Trolls

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ribbons

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Ok, I'm new to posting on this forum but have been reading it for a long time. Other forums that I participate in don't have the 'troll' tag and I'm struggling to identify what makes a poster a troll. ( I may possibly be being thick here)
Just when I think I've worked out why someone is being called a troll, up pops a totally different thread with someone who appears to be a totally different type of person and they are awarded the troll label.
Is there a particular TYPE of person who gets to be called a troll.
Is it that certain posters, whatever they say are trolls.
Is it anyone who disagrees with the forum majority that is a troll.

Would really appreciate it if someone would be kind enough to explain the necessary criteria needed to become a troll so that I don't inadvertently stray into that membership.

Many thanks
 
Hi Ribbons,

I am no expert but a troll is often considered to be someone who deliberately posts inflammatory threads, really contentious issues that have been done to death and bound to start arguments....

A bit like this one 'what constitutes a troll...' :). Now there's irony for you.

I am sure others who have more experience of trolls will be able to comment as I haven't been around that long!

Billie x
 
Cross posted from another forum. Hope this helps:

I actually find that there are two classes of people who cause maximum trouble on forums. One is of course, the traditional "troll" who wreaks havoc by anti-social behaviour and by deliberately riling up forum members to get kicks out of it, causing havoc and bad blood in the process.

I think as admins, we need to realize that there is another group which I would term as "online bullies" or "internet bullies" who can become equally destructive in undermining communities.

These gentlemen/ladies differ from trolls in the sense that they are not anti-social, but they are an accepted and sometimes well-respected members who assume a sort of informal and unofficial leadership role. They use this position to intimidate and assert their views on newer and less established members and often push their weight around to mark territorial rights. They will generally try and behave properly, but subtly try and behave like moderators and preach about forum behaviour. They will also turn and insult people as they wish and surprisingly other forum members will turn a blind eye to them. They will usually "adopt" ownership of a single forum or a subforum of a board and hang out there frequently with their clan. (this feature is usually more common in larger forums)

These people are often the starting point of cliques because they can gather a group of yes-people around them in no time.

Beware of these people and watch out for them because they can be a lot more trouble in the long run than isolated trolls running loose.

Sometimes you just need an excellent troll to combat an established forum bully

Similarities between trolls and bullies:

Both trolls and bullies can cause enormous damage to a forum by their behaviour.
Both trolls and bullies usually have excellent communication skills using which they attack their opponents unmercifully.
Both trolls and bullies can be intimidating to any normal forum user.
Both trolls and bullies have the effect of creating bad blood.
Both trolls and bullies are hard to control without intervention right from the top - the forum administrator(s) or owner(s) because even moderators might find it hard to control them without support from others.
Differences

Trolls are usually isolated. They are generally short-lived in a forum. A person who signs up on a forum specifically to troll doesn't hang around in other parts of the forum and leaves as soon as the damage is done.
Bullies are more or less regular forum members who might have a huge post count and a following.
Trolls usually hit and run. A successful troll needs only a couple of posts in a single thread to turn it into a raging tornado.
Bullies stay on and intimidate other members by throwing their weight around and using their group of yes-people to lend force to their powerful attacks.
Trolls are usually identified for what they are.
Bullies rarely get identified for what they are, because they are regular members and nobody can suggest that they are ordinary trolls because they have a huge post count.
Trolls hardly respond to challenges. Instead they enjoy watching others fight.
Bullies enjoy fighting and run around bashing everybody who dares oppose them.
The potential damage done by trolls is limited to a particular topic of discussion or at most a forum.
The potential damage done by bullies is forum-wide and not related to topics, but to the personality of the bully and the kind of respect and influence he wields.
__________________
 
Wagtail's post is interesting.

To be accused of being a troll on here, you would usually post something contentious / absurd, badly written and with a low post count, around a school holiday.

That doesn't mean you are a troll, of course!
 
