates. I use the term "blogocombat" to refer to both. But where the rubber meets the road is when you have to deal with the internet troll.

There are no winners or losers in a civilized discussion. There are just people who express their thoughts and people who learn a bit more about a subject and improve their presentation of ideas by engaging in conversations.

"Trolling" has nothing to do with sincere expression of contrary opinions or stubborn dedication to an idea. Trolling is all in how the comments are phrased and how the comment poster behaves, especially when confronted.

You know it's an immature attention-getting scheme when they respond quickly to every single comment posted in response to theirs, and their rhetoric tends to escalate in intense hatred, absurd rambling, and malicious provocation.

See also "Amanda Chapel Anti-blogosphere Team Troll".

Pictured above: my car loaded 

with the devices necessary for 

detecting and smashing internet trolls.

Click on images for 

larger view to read the text.

25 Reasons Why People Don't Post Comments

Here are my speculations as to why people don't reply to your online content (blog posts, Twitter tweets, G+ articles, etc.), based on my observations and my research on this topic. I think this is the most complete listing you'll find on the internet.

(1) Inarticulate Not being good at expressing themselves, they don't even try to respond, though they have strong opinions.

(2) Fear They're afraid of saying something that others may consider stupid or extreme or silly.

(3) Busy People are generally in a hurry when they're online. They don't have time to read a post, think deeply about it, mentally formulate a valid response, then post that comment at every article they read.

(4) Lazy Some people are under-achievers. They do just enough to get by. If it's not mandatory, they prefer to skip it. Posting a comment is work. They don't like work. They like leisure.

(5) Dumbfounded You have stated something so completely, so intelligently, so funny, or so profoundly, they are astonished, at a loss for words, and cannot think of an adequate reply that would add anything to what you said. They think that anything they have to say would only detract from your brilliant article and look bad in comparison to what you wrote.

(6) Lurking Some people have no intention of interacting with anybody online. For a variety of reasons, they prefer to just read and move on, collecting data, absorbing information, which they may then disseminate in the offline world.

(7) Passive There are sluggish people in this world who have been trained by TV, spectator sports, and Hollywood to passively soak up entertainment. They don't participate, they are sponges.

(8) Drunk Some folks are wasted when they read your post, and you should be glad they refrain from posting a comment on your articles.

(9) Shy There are people who don't like the spotlight. If they posted a comment, they're afraid that would attract unwanted attention to themselves.

(10) Non-argumentative Some people feel that by posting a comment, it would be an invitation for someone else to start a debate with them, and they hate arguing, or are not very good at heated discussions. It's similar to those who fear public speaking.

(11) Not smart I want to say this nicely: some people are not intelligent enough to understand your content, and don't want the whole world to see that.

(12) Irrelevant To some people, your content is not relevant to them, so they may read it, or skim over it, but are not very interested in the topic, and thus, refrain from adding to the conversation.

(13) Wrong field If someone is not educated, trained, or experienced in the specific field related to your article, there is no point in them trying to saying something, or pretending to know something, on this topic.

(14) Bad presentation You may have written your article in a manner that offends the person, so they punish you by not posting any comment. You were rude, extreme, angry, vulgar, haughty, arrogant, prideful, condescending, silly, dopey, or too intellectual in your style.

(15) Controversial Your article is too inflammatory, negative, political, religious, sexual, edgy, or radical for them. They may admire you for expressing your opinion, and may secretly agree with you, but don't want to interact with the article, for a variety of reasons. For example, fear that their employer will read their comment and not like it.

(16) Non-interactive You never or rarely respond to comments, and they see that as being a reason to not interact with your articles. Can you blame them?

(17) Comment begging You plead with people to post comments, and your neediness turns them off. You sound too desperate. They interpret it as fishing for compliments or an insecure seeking for approval.

(18) 3rd party comment apps Count me in as one of those people who can't stand Disqus, LiveFyre, Haloscan, and other third party comment management applications. They don't want to take the time to sign up and create a password for yet another account. Using such services will severely limit the quantity of comments you receive.

(19) Login Many people don't want to login to post a comment. If you forcet them to login with their Facebook, Twitter, Google, or other account, you are placing an obstacle in their path. Just require a valid email address to post comments.

(20) CAPTCHA There's really no valid reason to force people to interpret a bunch of squiggly letters or numbers, then enter them correctly in a text entry box. Just moderate your comments to filter out spam and abuse comments.

