ED as in (Encyclopedia Dramatica) and 4chan, that lovely imageboard site that steals and alters your artwork to a guy named "Anonomous"...a shadowy figure who hides behind a Guy Fawkes Mask on the internet.

As we all know, there’s always gonna be new articles and posts out of people in the future over more yet ridiculous and uninteresting things.

Over the course of the Summer, and ongoing to this day at varying levels of intensity or ebb and flow. I have been a victim of such trolling by deviants who are in the employ of those two particular websites. They just start up DA accounts (or have existing ones) and go off to my artwork or profile page and post hateful commentary about your race, sexual orientation, and/or your political beliefs.

For me, I was singled out for an ED article for being an openly Gay, 23-year-old Hispanic artist who happens to draw a lot of Yaoi and Yuri artwork, has lots kinky bondage fetishes, loves Naruto and a few other anime shows, loves drawing OC characters for himself and other people, loves drawing with Crayola and Roseart markers, A critic of the War in Iraq, and was a strong supporter of Barack Obama during the recent 2008 U.S. Presidential Elections.

Now you are thinking, What are you complaining about? It's just ED and 4chan bothering you, just ignore them, no big deal!

Well, sooner or later, you do find out about all the trolling. I was offline from DA for over a day, When I returned back online. I got some 30+ Hate Comments/Death Threats. THIS IS A BIG DEAL FOR ANY HUMAN BEING WHO HAS BEEN THREATENED THAT WAY! I absolutely could not believe all of what I was seeing, I was seriously terrorized. I posted a distress journal alerting everyone of the possible danger I was now in on DA.

A lot of people dismissed me for all the 'drama' (or Lulz as them trolls call it) I caused when I spoke up against what was going on towards me. And to make matters worse; a lot of the people were believing the ED article and all of its BS, and taking it as fact. Because, people who are on the internet take anything that is written as fact about someone without doing any further research by visiting the person they reading up on.

I am going to use an example: This past Summer, there was a really sinister whisper campaign by the Religious Right claiming that Barack Obama was a Muslim and a terrorist and all that libelous garbage with Bill Ayers.

The ultimate goal of an Encyclopedia Dramatica article, as with the case was with me and many more others; is that it tries to make it so that the person who has an article written about them is gonna have a hard time in life for an eternity, which many people think right now. Just remember, it’s the internet, there’s going to be crap talked about anyone to everyone and vice versa. If it’s not affecting you in real life; then there’s nothing to worry about. And for a fact, most things are altered on the site to make the person look like an internet criminal all thanks to a lousy combination “too much time“ and "Photoshopping".

Here is some creative techniques to combating trolling here on DeviantART that I believe could be of benefit when presented with the scourge of this kind of cyber-terrorism:

>>FLAG all hateful commentary as SPAM
Recently, around February 2008, advertising groups and telemarketers were invading DeviantART by spamming their products/services to artists in the DA community. DA Admins and Technological Staff responded with the "Report Spam" Button...Use it and use it often! Some trolls are just so stupid, they end up getting banned the day they joined DA, sometimes.

>>GO FOR THE BLOCK!
If have have a troll that is harassing you constantly, and you are just getting a little tried of hitting the "Report Spam" button. Block 'em!

Each DA user can block up to a maximum of 100 people for any reason from their userpage.

To do this simply visit the Personal > General section of your Edit Settings & Profile page, once there you will see a box entitled "Blocked Users" towards the bottom of the page.

Enter the username of each person you wish to block into the field provided with each entry being placed on a separate line. Be certain to correctly spell each name and do not include the status symbol of the user (ie: *,~,=,+). And then Click OK, they're blocked.

See Also: FAQ #96: Can I block people from my user page? and FAQ #641: I need to block more than 100 people from my User Page. Is this possible? provided by the Help Desk for more details on blocking people.

>> Harassment, see it, REPORT IT!
Now blocking trolls is a stopgap defense measure, this is now where you have to play offense. If you receive death threats and slurs based on religion, race, and sexual orientation. I strongly recommend that you report such commentary/stalking and or hate propaganda to the Help Desk.

