Chester

It's occasionally hard to tell whether someone is trolling or serious.  Below is the user originally known as "Chester MoeLester."

Facebook apparently forced him to change his name, and he became the more prosaic "Chester Brown." 

Here's Hans Rockhard, one of Chester's friends.

Is Hans serious or trolling?  Let's take a look at a comment he posted.

Just .... ewwww.

Chris Wittwer

Chris Wittwer has gotten some press for posting names, photos, and addresses of registered sex offenders in the UK on his website.  He's named his group "Children Have Rights in Society."  The first letters of this spell out "C.H.R.I.S."  As in his name.  Of course, one problem with this is that pedophiles sometimes like to talk about "children's rights" too.  As in claiming that children should have the "right" to have sex with adults.  It's surprising that someone who claims to be very knowledgeable about online predators would not have known that.

He's had some legal issues related to anger management problems at football games and other locations.  It's unclear whether he will face charges related to posting prohibited information about a notorious juvenile offender's alleged new identity on his website.  Perhaps it's not too surprising that there's a large "Make a Donation" button that appears at the top of every page on his site, including that one.  There are also frequent requests for funds on the C.H.R.I.S. Facebook page.  Although the site has a plethora of links, there's no information about how much money the organization raises or where it goes.  C.H.R.I.S. even displays an animated graphic of a burning candle to honor children who have died of abuse.  How could one be so cynical and unmoved as to ask questions about the lack of financial transparency?  That would be almost as crass as asking about the origin of the fire that burned down the pub he used to run.

Mr. Wittwer also claims that he's been "attacked three times near his home" by sex offenders he's put on his site.  Child molesters are often wimps that avoid confrontation with adults, so it's rather amazing that there would have been three attacks.

Chris Wittwer actually has been involved in a fair amount of online conflict.  But is it really just a matter of him being targeted by online predators?  Based on screenshots someone sent me, it doesn't look like it.  He's essentially encouraging members of his group to mass-report another Facebook group called "Sexual abuse must stop."  Is this group preying on children or even violating Facebook's policies?  Not that I could see.  But it did contain some people that Chris didn't like.  Presumably, that was enough.

RIP Trolls for Fun and Profit

"R.I.P. trolls" on Facebook are the unusually mean-spirited people who get a kick out of posting upsetting comments and images on memorial pages.  They tend to get mass-reported and shut down pretty quickly, but usually reappear quickly with new accounts.  One of the worst, an Australian named Bradley Paul Hampson, was recently sentenced to jail time for posting sexually explicit photos and comments on Facebook pages memorializing dead children.  Below is an excerpt from the SMH story:

A man who vandalised Facebook tribute sites for two dead children has been jailed.

Self-confessed "troll" Bradley Paul Hampson, 29, of Tarragindi in Brisbane's south, posted pictures of penises and wrote offensive messages on the two sites in February last year.

On one Facebook tribute site for the 12-year-old boy, he wrote "woot I'm dead" across an image of the dead child.

He also morphed a photo of the boy's face inside a woodchipper and made it appear blood was coming from the machine.

On another, he wrote sexually explicit comments implying he was responsible for raping and killing the eight-year-old girl.

"My definition of pleasure ... listening to her ribs crack," he wrote. "I got mad ... so I murdered her."

 In the U.S., there are a group of real-life R.I.P. trolls known as the Westboro Baptist Church.  Instead of posting foul things on memorial pages, they show up at funerals and picket.  Judging by the results that come back when you search Facebook for "Westboro Baptist", they're also widely hated.  However, some people have suggested that Westboro Baptist Church may be a scam organization that provokes people and then uses lawsuits to generate revenue.  Since they call themselves a "church," they may also be able to avoid paying taxes.

Community Revolution in Progress

Topper Mnabb trolls the Crips, and is actually pretty funny.

Since the Bloods are on Facebook too, it seems only fair to include a link to them.

Low-Quality Trollage and the Klan

Internet trolls have existed since before the first web browser, but some of the old-school trolls could occasionally be clever, albeit obnoxious.  For example, the notorious GNAA developed and released a set of trolling tools.  Facebook has trolls too, but most of them couldn't program their way out of a paper bag.  So they deface memorial and support group pages.  One of them was outed last month as a high-ranking Ku Klux Klan member with a history of violence.

Is he the only Ku Klux Klan member on Facebook?  Hardly.  We recently showcased some lovely Ku Klux Klan wedding photos, and it should come as no surprised that the bride got kicked off Facebook but is now back.  For your viewing pleasure, we have two more Klan members.

Johnny Klanson has some interesting quotes.  

"88" -> "HH" -> "Heil Hitler." 

"AYAK" -> "Are you a Klansman?"  

"AKIA" -> "A Klansman I am."

He has a classy joke about the Holocaust on his wall.

David Moyer lists a Klan organization among his interests, and also "snipers", "reloading ammo", and "the survival of the white race."