JFTD said:
Wagtail's post is interesting.

To be accused of being a troll on here, you would usually post something contentious / absurd, badly written and with a low post count, around a school holiday.

That doesn't mean you are a troll, of course!
Click to expand...

Or disagree with someone popular within your first dozen or so forum posts :D
 
Trolls are basically attention seekers. HHO has a few of them but the trolling here isn't half as bad as it is on other sites. For a true trolling experience you should go onto a religious forum or Yahoo Answers News and Current Events forum. Trolls are rife there and you will see many different styles of trolling there.

Some trolls can be amusing, others are just out to cause trouble. There was a programme on the telly recently about trolls that go around the memorial pages on Facebook just to wind up the bereaved - sick but they thrive on anonimity and unfortunately the internet offers that in abundance.
 
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Wagtail, many thanks. It seems to me, that it will quite often the bullies awarding the troll tags then. As I have noticed that sometimes the so called troll has not really been particularly offensive or inflammatory but merely posted in a quite positive way when they feel strongly about a subject.
Many thanks for the explanation. It's mostly just the same old chestnut then.......politics.
 
ribbons said:
Wagtail, many thanks. It seems to me, that it will quite often the bullies awarding the troll tags then. As I have noticed that sometimes the so called troll has not really been particularly offensive or inflammatory but merely posted in a quite positive way when they feel strongly about a subject.
Many thanks for the explanation. It's mostly just the same old chestnut then.......politics.
Click to expand...

Sometimes asking a perfectly reasonable question brings the forum bullies aka trolls out, anywhere they can score a point really!
 
Trolls are sometimes amusing antagonists. Often regular forum members posting under different usernames for more anonymity.

Bullies are a person or group of people waging an ongoing, relentless personal attack on another person. I don't believe that happens much, if at all, on here.
 
Flame_ said:
Trolls are sometimes amusing antagonists. Often regular forum members posting under different usernames for more anonymity.

Bullies are a person or group of people waging an ongoing, relentless personal attack on another person. I don't believe that happens much, if at all, on here.
Click to expand...

It's the sarcastic cliquey 'youve got another one' mentality aimed at lots of people, it does happen quite regularly and it is bullying. It puts people off posting on here and gives it a bad name.
 
It's actually the smug "look at me" ones I can't stand...or the ones posting pictures asking if they are too big for their pony, for example, when clearly they are not and are fishing for compliments!!
Bit like the girls who post pics on FB saying "I'm so ugly what a horrid pic" WHY POST IT THEN?!!
 
yes all that 'troll hunting' business happens regularly, and Im not a fan of it either. Fair enough there are enough trolls come and go, but some users are plainly not trolling and get jumped on.
 
Yeah more people should be willing to post serious answers in this situation, even if it possibly is a troll. It is unfair to let troll hunters just take a thread over. It always amazes me that so many people are so quick to discount the possibility that somebody new is just a bit silly and asking a silly question, I mean stranger things do happen. :confused:
 
I agree that people are often jumped on and accused of being trolls on here when clearly they are not. I am also amazed at the guilty until proven innocent mentality of some. How perfectly credible stories are not believed etc. Maybe this is due to some real trolls in the past, I don't know.
 
Be interesting to see a list of names of who people "think" are trolls on here in order of trolliness, would like to see if and where my name came in the ranking
 
Pedantic said:
Be interesting to see a list of names of who people "think" are trolls on here in order of trolliness, would like to see if and where my name came in the ranking
Click to expand...

You couldn't be called a Troll! it can just take me a while to "get" your comments !!! Usually because I am PMSL!
 
Although there can be some heated moments and some stuff I'd rather not read, this is a far more civilised forum than the diet one that I go onto sometimes. Totally dominated by a small number of crusaders who spend most of their time posting the same content, all in caps, with excessive !!!! and telling people off for doing things wrong. Really gets my goat (although as I have been on the wrong end of a telling off, I would say that hehe).
 
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