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When at their best, message boards are an excellent tool for bringing together people who share a common interest. However, sometimes discourtesy, misunderstandings, or users who are honestly "mean" ruin the message board environment for everyone. While human behavior is always difficult to classify, mean posters tend to fall into a few identifiable categories. Each category calls for a distinct strategy in dealing with the poster.

1. The troll.

Trolls are people who, for whatever reason, are honestly mean. They visit message boards and engage in flaming, making statements deliberately calculated to be hurtful. In dealing with trolls, there are two important rules of engagement. First, never respond to a troll's comments. Responses only fuel the person's need for attention. Second, report the offending post to the message board moderator. Ideally, the post will be removed and the user banned.

2. The devil's advocate.

Some people genuinely enjoy debate as an intellectual exercise. These individuals will usually take the opposite side of any argument. They delight in pointing out logic errors and finding counter-examples, and because their comments are adversarial in nature, they are often perceived as "mean". When dealing with a devil's advocate, understand that the person is probably not trying to be mean or hurtful, but simply enjoying a "game" that involves debating ideas. As long as the person is making valid arguments and not simply stooping to personal attacks, there is no reason to take offense. Either provide a counter-argument of your own and continue the debate, or simply ignore the devil's advocate.

3. The complainer.

Some people are very hard to please and will find fault with everything. These individuals often write negative product reviews or complain about perceived lapses in customer service. Instead of arguing with these individuals directly, it's best to counter their negativity with positive comments of your own. Complainers may be annoying, but they usually aren't genuinely mean. Too many complainers can make a message board seem like an unpleasant, negative environment, however, so it's nice if other users dilute their posts by focusing on the positive.

4. The critic.

Critics are similar to complainers. In fact, it can be difficult to tell the difference. However, critics are motivated not by a sense of righteous indignation or any meanness of spirit, but rather by a genuine desire to be helpful. Critics can often ruin a person's day by pointing

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