The troll in folklore (in this case Harry Potter) is an ugly cave-dwelling creature. In the virtual world, a troll is an anti-social who attacks people and their statements to create discord

Who is a troll?

A troll is somewhat like a cyberbully. In the virtual world, he/she angers someone by saying something nasty to provoke a response. There are two types of trolls — those who slight others intentionally while staying anonymous, and those who want to enjoy a bit of harmless controversy at the expense of others. “It’s difficult to define a troll in one sentence. A lot of us have read Harry Potter and identify a troll with a huge green monster. The virtual equivalent of that is the keyboard and mouse, which are the troll’s weapons used to attack someone. He/she uses words to engage people in conflicting statements,” says Calcutta-based Sukanto Mukherjee, an active Tweeter with more than 6,000 followers.

Why do people troll?

“When you troll, you are emotionally engaging with another person, though negatively since eliciting a response is also a crucial part of this exercise. Maybe we all need to engage emotionally but are too scared to do it openly. Trolling provides a platform to vent one’s frustration and the anonymity acts like a safety net,” says psychotherapist and life coach Sangbarta Chattopadhyay.

Anyone can open an anonymous account on a social networking site like Facebook, Twitter or ask.fm, and trolls thrive on the nameless-faceless space that the Internet provides. The anonymity acts as a shield which empowers the troll to strike at anyone they want, giving them the confidence to say what they wouldn’t otherwise.

Many youngsters indulge in trolling just out of boredom and for amusement. “Trolling is done in good humour. What one needs to realise is that the person on the other side doesn’t know you and this works both ways in negating any ill will it might generate. However, if you don’t like someone trolling you — or a good laugh — get off the Internet!” says 27-year-old career manager Jai Khanna.

Is trolling fun?

“It’s fun as long as it’s funny, but sometimes, when you are targeting a person for a long time, it becomes malicious. Trolls should have an expiry date,” says art executive Rajan Ghosh, 23. “It’s a good thing as long as it’s funny but sometimes they go completely off track, and that’s when it gets irritating. Trolling is supposed to have a vein of good humour. Overall, it’s not a bad thing and like all the finer things in life trolling is fun and free!” feels Hitesh Jangir, who teaches at MITS University, Rajasthan.

Things can get serious when trolls add their packs to the party. “Last week, a supporter of a particular political party trolled me about a non-political statement that I made. I was casually asking something and he got his friends involved. That’s called group trolling. I had to finally block him,” says Mukherjee.

How do celebrities handle trolling?

The more famous you are, the more you get trolled. Earlier this year, Miley Cyrus (who has more than 18 million followers) hit out at Twitter trolls, asking them to stop calling her names: “I get called an ugly lesbian a lot more than one would think. Or maybe not. Can u atleast call me an interesting lesbian. I hate the U word.”

“People deal with things differently. I choose to ignore. In most cases, people try to get your attention by writing or saying certain things. I don’t even check half the things people send!” says Tollywood actress Parno Mittra, who has more than 31,000 followers on Twitter.

What starts off as innocuous can sometimes take a nasty turn, and once the floodgates of personal attack are opened, there are little checks and balances one can fall back on. It happened with Sunanda Pushkar, who chose Twitter to vent her anger over an alleged affair between husband Shashi Tharoor and Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar. The ladies attacked each other on the social networking site, inviting a free-for-all trolling. Pushkar had even replied to some of the tweets before she was found dead in a hotel room in Delhi.

Some like Sonakshi Sinha, who know the art of hitting back, enjoy the game. When the Lootera actress with 25 lakh followers was trolled for the size of her forehead (“IPL 7 to be shifted to Sonakshi Sinha’s forehead”), she shot back with a smile, “Sonakshi Sinha’s forehead is mighty pleased ;) gnite funny people!”

And what’s life without a little bit of spice? Even MP and quizmaster Derek O’Brien scrolls through trolls. “The good and bad of Twitter. Filthy abuse on one side and requests looking for blood donors on the other...Life :)” tweeted Derek after retweeting a few “nasty” comments from his 2.4 lakh followers this week.

