Know the Troll

In cyberspace, there is the term "troll" that is given to a person who creates problems on the Internet by trying to start arguments with the intent to upset people. 

How do you recognize a troll? 

Here are a few pointers: 

• A troll may be an individual or group of people who post a flood of comments with unintelligible messages within a short period of time and the victim finds difficulty in following the conversation.  
• Trolls are people who attack reputed entities and individuals by posting derogatory messages that have no foundation in reality. 
• They post junk messages such as comments, that have phishing links,  on articles that can violate the personal information of anyone that clicks these links. 
• They are the people who use different accounts posting the same messages and comments from multiple IP addresses. 
• They are considered as the internet’s version of the real world's aggressors; they will intentionally create conflicts by stating random and provocative opinions and trying to deviate the discussion to an irrelevant subject. 
• They are people who often use curse words with alternate spellings such as using symbols, for example, #@$!, %^&*, instead of the bad word to get around the community safety guidelines. 
• They will intentionally take up an isolated stand by asking naive questions. This tactic is used primarily to deceive the targeted group and manipulates their feelings, which usually triggers emotional responses. 

Another troll behavior is misguiding others by giving wrong advice. This can be a piece of advice that encourages risky behavior. This may come across as “useful” help or advice while actually intended to cause confusion and harm. 

Learning to recognize a troll is helpful so you can avoid them and will help you stay away from conflicts and experiencing pleasant experiences on the internet.