How to Out-Troll the Trolls, as Told by the Internet's Foremost Posters
Between the Reply Guys playing devil's advocate and the shitposters spamming disinformation for fun, today's trolls play in a completely different league from the keyboard warriors of yesteryear. And they don't just troll randomly for lolz. They latch on to their targets, hoping to get a rise by spreading their brand of hate—whether racist, sexist, homophobic, or all of the above—relentlessly and more organized than ever before.
Fortunately, a new generation of online avengers has emerged to push back this toxic tsunami of trolling, using all the tools at their disposal. WIRED spoke to some of the internet's most famous (and infamous) combatants, from a science communicator taking on anti-vaxxers to a moderator in one of Reddit's feistiest corners, about how to win a fight online.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Derek Guy, aka The Menswear Guy, @dieworkwear
Last week, you wrote a long post on X talking about your life as an undocumented immigrant. Vice President JD Vance made a separate post seeming to suggest you should be deported. You followed that up by posting some photos of him and saying, 'I think I can outrun you in these clothes.'
To be honest, that was just a throwaway line. I'm not trying to win an online dunk contest with the vice president of the United States. What stands out most to me in that interaction is not who 'won' the exchange but the fact that the vice president of the United States is so intensely online, at least compared to VPs of the past.
The WIRED Guide to Winning a Fight
Illustration: Shirley Chong
Right now, everyone seems ready to throw down. More than ever, it's important to pick your battles—and know how to win.
That, to me, is one of the more interesting shifts in American politics: A large segment of the Republican coalition—including figures like Charlie Kirk and Matt Walsh—is deeply immersed in online spaces. Even the official government accounts for the Department of Homeland Security and White House appear to be managed by people fluent in the language of Twitter.
I can't imagine any VP in the past, such as Dick Cheney, 'clapping back' or posting memes. Being a highly 'online' person is a very embarrassing thing and should be relegated to basement losers.
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