Features of Troll Attacks

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Features of Troll Attacks

It’s unlikely that any particular troll attack will exhibit all of these features. But the presence of any should provoke caution; and a pattern of these behaviors is a sure sign. It is vital to recognize a troll attack for what it is, and to refuse to allow it to gain control over you. It is equally vital to educate the people in your Coven on the nature of troll attacks, so they won’t be taken in. And in the Pagan community as a whole, the more people who understand these issues, the less trouble trolls can cause.

• Troll attacks are disruptive, irrational, unreasonable. The troll expects his or her concerns to take precedence over everything else. In contrast, people who are delivering legitimate criticism are willing to do so at appropriate times and places, without disrupting the normal business and worship of a group.
• Trolls go out of their way to attack. They create situations in which someone will engage in a behavior they want to criticize. Trolls will initiate trouble.
• Trolls make insatiable demands. If this or that isn’t to their liking, you can try changing it; but next week, there will still be something wrong with it, something about which the troll can continue to complain.
• Trolls will often criticize both for doing a thing and (in the next, parallel situation) for not doing it, thus setting up no-win demands and situations in which you can be criticized no matter which course you take.
• Troll attacks are often based on after-the-fact demands. Troll: "You didn’t do this when you had the chance to!" You: "But I had no idea you’d want that." Troll: "Doesn’t matter. You should have known. I hinted often enough…"
• Trolls remember situations differently from everyone else, and frequently claim to be unable to recall the most central points of an incident – that is, the points which show their concerns to have no real substance, or to be misdirected. They remember imagined petty slights much better than they remember rational explanations or honest attempts by others to resolve a situation.
• Trolls are dishonest. Their attacks are dishonest. Historical re-writes are often involved. They’ll often change their version of a tale depending on who they’re talking to and what aspect they think they can best use to their advantage today.
• Trolls will insist upon their version of reality, to the exclusion of any possible corrections. Trolls will present a warped or downright false description of an incident. No matter how many times you patiently correct their false impressions or false statements, they’ll repeat their version to whoever listens.
• Troll attacks often center around allegations of another person’s supposed petty motive, rather than around actual actions: "I know So-and-so was out to get me." "He did thus-and-such just because he’s mean, and he doesn’t like me." "She just said what she did because she was angry that I’m a better poet." What was actually said and done is almost irrelevant; the troll wants others to get indignant over someone’s imagined motives, because allegations of someone’s state of mind are impossible to disprove.
• Trolls will accuse others of doing exactly the sorts of things they do themselves. For example, a troll will complain to you about a third party – then bitterly lament that you are talking about the troll behind his or her back. To prove you’re not unethical, you’ll be tempted to promise to "stop spreading rumors" about the troll. This is a particularly insidious strategy. It’s an attempt to prevent you from sharing information concerning this troll with other people. It’s usually engaged in by very experienced trolls who are trying to command how much others know about them.
• Trolls will often make accusations which really make no sense, or will accuse someone of reacting completely out of proportion to a supposed cause. "The HPS of the last Coven I was in kicked me out – and even tried to kill my cat! – simply because of an argument we were having over a book she says I borrowed." The attempt here is to make some other person look petty and vindictive and completely unreasonable. Almost always, such statements are intended to mask and distract you from petty and mean actions on the part of the troll.
• In problem-solving sessions, trolls can’t stay on topic. Invited to discuss Problem "X" (particularly if "X" has to do with the troll’s behavior), the conversation will immediately be directed to some other Problem "Y" – usually, trollish criticism of the Coven Leaders. Trolls want to deflect criticism away from themselves and onto someone else, and will eagerly change the subject to accomplish this.
• Troll attacks often involve minimal or fabricated concerns. The most mundane and unimportant events – even if they did actually happen – are made to look like actionable offenses. The way you said "Hello" can be presented as if it were evidence of malicious hatred on your part. After all, you said "Hi" in a much nicer tone of voice to someone else.
• Troll attacks are often based on events which are actually reasonable, if you stop to think about it. For example, Ed the Troll complained that HPS Zelda chose Tom Terrific to be HP at the Beltane Circle. You are supposed to be indignant and angry because Ed was passed over. But wait – isn’t it a Coven Leader’s right to make a decision like that? That’s part of a Coven Leader’s job. Regardless of who is chosen, someone else is going to be passed over.
• A specific aspect of the previous point: Trolls will object to the legitimate exercise of authority, if it’ll make a Leader look authoritarian and unreasonable. Coven Leaders are often called upon to use their judgement in such matters as initiations or elevations, who runs the next Circle, at what time or on what day a group meets, and so on. A troll can make these necessary decisions look like something dark and sinister, playing on the distrust of authority which most Pagans seem to possess as a matter of course.
• Trolls will undermine the Coven leaders, often by encouraging the Coven members to engage in activities which are incompatible with the immediate work of the Coven, but which are more "fun" or more immediately rewarding. For instance, if you go on a Coven outing to meditate in a forest, a troll might invite a few of the junior members to join together for a swim, leaving you to either be abandoned or to seem unreasonably hard-nosed. If you’re trying to have a serious discussion, a troll might keep telling jokes. All this is designed to make the troll seem like a more suitable Leader than the HP or HPS, more in tune with the needs and wants of the Coveners. Such actions are direct attacks on the Coven Leaders themselves.

