illinialex24
Smash Hero
Link to original post: [drupal=1796]Smart Trolls Don't Get Infracted: How To Enter and Explanation of Tactics[/drupal]
Now, trolling is an art and a skillful art at that. You have some people who are the obvious trolls and do something along the lines of posting about their genitalia, or the like, and try to draw as much attention to themselves as possible foolishly. However, there are many other ways to troll, often which give you little or oftentimes no punishment whatsoever, and they are very effective.
This is where intelligence comes in, outsmart the person you are trolling and you can essentially manipulate him like a pawn, read emotions and you can cause an enemy to create his own weaknesses, often causing him to lose respect or any positions of power he may have had.
I created a usergroup you can find here essentially showing intelligent trolls and the affect they can have. To join, please post how you have used intelligent trolling (possibly through one of these techniques) effectively and I will let you in.
Go here to join:
http://www.smashboards.com/group.php?groupid=1241
There are three main methods for an accomplished troll, IE, someone who thinks about how he is going to do this before hand. Each has its own uses and is best in different situations.
1. Destroying a Reputation
2. Sowing Havoc
3. All out Blitz
Pros:
Cons:
Essentially, this works causing your target to lash out, causing you and others to be viewed as much better by comparison. However, it is tricky. The target has to either have a delicate sense of pride or have difficulty keeping emotion out of his decisions, both bad qualities in a leader, which you then exploit. Sometimes, even if he doesn't say something especially damaging, you show authority that he is vulnerable and a weak link and just by testing him you actually succeed.
The Process
After you have selected your target and the area which he is powerful, you need to become acquainted there if you are not already known. Being a recurring user has both benefits and weaknesses, while being a beginner is likewise. Being an old user cause you to have a reputation, which can both make others believe you more easily but also make others more aware of the stunts you will pull, and cause them to see through your attempts much quicker. Being a beginner causes the risk that people will not take you seriously, however, it will be very difficult for others to see your true intentions.
Now, once you have properly set up your situation, you need to find opportunities to take advantage of. Find an a part of the board or area you are posting in where he makes a post which you can successfully argue against, and run with it. Post almost no direct attacks, mainly facts showing why he is wrong, and oftentimes get support. Throw in a few slightly obvious jabs that could be taken as fact and you will soon be much farther than you expect.
He should be restrained in the first encounter, but report him to authority that is on your side (get to know the patterns of the authority figures before hand) whenever he has small to medium outbursts. Show why he is not improving the board and considering you just beat him in a discussion, it makes him look even worse.
After that, continue finding opportunities while contributing slightly to the board. Don't vanish or else you'll be viewed in a negative light, but help around often but minimally and you will soon be known. Exploit the situation until he starts to burst, when he makes more aggressive attempts against you, let others report it. When the going is obvious, you don't wanna be the reporter often, he will get in trouble but you don't wanna look like you solely have it out for him. You will be known to be opposed to him, but if your viewed as opportunistic, you will have difficulty fixing that reputation and soon become viewed as a leech. Soon, his reputation will start to crumble and the area or board will start to change. Direct it and make sure that you affect it so you can cause him to directly lose power as the will of the people change, make yourself more known and choose any opportunity to be a moderator or leader on the boards. Soon, you will have weakened his reputation and his pride will soon do the rest. Stand back more so at this point while he self destructs, but still post more vague attacks at him once in a while.
Pros:
Cons:
This is a very different approach and it is a much higher risk/reward kind of attack, it often has a very permanent affect and drags you into it. It takes a lot of time and dedication and it takes a true master to do a large scale operation unscathed.
The Process
Much of this operation is working off the dynamics of a group, so doing this is generally very difficult and useless to explain, however, there are a few guiding rules on how to do it.
Try to start the actual problems but try not to get too wrapped up. Oftentimes this is the undoing of the user in question.
Try to find a sensitive issue and exploit it, however, this need not be the case. Find anything that might affect the board and run with it, sometimes, if its a small issue (like spam) that is repeated continuously can be a much more sensitive issue than you would think.
Take a lower profile, if possible, so you can direct the situation once it gets out of hand without the objections from others. Take a lower role early on and you can have a much easier time later.
Pros:
Cons:
This essentially is a quick attack and focuses on strength in numbers and real-time planning, bad planning or too few people can cause it to have little or no impact.
The Process
This one first requires you to find others who are supportive of your cause. Once you have them, create a basic plan and move in. Improvisation is more important than a good beginning plan because you are being bold and obvious, and so anything you do has to be fixed depending on how others react to it.
Start of by focusing on on-topic posts, make sure they have humor and are only marginally off-topic. Get a few others there to think its good what you are doing before making the blitz. Now, you want to make as large an impact as possible while exploiting an issue that will likely involved moderators and admins in the decision. IE, you want many people in the punishment process. Make sure to exploit a weakness in the group, and use the dynamics of the group (IE, elitism, bias, or something else) to show why this was the most viable alternative to spread this message, so you are essentially viewed almost as helping the forum (this is very hard to do). While you are doing so, spread the attempt you wanna do and make sure both are out and bold.
This method rarely works and often times, people just go for a bang. If you don't care and just want to make an impression, the bang is the best, but if you want to continue to have influence afterward, you have to use this carefully.
An Overview
Now, trolling is an art and a skillful art at that. You have some people who are the obvious trolls and do something along the lines of posting about their genitalia, or the like, and try to draw as much attention to themselves as possible foolishly. However, there are many other ways to troll, often which give you little or oftentimes no punishment whatsoever, and they are very effective.
