IF YOU SPOT A TROLL, DO THESE THINGS:

• DO NOT comment or PM (exception below)

• Downvote.

• Report.

• Send modmail.

The exception: If you so choose, you can make a warning comment. It should include the instructions above and, preferably, a link to this meta-post. Example:

TROLL ALERT! This seems super troll-y to me, so I'm just here to warn everybody. I may be wrong, so don't take this as gospel. Please don't feed trolls. Instead, downvote and report. I've already sent modmail for mod deliberation. Also, read this: LINK

Downvoting

The lower the karma score, the lower the visibility. The lower the visibility, the lower the impact on the community.

Reporting

When you hit the report button, you'll be given some options. It's best to use the open field at the bottom and write in a clear yet succinct description of why you believe the user is a troll. We mods get so many reports that are blank or are simply marked as "spam." Blank reports are only helpful in that they draw our attention to the content for our judgement. But unless the violation is really obvious, we're not going to know why it was reported. "Spam" only makes sense if the content is obviously spam. "Spam" should not be a generic placeholder report just to get our attention.

Sending Modmail

Same with reporting, make sure we know what you're talking about. Give us usernames, links, copy-paste, screenshots (preferred); basically any evidence or proof to support your claim. "idk, they seem kinda trolly" is a pretty awful argument that may only serve to waste our time and yours.

WHAT'S A TROLL?

1. a mythical, cave-dwelling being depicted in folklore as either a giant or a dwarf, typically having a very ugly appearance. PHOTO

2. a person who makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting. WIKI

Basically, an "internet troll" is somebody that creates some content, whether a post, comment, image, etc, that is meant to deliberately incite an expected or preferred reaction, usually a negative one. This content may appear contrarian or cursory to convention or the point at hand, poorly argued, profane, forced, one-dimensional, narrow-minded, bigoted, etc. You get the idea. They do this for general amusement or sometimes to "make a point"/"take a stand" towards some perceived wrongness in whatever community or system they're participating in. Most trolls are just trying to amuse themselves. What few "concern trolls" there are usually only detract from the issue and harm their case more than promote it. Some trolls use spam/a consistent presence as part of their trolling method.

/r/r4r trolls usually play up the GenderWarz^® angle that reddit loves so much. They hardline their perspective as a man or woman, then make the other side the enemy in the most obviously inflammatory way they can manage. It's the typical "All men are assholes"/"All women are sluts" garbage with a sprinkling of "I'm an obese, black dwarf who is unemployed, and I only date rich, white, fit men over 6'2" because I like to wear heels and be taken care of lol" and the like.

NOT ALL SUCH CONTENT IS TROLLING

As we all know, people are weird. Some of them have really particular preferences or limitations that we don't understand or have the proper context for. If you read somebody's post, and what they are and what they want don't jive in your mind, that doesn't necessarily mean they're trolling.

Shit-posting is not necessarilly trolling. A "shit-post" is a post (or comment) that is of noticeably low quality. It may be a short, hastily constructed statement riddled with bad grammar and spelling often indicating laziness or apathy, or it could be a bunch of stream-of-consciousness/rambling that doesn't quite seem to mesh with the overall topic or conversation and may not offer any clear message or information.

Obviously, jokes and satire are not trolling.

Yeah, but how do we tell?

When you find yourself skeptical about whether or not somebody is trolling, ask yourself some questions:

• How inflammatory is this, really?

• How old is their account?

• How many posts/comments have they made before this?

• If they have a history, does it also seem troll-y?

• Do they have a history of spamming?

• How are they replying to any existing comments?

If it appears that they created an account just to troll, or have a history of behavior that appears troll-y, they may be a troll. It's certainly difficult sometimes, so you're going to have to use your best judgment. And for some of you, you're going to have to use better than your best judgement...

As a rule of thumb, if you are not REALLY CONFIDENT that the user is a troll, just assume that they are not. It's better to engage some potential trolls than to accuse non-trolls of trolling. It's not cool to harass sincere users. This should be a positive and effective place for people to find those they're looking for.

Sidenote: troll trolls should not be confused with trollX and trollY trolls. They just want to have some self-contained fun.

WHAT IS "FEEDING THE TROLL"?

Reacting, either in a negative way, or in any way. Some trolls want to stir the most intense, long-winded inflammatory argument they can manage. Some just want any reaction at all because that gives them more to work with. Sometimes, it's just being able to waste the time of others that gets them the minor alleviation of boredom they're looking for. The most effective means of dealing with a troll is to remove their content and their means of trolling. Barring that ability, simply ignoring them.

WHY DOES ANY OF THIS REALLY MATTER?

A number of reasons:

• Troll posts steal visibility from sincere posts. A single troll post takes up the space of a single sincere post. One more post is pushed off the first page of "new" or "hot," decreasing the visibility of that post. The more troll posts there are, the lower the visibility of sincere posts.

• Troll posts are aggravating. As they are intended to be. Nobody wants to come here for that.

• Trolls posts are a waste of time. As they are intended to be. Trying to figure out whether or not a post is a troll is a waste of time, and falling for trolling is a waste of time.