Be certain to also identify the person who you are reporting and to give a brief synopsis of the situation. Do not copy and paste entire comments and interactions and do not go into unnecessary detail

Also, you can link their comments by checking their Recent Activity (which displays their recent comments) at the top of their profile page, 99 percent of trolls on DA overlook that feature on their accounts, just another way for them to get caught!

Please do not report minor or trivial situations as no action will be taken. Some trolls just leave their one-liner comments and never bother with you again, still I flag them as Spam nonetheless. File your trolling/harassment report to the Help Desk's Copyright and Etiquette Team under "Harassment" and once you submit your report, The Help Desk can anywhere between an hour or up to 72 hours depending on their case load, investigative process, and hours of operation. After that time period, the trolling account either suspended/or more often likely, Banned!

Then you can breathe a little more easier and take that reported account off your Blocked User List.

See also: FAQ #238: How do I report people for abuse, harassment, or another issue I may think is a violation? for more details on reporting abusive commentary.

>> COMMON SENSE INTERNET SAFETY (On the Internet in General)
~What NOT to do~

~Do not EVER reveal your full name on a public website. This also goes when you're talking to someone in a chatroom or IM (Instant Messenger)
~Do NOT post your address online.
~Do NOT post the name of your REAL town online.
~Do NOT post your phone number, Zip Code, ect, anywhere online.

That applies to not revealing personal information online. That gives predators easy access (However, if, for example, you're conversing with someone online, and you know it's the real thing (like you've seen them on webcam or spoke to them on the phone), then that's okay to talk to them yourself) .

~Do NOT post provocative photos of yourself (i.e. nude pics, family and the like, where your house is, etc. )
~Be careful where you post photos, and if you do, don't include personal information within it (hence why I don't have a MySpace account)
~Do NOT converse with someone who makes you feel uncomfortable and trying to meet you in private and asking you personal info. Get away, fast! If it continues, report it to local law enforcement authorities.

~Tips on protecting yourself

~Create an online alias, be it a full name or a nickname.
~When conversing with someone online, keep personal info to yourself (And I don't mean sharing that you enjoy roast beef. That's okay, you can talk all you like about personal interests and pet peeves and movie stars, whatever. I hardly think anyone will be able to hunt you down because you like, say, Sasuke Uchiha or something).
~Don't reveal personal information anywhere.
~If you arrange to meet someone online, make sure you have them meet you in a public place, away from your actual residence.
~Protect your computer from viruses and anything that could lead to hackers rigging into your computer. (I use Webroot Internet Security Essentials, rated best anti-virus/internet security program by PC Magazine for the last few years running)
~Report to the authorities if anything happens when conversing with someone online.

>>Lastly any most importantly, DO NOT LET THE TROLLS WIN!
Just like terrorism, if you hand trolls a victory; you are giving in to their demands, and you'll end up regretting it later because you succumbed to their terrorism and antics. A lot of good artists have left DA in certain cases, because they were not strong enough or weren't courageous enough to take a stand against the hate trolling they've been the subject of.

So what if ED and 4chan posting articles and blogs about me, they can write whatever crap they want (useless I have to involve federal law enforcement with that website) . Just go on and live your daily lifes and keep on posting your artwork and just block off the idiots who choose to be trolls and ignorant people about it. Just remember this, the Internet ISN’T suppose to be serious business, don’t take things to heart or else you’ll be vulnerable to anything.

One more thing that helped me when someone trolled and made hate comments to me. Sometimes I place my hand upon the monitor screen of my computer, breathe a couple of deep breaths, then click delete or Report Spam.

I will give you example to keep on going despite the trolling you may have the recipient of: Take a country like Israel, they have faced terrorism and war since 1948 by the surrounding Arab countries which pretty hate Israel's guts and wish see that country driven into the Mediterranean Sea. Like the State of Israel, I will fight for my fundamental right to exist here on DeviantART. I will continue to draw, I am too rooted and established to simply buckle to trolling and leave DA.

Stay safe on the Internet everyone...

And please comment (Note: any hateful commentary and spam WILL BE REPORTED!!!)