Five types of Facebook trolls, and what to do with them

I hang out on Facebook a lot. Too much, maybe. Enough, certainly, to recognize a few types of unpleasant characters. I've come across five distinctive kinds of Facebook trolls, and I'm sure you've dealt with them too. Here's some advice to stop their onslaught and make your Facebook experience just a little better.

Troll type: Old-time Nobody
Confirm or ignore? Confirm

Social networks provide a slew of opportunities to connect with old friends, but that doesn't mean you need to befriend your third-grade buddy Bill, whom you haven't had a discussion with in 20 years. Usually they mention a time in your life the two of you shared when you were kids. Maybe it's not the end of the world, but it does get a bit awkward when they remember that time and you don't.

So how should you handle the Old Time Nobody? Be friends with them and don't think twice about it. Usually, they're harmless, and either really liked you when you were younger or just want to add another person to their friends list to show off. Either way, what does it hurt? You'll hardly communicate with them through Facebook and that will probably suffice you both. Don't worry about it and add them to your own list.

Troll type: New service addict
Confirm or ignore? Ignore

They became a friend of yours on MySpace, or maybe even followed you on LiveJournal, and ever since then, they've wanted to be your friend on every social network known to man. Sometimes you catch a really serious one who signs up for all the newest services before anyone, and they immediately send out invites like they're passing out candy to kids on Halloween.

Once you get their friend request on Facebook, ignore it. I hate to say it, but it's your only option. Unless you nip it in the bud now, you'll be getting requests to be your friend on even the smallest, most ridiculous social networks, and you'll never be able to stop it. They may send you a few requests before they get the message, which is fine, but unless you want to be annoyed over the next year with more friend requests and ridiculous notifications on Facebook, it's best if you turn the other cheek.

Troll type: Bar friend
Confirm or ignore? Confirm

How many times have you met someone who is a friend of a friend at a bar or party, only to come home and see a Facebook friend request sitting in your in-box? You probably don't remember their name, and the conversation you had with them was superficial at best. It's obvious they just want to add you to their growing list of friends and you honestly believe you'll never see them again.

Sadly, they've put you in a tough position. On one hand, the term "Friend" on Facebook indicates you actually like and care about that person, i.e. they're your actual friend. On the other hand, nobody thinks of it like that, and many want to have as many "friends" as possible. On balance, it's probably best to add them as a friend and not worry about it. You're sort of friends if you want to stretch the logic, and what does it hurt? You both get to add one more friend to your running total and it won't be awkward next time you see them at the bar.

Troll type: The stranger
Confirm or ignore? Think first

It happens to all of us: someone we don't know tries to be our friend on Facebook. Their profile claims they graduated from the same college and they live in your general area. You know you've never met the person and even if you did, it was for a fleeting second and you don't remember them at all.

Dealing with these people should be easy; just ignore them. But doing that without thinking could be a fatal mistake. What if you really do know the person and you forgot? That makes for an awkward reunion if you two ever see each other again. Simply deciding to ignore them probably isn't the best move, but then again, if you really don't know them, you probably shouldn't follow them to satisfy their desire to have the highest number of friends in their group. Decide carefully.

Troll type: The ghost
Confirm or ignore? Remove

Once you've become friends with people on Facebook, I think you enter into an agreement of sorts: you both decide to interact with each other and, most importantly, you both decide to use the service. But when your friends don't hold up their end of the bargain, it gets annoying, doesn't it? They sign up for the service, add friends during the first week, and never go back. They don't have a profile picture and the only information that's filled out in their profile is their name and birth date. They're a member, but not really.

When it comes to handling those people, it's best to remove them from your friends list. Sure, you'll lose a friend too, but don't you think they need to pay the price for agreeing to use the service and not following through? Call me old fashioned, but if someone decides to sign up for a social network, I'm a firm believer that they should use it for a reasonable amount of time and do their best to enhance the overall experience for everyone. If they're not holding up their end, they shouldn't be encouraged. A social network is all about interaction. If a friend doesn't want to interact, they shouldn't be on Facebook.

