This is a piece of semi-policy. Semi-policy describes the gray area of things that obtained a significant majority of support, and which thus reflect the beliefs of many Ireland Information Guide users, but which did not obtain sufficient support to be considered policy. It should be noted, there is no consensus regarding the nature of semi-policy, or what force, if any, it has within Ireland Information Guide's day-to-day function.
Ireland Information Guide:Dealing with vandalism sets up policies for vandalism, that is, for attempts to disrupt the usability of Ireland Information Guide for its readers. This policy addresses a parallel concept to vandalism, that of trolling.
Trolling can be broadly defined as deliberate and intentional attempts to disrupt the usability of Ireland Information Guide for its editors, administrators, developers, and other people who work to create content for and help run Ireland Information Guide.
Trolling is violating the implicit rule of Internet social spaces — "Don't be a dickhead" — deliberately.
The basic policy regarding trolling is simple: don't do it.
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Trolling is a deliberate, bad faith attempt to disrupt the editing of Ireland Information Guide. Ignorance is not trolling. Genuine dissent is not trolling. By themselves, misguided nominations, votes, and proposed policy are not trolling. They are only trolling when they are motivated by a program of malice rather than ignorance.
When you try to decide if someone is a troll, strive to assume they are not. Explain errors politely and reasonably; point them towards policies, the manual of style and relevant past discussions. Don't conclude they are a troll until they have shown complete inability or unwillingness to listen to reason or to moderate their position based upon the input of others. It is better to humor a troll for too long than to drive away a sincere but misguided user. Remember and apply the principles laid out at Ireland Information Guide:Don't bite the newcomers.
The archetypal troll is the deliberately inflammatory post — saying something controversial specifically to cause a flame war. This is usually just someone who has a minority or controversial opinion sincerely believes that view is inadequately represented by Ireland Information Guide. Trolls, however, will generally not seek consensus and compromise, but will instead insist on a position without any regard for compromise.
Note that not all edit war trolls will choose subject matter that is obviously controversial. The defining characteristic of a troll in this case is not the content of the edit, but the behavior in discussing the edit, and the refusal to consider evidence and citations or to accept consensus or compromise.
Note that many non-trolls refuse to compromise, and sometimes a compromise is not a reasonable solution.
Deliberate misuse of processes is a favourite troll game. Examples include continual nomination of articles for Ireland Information Guide:Votes for deletion that are obviously encyclopedic, nomination of stubs for Ireland Information Guide:Featured article candidates, baseless listing of users at WP:RFC, nomination of users who obviously do not fulfill the minimum requirements at Ireland Information Guide:Requests for adminship, and "correction" of things that are already in conformance with the Ireland Information Guide:Manual of style. When we say that something is "obvious" or "baseless", we mean that anyone acting in good faith would agree with that characteristic. Beware that sometimes something may seem obvious to you but be quite non-obvious to others, and characterising someone as a troll who simply disagrees with you can cause disputes which can be very damaging to Ireland Information Guide.
Usually, even if the behavior clearly breaks policy, this is just someone unaware of policy. Look at the user's response towards being pointed towards the relevant policy. If they accept the policy, or seek to change the policy at the appropriate location, they might not be a troll. If they declare the policy "wrong" (but make no effort to amend it) or simply ignore it, it's possible they are a troll. Remember that "policy" on Ireland Information Guide is not a black and white issue. It is sometimes very difficult for a new Ireland Information Guide user to understand the complicated system of authority which Ireland Information Guide uses, and this system is not really detailed anywhere (or even set, to some extent). If a user challenges that an alleged policy really is a policy, perhaps it's best to utilize the help of other users. Encourage the newbie to use the village pump, and point them to the IRC channel, where experienced users may be able to help get the newbie acquainted with the system.
