Ignoring them is easier said then done. And usually ignoring them just makes them worse. They'll give up in the end one way or the other, they are after all just people on the other side and a joke loses its funny side even with the teller. Some last for longer than others, but in the end it all gets boring.

Thing is arguing with them doesn't help either, it'll just stress you out and give them what they want.

Maybe the best thing to do is agree with them then leave them to it, but I've seen trolls follow people all over.

Hunt them down and make them watch Bunnyman.

Why ignore them? They are so much fun to talk to!

OK not all trolls are fun to talk to, some of them do my wick in! I mean in some forums you go into a thread wanting to discuss something but if your level headed your classed as being some sort of happiness police (even if your posting negative critisim just not in a hyperbolic way) or being brainwashed or my personal favorite, opressing people!

The calmer ones that are just wind up merchants are funny, the downright rude, aggressive and bossy ones should just be ignored.

As for hoaxers, need to be resolved. You can't let them carry on with a hoax as sometimes it'll turn into a con and innocent people will get burnt.

You can't be cautious with it though, hoaxer can do a lot of damage and I'd rather they annoyed (because lets face it bullying is too harsh for what most people claim it to be) someone for a little to make sure they aren't a hoaxer then to ignore the point and let them spread. I mean the latest one I think your talking about was able to go on so long because until he started pissing off important people no one cared what he was doing.

But I'll agree that you never call out a troll, someone on another forum tried to call out a troll and it ended up being an autistic guy who got the other person in shit loads of trouble for insulting him, though to be honest the guy was being a dick. But you just can't tell when someone is just being a dick because it really is their opinion or if they are being a dick for the sake of being a dick!

I never actually said I wanted someone to be hounded but I don't think they probably were either! What a couple people find out that you could be a hoaxer and start annoying you? You block them and ignore them, they are a small part of one fandom on a social media outlet like bloody twitter! Did she block any of them? Because if she didn't she brought any of the "hounding" on herself by talking to them.

Getting away from ONE example when do you worry about a hoaxer? If you strongly suspect they are a hoaxer how long do you wait before warning people? Because the big one we're talking about here was obviously a hoaxer from Day 1. But even to the end of his hoax no one had any proof that he was lying, absence of proof doesn't mean they are guilty or innocent it is just absence of information. The way they act is a clear and obvious sign though. But as I don't know much about the "hounding" I don't want to go into a debate about it unless you want to PM me the details and we can carry that debate on in private!

Oh some of the best trolls I've seen have been clearly taking the piss. On a F1 forum I used to go to (small little thing) there was one poster who was apparently the worlds biggest Mark Webber fan, it was the funniest thing ever. Everyone knew they were taking the piss so when they walked into a thread it could be good fun.

Then you have the annoying ones who just spam you with the same answers, but most of them are just kids or people that are one track minded.

The worst troll are the idiots who think their opinion is fact whilst yours is wrong, they piss me off because so many of them actually believe that, hence never call out a troll because some of them are just trolls in real life.

Hey I am a Ninja Troll .

I have to agree with Amanda, you need to watch them before jumping on them. I think I know the girl she's talking about and if she is just an innocent person people have been hard on her (I wouldn't say hound, as Luc said if she'd blocked them they would have left her alone, most of the "hounding" was them replying to her replies!)

But before with the other one the way it ended was necessary! He would have just carried on and there were people who genuinely believed him as well. That is the worry.

Then you have the Maggie troll. Avoid the fan girl troll at all costs, they are a pain in the backside at the best of times!

That is my point in general! No one on twitter can be "hounded" as all you have to do is press the block button and the idiots disappear forever. I have no sympathy for anyone who engages in arguments because they want to be a victim of some heinous "crime" against them. Yeah you shouldn't HAVE to block people but it would really do no harm at all to block them then moan about it happening.

Fan girl trolls you sure you aren't one of them?

I wasn't actually joking about the fan girl troll. That is exactly what I meant, whilst adding a pinch of humor to it.

You get all kinds of trolls and they can be quite bad, but get a group of fan girl trolls (who can be boys as well) and you really are stumped! Maggie and Essie were terrible for it, they used to sit there on their computers pouncing on any drivers they disliked the moment they did anything, said anything or were mentioned. The worst thing about Maggie was that she used to sit there and just take Bruno's word (and still does) as gospel! She was so changeable, but the arguments she left behind still stung and it just made more when she changed her mind and people pointed out she'd given them grief about these things beforehand!