(21) Anonymous trolls welcome If you allow anonymous comments, with no link to the comment poster's blog, this will turn people off, and also could cause them to fear retaliation, since most nickname and anonymous comment posters tend to be trolls, abusers, and jerks.

(22) Impersonal Your post has no personality. It's too scholarly, inhuman, textbooky. The cold, aloof style leaves them with no motivation to interact with you.

(23) Elitist You have an insider group that interacts with you via comments, but they feel like an outsider. They don't want to be seen as an intruder. They're afraid of interrupting what seems to be a party to which they were not specifically invited.

(24) Unasked Some people will post comments if you ask for reactions. Not beg for comments, but simply say "what do you think?" or "what have you experienced in this regard?" or "what do you recommend I do in this situation?"

(25) Infrequent posts You don't publish posts very often, so people think you aren't really into engaging in conversations, you just post sporadic articles to build a body of self-originated content.

6 Special Breeds of Trolls on GooglePlus

Here are six categories of trolls on G+, Facebook, etc. There are many more types, but these are common right now:

 1. Gotcha Trolls

2. Real Name Policy Trolls

3. Reverse Trolls

4. Concerned Trolls

5. Covert Filth Trolls

6. Diplomatic Trolls

Many of them are using nicknames and weird avatars that are not photos of their faces. Have you encountered any of these unique types of trolls?

Fake name trolls have slipped past the G+ radar somehow. Do not mention this fact, act like you don't notice that aspect of their methodology. A good way to expose them is to say "You sound like a troll" or "Do you call anyone who disagrees with you -- a troll?"

Blogocombat is a term I use to describe both civil conversations and troll smashing. Blogocombat doesn't mean engaging in long arguments with trolls, for one of the best ways to deal with a troll is to ignore them, refuse to reply to anything they say. They crave attention. Don't gratify that wish.

Trolls think discussions are things with "winners" and "losers". When you stop debating them, they think you "gave up" due to their superior rhetoric, infallible logic, and indisputable "facts". Don't let them drag you into endless argumentation. The moment you realize you're interacting with a troll, leave the conversation. Expose them and move on.

Now let's look at these commonly encountered trolls that lurk on Google+.

(1) Gotcha Troll = Poses a question or makes a statement that is inflammatory to lure opinionated people in who will post a contrary viewpoint.

After this troll and his buddies argue with the person who disagrees with them, they give up, and their last resort, to save face, is to call the post "troll bait" and the person with a contrary view a "troll".

(2) Real Name Policy Troll = Relentlessly attacks the GooglePlus Real Name Policy, accuses Google of being "intolerant" or "against freedom to choose an identity", and will not listen to any other viewpoint.

Exhibits a distinct lack of sympathy or sensitivity to people who have been stalked and abused by nickname and anonymous users.

They get angry with the "you can't wear a Halloween mask to hide your identity in a bank" analogy and emphasize the fringe exceptions to authenticity, such as whistleblowers, people who don't want their boss to read their political comments, or those who live in oppressive countries.

(3) Reverse Troll = Keeps asking innocent sounding questions, in a nice way that is atypical for most trolls, but is trying to derail a conversation (threadjacking), or trying to get attention, not by being abrasive, but by acting dumb and needy. They are the reverse of a regular troll, who tries to get attention by being hateful, accusatory, and filthy.

(4) Concerned Troll = Pretends to agree with a post, but expresses "concerns" ("I agree with what you're saying, but what about ....?") that are designed to disrupt the thread and make people argue about an off topic issue or get them to abandon their opinion, due to the "validity" of these "concerns".

(5) Covert Filth Troll = Will post innocent sounding comments that contradict or mock what someone posts, but remains relatively mild and civil -- until you confront them with their true trollish goals. When you test them by posting "you sound like a troll", they show their true colors by calling you filthy names and accusing you of being a troll (similar to the Gotcha Troll).

(6) Diplomatic Troll = Acts like they are the only mature and rational person in the conversation. Will invite you to expound further on your views supporting the "intolerance" and "disrespect" you are showing to humanity by not agreeing with them.

For example, if you oppose pseudonyms and anonymous users, they call it "intolerance" and "disrespect for a person's right to choose a fake identity".

They will disregard your mention of there being exceptions, and will focus on the part of your position that they don't like, trying to make you look extreme, fanatical, or irrational.

By name calling, and saying they hope to "win you over", they express their own intolerance and disrespect of opposing views.