[Orion Blastar]

What about the real trolls that do personal attacks on forums and notes? When I complained about them, and adults having sexual talk with minors, they deleted my account. It seems trolls and pedophiles are protected groups on Facebook no matter what their safety policy says.

Don't forget another kind of Troll the game troll, they want to add you as a friend so they can get more people playing Facebook games like Knighthood with them.

[M C]

Yes, none of these "trolls" are really "trolls" at all. (CNet editorial likely made him use the word to get more clicks.)

The real Facebook "virus' now is the group or figure that tries to "friend" everyone who matches their target audience.

For example, in Seattle there's a band called Hit Explosion - cover band, plays disco. Anyway, in addition to setting up a music artist profile, they set up a user profile and then proceeded to send everyone in the Seattle network a friend request.

Then they did it again for everyone who ignored the first request.

Now, THAT'S annoying.

[gagahput3ra]

Well, i just bookmarked this and all my friends in facebook see this. I just hope i didn't belong to some of that "troll" category to my friends. :D (Although i'm a little bit addicted to new service")

[gsekse]

I never have this problem... I never did and never will have a facebook account. I use email to talk to my "friends". I don't need a billboard to do this.

[mrobmsu]

Seems a little over the top to nuke someone because they don't interact enough to please your tastes. Some folks prefer to lurk--what skin is it off your nose if they do?

[zpk108]

I honestly (really!) didn't realize the social ramifications of ignoring people on Facebook. I generally accept everyone, but do people really hold grudges if someone doesn't accept their friend request? It seems like the awkward conversation at the next meeting could be diffused by laughing about how you get all kinds of random requests, and theirs must have accidentally slipped by. But maybe I'm underestimating the power of social networking?

[mjconver]

Don't forget the most evil troll of all... Family members. What do you say to grandma when she discovers Facebook, and you don't want her to see the candid photo of you praying to the porcelain goddess at the last frat party?

[Jack K1]

Create two accounts.

[jhpiiiesq]

Better yet, take those photos off your Facebook all together. Or, you can restrict your grand's viewing options. Still, my rule of thumb has always been to not put or leave anything on Facebook that I would not want seen on a job interview, or in church. It is not about hypocrisy, but rather about being professional and responsible in a constant-contact world.

[ducttapeBigSexy]

MySpace is far better then Facebook! Seriously, only lonely college geeks use Facebook - MySpace is where all the coolest bands and people hang out, plus it's far superior because you can change the background color of your page!

(The above is an example of real trolling - a troll is not some old elementary school friend who adds you on Facebook.)

[drpr]

Absolutely untrue. Facebook members include high school students, current college students, college grads and non-academic types. Facebook has a more mature look than MySpace does, so it does not seem to attract the same immaturity that MySpace attracts- and believe me, many Facebook users appreciate the difference. It is possible to tailor your experience on either site; for example, I encountered one childish person on Facebook whom I've blocked. On MySpace, I only allow mature people to "befriend" me. But overall, the distinct interfaces attract different types of users because they help to create a different experience.

[briankhershey]

****... you even went as far as to explain that it was an *example* of a troll...
Unbelievable...

[CoffeeZombie]

@dpr Trolled! Not only trolled, but the troll *said* he's a troll, and you still fed him!

@ducttapeBigSexy I agree totally (about the trolling). A troll, on the Internet, is someone who posts comments on a forum or chat room for no other reason to **** people off. They feed off of the anger and contrariness of the forum's regulars, and are generally regarded by everyone else as being the scum on the 'net. They are like those 10-year-old kids you come across occasionally who act like they're all tough and "big man on campus."

Someone you knew in 3rd grade? Not a troll.

[Jyakotu]

Facebook had a different audience. It was for just colleges and college students, but now it's general like MySpace. Facebook just looks bland and, granted, it's less social than MySpace since it's for your REAL friends, thus it asks for your REAL name.

