A stereotypical troll, with a basic avatar, pose, and facial expression. Although many trolls have their own avatars, many trolls are beginners without avatars yet.
Trolls have been a problem ever since the beginning of the internet. Trolls, by definition, are someone who goes to places in cyberspace to bully or get a sick kick out of seeing people angry. If you say anything negative they will have you in their grasp.
Behavior[]
Most trolls mispell or shorten words so that they have more time to say what they think will get you mad. Bitstrips trolls became more of a problem around August of 2009, when groaning, inappropriate flagging of strips to get them off of front page, and rude comments became a large issue. To try and counteract this, the developers of Bitstrips added a feature to allow rude comments to be flagged. This feature was later removed. Eventually, the Front Page was changed so that a strip that was flagged was NOT taken off of the Front Page. This helped the problem a lot, but did not get rid of trolls entirely. Some trolls used multiple accounts in order to get higher ratings on their Bitstrips, and obtain Front Page dishonestly. Others would get their friends and gang up on a certain user or certain users and say that they are "trolls". Some trolls will just post rude comments and groan. Many members have tried to drive them away from the site, or even form groups to try and "fight" them.
Anti-troll groups[]
Some people made groups to fight the oncoming troll menace. The 3 most well-known groups were "The Troll Hunters," "BSTP (Bitstrips Troll Police)," and, "BSACS (Bitstrips Abused Content Squad)." These groups created by younger members of the site, although the leaders of BSTP and the troll hunters are still going and strong, the leader of the former BSACS stopped the group because of the numerous flags and groans on his strips because of it. Although some members of these groups actually did good and gave tips on ignoring trolls it is thought that they just made it worse. Each group had it's own different philosophy but most groups were contrary to known methods for dealing with trolls.
Critics[]
Critics are members of Bitstrips who find it their duty to criticize people's comics in a rude way, and sometimes "grade" them. They are as much of an actual member as they are a troll. This is due to the fact they act negatively to other users, much like a troll. Critics of Bitstrips stand out by their comments, in which they will grade a comic with. Most critics only point out the flaws in strips, making the user/s mad. If they grade it, they only focus on negative parts in the comic, mostly to make people mad. Some can be thought of as trolls. When reacted towards, a critic will criticize someone's every action, using it against them.
Attention seekers[]
Attention seekers are people who try to get attention in ways other than by simply making good comics with effort. They are very annoying, and despised by many. These are often considered to be trolls, due to their behaviors seeming immature and rude.
Seeking attention through spamming[]
One of the most common forms of seeking attention is users posting links on other comics. It is annoying because it's considered trolling by most. Many comments like this are "this strip is cool check out my comics", or "hey this is cool! if you want something really cool, look at my series ____ for some good laughs!", or even "check out my comics they're cool i'm ___".
Attention using remixes[]
As one can see, some remixes are just for attention. People usually make ones that intend for the user reading it to feel sad, or at least try to. These are either ignored or hated on in the comments. Certain users will do this more than others. Another type of remix to get attention is remixing someone elses comic, usually an art strip. This gains the remixer attention from people nagging at him or her.
Attention using comments[]
Comments are a hot spot for begging, seeking attention, and arguements. A comment commonly linked to trolls is "This comic sucks/sux read mine", which causes many angered reactions, which is exactly what a troll wants. Another troll-associated comment is a link to a comic of the troll, however sometimes new users will do this, causing them to be called a troll.
Other types of trolls[]
Female trolls[]
Female trolls are a recent form of trolls, which look like tanned, make-up and lipstick clad females which look similar to, if not are, a stereotypical valley girl in appearance. These trolls usually work together, targeting many people and complimenting each other. They will befriend people, only to make comics making the users look bad. They will also make direct insults to a user, saying something negative (and untrue) about them. Most of their comics will also show them in a sexual pose, or a suggestive outfit, like a bikini.
Multiple account trolls[]
Multiple accounts are accounts owned by other people with a purpose befitting or helping said multiple accounter. The most common use for mutiple accounts is to allow the user to give themselves rates without people acknowledging them doing so. Someone who does so is more often than not classified as a troll. Another reason could be to help the user troll someone. An example is Chickenquat,Chickenquat2, and Chickenquat3, who kept making accounts to keep trolling. They claimed they were using a public building not connected to their IP but shortly after, all 3 accounts were banned and their comics deleted. Rarely, they will act like a noob (newbie shortened) and use the multiple account just for fun, not for rating or trolling. There is one person with a recorded amount of 11 multiple accounts.
No, that isn't a multiple account[]
Many types of accounts can be thought of as multiple accounts, but aren't. A multiple account is: A user supporting self's ratings from another account or supporting self otherwise that doesn't benifit others. A back up account isn't a multiple account; these are used if the main account is somehow unnacessable. Going around accusing someone of being one is rude and unneccasary unless they actually are one. This is usually done when a noticeably bad comic has achieved high ratings.
Controversy[]
There's a certain level of controversy concerning Bitstrips for Schools as it related to an increase in younger users to the main Bitstrips site. That increase in users seemed to coincide with an increase in troll activity. Considering the maturity of some of the new members, there were obvious issues with their behavior some of which could be seen as troll-like because of the immaturity and, of course, along with the sudden surge in new members were several trolls who felt right at home with being immature. Complaints about misbehavior from troll and the immature could be heard right from older, long time members right down to a lot of kids from Bitstrips for Schools.
How To Deal With Them[]
Ignore them. I
Click the ignore button, circled in red, in order to remove their comments and block their messages.
t's super effective. Also, if Bitstrip trolls have been continously pestering you with hateful or abusive comments, there is a effective way of stopping them dead in their tracks. First, click on the avatar of the troll who is bothering you. This leads you to the troll's profile page. If you look closely, you can see an "ignore" button on the bottom right (your right) of their profile page. Click it. Not only does this magically erase all the inappropriate comments, it also prevents new ones from being written and stops all the annoying messages the troll might be sending you. About the trollish strips, don't even comment on them. Trolls love attention, so the best way to deal with them is not to give it to them. If they're bored with Bitstrips, then they have to go elsewhere for amusement. If a troll has taken something too far in any situation, then by all means, report it to one of the devs.