And note the true insidiousness of this last point. If you, as Coven Leader, call the troll to ask for undermining your legitimate authority, the troll will use one of the previous techniques to accuse you of being authoritarian and inflexible. This leads, inevitably, to one of those no-win situations which trolls are so fond of. If you try to keep the Coven on track, you're an unreasonable ogre. If you let things go, then you're an incapable manager, and the work of the Coven never gets done. It's really pretty brilliant.

More trollish techniques:

• Trolls avoid healthy confrontation. Their complaints and criticisms usually come back to you second-, third-, or fourth-hand. Trolls will complain about someone, and avoid discussing their problems with that person. Why? They really have no desire to settle the issues, but only to use complaints as wedges and weapons. If you ask a troll about a criticism you’ve heard, you’ll get half-hearted explanations, denials, or claims of an inability to remember.
• Trolls avoid personal inconvenience, risk, sacrifice, or commitment – except for the sake of their attacks. Ask everyone in the Coven to bring something for a potluck feast, and a troll might complain about being forced to contribute from his or her meager income. Ask the whole Coven to read a particular book in order to have a discussion on some special topic, and a troll will complain about unreasonable demands being made on his or her private time.
• Trolls exhibit selfish concerns – or, at the least, concerns which are very self-centered. Every issue revolves around how it affects them. As in the examples above, the fact that all members of the Coven were asked to perform the same tasks is irrelevant. What matters is the inconvenience to the troll.
• A troll attack can revolve around accusations of you (as Coven Leader) wanting to control everyone in the Coven. Such an attack can make a troll appear to be something other than self-serving; he or she is looking out for everyone. But the particular items the troll complains about are ones he or she personally doesn’t like, or doesn’t want to do. Only a very sophisticated troll would say something like, "I actually agreed with the decision. The problem is that HP Fred refused to accept input on it." Much more often, the line is, "This decision was inconvenient for me, and was aimed especially at hurting me – and no one even asked what I thought of it."
• Similarly, trolls can use apparent devotion to a Cause to mask their self-centeredness. You can be violently criticized for not pursuing their Cause, at the time and in the way they want. But note; it is their concern which they want to be the overriding concern of the group. They want to be the center of whatever the group’s focus is. It’s alright, somehow, for the goals of the troll to be forced upon everyone else, even though the concerns of the Coven Leaders – or of everyone else – can be brushed aside.

Do note the hypocrisy of the last few items. The troll is basically claiming, "Fred is an overcontroling and authoritarian High Priest because he won’t do things my way." Really now, who is trying to control the focus of the group? Who is being manipulative and self-centered? Do keep in mind: in most traditions, the Coven Leaders are empowered to make decisions.

The ability to accept criticism and helpful advice is one of the most important skills which a Coven Leader must have. Coven Leaders who aren’t willing to take long, hard, fearless looks at themselves do not deserve respect. Healthy criticism should be handled in healthy ways, and should be taken seriously.

But attacks are another matter. Trolls will attack whether there’s anything legitimate to complain about or not. They’ll invent something to complain about. They’ll create uncomfortable no-win situations. They’ll even complain about the things you do right.

Complaints such as those described above are not healthy criticisms. They do not deserve to be taken seriously or to be handled in the way you would handle a suggestion from a trusted and caring friend. They do not warrant any sort of self-examination or self-doubt.