Why are trolls such an issue?

[Krion_Vark]

After reading the 'Troll Slaying the E-Z way thread' (no hyperlink, it's at the top of the stckied topics goddammit!) I began to wonder - what, really, is the harm in trolls?

Before you raise your arms, consider this:

Spammers: People who post the same tired message over and over again. See: The _oo__oo_ troll
Advertising Bots: Bots that create accounts simply to robotically advertise a product. See: most comments in a Cracked article.
Flamers: Face it, you've done it. You've flamed someone before, thus you have at one point been a flamer. See: you, at least once.

Now, let's look at the most common definition of a troll. Bear in mind this is trolls on The Escapist:

Troll: Someone who posts a topic with obvious intent to cause outrage.

Now, considering most trolls limit themselves to posting topics, (that is, they don't hack) what is the harm in responding? Or, more importantly, what is the point of calling anyone with a slightly outlandish opinion a troll? Because the way I see it, it's just another was of provoking discussion. They're not flaming anyone in particular (See 'Flamers', also 'You, at least once') and it is just another way to begin a discussion about a certain topic. In many ways, it's better - once you have a viewpoint you are strongly opposed to, it is easier to argue against it.

So, my question is this: what is the harm in troll topic-starters?
Bonus question: why are people so quick to call people with a strong opinion about something a troll?

Do actual research into Trolls then come back here and post why they are bad.
They do not just post on things to get a reaction. When a girl took her dad's sports car out for a drive and crashed it and died they SENT the crime scene pictures to her parents. They say things to hurt those that are effected by tragedies. Take the Phoebe Prince case in South Hadley Mass. The trolls were able to get everything to do with people remembering her to be shut down on facebook since they kept saying things that should of never been said.

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

People are afraid that their flimsy reality is about to get shattered.

That's why you see a lot of opposition to "more outlandish" opinions in less civilized places.

But, I thought that the Escapist was supposed to be the 'Lighthouse of Alexandria' of the internet?

It isn't and never was.

There's something that happens to many nerd communities when they get big enough. Elitism, hordes of pseudo-intellectuals, and so on.

Sure, some posters are rather intelligent and can lead interesting discussion (I'm not one of them). Some are famous attention whores, which is awwwright in most cases - MaxTheReaper was at least mildly amusing, and I will not be mentioning any recent ones who get rather more annoying at times. Some are wanna-be attention whores, which is just annoying.

Aside from that, there's nothing good. Your average thread is just people crying out their opinions, with a few extra troll accusations thrown in just in case, and maybe something resembling a debate going on between 2-3 posters. It's not a discussion, it's not even a public forum. It's just people crying out their ignorant opinions without even bothering to read, or contribute to, the thread in question, and we're all guilty of this here in different degrees.

And then there are the pedo/furry/whatever hunts, which are even funnier.

4chan and Something Awful are no worse than Escapist, despite clueless people pretending that 4chan is solely represented by /b/tards and that there aren't many boards there, some often featuring interesting things.

I never claimed it was. Kuliani, in fact, did in his posting guidelines which you can find stickied (it's the first line - telling?).

Moreover, I wholeheartedly share your viewpoint. In fact, it was everything you said in that post that caused me to make this thread - elitist, pseudo-intelligence, 4chan.

Mostly, it annoys me when people are quick to call people trolls when they just have a radically different, though still valid opinion. It also annoys me when people all post 'Report and move on' in a troll thread. Firstly, the ironing is delicious, and secondly, why not actually dicuss what is being said?

 

[vato_loco]

I just had to create an account to participate on this, since it's the very first time I've seen a post about trolls and no trolls doing what they do (read: going all 'trollfag lulz you sukz trolls be trolls 4chanftw u mad?').

Answering Gilbert's question, trolls aren't THAT bad, unless of course you take into account the fact that trolls can sometimes set the mood for the rest of the conversation, thus sending it to poorly-spelled oblivion. It's that clean wall thing: see a clean wall, keep it clean. See a single grafitti, then you're 'authorised' to write all over it.

