why do people always say don't feed the trolls?

[Brian Nathaniel]

wouldn't they get hungry after awhile?

[*Sombra*]

Hmm, yeah, they would ... and that's the point.

If you feed them, they hang around because they know you'll continue to give them what they want. If you ignore them, they'll go beg for crumbs somewhere else.

[oklatonola]

Yes, they do, Then they either start attacking other trolls, or they start going through the main display pages to report questions and answers randomly so they feed their egos that way.

"...The Sad Truths of Internet Trolls:

1.Trolls are immune to criticism and logical arguments. True trolls cannot be reasoned with, regardless of how sound your logical argument is.
2.Trolls do not feel remorse like you and me. They have sociopathic tendencies, and accordingly, they delight in other people having hurt feelings.
3.Trolls consider themselves separate from the social order.
4.Trolls do not abide by etiquette or the rules of common courtesy.
5.Trolls consider themselves above social responsibility.
6.Trolls gain energy by you insulting them.
7.Trolls gain energy when you get angry.
8.The only way to deal with a troll is to ignore him, or take away his ability to post online.


How Should I Deal With Internet Trolls?

You cannot win with a troll. Publicly retaliating against them just fuels their childish need for attention. There are only 3 reliable ways to deal with trolls, all of which focus on removing their audience, removing their power, and depriving them of the attention they seek...."

http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/weir...-troll.htm


"...Question:

What is Narcissistic Supply?

Answer:

We all search for positive cues from people around us. These cues reinforce in us certain behaviour patterns. There is nothing special in the fact that the narcissist does the same. However there are two major differences between the narcissistic and the normal personality.

The first is quantitative. The normal person is likely to welcome a moderate amount of attention – verbal and non-verbal – in the form of affirmation, approval, or admiration. Too much attention, though, is perceived as onerous and is avoided. Destructive and negative criticism is avoided altogether.

The narcissist, in contrast, is the mental equivalent of an alcoholic. He is insatiable. He directs his whole behaviour, in fact his life, to obtain these pleasurable titbits of attention. He embeds them in a coherent, completely biased, picture of himself. He uses them to regulates his labile sense of self-worth and self-esteem.

To elicit constant interest, he projects to others a confabulated, fictitious version of himself, known as the False Self. The False Self is everything the narcissist is not: omniscient, omnipotent, charming, intelligent, rich, or well-connected.

The narcissist then proceeds to harvest reactions to this projected image from family members, friends, co-workers, neighbours, business partners and from colleagues. If these – the adulation, admiration, attention, fear, respect, applause, affirmation – are not forthcoming, the narcissist demands them, or extorts them. Money, compliments, a favourable critique, an appearance in the media, a sexual conquest are all converted into the same currency in the narcissist's mind.

This currency is what I call Narcissistic Supply.

It is important to distinguish between the various components of the process of narcissistic supply:

1. The trigger of supply is the person or object that provokes the source into yielding narcissistic supply by confronting the source with information about the narcissist's False Self.

2. The source of narcissistic supply is the person that provides the narcissistic supply

3. Narcissistic supply is the reaction of the source to the trigger...."

http://samvak.tripod.com/faq76.html