This is where intelligence comes in, outsmart the person you are trolling and you can essentially manipulate him like a pawn, read emotions and you can cause an enemy to create his own weaknesses, often causing him to lose respect or any positions of power he may have had.
I created a usergroup you can find here essentially showing intelligent trolls and the affect they can have. To join, please post how you have used intelligent trolling (possibly through one of these techniques) effectively and I will let you in.
Go here to join:
http://www.smashboards.com/group.php?groupid=1241
The Methods
There are three main methods for an accomplished troll, IE, someone who thinks about how he is going to do this before hand. Each has its own uses and is best in different situations.
1. Destroying a Reputation
2. Sowing Havoc
3. All out Blitz
Destroying a Reputation
Pros:
- Can be very damaging and very effective
- Has a minimal impact on a group of people, affects mainly the target
- Relatively hard to be damaged by it
Cons:
- Small scale
- Time consuming
- You will be in the picture constantly and actively opposed to someone.
- Target must be proud or angry
Essentially, this works causing your target to lash out, causing you and others to be viewed as much better by comparison. However, it is tricky. The target has to either have a delicate sense of pride or have difficulty keeping emotion out of his decisions, both bad qualities in a leader, which you then exploit. Sometimes, even if he doesn't say something especially damaging, you show authority that he is vulnerable and a weak link and just by testing him you actually succeed.
The Process
After you have selected your target and the area which he is powerful, you need to become acquainted there if you are not already known. Being a recurring user has both benefits and weaknesses, while being a beginner is likewise. Being an old user cause you to have a reputation, which can both make others believe you more easily but also make others more aware of the stunts you will pull, and cause them to see through your attempts much quicker. Being a beginner causes the risk that people will not take you seriously, however, it will be very difficult for others to see your true intentions.
Now, once you have properly set up your situation, you need to find opportunities to take advantage of. Find an a part of the board or area you are posting in where he makes a post which you can successfully argue against, and run with it. Post almost no direct attacks, mainly facts showing why he is wrong, and oftentimes get support. Throw in a few slightly obvious jabs that could be taken as fact and you will soon be much farther than you expect.
He should be restrained in the first encounter, but report him to authority that is on your side (get to know the patterns of the authority figures before hand) whenever he has small to medium outbursts. Show why he is not improving the board and considering you just beat him in a discussion, it makes him look even worse.
After that, continue finding opportunities while contributing slightly to the board. Don't vanish or else you'll be viewed in a negative light, but help around often but minimally and you will soon be known. Exploit the situation until he starts to burst, when he makes more aggressive attempts against you, let others report it. When the going is obvious, you don't wanna be the reporter often, he will get in trouble but you don't wanna look like you solely have it out for him. You will be known to be opposed to him, but if your viewed as opportunistic, you will have difficulty fixing that reputation and soon become viewed as a leech. Soon, his reputation will start to crumble and the area or board will start to change. Direct it and make sure that you affect it so you can cause him to directly lose power as the will of the people change, make yourself more known and choose any opportunity to be a moderator or leader on the boards. Soon, you will have weakened his reputation and his pride will soon do the rest. Stand back more so at this point while he self destructs, but still post more vague attacks at him once in a while.
Sowing Havoc
Pros:
- Can be very damaging and very effective
- Affects a group
Cons:
- Medium to large scale
- Time consuming
- Very risky, your reputation is at stake
- Requires a medium to large group that is slightly disconnected
This is a very different approach and it is a much higher risk/reward kind of attack, it often has a very permanent affect and drags you into it. It takes a lot of time and dedication and it takes a true master to do a large scale operation unscathed.
The Process
Much of this operation is working off the dynamics of a group, so doing this is generally very difficult and useless to explain, however, there are a few guiding rules on how to do it.
Try to start the actual problems but try not to get too wrapped up. Oftentimes this is the undoing of the user in question.
Try to find a sensitive issue and exploit it, however, this need not be the case. Find anything that might affect the board and run with it, sometimes, if its a small issue (like spam) that is repeated continuously can be a much more sensitive issue than you would think.
Take a lower profile, if possible, so you can direct the situation once it gets out of hand without the objections from others. Take a lower role early on and you can have a much easier time later.
All out Blitz
Pros:
- Can have a huge impact
- Very small time commitment
- Easy to plan
Cons:
- Requires multiple people (generally)
- Has either a small or large impact, no middle ground
- It is very tricky to successfully use the situation so there is little affect on you
- Moderators or administrators must not be extremely active
This essentially is a quick attack and focuses on strength in numbers and real-time planning, bad planning or too few people can cause it to have little or no impact.
The Process
This one first requires you to find others who are supportive of your cause. Once you have them, create a basic plan and move in. Improvisation is more important than a good beginning plan because you are being bold and obvious, and so anything you do has to be fixed depending on how others react to it.
Start of by focusing on on-topic posts, make sure they have humor and are only marginally off-topic. Get a few others there to think its good what you are doing before making the blitz. Now, you want to make as large an impact as possible while exploiting an issue that will likely involved moderators and admins in the decision. IE, you want many people in the punishment process. Make sure to exploit a weakness in the group, and use the dynamics of the group (IE, elitism, bias, or something else) to show why this was the most viable alternative to spread this message, so you are essentially viewed almost as helping the forum (this is very hard to do). While you are doing so, spread the attempt you wanna do and make sure both are out and bold.
This method rarely works and often times, people just go for a bang. If you don't care and just want to make an impression, the bang is the best, but if you want to continue to have influence afterward, you have to use this carefully.
