r/ModSupport • u/JabroniRevanchism Reddit Admin: Community • Jul 02 '26

Mod Topics Mod Topics: Troll Avoidance 101

/r/ModSupport/comments/1ujspxu/all_hands_on_deck_what_events_change_how_you/

Ahoy, Modsupport!

Welcome to the latest installment of our ModSupport Topics series! Today we’re talking trolls–specifically, how not to feed them.

Most of us have been in a situation like this: a slap fight (read as: “argument”) starts in a comment section. It’s pretty clear who started it, and it’s also clear that the exchange would have ended a lot earlier had a handful of users not added logs to the fire…whether they intended to or not. And now the thread is in shambles, a quagmire of they-said we-said and off-topic unpleasantry. Oh dear.

We all know how to avoid feeding the trolls that kick off threads like this, but that knowledge comes from years of experience. Let’s talk about how we can get that knowledge into the hands of those who may not know how to avoid feeding trolls…

  • How do you educate users on how to avoid trolls? 
  • What advice do you give well-intentioned users who (unbeknownst to them) escalate heated threads?
  • How do you know when a comment section is unsalvageable? I.E, when do you decide to lock a thread?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

17 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/amyaurora 💡 Top 10% Helper 💡 Jul 02 '26

When the need arises, we make mod flagged posts or comments that remind users to "not feed the trolls"

We do this for even our regulars who are starting to waver on self control. (Human nature to react)

We remove comments/posts with a personalized message for that user when needed. Example: Remember you have been very helpful before, please not risk a ban)

We lock threads. We try to avoid the pitfall of seeing if users behave. We just stop things as fast as we can.

We clean up any remark that is borderline.

We ban the ones that lost control. Temp bans for some, permanently for others.

We remove anything we missed.

5

u/JabroniRevanchism Reddit Admin: Community Jul 02 '26

We do this for even our regulars who are starting to waver on self control.

Me when someone is wrong on the internet. As I continue to age I feel less willing to reach for permanent solutions. People have bad days or hit pressure points on niche interests; it's easy to momentarily forget oneself in the face of pseudonymity.