Concept in Definition ABC

Who does not have a friend, acquaintance or neighbor who does exactly the opposite of what we tell him and always leaves us in evidence? Or an enemy / rival who always wants to publicly demean us? Although these characters can receive many names and nicknames at the time or always (son of this or that, or parallels with the animal world as with the goat ...), in Internet they have a common name that describes and identifies them: trolls.

In Norse mythology, trolls are anthropomorphic inhabitants of the forest, terrible creatures capable of the worst acts against humans, their main enemies, such as the kidnapping of their children, kidnapping, looting of villages ...

Modern fiction has turned them, along with ogres and other fantastic beings, into antagonists of humans in various wars and battles, already taken out of their Scandinavian mythological context.

It is precisely because of the concept of "enemy of humans" or of the human race, that the word

troll designates those Internet users who amuse themselves attacking others in forums, chats and other services of communication online, as well as to attack your safety, privacy or other elements in addition to seeking public discredit.

A historically very common activity of the trolls has been the impersonation of identity, with which they seek to discredit a person through insulting interventions towards other Internet users or with high controversy voltage.

More modern forms of the practice of trolling go through looking for the columnist's discredit in an online medium such as a blog or Newspaper, or on social networks, with insulting, defamatory comments or looking for possible errors or inconsistencies in their texts. Even if there are no such errors, when troll It is not difficult for him to invent them to try to expose the person.

Social networks are also fertile ground for trolls. The anonymity they provide (one can create profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, etc. without revealing his true identity) makes criticizing someone from the comfortable barrier of anonymity in some cases too tempting. In other cases the trolling It is carried out "open face" from a profile with name and surname, but also based on the fact of the distance between the monitor victim and offender.

One can be harassed by trolls in general, or else having some of these characters obsessed with messing with him.

What attitude take before a troll? It is best to ignore it. The omnipresence of these characters has given rise to one of the best known and most used sayings on the Internet: don’t feed the troll, which in English means don't feed the troll.

This phrase comes to the conclusion that, in the face of a clear provocation, it is better not to respond, since there is a risk that the troll be encouraged and persecute us even more eagerly. Many times, these characters get tired of doing their thing when everyone ignores them.

By the way, a meaning of the verb trolling it is the designation when we make a joke on someone, exposing them (and often being a practical joke). However, the joker can be someone without bad intentions beyond having fun with someone who has served it on a tray, so it is not necessarily used to receive the nickname of troll.

Photos: iStock - mstay / CSA-Plastock

Themes in Troll