If you question an authority figure they like and voted for, they accuse you of being anarchist, or hating all authority in general. Their pseudo professorial demeanor is a disguise to trick people into thinking they are being sincere and seeking to reconcile, while they insult and provoke.

Block them and, if they post abusive comments on your posts, delete their comments.

Go to the Options Menu tool of a specific post (see circled down arrow at far right). Click on "Report or Delete a Comment". Then you'll see an X to the right of each comment. Click the X Delete Comment. Then you'll see a strikethrough line going through it. When you refresh the page, the comment is gone.

Click 4chan image BELOW 
for LARGER view. 

You may then be able to read it.

Photos from Schmoeger Park

Here are some photos from the past few days.

Vaspers at Schmoeger Park.

Love of a Lily.

Lemon Chiffon Cone Flower (Echinacea).

Monitoring the Surveillance Camera.

Yellow Tubing.

Around baseball diamonds at Schmoeger Park.

Buddy on the Schmoeger Park Bridge.

Snake Vine.

At Schmoeger Park.

Please Curb Your Dog.

Butterfly on Flower.

Buddy Polices the Property.

White and Rust (Shed).

Buddy Looks Out Over Schmoeger Park Bridge.

Wood and Iron Bridge at Schmoeger Park.

Waiting for the Never.

Weeds vs. Baseball Bench.

Schmoeger Park Hedgeapples.

Sky Portal at Schmoeger Park Playground.

Metallic Orange Swirl.

Yellow Flower Claw.

Branding and Sports.

Steven E Streight PROMO video

I did this short introduction video for my Steven E. Streight Peoria CitiSlicker profile page.

Peoria CitiSlicker is a newly launched social media site, created by my friend Ron Wallace. It's sort of a Facebook for the local Peoria area.

As I really don't like talking head videos where a person is staring into the video camera and blabbing on and on, I made this brief with a static photographic image. A striking departure from my dynamic, pulsating, kaleidoscopically intense music videos.

Treat Every Customer As If They Were Your ONLY Customer

Since each customer is extremely important, and a person in a store is generally close to a buying decision, far closer than your average potential buyer on a list, you simply must treat each customer As If They Were Your ONLY Customer.

 Yes, you heard me.

Like they were your ONLY customer.

Someday, they may be.

Treat each person you meet as if they were the only other person on Earth, and you'll be amazed at how kind and forgiving and helpful you might be. Use the same process of imagination on your customers.

Treat each customer as though they were the most important event in your life at that moment. Pay total attention to every word and nuance and body language expression. Try to get at the core problem or the real meaning behind a compliment or request.

Identify with customer problems, expectations, desires.

Remember how you want to be treated at the shops you yourself frequent. Keep in mind the euphoric thrill that comes from treating others kindly and being treated kindly by others.

You do that and you'll be providing astonishing, viral buzzy customer service.

Stop hanging out with fellow business associates in pity parties and get down and "dirty" with the folks who put money in your pocket.

Customer service is probably the #1 vulnerability of all your competitors, the bigger they are, the more they may suck at it.

Charge forward, smiling, advising, both in the store and on social media. Provide expertise, product model guidance, differentiation from competitors, strong reasons why customers should be loyal to you.

Always keep in the forefront of your consciousness how lousy you have been treated in some stores and places of business. Recall the insults, mediocrity, incompetence, uncaring attitudes. Burn them in your brain, without anger, but with zeal to do the opposite.

Listen to your fans. Pay attention to the needs, complaints, hatreds, fondnesses, questions, praise, and problems your customers express online and in person.

Take their input very very very seriously. Let their attitudes dethrone your pet perceptions. Identify with them and meet them genuinely in their valley of need.

It is far easier and cheaper to properly serve and upsell current customers -- than it is to acquire new customers. Business has been seduced into the more exciting and flashy customer acquisition strategies, packages, and programs, while neglecting their most valuable asset: the customer base.

Too often, business people try to increase sales and attract customers with reduced pricing or special events. These are band-aids, they don't address the root problem.


Want to increase sales? Improve customer service.

Want more new customers? Improve customer service.

Want more public goodwill? Improve customer service.

Want more store traffic? Improve customer service.

And this means training and enforcing effective customer relations with every employee, from the CEO to the janitor. Every contact a customer makes with any aspect pf or person in your organization is an opportunity to showcase your service and corporate culture.

Start with the customer closest at hand and work your way outward.

Str8 Sounds eternal tornado VIDEO