Go anywhere on the web, and chances are most of the folks you run into are well-intentioned individuals, though occasionally a bit unusual at times. However, for every nice guy you meet on the internet, there's just as many who delight in nothing but spreading negativity and irritation to everyone they meet. Through their motives and their methods may be different, every troll's goal is the same: do whatever it takes to get a rise out of another user.

While their reasons for doing so differ, it's easy to see why trolling has become so commonplace. Thanks to the anonymity associated with the internet, people can say or post whatever they want without fear of repercussion. The rest of the world knows them only by their online pseudonym, if even that, and because they know that no one knows who they really are, they're not afraid to be as rude and objectionable as possible, because they know it won't come back to them. In some cases, however, trolls honestly believe the things they preach, but because they've been trained to believe that no one will pay attention to long-winded explanations on the internet, often by other trolls at that, it becomes much easier to compress it all down to a simple statement of "UR WRONG AND ANYONE WHO DISAGREES IZ DUBM AND SHUD DIE IN A FIER ROFL!!!11!1!1"

Furthermore, internet communication helps put distance between the troll and his victim, both physically and mentally. If someone in real life were to go up to a person and exhibit troll-like behavior, they'd probably experience physical or verbal abuse as a result, with the added possibility of other people outside of the conversation joining in. Over the internet, however, there's a disconnect between the two parties. In the troll's mind, there's no face associated with the other person; only a screen name is there in its place. They know nothing of the victim, be it who they are, where they are, or what kind of position they hold. Everyone online is on an equal playing field, which empowers the trolls and causes them to not be afraid to go all out.

Combatting the troll phenomenon is difficult, as there's no limit to the number of potential trouble makers or the ways that they'll try to wreak havoc. The easiest way to avoid conflict is to simply ignore their existence. Trolls' ultimate goal is to try and irritate those around them, and if they don't see the expected result, they're likely to see their attempts as fruitless and temporarily give up their misguided ambitions. Alternatively, most web sites these days have built in safeguards, such as an "Ignore" function that blocks specific users' posts from ever appearing or "Report" buttons that alerts the higher-ups to the presence of a would-be troll. Ultimately, though, as long as people have differing opinions, there can never truly be an end to the potential menace that resides beneath the proverbial bridge.