Communities, what do you think when you hear those words? Off the internet it a group of people in a close net area who communicate face to face about many items and have can possibly have discussion about them. When speak about the term virtual community it has almost the same meaning but only half is the same. The other part is different. A virtual community is just like a regular community in part because they do discuss things or rather communicate back and forth with one another. But instead of doing this face to fast they do electronically via internet chat. Each community also has its own name to differentiate itself from others. The community has a moderator and in order to join the community one has to register at the sight first, and then apply to be part of the community. The moderator then goes ahead and it’s up to his/her discretion on whether or not they want you to be part of the community. Some communities do not have moderator and you can join at your own free will. This is where the troll can wreck havoc. There are people who go into these communities to talk to others about there interests but there are some like the trolls that go for fun and possible to see who they can get riled up.

Now that we have mentioned the troll lets give a little background on this little bugger. We all know those trouble makers you see at times in chat rooms and/or virtual communities. You know the ones that post something smart or derogatory towards someone else in the room and it tries to see what other people will do or what the person they are talking to is going to do. I image you have seen this before. Well people that is the troll. A person who purposely posted mean, nasty and possible implies bad things about other people are the troll. You can always find one or more of them causing problems in one or more chat rooms and/or virtual communities. Watch out for the troll and make sure that he/she does not snag you into their lair.

Be careful trusting the troll. They make so much trouble that they have even caused trouble in a newsgroup can sometimes give bad advise which makes users and readers alike not trust the site they are on. When asking questions and getting answers from people ensure you double check where the information is coming from. Read other peoples posting then before following any advise ensure that the one you are taking, if you take any, can be trusted and the answer did not come from a person who is the troll of the community. Taking the advice from a troll can very well hurt you, a person in whom you really did not want to hurt and it can also hurt innocent people who have nothing to do with what you are discussing.

Trolls also at times form their own communities. Personally I have had yet to find one and quite frankly I am not really sure I would want to really become a member of one. I would be too scared that they would attach me verbally for even trying to get into their community. They may also try to get me offended because I was a newbie. I am not sure how anyone would react to that. I always hated being a new person online in a chat room and/or virtual community. You need tough skin when you run into the troll.

I truly hope this helps some new and possibly old internet users who weren’t familiar with the troll of a virtual community and the community itself. Just watch yourself out there in internet land and have a safe, happy journey.