Quote:
Originally Posted by Falcao
There are two rules about dealing with trolls:
1.- Do not feed trolls.
2.- Do rule #1.
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The problem with that comes in when lurkers and new users see the troll's statements unchallenged, and believe that they are accepted by MobileRead members ... even true.
For example, let's say I posted "All [group] people are dirty." Arguing with me about that would, of course, be feeding a troll. But if you don't argue with me, people are likely to believe that you (or MR in general) agree that [group] people are, in fact, dirty. That's not what you want either.
That's why trolling works so well: you can't
not respond without giving silent assent, and of course if you do respond, they've got an answer waiting for you. Dealing with it requires action on the parts of both the users (posting "No, we do NOT think that all [group] people are dirty") and the mods (shutting them down) ... and the latter, of course, starts getting into free speech issues. It's a hairball, and there's no good way to deal with it, only less-bad ways.