In chess with trolls

Fighting trolls, on the one hand, is like fighting crime, on the other hand, a chess game with a very cunning opponent. Who wins and loses at the moment is difficult to evaluate. Apparently the one who lasts longer will win. :)



In our history, it all began ten years ago, when hamsters (DIY sites) became quite social networks. Then we created the site completely user friendly, you could write whatever you want, post pictures and chat as much as you like, no restrictions. The site we had was a chess one and it gathered an audience expectedly more mature and educated than anywhere else. This, one can say, is the specificity of chess, however, like the IT industry in those days. Everyone lived together happily.



The first thing we encountered was the abundance of negative feedback in feedback. If you do not pay attention to these messages, you can live in peace, although daily threats and insults will bother anyone over time. Then we got one great idea that the negative on the Internet can be defeated with the help of psychology.



We made the feedback form such that in the underlined polite template the user had to write his anger and stream of swear words in calligraphic handwriting. Oddly enough, it worked. The amount of negative feedback has come to naught. If messages appeared, they were quite constructive, and the maximum was: “Without respect ...”



The second wave of trolling covered us more thoroughly. The case concerned open sources of information. Forums, chats were full of showdowns and insults from users. Some complained about the clones, others about the progres who play using software.



Everyone was very excited by the Hall of Fame (there was a list of the best players on the site). We had nothing to lose, so we closed the Hall of Fame and so far in our profile the user sees only 10ku players who are close to him by rating. People who were important to be in the first places, they are there, the rest do not know about it and sleep peacefully.



By the way, I remembered that in those days, we had a Reputation (an analogue of Karma on Habré). Reputation had little effect, but trolls massively minus her and spoiled the life of good people. Over time, reputation has become an artifact that you can vote for, but it does not affect anything.



People come to our site to play a little chess, but they are much more interested in playing “socialism”. Clarification of relationships, intrigue, showdown, etc. The moderators did not want to see such a dump. Therefore, we made the forum and clubs closed groups. Each has its own “moderator”, who decides who can be in the group, and he can paint comments. In a closed group, among its own clones with messages that no one will read, the troll is bored, it saddens him and the conduct of such groups for him loses its meaning.



Blacklists (where the user can add another to protect themselves from games with him and communication), Friends - we have been with us from the very beginning. Over time, they introduced the function that only friends can write private messages by default, or all users who configure them. This solution can also be viewed from two sides; on the one hand, users are not very comfortable, because you need to add as friends, or change the settings. In return, they do not receive abusive messages from anyone.



Then I had to fasten the autofiltration of profanity, and replenish the dictionary with jargon of users, all for the sake of normal civilized communication between them. When the abusive vocabulary of the troll ran out, he began to look for new ways “how to get a neighbor."



Having lost simple ways to shit verbally, the trolls came up with a way to create abusive nicknames using the names of objectionable users. From this until a cure has been invented, except for banning and removing the user for violating the rules of the site.



Until recently, it was possible to insert images by reference in comments and posts, but since we do not have an army of moderators, and viewing malicious images is not enough fun, we also had to crop this function.



All text fields that are available to the user are an opportunity for the troll to show itself in all its glory.



Using software. One of the pains of users of a chess resource is cheaters. Personally, I don’t see anything bad if the program is playing with you. After all, if it is strong, then your level of play rises. But most do not like to lose, and often losing really makes a person angry. Hence, too, often negative in the comments on the parties. In the conditions of our site, the solution is to play with your own, with those you trust. In tournaments organized by users, the tournament judge himself decides who to accept and who not.



The site has a lot of gamification: badges, levels, awards, virtual bonuses, friends, gifts. Users play, upgrade their players, create content and return. Yes, a site about chess, but not quite. People come there to relax and chat.



The users are different, mostly older men. Among them there are people with disabilities who play with their tongue or foot.



The basic rule: do not get involved in personal conversations and do not answer troll questions. The troll is rubbed into trust, it is important to remember who you are dealing with.



What stories did the trolls not write to us during this time: from business offers, threats of litigation, to information about the “secret work” of special services. In our case, it is more likely that a lonely pensioner is bored at home, and now he is always on hand. Trolls are not afraid when you see the source of evil, or think what you see. The troll, in turn, considers the admins its puppets and thinks that the site is in its power, and the whole Internet, too. Thus, he realizes his untapped potential and satisfies the ego. I still do not lose hope in homo sapiens (the rational man), who sooner or later realizes what he spent his life time on.



Protecting users from the actions of trolls, we are increasingly automating censorship of content. I can’t say that this is how we imagined the Internet when we first started.



We have people who live on the site, and those who found friends through it, those who spend on the site every night, and those who love chess. And there are not one or two.



Why is this all. The experience of managing a social network is insanely interesting. The worldview is very much revised when you find yourself on the other side of the barricade. Even looking at the Visitors tab in Yandex.Metrica, I still wonder how far technology has gone. Yandex now really knows more about site users than the admin.



My next project will be with users. There will be gamification. But users will no longer be able to contact each other and do something publicly. Here they are home hamsters of the future without trolls.