What Does "Troll" Mean on Facebook?

By Melly Parker

Think twice before sharing that Facebook status.
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Unfortunately, not everyone on a social network can be counted on to be mature and friendly. An Internet troll, for example, will go out of his way to stir the pot and cause trouble or frustration for others. Avoiding trolls and not responding to them may help get them to leave you alone.

Trolling

At its most basic level, "trolling" is going online and saying or doing things to hurt, frustrate or irritate others, usually in user forums and message boards. Posts by trolls may be off-topic or offensive, something which will get the troll the negative attention desired. Some trolls are merely annoying, while others verge on being bullies.

Facebook Trolls

Trolls who operate on Facebook use their connections and groups to troll others. They may leave hurtful comments on personal posts, off-topic responses in discussion groups or messages on images on business pages. Facebook trolls will lessen your enjoyment of the site and the pages you use. If the trolling is personal or hateful, it should be reported and stopped.

Combating Trolls

If you're dealing with a troll on your Facebook page who is annoying, but not abusive, consider removing that person as a friend. If you remove that person's posting privileges, he won't be able to troll your profile anymore. If you've met them on a business or fan page, contact the person who controls the page. They may choose to remove the person's ability to post on the page. If they don't, just ignore everything the troll types. Without attention, the person will have no reason to continue making inflammatory posts.

Bullying

If the Facebook trolling takes the form of personal attacks, threats or bullying, it should be reported to Facebook immediately. Bullying, hate speech, threats and other vicious behavior are not allowed by Facebook's terms of service. Open the How to Report Things page (see the link in Resources) and find the appropriate link to the kind of location where the trolling occurred – for example, on a fan page, a post or a photo. Follow the instructions to report the troll to Facebook. If things don't change quickly, follow up with other reports to get the attention of Facebook's employees.

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