Anyways, non-trolls should understand that trolls are parasitic beings. They feed off the answers they get. No answers, troll gets mad and leaves.

 

[Billion Backs]

I never claimed it was. Kuliani, in fact, did in his posting guidelines which you can find stickied (it's the first line - telling?).

Moreover, I wholeheartedly share your viewpoint. In fact, it was everything you said in that post that caused me to make this thread - elitist, pseudo-intelligence, 4chan.

Mostly, it annoys me when people are quick to call people trolls when they just have a radically different, though still valid opinion. It also annoys me when people all post 'Report and move on' in a troll thread. Firstly, the ironing is delicious, and secondly, why not actually discuss what is being said?

Heh, I never claimed you did. It just seems to be a statement that's often passed along by a lot of people.

I can even understand the idea, it's very similar to nationalism or fanatism. Of course people want to think they're awesome and in a great place, however it does very often seriously hinder the ability of the group to criticize itself and improve from inside.

Complete agreement on the rest.

 

[Billion Backs]

I just had to create an account to participate on this, since it's the very first time I've seen a post about trolls and no trolls doing what they do (read: going all 'trollfag lulz you sukz trolls be trolls 4chanftw u mad?').

Answering Gilbert's question, trolls aren't THAT bad, unless of course you take into account the fact that trolls can sometimes set the mood for the rest of the conversation, thus sending it to poorly-spelled oblivion. It's that clean wall thing: see a clean wall, keep it clean. See a single grafitti, then you're 'authorised' to write all over it.

Anyways, non-trolls should understand that trolls are parasitic beings. They feed off the answers they get. No answers, troll gets mad and leaves.

The main problem, of course, is the use of the term "troll".

It tends to mean "anyone not agreeing with my/general point of view" on the internet rather quickly. When everyone believes the Earth is flat, the guy who proves it's not is seen as a heretic and "troll".

And "troll" quickly changes its apparent use from, well,

Spoiler: a likely definition, courtesy of Urban Dictionary

One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. 'you're nothing but a fanboy' is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevence to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.

to anyone who doesn't agree with the ideas held by majority or in some cases just one shmuck, constructively or not.

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

After reading the 'Troll Slaying the E-Z way thread' (no hyperlink, it's at the top of the stckied topics goddammit!) I began to wonder - what, really, is the harm in trolls?

Before you raise your arms, consider this:

Spammers: People who post the same tired message over and over again. See: The _oo__oo_ troll
Advertising Bots: Bots that create accounts simply to robotically advertise a product. See: most comments in a Cracked article.
Flamers: Face it, you've done it. You've flamed someone before, thus you have at one point been a flamer. See: you, at least once.

Now, let's look at the most common definition of a troll. Bear in mind this is trolls on The Escapist:

Troll: Someone who posts a topic with obvious intent to cause outrage.

Now, considering most trolls limit themselves to posting topics, (that is, they don't hack) what is the harm in responding? Or, more importantly, what is the point of calling anyone with a slightly outlandish opinion a troll? Because the way I see it, it's just another was of provoking discussion. They're not flaming anyone in particular (See 'Flamers', also 'You, at least once') and it is just another way to begin a discussion about a certain topic. In many ways, it's better - once you have a viewpoint you are strongly opposed to, it is easier to argue against it.

So, my question is this: what is the harm in troll topic-starters?
Bonus question: why are people so quick to call people with a strong opinion about something a troll?

Do actual research into Trolls then come back here and post why they are bad.
They do not just post on things to get a reaction. When a girl took her dad's sports car out for a drive and crashed it and died they SENT the crime scene pictures to her parents. They say things to hurt those that are effected by tragedies. Take the Phoebe Prince case in South Hadley Mass. The trolls were able to get everything to do with people remembering her to be shut down on facebook since they kept saying things that should of never been said.

Do some actuall research into OP then come back here and post why... yeah.

What you're talking about is /b/. It's rare even on /b/, but there are a very few people who do that kind of stuff. Oh, I know all about trolls. Mitchell Henderson, Phoebe Prince, and countless other Facebook group trolling (one I remember was about bogans crashing a stolen car into a tree, I think). Please, don't demean me and say I haven't done my research.

