Avoid Flame Wars and Internet Trolls

Everybody Can't Always Get Along, but You Can Avoid Getting Involved

You've seen it before. Perhaps you've jumped on the bandwagon. An innocent, intelligent online conversation is hijacked, waylaid, or just plain interrupted by some evil little interloper's rude, inflammatory remarks, and everybody involved turns on each other like a pack of raving cannibals. Long-forged web friendships are destroyed, bridges are burned, names are called, and sites are abandoned, all for the entertainment of some sniveling little weasel crowing in delight over the destruction he or she has wrought. 

Such is the nature of the infamous Internet flame war. Arguments are inevitable within a virtually boundless community of differing people with differing opinions, but flame wars go above and beyond rationality and are typically started intentionally by a single entity who sets out to start the war. While you may not be able to head off a flame war before it gets out of control, you can at least protect your own online reputation and save a few buddies by not stooping to the same level as the troll who has invaded your Internet haven. Here are a few tips for identifying and avoiding trolls and for keeping your cool if you wind up the unlucky target.

1. Identify the Enemy

Trolls behave in sadly similar fashions. They are those who pop up randomly in the midst of normal online conversation simply to drop inflammatory, disruptive, often off-topic messages meant to draw other community members into a violent verbal confrontation. The more attention and anger they draw from others, the nastier they get. Trolls are distinguishable from those who simply have a strong opinion due to their tendency to resort to name-calling, profanity, and childish arguments in order to continue spurring on the negative onslaught from other members.

2. Don't Feed the Trolls