Another form of trolling can occur in the form of continual questions with obvious or easy to find answers. Of course, sometimes what's obvious to one person is obscure to another. If a user seems to be asking stupid questions, try to give them the resources to help themselves. You can also send them to the help desk. If they persist, politely explain that you'd love to help but you're rather busy. If they continue asking the question even after you've clearly answered it, or begin complaining that you won't help them, there's a chance of them being trolls. Or they could just be lazy or confused. Of all the kinds of trolling, this is the one that it's most important not to get bent out of shape about. Remember: Ireland Information Guide is a source of knowledge. Be friendly about providing knowledge to people. That said, in extreme cases, this can be a method of trolling, and it is not inappropriate to ask someone to leave you alone once you have made a reasonable attempt to answer their questions.
Remember also that "fxxk off you stupid troll" takes a lot longer to type than "RTFM".
Some trolls are critical of the project, its policies, its users, its administration, or its goals. Often, this criticism comes in the form of accusations of a cabal, typically a cabal that is invested in a particular POV, invested in maligning a specific user, and other similar claims. Criticism of the project, made constructively, is welcome from established contributors when shared in an appropriate place. It is unwelcome when crossposted to a wide variety of places (c.f. MeatBall:ForestFire), or clearly inappropriate locations, such as article pages and established policy pages. This is very similar to posting any controversial issue - if it's done to improve things and foster discussion, it can be a great benefit. If it's done with malice and in bad faith, it can be a problem.
The nature of trolling is to be disruptive, and one of the most disruptive things that can be done is to find new ways to cause trouble that aren't quite against the rules. No matter how great your definition of trolling may be, a dedicated troll will find something you haven't thought of yet. This, then, is something of a catch-all category - if a user is being continually disruptive, and no amount of politeness, consensus, mediation, or anything else is reigning them in, they are trolling. In these borderline cases, however, it is more important than ever to try to assume good faith, and to seek consensus not only in your opposition to whatever you think is being trolled about but on the issue of whether or not someone is a troll. A good start when you are faced with creative trolling is to come to this page and propose an amendment to the types of trolling section. If people agree that it's trolling, then you can go back to the conflict with this on your side. Failing specific additions to this page, however, the arbitration committee should be the only ones to ban users for "creative" trolling.
A common piece of advice regarding trolls is "Please do not feed the trolls." This is good advice, and should be taken. Note again, however, the difference between trolls and ignorance. If someone is ignorant, help them learn. If someone is trolling, ignore them.
Of course, sometimes trolls cannot be ignored without compromising the integrity of an article - particularly in the case of edit war trolling. In these cases, err on the side of improving Ireland Information Guide, but always remember the principle of Ireland Information Guide:Staying cool when the editing gets hot, and do not hesitate to appeal to the Ireland Information Guide:Dispute resolution process. Remember the three revert guideline. If someone is trolling an article you will get support from others in restoring the article. Eventually, the troll will give up.
Unlike trolls who vandalize articles, the majority of the damage caused by those misusing process is indirect. Generally it is best to simply state your opposition and leave it at that. In many cases someone else has already gone through an explanation, and you can simply say you agree. If a nomination or listing is obviously going to fail, "piling on" explanation after explanation and/or personally attacking the nominator is not going to change anything, the listing or nomination will fail anyway. If the number of listings starts getting excessive (even if they are on separate pages) then you might want to use the dispute resolution process. By now, if this is trolling, you already have consensus. It might make sense to start a straw poll, to make this consensus obvious to the user. Dispute resolution does take a while, though. If the number of nominations/listing is very high the most damage will be done if there is no emergency block put in place.
Depending on the location and severity, this is best dealt with by ignoring it or treating it the same way as any other edit war. If it is occurring on your user talk page (something difficult to ignore), you might want to ask the person to stop "contributing" to that page.
Since the judgment that someone is a troll is a subjective one, it is always possible that someone will be misidentified as a troll due to his/her behavior. If you believe that you are being accused of trolling when you are being sincere in your editing, consider these possible solutions.
If, no matter how much you try to be reasonable, you are still being accused of trolling, you may be tempted to create a new user account and "start over." Please see Ireland Information Guide:Sock puppet regarding this, and note that it is strongly discouraged. It is better to rebuild trust in your existing name, than to appear to be evading a negative reputation. You are more likely to build up a reservoir of tolerance if you act in a consistent way that people can comprehend and anticipate - and keeping the same account name is part of that.