Why are trolls such an issue?

[Billion Backs]

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.

I'm sorry, perhaps I didn't make my point clear enough.

What I was saying, the term "troll" is often overused as a tool to silence someone with vastly opposing opinion, even if it's fairly constructively supported.

The way that term is sometimes used on certain sites on the internet, including The Escapist, only shows that.

 

[Billion Backs]

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.

But that's what a lot of ideologies come down to.

 

[SextusMaximus]

IRL, we have mass amounts of criminals. Including murderers, rapists and worse.

Trolls are the worst we've got, and they're about as bad as petty thieves - nevertheless, we must get rid of them.

 

[Snotnarok]

I dont' get the hatred that the members of this site put out either for certain threads, they're like "OHhhhhhh flame shields up!!!" yet I've yet to see a real flamewar nor one of these threads get so ka-razy they're locked.

 

[vato_loco]

I'm sorry, perhaps I didn't make my point clear enough.

What I was saying, the term "troll" is often overused as a tool to silence someone with vastly opposing opinion, even if it's fairly constructively supported.

The way that term is sometimes used on certain sites on the internet, including The Escapist, only shows that.

Oh, now I understand. It's kind of ironic, that calling someone a troll for thinking differently, is trolling. If it's a valid and well-developed opinion, then I don't see the reason for shutting that person up.

 

[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.

But that's what a lot of ideologies come down to.

I'm sorry, but only an ignorant individual acts like that. You have to at least look at the other viewpoints to be open-minded. And if you do that and still have the same opinion, than you have to have a reason/argument against what they said, and u should post it. Many religions kinda are like that, but at least with a religion you can say, "That makes it unlikely that god exists, it doesnt prove anything, and i choose to believe x" Thats my opinion anyway.

 

[Mandal0re]

I personally enjoy internet trolls,in moderation their antics can prove highly entertaining, Especially on youtube and 4 chan. However,obviously they should be controlled in a more civilised environment such as this one. But even on the escapist the odd bit of mild trolling brings me a good laugh.

Please note that here i am refering to appreciating the humour in the trolling of others,not trolling myself.

 

[Sovvolf]

OP:fck u tahts why u whiny litle fag ***** i fked ur mum teh sily slut go fuk of somwer esle if u dont ljke it u sad shit bey u life in ur mums basesments.

Sorry bout that. That's basically why though, most trolls resort to stuff like that. Now I know it's not that big of a problem now because the escapist deal with trolls with extreme seriousness. However imagine it wasn't dealt with?. The place would be like Youtube. Imagine to your self, posting a seriously well thought out and well researched arguement for why we shouldn't wear shoes... then some guy just coming along and saying "Fuk u ******, u tak sh!t", then 'another guy' comes and agrees with 'some guy' and starts saying horrible shit to you then getting more people involved and swearing and saying horrible shit. Then a few try having the well researched arguement and try taking it seriously... only to be shot down by "Fuk u ******" comments... you wouldn't be able to discuss any thing. No body would... you'd probably go to another site and leave the escapist entirely and it would gain the same reputation as 4chan.

Trolls need dealing with otherwise they just spread hate and stupidity.

OP: Sorry if the top paragraph (if you can even call it that) offended you and I didn't mean it in anyway, I just wanted to show you an extreme example of trolling and why it's not needed. However if you are offended then please accept my full apology.

I dont' get the hatred that the members of this site put out either for certain threads, they're like "OHhhhhhh flame shields up!!!" yet I've yet to see a real flamewar nor one of these threads get so ka-razy they're locked.

That's not a bad thing though... torch it out before a real catastrophe starts.

 

[Tharwen]

Generally, flamers are categorised under trolls, and that's why they aren't accepted. It's also irritating to see someone mindlessly ignoring any counter-arguments to their opinions.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

It's just because their intent is to piss people off in the end.

Let's take a real world example. If you live in a town that gets a lot of snow in the winter, you've most likely run into one bunch of immature kids, who stand on the sidewalk of a street and make snowballs all day. They then toss said Snowballs at Traffic.

What is there intent? To piss people off. Is there any harm in it? Well besides the chance of damaging the vehicle or distracting the drive to the point of crashing, no. Do we still not get angry at them? Of course we do. Trolls aren't here to be a member of the community or to become a posting and contributing member of it. They are here to piss people off and laugh about how mad people get. Give the mods a week off and let the trolls run free on the site. Then you'd see the issue.

 

[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.

