Earlier this week, I had to ban a troll. I only consider it memorable because for the online communities I manage, trolls tend to be few and far between. However, if you happen to manage a community that is prone to these type of users, you may run into this issue much more often.

Trolling has been around as long as the Internet. They are, in their basic form, one of the most potentially disruptive and, as a consequence, damaging element to building and manageing your online community.

First, to clarify, trolls are not the same as spammers or spambots. These are a whole other class of user, who are generally dealt with by immediately deleting and blocking their access. We will delve into taking preventative measures against spammers at a later time.

Trolls, on the other hand, are typically human, non-bot users who, for one reason or another, enjoy being a disruption to an online community. Their trademarks are controversial and off-topic comments and posts created with the sole purpose of stirring the pot.

Identifying trolls can vary in degree of difficulty, again, depending on your community. For example, political communities, usually filled with emotionally-charged posts, make spotting trolls a tough proposal. On the other hand, less contentious communities allow trolls to be more easily identified.

The standard fix for trolls, on the user end, is to simply ignore then, classically dubbed, “Don’t feed the trolls.” The idea is that if the troll is craving attention and doesn’t get it, they will either go away or get in line with the normal conversation.

Moderators, for the most part, don’t generally need to step in unless the troll becomes more active in the community, menacing users by increasing their post counts. If this is the case, you have several courses of action.

First, you may wish to warn the user that their activity is not appropriate for the community. This is the least effective option, as trolls have a tendency to let a warning go in one ear and out the other.

So, with that in mind, you may want to consider banning. This can entail blocking posting privileges to a user either by username, e-mail address or even IP address. It is up to you to decide whether you wish to make the ban temporary or permanent.

Ultimately, as a moderator, the decision is up to you how to handle trolls. And always remember that your actions here will play a factor in the direction your online community goes.

Like any other project, online communities must have one person who has the power to make sure everything runs smoothly. In this case, that job falls on the shoulders of the moderator.

Online communities have called this person by other names, such as administrator, director or other names users call them when they don’t get their way. But their functions are all the same: To keep the community functioning and a viable place for users.

Depending on the size of your community, the moderator can have any level of involvement and spend a varying amount of time on the site. Smaller sites tend to have one person, maybe you or someone else on a part-time basis. Other sites are large enough that they need more than one person, perhaps even working full-time.

What does the moderator do? Again, depending on the size of the online community, the moderator serve a number of functions. But one universal duty is the monitor the site for any technical issues or any inappropriate behavior by users.

Essentially, moderators serve as the adult in the room, and it is crucial for them to, from the outset, lay the ground rules for the community. That way, there is no confusion when sanctions are handed out.

You may also ask your moderator to work on other tasks for the online community, the easiest of which is posting new topics to possibly jump-start the conversation. They can also be called upon to write up site-related announcements as well.

Beyond that, depending on their ability levels, moderators can be asked the assist you with writing and developing new site content, create e-mail marketing for your users or establish and maintain the community’s social media presence.

This position isn’t for everyone, though. Because of the power they have on the overall community, it’s important that the moderator possesses a soft touch when it comes to dealing with site issues. Plus, it has to be someone you can work with.

When you get the right person, it makes all the difference and will allow you to concentrate on making your online community successful.