[ducttape36]

good article. I personally dont take social network sites too seriously and generally accept whoever requests my friendship, unless i really dont like the person. give this article a read, in the same vein as yours and pretty funny too. http://www.cracked.com/article_16670_people-from-your-past-who-will-haunt-you-on-facebook.html

[macleapa]

Oh please,

Friends are who you interact with on a daily bases, not a bunch of characters/pixels on a screen. Get real and get real friends. As for the losers that you want to keep adding as your "friends", pray for them and hope the make real friends in the real world.

Life is too short, its not a popularity contest. If you want to meet people, interesting people and are willing to help... go to your local food bank/mission and lend a helping hand. Say and talk with these real people with real issues. You will learn more about yourself in the process. There are also lots of senior citizens that could use attention as well. So get up off you duff and go out and meet real people, and make a real impact on your very real community. Some day, you will need them... and the pixel people you know now... unplug them and tell them to do the same.

Good luck getting out of the matrix...

[bakedpatato]

I don't add total strangers unless I see one of my other friends who i know IRL posting on the unknown's wall.
I remember that there was an attempt by a white-hat hacking group to get personal info and such by befriending people randomly...since then...

[SeizeCTRL]

How are the 5 types of people mentioned here TROLLS? Does Don even know what a troll is?

[vanillacokehead]

I agree with the others who disagree with the "troll" characterization - but otherwise an interesting article.

[SJ2571]

This article is much ado about nothing. Just add the people you ARE friends with, and ignore the rest. Easy! Sheesh.

[LVGene]

The author needs to go back to "Internet" school.

Personally it really makes ME mad to have people throw that "Toxic" word around. And in this case.. he got it all wrong. The title should be something like "What to do with Internet Friends". Or something like that.

The BEST description of TROLL is on Wikipedia. Look for "Troll Internet".

Duh.. now I get to delete my Cnet account. Boy was this not fun.

GENE

[loose_screw]

Now, what about LinkedIn?

[Aanon]

Mr. Reisinger is at it again. This time he's an expert on psychology, sociology and social anthropology.
Sigh!

[zcollvee]

lawls

[lordmorgul]

Hahahah. Don... you have no idea what the term TROLL means. This article is so useless its almost impossible to express. What you have here is a basic introduction to managing personal contacts on a web-based networking site, for people who are either: 1) never used one ever before, or 2) are too juvenile to understand that protecting their contacts list is a legitimate safety concern for children online.

Troll? Nothing here remotely discusses trolling, such as my comments here regarding your terrible article.

[Kev_Orng]

So to sum up, "On the internet as in real life, use common sense and good judgement when choosing friends". Or, as the mother of one of my friends used to say to her when she was a teenager: "Make good choices, and keep your legs together".

And, of course, avoid inviting your supervisors to parties that could get you fired.

Anyways, I always thought a troll was a person who hung around on forums for people with a different opinion than them, so that they could pick fights and generally try to angrily or rudely denounce the prevailing opinion on that particular forum. Hence the term "Don't feed the trolls". I'm not sure how your "ghost" character could even remotely qualify as a troll.

[Kev_Orng]

You know what I hate? Joe sent you a zombie bite! Sally superpoked you! Bob threw a sheep at you! Mary wants to compare scores in the there/they're/their test! Butthead bought you a (fake) drink

No matter how many times I tell close friends and family that I indiscriminately ignore all requests that require the installation of facebook apps, they keep on sending them, then complain, oh, you didn't accept my flower. Which I politely handle by saying I couldn't accept the flower because it requires the installation of facebook spyware.

My policy on this started with Funwall, when everytime I logged into Facebook, my newsfeed would be full of garbage like "sally jones (someone I don't know) posted this nasty pr0n on your cousin's FunWall!" and there it is, some full frontal naked guy. This made Facebook not work-safe, and pretty gross to boot. Funwall was cast back into the pit of crapplications from whence it sprang, and all teh rest as well.