"You suck, quit the Internet forever!"
"Why are you even bothering?"
"OMG this is SO clearly stolen off this other character!!"

It is a sad fact that the Internet often brings out the bully in people, and sooner or later during our time surfing the world wide web, we will all come into contact with someone who is angry, looking for a fight, or just flat rude. These people are never fun to deal with, but many times people make the situation worse for themselves without even meaning to, and for good reasons! It is easy and pretty natural to get offended by these kinds of comments, to want to argue and defend yourself, to show this person the light. While this is a natural reaction, it is also pretty common knowledge that Internet arguments rarely end well.

So what can you do to get rid of these jerks? How can you make being trolled as low-impact with as little stress involved as possible? There are a few simple things you can to to protect yourself and convince your would-be abuser to go away sooner.

Recognize the Problem and Ignore Them
The first step is to realize that you are dealing with someone that you simply do not want to deal with. Sometimes this is obvious right from the start, other times it takes a few exchanges to realize that someone is overly aggressive or more rude than you want to deal with. The most important thing to do once you realize you are dealing with someone who is making you uncomfortable is to immediately stop talking to this person. Stop all communications, do not try to get the last word, there is no need to tell them you think they are a troll and are going to be blocked, just stop communicating.

Use the Block Tool
The next step is to add them to your block list, which is fully explained here. DeviantART has provided all users with Hide and Block tools so that everyone can quickly and easily keep problem people from commenting on their profiles, submissions and journals. This goes hand in hand with stopping communication, because while blocking someone is a very effective way to stop communications, if you reply to their comments, they will be able to reply back to you through their message center! I realize that this may sound like an error in the system, but this is actually done intentionally. Why is that? Well, there are some people out there who like to play victim, who will say they are being harassed while encouraging the other person to continue in this behavior. The blocked individual being able to reply to them through the message center is an excellent way to identify these people. You should also go through and hide all the comments left by this person, and any and all replies to their comments, to "erase" all evidence of their behavior, this is a big discouragement to trolls.

Ignore they Ever Existed
The next step is to stop talking about the person. Do not post journals about them or the situation, do not submit deviations targeting this person, and encourage your friends not to talk to or about this person. Most trolls feed off of the attention and reactions their behavior gets, they love it when you get so upset that you post a journal and get all your friends involved in the hate! This is why posting journals and asking friends for help is the worst possible thing you can do, the best thing you can do is just block them and forget they ever existed, otherwise you risk feeding the troll.

Resolved... Hopefully!
This simple set of actions will resolve the majority of trolling cases, if you really do follow through with it. Following through means no talking to the person, no journals about them, no asking your friends to talk to them for you, defend you, etc. Too many times we see someone block a problem person then post a journal which says something along the lines of "LOL I blocked you! You can't bother me now! Neener neener neener!" This simple action undoes all of the previous steps, and will put you right back at square one. So please remember to follow through and ignore problem people entirely. Most people who partake in trolling behavior get bored very easily and will lose interest in your utter lack of attention very quickly.

What if it continues?
Every so often you may have the displeasure of coming across someone who is truly malicious, dedicated and lacking in a life. There are those who will not give up and will partake in various methods to get around a block and continue to harass you. If you have blocked someone, hidden all their comments and made no efforts to talk to or about them but they are still finding ways to communicate with you on dA after a week has passed since you blocked them, then it is time to contact deviantART staff for help. File a +helpdesk ticket and include all the information you can, including how long this situation has been going on, links to any comments they have left, how long you have had them blocked and any other important information.

The most important thing to remember when asking deviantART staff for help is to stay calm! Every member of staff has been harassed on more than one occasion, we understand the frustration of the situation and we will do all we can to help you as quickly as possible. Stay calm, communicate as clearly as you can, provide as much information as concisely as possible. After you have typed up your request for help, read it over one more time before sending it in to make sure all your links work, that you are being clear without giving irrelevant information (We understand that you were upset by it, but we really do not need the detail that you were so upset you pushed your chair back and rolled it over the tail of your cat and because of that she scratched your arm and made you cry) and do your best to be patient while we review your ticket. We do handle all reports as quickly as possible, but we do occasionally run out of coffee and have to sleep for a few hours, so your ticket may not be reviewed the minute it is sent in.

If you have been Blocked
DeviantART allows all users access and free use of the Hide and Block tools, and some people use these liberally. There are some deviants who will block people because they do not like their comments or even their avatar! While some believe this is abuse, this is a legitimate use of the Block tool and deviantART staff will not interfere. If you have found yourself blocked by someone, please respect this, even if you do not understand or agree with it. Attempting to use alternate accounts to contact the person, even to ask why you were blocked, should not be done and depending on the situation, can get you into trouble. While it may suck, the best thing to do if you find yourself blocked is to simply move on and ignore the person. Who knows, maybe with some time they will come around and want to communicate with you again!

In Conclusion
It is a very rare person who never has to deal with a troll during their time on the Internet, but most people unwittingly add to the situation and inadvertently escalate the troll's behavior. The best thing you can do is block and ignore the person, so please do not be afraid to use the Hide and Block tools! If you have blocked someone, stopped communication with them, and they are still attempting to bother you after a week, it may be wise to contact the +helpdesk for help resolving the situation. Remember to be calm, clear and provide all the information you can so that we will be able to best assist you.

That's all from the CEA for this week! Be smart, be safe and remember: Don't feed the Troll!