Continuing from the post above:
5 Ways to deal with Indian Trolls on PDF
Part 2 of 2
1.
Identify the troll.
Having a banned list of Trolls for reference helps.
Sinodefence for example routinely updates a "Sticky" or "Featured"
thread that presents a list of banned trolls.
Obviously these trolls have multiple accounts so they resurface .
PDF Members should keep their own list so as to
identify these trolls when they resurface . The resurfaced troll usually
goes through the same routine of first making innocuous posts
before spilling the venom.
Identify a troll and treat the troll as a troll no matter how.
innocent the facade.
2. Stick to English as the language and Keep posts factual.
When interacting with trolls stick to English for communication.
.Avoid using Hindi or any other language the troll is familiar with. Indian Trolls frequently use Hindi Urdu memes, gifs, cartoons, proverbs, and short insulting sentences to incite, derail, or even in a "softer mode" to emotionally blackmail. Due to language incompatibility they can't do this on Chinese, Arab, or even Bangladeshi forums, and are extremely uncomfortable with their situation there. Discussing in grammatically correct English, without idioms, and slang is the last thing Hindutva trolls want. We can if necessary post a link to a Hindi news bulletin or video clip, and if we use a Hindi reference we can translate these. Using Google translate to translate Hindi text is a delightful experience and it is extremely demoralizing for the Hindutva troll that we Pakistanis are reading the
Panchjanya editorial.
Keeping Posts Factual
Most of us are already doing this. Keep your posts, factual. Post links or evidence in support of your arguments. As Pakistanis we have a wealth of information available through the internet, and a language affinity gives us the power to monitor the enemy audio-visual media. Even though the temptation is extreme, a one liner retort ( unless absolutely necessary ) should be avoided and preferably kept short, though this may not always be possible.
Go back and research. It is always better delay a response, even by a few days, and to research something, and come up with an embarrassing revelation, rather than make an instant one liner.
3. Understanding the mindset and Troll hierarchy.
Not all Indian Trolls are the same. Some have good English language skills, and these are mostly South Indians either from Andhra, Telengana, or a few from Karnataka whose knowledge of Hindi is imperfect. Andhra, Telengana, and Karnataka are communally polarized southern states, and thus anti-Muslim feelings automatically translate to anti-Pakistani hostility. Karnatakans are far fewer in number due to their inadequacy with Hindi. There are also , very few Tamils ( Tamil Nadu ) , or Malyalis ( Kerala) here . If at all present their knowledge of Hindi is minimal and in any case those states are not communally polarized.....yet.
The bulk majority of trolls here are from Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, and the northern Cow belt, ( UP, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal ). The notable exceptions are Sikh trolls from Punjab. Generally Biharis have very poor English language skills ( or even access to networks and decent computers ) to troll.
Of the Hindi speaking trolls, those with the best English language skills are Marathis or Goans, The UP and Gujarati trolls have the worst English language skills. These are the ones who frequently break out into Hindi. Ignore their Hindi rants. If you follow the trolls on the Indian Defence Forum or Food forum you can tell if the person is South Indian, and most likely from Andhra. Why this is important is that the level of hostility can be gauged, and such trolls seldom sustain a slug fest though there are exceptions.
4.
Derailment
The favorite weapon of the Troll is derailment via a Pavlovian Reflex.
See my post above.
Try not to answer the troll on the same thread if there is a derailment.
Point the troll to a suitable thread on the topic
( Example : To a "Don't forget 1971 .., " post, point to " Revenge of Pakistan "
Link ) . Alternatively, Copy the post and reply on that thread compelling the troll to get off the thread that is being derailed.
Trolls will repeat the same posts over and over again, a kind of spamming, but on different threads, are hoping to induce "Response Fatigue". Keep a record of your earlier posts to the same questions handy ( Example: IAF shot down an F-16 ), and to each post either dump the response or point a link to the earlier response. The troll will rapidly develop a Response Fatigue.
5.
Report ALL Trolls and "Ignore" .
Report ALL Trolls and re-surfaced trolls to the mods . The mods cannot be everywhere. We have to assist them in their moderation. The least we can do is to make them aware. It is not sufficient just to Report but to specifically mention what was objectionable in the post or how many times the spam had been dumped.
Set a low tolerance level for any or slightest insults, implied or otherwise to Pakistan, it's people, it's culture, it's armed forces, it's religion . Report
all posts .
As a final option if countering trolls is unpleasant follow what the Chinese do. Hit the IGNORE button, and the Troll's post goes invisible and unanswered.