No, what you're thinking of is something eelse entirely. I'm talking about people who post outlandish statements in order to provoke a response.

 

[not_the_dm]

When in doubt, lure them here. They explode in a fire ball of apocalyptic rage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32UGD0fV45g

 

[xavierxenon]

The thing that pisses me off most with trolls is that they most likely wouldn't act the same way to another person face-to-face.

 

[Billion Backs]

When in doubt, lure them here. They explode in a fire ball of apocalyptic rage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32UGD0fV45g

Why exactly would they explode in a fireball of apocalyptic rage upon witnessing an old meme which comes down to a singer practicing his voice?

 

[Billion Backs]

The thing that pisses me off most with trolls is that they most likely wouldn't act the same way to another person face-to-face.

Most people on the internet most likely wouldn't act the same way to another person face-to-face.

 

[lwm3398]

Because, as you said, it's meant to cause outrage. Many troll posts are incoherent messes of bad grammar. They break forum rules by doing this, and because they do, we get annoyed with them and don't like them.

It has nothing to do with outlandish opinions.

Edit: Oh, wait, now I get'cha. I misread that.

 

[vato_loco]

I just had to create an account to participate on this, since it's the very first time I've seen a post about trolls and no trolls doing what they do (read: going all 'trollfag lulz you sukz trolls be trolls 4chanftw u mad?').

Answering Gilbert's question, trolls aren't THAT bad, unless of course you take into account the fact that trolls can sometimes set the mood for the rest of the conversation, thus sending it to poorly-spelled oblivion. It's that clean wall thing: see a clean wall, keep it clean. See a single grafitti, then you're 'authorised' to write all over it.

Anyways, non-trolls should understand that trolls are parasitic beings. They feed off the answers they get. No answers, troll gets mad and leaves.

The main problem, of course, is the use of the term "troll".

It tends to mean "anyone not agreeing with my/general point of view" on the internet rather quickly. When everyone believes the Earth is flat, the guy who proves it's not is seen as a heretic and "troll".

And "troll" quickly changes its apparent use from, well,

Spoiler: a likely definition, courtesy of Urban Dictionary

One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. 'you're nothing but a fanboy' is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevence to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.

to anyone who doesn't agree with the ideas held by majority or in some cases just one shmuck, constructively or not.

I'm pretty sure that 'anyone not agreing with my/general point of view' is not necesarily a troll. He could very well think the same and post crap just to annoy people, or think differently and try to minimise you for that. A person becomes a troll when, regardless of his own opinion, just fills a thread with crap to enjoy the aftershock.

Somebody who doesn't think the same as others and rant about how stupid all sheeple are.. I call them fanboys.

 

[Slaanax]

They Regenerate and when you don't have any fire or acid spells available killing them can sometimes be a real problem.

 

[Julianking93]

Because there are assholes in this world who only want to piss people off.

Why, I don't know, but the internet is a way for them to do it without any serious ramifications.

Fucking pussies.

 

[Deofuta]

Because People keep feeding them.

/thread

Honestly though, the trolls are not the worst, it is the people who respond to them. Unknowing people are bad, but it is the ones who KNOW that the person they are yelling at is a troll, but INSIST on trying to argue their way.

 

[mad825]

Trolls breed and spread like wildfire, the only way to contain such ugliness is a Mod with a banhammer......or perhaps don't feed them otherwise they come back hungry for more.

 

[Buizel91]

People keep feeding them, taking them for walks, bathing them...and yet people wonder why they hang around

i think they need banishing from this realm

 

[SmartIdiot]

Eh, probably.

 

[crazyjay321]

I hate troll's not only because they are annoying, immature and Pre-pubescent but because they are the future of our race.

In 10 year's they will be in their 20's and some of them will have important job's.

 

[spartan231490]

I'd never heard that definition of a troll. I usually call someone a troll if they argue something with the opinion that they are right and nothing you say matters. Those people who dont even address the arguements u make but just repost the same thing with different wording. They irritate me cuz it's not fun to be in a "discussion" with a broken record.