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

On the contrary, I'm consistenly a dick in real life too, not just online (not to everyone though). The only real difference is I use a wider vocabulary online as I really don't like talking too much.

 

[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.

On the contrary, I'm consistenly a dick in real life too, not just online (not to everyone though). The only real difference is I use a wider vocabulary online as I really don't like talking too much.

This is internet, and anything anyone says doesn't matter and is probably bullshit.

Frankly, I don't think you'd necessarily act like a dick in real life in certain situations when being a dick can get your dick removed. And then again, there is no standard for "real life". When I was 14, my "real life" mostly consisted of being completely alone and playing games at home when I wasn't being completely alone at school. Being a complete dick wouldn't change a thing.

What's possible with one type of lifestyle might not be with another.

 

[Sporky111]

It's not trolls themselves, it's their motivation. They purposely set out to anger people and raise a reaction, and hide from any real consequences with anonymity from the internet. If they had any real stones, they'd try and piss someone off in real life just to see how well it works out for them. They're cowards and assholes.

 

[Shepard's Shadow]

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.

I don't agree with that definition of "troll". My definition is: people who post in a topic but don't contribute to the discussion. The type of person that says something like "I never played this game but it sucks!" and "That TV show sucks, oh, I forgot to mention I never saw it before, but it still sucks!" That's what I think when I think of a troll.

Now to answer the questions. The problem is most troll topic starters can't support their side of the discussion without throwing insults at the other user. Bonus Answer: People are stupid. I lump people who call other users trolls, when they obviously are not, in the same category with the users who post, "vs threads are bad" or "search bar!", when ten users before them already pointed that out.

To sum up, I think people who post but don't contribute to the discussion, people who post "search bar!" and people who post "vs threads are bad" are actually worse then most "trolls".

 

[D_987]

I lump people who call other users trolls, when they obviously are not, in the same category

In doing that you're purposely attaching your own point of view onto that persons opinion. The problem with this concept, that someone is "obviously not" a troll, is that you don't know that for sure - and someone could see that person in a different way.

For example, I could claim this very post was trolling, by your definition, because you're "throwing insults" at people, (in this case you claim "people are stupid") whilst at the same time appearing to imply you are not. Regardless, I disagree entirely with your perception of a troll; if that was the case there'd be no trolls on most sites because people aren't foolish enough to post something as obvious as your examples. (That I shall take at face value, as they are, after all, examples)

A clever troll will disguise their true intentions, and as a result you wouldn't know they hadn't seen that TV show they claims sucks, because they'd find opinions that support the view you don't like through the internet.

In short, your argument is highly flawed, mainly because you attach the stigma of troll onto either a great many people, or none at all - displaying you don't appear to fully understand the typically know what typically defines a troll.

 

[Snotnarok]

OP:fck u tahts why u whiny litle fag ***** i fked ur mum teh sily slut go fuk of somwer esle if u dont ljke it u sad shit bey u life in ur mums basesments.

Sorry bout that. That's basically why though, most trolls resort to stuff like that. Now I know it's not that big of a problem now because the escapist deal with trolls with extreme seriousness. However imagine it wasn't dealt with?. The place would be like Youtube. Imagine to your self, posting a seriously well thought out and well researched arguement for why we shouldn't wear shoes... then some guy just coming along and saying "Fuk u ******, u tak sh!t", then 'another guy' comes and agrees with 'some guy' and starts saying horrible shit to you then getting more people involved and swearing and saying horrible shit. Then a few try having the well researched arguement and try taking it seriously... only to be shot down by "Fuk u ******" comments... you wouldn't be able to discuss any thing. No body would... you'd probably go to another site and leave the escapist entirely and it would gain the same reputation as 4chan.

Trolls need dealing with otherwise they just spread hate and stupidity.

OP: Sorry if the top paragraph (if you can even call it that) offended you and I didn't mean it in anyway, I just wanted to show you an extreme example of trolling and why it's not needed. However if you are offended then please accept my full apology.

I dont' get the hatred that the members of this site put out either for certain threads, they're like "OHhhhhhh flame shields up!!!" yet I've yet to see a real flamewar nor one of these threads get so ka-razy they're locked.

That's not a bad thing though... torch it out before a real catastrophe starts.

I know it's not a bad thing but most escapists start panicking when they see "possible flames" when it's not at all common. Except when someone says "LOL PS3 SUX" then it's the report button ...just not on me okay? :|

 

[joshthor]

be careful guys. i think he is a troll using reverse psychology!!!!!