Web Culture

[metahara]

what is a troll?
what constitutes trolling?
does it occur with certain groups outside the web?
or do trolls come from all walks of life?

edit: this is not an invitation to troll.

Comments

[vesuviokitten]

First of all, I've always felt that counter-trolling was more damaging than trolling. But, trolling can either take an indirect form or a direct form. An indirect troll may not know they're trolling, such as when they throw a controversial, and intrinsically controversial topic into the discussion. Automatically they are accused of attempting to sabotage the community - of being cyber-insurgents - or at least of trying to get a rise out of the more sensitive and self-conscious members of the community. Direct trolling takes the form of explicit, ill-informed, and malicious attacks on either/or individual members of the community or the community itself. For instance, I remember a person on this same board just about six months ago who was making preposterous, new age claims about the evolution of intelligence, diffusionism, etc. etc. It was clear by how they were arguing their point that they didn't believe what they were saying. I didn't react to this "troll" for that very reason.

That's my take on trolls and trolling. To be perfectly honest, I usually find them funny and don't take them seriously. As I said in the opening sentence - counter-trolling is usually more damaging than trolling itself.

[metahara]

well thought out and described- i hadn't thought of categories of trolling- thanx