Trolls, the Case for Them

Nagi Naoe said:

I do agree with you there, Jer, it is the fact that trolls come on that i have seen on 4chan or other sites and they think that its OK to do this. I was victim of it by a person who used to be my friend, who said he would help me out of a problem, he made it worse. Its the fact that trolls and flamers are always going to be there. The problem is not everyone can police a website all the time, if you look at the forums for certain groups, when they over police it, they get a lot of people pulling out of their forum.

I think the word "troll" leaves a bitter taste in many mouths these days. When I think about what most people define as "trolling", what generally comes to mind is someone who mindlessly makes personal attacks upon a targeted person. This really isn't the essence of trolling and more like cyberbulling. The definition of trolling has been so streched and distorted that it covers activities which really contrast with it. Most of what people have seen on sites like 4chan is just cyberbulling or harassment.

I see that...considering that sometimes the cyberbully just thinks they're being cute or funny...all I know is that it did hurt a lot. Aside from that I avoid those sites from now on...I was on the original Bolt and i was never once bullied of even hurt, I had a lot of friends too. There were problems, but one point of fact, Bolt was better than Facebook and Myspace in some respects.

I openly detest cyberbullies and also i openly dislike Trolls because soemtimes they're just too random or too interested in the reaction base. Sometimes having a serious conversation turns into a routine of trying to keep the entire thign on topic.

Isaah, I learned from the situation from the exfriend, so usually I'm on the defensive on comments and usually read thoroughly what the person tells me via forum posts. The truth is, you have to read between the lines in most troll comments. I have read through what the the former friend wrote and a lot of it was mean and spiteful. It went from saying I was this or that, to down right slander, truth is when I read between the lines, I found what he was saying false, and I had to do a lot of fire fighting with people who barely knew me and believed his lies.

As for the troll aspect of the internet, the one thing I learned on the matter was the fact some of the trolls come in different flavors. There are those who are random and post about everything and anyhting. Then there are those whole only post to get a reaction, they don't care if it is a good laugh or even a flame war. Then there are the lurking trolls, these are people who post at times and then just watch the conversations and then just post certain random things. I like the lurker more than anything, because sometimes they make interesting sense.

9 said:

Nagi Naoe said:

I do agree with you there, Jer, it is the fact that trolls come on that i have seen on 4chan or other sites and they think that its OK to do this. I was victim of it by a person who used to be my friend, who said he would help me out of a problem, he made it worse. Its the fact that trolls and flamers are always going to be there. The problem is not everyone can police a website all the time, if you look at the forums for certain groups, when they over police it, they get a lot of people pulling out of their forum.

I think the word "troll" leaves a bitter taste in many mouths these days. When I think about what most people define as "trolling", what generally comes to mind is someone who mindlessly makes personal attacks upon a targeted person. This really isn't the essence of trolling and more like cyberbulling. The definition of trolling has been so streched and distorted that it covers activities which really contrast with it. Most of what people have seen on sites like 4chan is just cyberbulling or harassment.

I see that...considering that sometimes the cyberbully just thinks they're being cute or funny...all I know is that it did hurt a lot. Aside from that I avoid those sites from now on...I was on the original Bolt and i was never once bullied of even hurt, I had a lot of friends too. There were problems, but one point of fact, Bolt was better than Facebook and Myspace in some respects.

I openly detest cyberbullies and also i openly dislike Trolls because soemtimes they're just too random or too interested in the reaction base. Sometimes having a serious conversation turns into a routine of trying to keep the entire thign on topic.

Isaah, I learned from the situation from the exfriend, so usually I'm on the defensive on comments and usually read thoroughly what the person tells me via forum posts. The truth is, you have to read between the lines in most troll comments. I have read through what the the former friend wrote and a lot of it was mean and spiteful. It went from saying I was this or that, to down right slander, truth is when I read between the lines, I found what he was saying false, and I had to do a lot of fire fighting with people who barely knew me and believed his lies.

As for the troll aspect of the internet, the one thing I learned on the matter was the fact some of the trolls come in different flavors. There are those who are random and post about everything and anyhting. Then there are those whole only post to get a reaction, they don't care if it is a good laugh or even a flame war. Then there are the lurking trolls, these are people who post at times and then just watch the conversations and then just post certain random things. I like the lurker more than anything, because sometimes they make interesting sense.

This reminds me of a story.

When Yahoo had an actual forum before it got shutdown and replaced with something much worse, there was one troll on the entire network who stood out amongst the others. Beyond the community's usual troll flavors of knuckle dragging racists, partisan blowhards and other colorful forms of extremism, there was one poster who was so wholesome that is drove so many of the trolls into a fury. The Cindybin.

It just goes to show that being a troll doesn't nessasarily mean you have to be crude. Being unique plays a part in it.

And elaborating on what you have said, the best way to avoid being a victim of trolling is to either ignore them, agree with them or just make an even more outrageous comment (i.e. Not only was Bolt's tagbook better, but Facebook was created before Bolt!) All three of these methods of a way to defuse a troll. And, if a troll does happen to troll you, just tell them you were only trying to troll them.

I like to think you have to be open, impartial, and egoless to troll properly.