Has trolling blurred the line between offence and humour?
 

As a member of a fair few social networking sites I'm well aware of the act of trolling - that is, posting something that could be (whilst sarcastic or ironic) offensive or controversial in order to provoke a reaction. But when this has seeped into very mundane acts, such as spreading false rumours of a celebrity death on Twitter, or winding someone up on a forum... can it really be passed off as harmless fun?

Because I think a lot of us on here have probably been guilty of it at some point - replying to a thread we don't care about with "k" to take the piss, or spreading a meme that uses sexist jokes (lord knows how many kitchen jokes Facebook has to account for...)

So at what stage do you cross the line?

There's an example for all Tumblr users - there's this popular blogger called wwiao who regularly posts crudely-edited images of Lady GaGa and Madonna, citing Madonna as a rip-off of GaGa, but with loads of obviously ridiculous 'facts' (eg. the Vogue video ripping off Alejandro, which violates chronological order :laugh:) - of course, the majority see the joke. But then there's someone a little bit dim who'll reply "MADONNA IS DA BEST!!! SCREW U!!" etc.

And you have to wonder - what is exactly gained from this? And then I wonder if the person saying "MADONNA IS DA BEST!!!" is also trolling...

:bored: I think I just hate everyone trying to be a comedian. In addition to this - the rise of trolling is also providing a pretty decent mask for those who are genuine racists, or misogynists, or anyone of a hateful disposition, to get away pretty much scot-free by just adding LOLOL or some other form of get-out clause.

Trolling crosses the line with constant phrases such as..

"wurk it gurl"
"Stunning"

^^^^^ Allight when said once in a while but not constantly.

Also the constant gifs!

Really I don't care about the wurk it gurl or the gifs. Just the insults members give out really. Causing arguments and "baiting" people. lol

Thank you!

Ben. You should become a policeman! :hugesmile:

No need for sarcasm Turtle, dont think Beastie was having a pop at you.





:wink:

Never! I'd never get out of the uniform. :hugesmile:

There was no sarcasm, I was actually thankful that somebody mentioned the trolling with gifs. :)

I know I was taking the pee.

You are both quite right about the gifs though, no need for most of them.

I have used one in that other thread.

The odd one is fine. Just the constant ones of god knows what.. Lady Gaga popping up every 2 minutes!

pun!


*trolls*

Also yes I know.. I have been the most guilty of bumping old thread.. lol

But bumping lets say.. 1 thread a night is not bad is it?

*Tempted to bump an old thread* lol joke!

:laugh:

They do overuse gifs tbf, but a 5point infraction's a bit harsh

Not harsh enough. Back in the day there were longer bans. I think it was Lily who had a 16 month ban. I am sure other members had long sentences too!

They don't deserve long bans just for posting a lot of gifs though. :nono:

I was on about infractions though, I never even knew they went that high, thought they only went up to three D:

Nah I think I still have one worth 4 points. Probably to do with some of my crude sexual references :hugesmile:

Sorry Stacey.. I would swap Scott and Bettiepage for Setenta and Wombai anyday.

Unfortunately this will never happen.

think it depends how many times theyve been told. Its not like members can't post gifs. Just certain members overuse them. Or have done in the past.

plus we all know that there is often a hidden reason behind the official reason given for infractions.

LOL!!! More than likely.

Omg :shocked: I do like them all though, Setanta and WOMBAI were both good members too.

That's true I suppose D:

There is no harm in it really it's just a laugh when you're bored.. some people take it far too seriously

Harmless yes. Gets dull though. Especially when they do actually troll you around the board spamming.....

I did actually mean this thread in general, not about TiBB :tongue:

Hahahaha Shaun I just seen your sig from that spammer! It made me laugh when I saw them post that part. :laugh2:


But yeah I do agree with you about the fine lines between humour/spamming, it's a hard one to call sometimes.

Not really, considering they dont take the hint with a 2-3 point infraction.....next time will be 6, time after that 7....

It's funny.

Exactly.

Do people expect us to just give out constant 1 pointers? Even when they make no difference?

In answer to the OP, I find some trolling funny, I have to admit. I hold the unpopular opinion that a lot of an ex members made up stories were funny :joker:

Other trolling (eg, constant gifs, spamming, made up death stories, purposely starting arguments) I think is sad

This. I don't see the point in giving 2 or 3 points to the same person over and over for the same thing, obviously it will keep increasing if they carrying on doing what they've previously been infracted for.