JAMES FRANCO

He uploaded an Instagram photo of himself making out with a mystery woman on gossip website www.perezhilton.com and scribbled over it in Perez Hilton-style, “Who’s that girl?”

AMANDA BYNES

Known for her eccentric tweets. On the day the actress was charged with driving under the influence, she called on Barack Obama on Twitter. “Hey @BarackObama... I don’t drink. Please fire the cop who arrested me. I also don’t hit and run. The end.”

The President didn’t reply.

JAMES BLUNT

Every nasty tweet directed at the singer is retweeted with a witty comeback.

@Sam_SamV: James Blunt makes my ears bleed

@James Blunt: Sorry. Wrong hole.

How to handle trolls

Don’t take the “bait”. Don’t “feed” the troll with your response. That’s exactly what he/she wants.

A witty comeback can often take the troll by surprise and will shut him/her up.

If you’re confident of your supporters online, troll the troll back and get your pack to join in!

Report or block the person.

Karo Christine Kumar
Have you ever been trolled? Tell t2@abp.in

6 types of trolls

GRAMMAR NAZI

Their only, and most dangerous weapon, is the dictionary. You might write a full paragraph defending your stand while proving a point, and they just have to find that one word you spelt wrong, correct it and post it as a reply.

HATER

From hating your favourite actor to posting memes degrading your favourite anything, the Hater is lurking in the shadows, waiting to hit where it hurts the most.

SPOILER-ALERT

Barack Obama must’ve had an experience, or two, when he tweeted asking people not to reveal spoilers to House of Cards. We know how you feel, Mr President!

KNOW-IT-ALL

Facts and figures are this dude’s weapons. He not only knows everything about everything, but also has proof to support his statements. It’s the Internet for crissakes! Who’s our God here?

REAL-LIFE TROLLER

Like how Farhan Akhtar trolled Mukesh Bhatt at the IIFA Awards this year for missing out on replying to his “Hi, how are you, sir?” when the latter walked up on stage to present an award. “Sir, you won’t say ‘hi’ to me?” Farhan kept asking, much to the Aashiqui 2 producer’s embarrassment and the crowd’s delight.

FULL-TIME TROLLER

Takes trolling seriously. Seriously enough to open a page on a social networking site dedicated to bringing down whoever he can. Sometimes, a website too.

Riddhima Khanna
Add to this list. Tell t2@abp.in

MEME VS TROLL

Meme noun

An image, video, piece of text, typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations.

Troll noun

One who posts a deliberately provocative message (like a meme) to a group with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.

Trolling verb

Typically unleashing one or more cynical or sarcastic remarks on an innocent bystander, because it’s the Internet and, hey, you can.

(Source: Urban Dictionary)

A MEME-MAKER AND HIS MEMES

I’d call myself a meme-maker or a troller. We first started seeing memes on Facebook and they were a big hit. One fine day, a few of my friends found a funny photo of another friend, so we thought of making our own. It was never timepass for me. It wasn’t very serious but I loved it. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. After the next two-three memes went big, it sort of became my identity. People expected a new meme to come up like every three-four days. What was amazing was that people would send me Facebook inboxes asking me to make a meme on them. It was crazy!

Making memes isn’t very complicated. All you need is a little creativity, a firm grasp of the English language, and a sound knowledge of today’s Internet trends. I try to keep my memes about general matters as opposed to inside jokes. Even if it is an inside joke, I try to caption it in a way that everyone can understand. I must confess though that it isn’t about how funny the picture is. In fact, the funnier the picture, the harder it gets to find an appropriate caption. The key is to find a caption that suits the picture because doing that automatically makes it funny. It’s kind of like drawing a comic strip. But always make sure the caption is short and snappy.

Nothing is more annoying than a wordy meme. Meme-making isn’t rocket science. What makes it difficult is the need for spontaneity.

One thing you need to make sure is that the memes you make are in good humour and not something that would hurt someone. Memes are a troller’s weapons but it’s how you use it that makes it funny or fierce.

— VARUN SHAH, 18