There’s another type of Troll:
The “gang” troll. This type of troll runs with a group of other people (usually all from another posting site). They like to play a game. They will bait you, and then when you take them apart in little pieces in your response, the rest of the “gang” will show up to defend the first.
This troll showed up before the 2000 election; again in 2004; again in 2006; and it increased in 2008; 2010 and 2012.
How to catch them: Watch for an outrageous statement, followed by another post supporting the first statement; but only after somebody has countered the first statement. Keep track of the screen names - and after awhile, you will find a constant repeat of several names over and over again. Those people are the “gang” .. and the quickest way to stop them is: DON’T REPLY TO THE FIRST STATEMENT.
It works every time.
Why: Because the “game” is to get you to go ballistic so they can have a good laugh about it.
Don’t forget to mention the “concern” trolls.
The game is to hijack the thread when someone is caught.
The gang comes in and the thread devolves into a back and forth over some minutiae, causing others to lose interest and stop reading.
It's like when liberals talk over a conservative on TV. It's not about making counter arguments, it's about wasting the conservative's time so he can't get his message out.
The gang swarms a dangerous thread so that others get frustrated and leave it before the message can resonate.
-PJ
That type of troll does not actually need to have a group with them. It can be one person with multiple screen names. Saw a poster here recently respond praising their own post as if someone else had said it. This person outed his own self. I never did see them on that thread again.