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As an “experienced” moderator (Geez, do I have experience at it over the years) I’m going to state quite emphatically that ignoring them is not always the right way to deal with them.

Dealing with trolls depends on several things, and it takes someone as a moderator who is capable of being quick on his or her feet - well, in thinking anyway.

If you’re moderating a site, such as this one for instance, you have to take into account the rules of the site and the intent of the poster. Some people really AREN’T trolls, but ignorant people (I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean they are not educated on a subject or they have been MISeducated with the wrong information.)

In my time with this stuff, I moderated boards that were related to things like UFOs, alien abductions, conspiracy theories, urban legends... you name it. We “entertained” MANY ideas.

Throughout my time doing this I reminded myself often that I am a skeptic, but I kept an open mind, with a bent to reading the material and looking at sources of information. (Something that few people really do).

We “hired” moderators (we didn’t pay anyone, they were volunteers, but we had them give us reasons why we should give them the privileges of moderating the site) and we tried to have people who have various points of view but could still, OBJECTIVELY examine ideas and material and interject opinion or information to help a thread along.

Over the years we had several who stated that “Moderators and Admins should NOT have an opinion” - and usually this was coming from those who trolled.

Sometimes I wonder why more “mods” here don’t have an “opinion” - but I can see advantages for them rarely posting one as well.... still... we didn’t dissuade our folks from posting exactly what they thought.

So, it comes down to many, many things. There’s really no one way to deal with trolls.

However, I will state that there is ONE way that always works... at least for awhile.

That way is: Ban them, IP ban them and make sure everyone knows who they are.

I don’t believe in “Anonymity”. I use my real name, and I have no problem is standing by the things I say here on FR or other sites. I take my time on “due diligence” for 90% of what I write (sometimes I get in a hurry, sometimes I might not elaborate on something ENOUGH and leave out information which makes people think I’m saying something other than I am saying. Sometimes, like this one, I talk way too much.

But I know in almost every thing I write, I’m RIGHT.

Trolls are a sneaky, snaky lot though and always labeling someone as a troll isn’t right either. Sometimes they aren’t really trolls.

(One BIG key to trolls is they make snarky comments, play “dumb” when the answer is quite obvious, and they almost ALWAYS, ALWAYS turn out to be someone who is a “I Hate Bush” type.... I’ve found in dealing with them since 1982 that many of them hated Bush, Reagan, they hate the Current Bush, or they will go back ‘in time’ and “hate” someone else, Nixon, or some other “Right wing” person. They will invariably go after Right Wingers as “racist” or “globalists”. They will, finally, when losing an argument, if they get deeply enough into a debate, of calling you a name.)

Over the years, I’ve taken to calling them names right off. I use the phrase “Dumbasses” to describe Liberals, Leftists, Socialists and Trolls.... so if you see me make that, then I’m using it in that vein.