Anatomy of an Internet Troll

Do NOT feed the trolls

Firstly, by posting this I am absolutely doing the WRONG THING and I really am indulging a small pleasure by “fighting on the internet”. If this happens to you, remember hypocrite Allison and do NOT feed the trolls, do not engage, hit the spam button and ban the user.

The Story so far

You may remember recently a bit of hooha when I took apart a product that I had bought as part of a review. I pointed out the good and the bad, and warned people that some of what was being recommended went against the Twitter Terms of Service (TOS).  That product is no more, as it also violated Twitter trademarks and was blacklisted as spam by Twitter. People promoting the product were suspended or banned from Twitter.

Now behind the scenes (and sometimes in front) were some very strange events.  Firstly was the appearance of troll, though in internet terms it’s not truly a troll, but close enough for me to use that term. Like most trolls this troll is not too smart,  trolls feed on conflict and focus on that rather than being clever about how they create that conflict.

Ignorant Troll?

Our troll, and I feel like giving it an affectionate pat on its stupid head, first started posting its vitriol from a single IP address under various names. I guess the average internet user would not be too familiar with how IP addressing works, but different names/same IP within a short period of time is a dead giveaway someone is playing silly buggers.

A tip for the wise out there *taps nose*, use an online DNS Lookup service to see what ISP the troll is using. Our troll was using a TV based broadband service provided by the UK ISP Tiscali. A piddly tiny ISP that stood out like hat-pegs when the troll started also posting abusive comments on other blogs owned by  SWBN members. Easily fixed though with a report to their ISP and banning the entire ISP IP range from the blogs, no nonsense, go straight to jail, do not collect $200 (Monopoly game reference for anyone who didn’t understand that last bit).

Return of the troll

Things were quiet for a while until today, when “hello!” our troll popped back up, but with a new ISP… or should I say, using their other ISP. You see I noticed at the time our Tiscali troll was hanging around, there was a lurker reading comments but not commenting. You do notice these things when the same IP addresses are checking your blog 20-30 times a day. It was a Virgin IP address. So how do I know it’s the same troll? Because they are up to their same tricks, different name, same IP (see below). The internet is a huge place, and the chances of attracting two trolls from the same country posting in the same voice is about zero to none.

The nice thing about large ISPs is that they have abuse report facilities, if your troll is from an ISP with one of those then make sure you use it. Report every occurrence singly, and make sure you take screen shots of the offending comments.

Things get a little freaky

Remember the zero to none bit about our troll being a different person? Well that also fits in with what I had put together back when the Tiscali troll was posting and the Virgin account was watching. You see the catalyst for all of this was the product I reviewed, a product created by someone who supposedly never got involved with people who were negative against their product (an obvious lie when frivolous DMCA takedowns -legally sworn documents – were submitted by them). The troll and their cohorts at the time repeatedly posted comments to that effect, which is why , at the time, I pegged the Virgin lurker as the author of the Twitter product. Do you see where this is going?

Why would I link a deranged troll with the product author? To understand that is to have knowledge of one of the “backstory” events that I never made public (until now).

After it was made clear to the product author that they had no legal leg to stand on and that legal action was going to be taken that would have unfavourable consequences for them, they rescinded the DMCA claims. At that time I thought all was over, done and dusted; I was ready to move on and forget the whole thing.

The next day bought a whole new bag of crazy to the party.

Things get a lot freaky

It had become quite clear that whoever had been posting the trolling comments had some form of mental problem.  When I realised that, I stopped responding to their comments, removed all responses from them, and my angry friends who couldn’t believe the crap they were spouting, and banned them from the blog(s). Up until that time, even though other people were pointing out the connection between the Twitter product author and our deranged troll, I was unconvinced. The emails I received from the Twitter author, while emotionally manipulative, didn’t have the tang of insanity like our troll.

The email I received from the Twitter product author the day after their DMCA retraction changed all that.

The email said that overnight, their (the Twitter product author’s) car had been vandalised. Tyres slashed, windows smashed…. and the kicker…. painted along the side “don’t mess with the SWBN”….in pink paint no less.

I am sure your reaction is the same as mine was “WTF?!”

Warning, Warning!

Yep, alarm bells were clanging loud and clear in my head. The Twitter product author was clearly our friend the troll. I advised the author to go to the police and report it, which of course he refused to do saying that would mean “we had won”. I then advised them I was breaking off all communication and I placed their email address on my black list. One thing about trolls though, they hate being ignored, even worse they hate when communication is denied them. They always come back to the scene of the crime and that is where it all comes together with the Tiscali troll = twitter product author.

Now you know that, you can also factor in the machinations of the Twitter product author attempting to blame his Twitter accounts being banned on a young English pop star who he was also engaged in his shenanigans with. When he posted a fabricated email from her record company she called him out and he realised he was playing for higher stakes than just a court case with a woman on the internet. He removed his offending posts and comments quick smart.

Look there are other circumstantial things that point to this person being one and the same, and I am not the first to point them out. One huge giveaway is the naming convention this person uses. They just can’t help themselves trying to be “clever” with the naming (as mentioned in the last link). Dale Edwards? Avon Blake? Hannah Solo? Ashley Morgan? come on…This would all make a great movie (yes reality can be stranger than fiction!)  if it wasn’t so worrisome that this person does have a mental condition, and is a dangerous manipulator.

The end?

So that ends this tale (probably not), I do feel dirty in posting it, but also relieved too. I hope that the other people out there that have been harassed by this person know that they are not alone and that the stuff they say and do is part of their illness. Research shows that events like these are not unusual in the Twitter product author’s interaction with others. We should show compassion and pity this person, but never forget to look after yourself first.