[user104658]

I find this topic difficult to debate because media attention / misunderstanding has, in my opinion, altered the meaning of the word for those of us who have been online "from the beginning".

The confusion is when genuinely malicious, deliberately harmful comments, designed to cause real injury, are flippantly described as "trolling" (facebook / twitter "trolls" etc.) and that's the meaning the word has now taken on. What it really is, or was, is more like a gentle ribbing / employment of satire that can actually have a point if used sparingly and with awareness.

So basically... it depends which variety you're talking about .

[Yuki Maru Hoshi]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I find this topic difficult to debate because media attention / misunderstanding has, in my opinion, altered the meaning of the word for those of us who have been online "from the beginning".

The confusion is when genuinely malicious, deliberately harmful comments, designed to cause real injury, are flippantly described as "trolling" (facebook / twitter "trolls" etc.) and that's the meaning the word has now taken on. What it really is, or was, is more like a gentle ribbing / employment of satire that can actually have a point if used sparingly and with awareness.

So basically... it depends which variety you're talking about .

Are you the one who trolled the troll poll?



What is the primary definition of trolling for you?

I was around when the name was new/new-ish, but it used to be used as an insult to try to finger wag/shame people being assholes ... then it kinda became a thing that people did for fun. Then it kinda tee-d off from that in my experience into applying to various use cases for the word...

For me trolling is mostly when you are deceiving others for some cause.. it can be as light as baiting someone into making certain commentary (stealth trolling)... but it doesn't have to involve any bullying. It doesn't even have to involve humiliation. It does often involve the deception component... particular with the purpose of forcing others to show their hand.

Imo, Western societies, particularly America, where individualism is King are really bad at being trolled. Our mainstream media is very easily trolled as well. Donald Trump would not have been elected had it not been for the gullibility of people to respond and make viral his controversial remarks... if you read his history, particularly his Twitter feed, truthfully, he's been running a campaign for more than 2 years... so shouldn't have been a surprise to our media what his ultimate goal was. Had they not fed the troll, we may have had had a different result... but I think that is is true in most cases where social media and politics is involved... people are very prone to baiting remarks and thinly veiled commentary... therefore our society as a whole tries to "correct" the problematic individual by condemning or otherwise trying to "purge" these influences... but thanks to the internet and individualism, it can never be purged... instead it is further re-circulated by the "troll armies" (remember that term?) by way of click bait-y headlines and shock jock-esk speeches at rallies... our media, none the wiser fed into this trap hook line and sinker... therefore unintentionally and successfully vetted him as an "anti-establishment" candidate.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Maru

Are you the one who trolled the troll poll?

You gotta troll the troll poll if you wanna get into this boy's soul... you gotta troll the troll poll to get in! If you want the baby boy's soul you gotta troll the troll poll, you gotta troll the poll to get in! Troooll poll! What you say? Troooll poll! Hey hey heeey.. Troll poll!

But nah it wasn't me.

What is the primary definition of trolling for you?

I was around when the name was new/new-ish, but it used to be used as an insult to try to finger wag/shame people being assholes ... then it kinda became a thing that people did for fun. Then it kinda tee-d off from that in my experience into applying to various use cases for the word...

For me trolling is mostly when you are deceiving others for some cause.. it can be as light as baiting someone into making certain commentary (stealth trolling)... but it doesn't have to involve any bullying. It doesn't even have to involve humiliation. It does often involve the deception component... particular with the purpose of forcing others to show their hand

Largely I agree with that as the definition; it generally involves a bit of harmless immaturity, "poking the bear with a stick". Mischief, I suppose. Annoying / irritating people in a way that, if done skillfully, as you said can often prompt people to spill what they've been holding back. Then you had unskilled trolls who were JUST annoying and trying to amuse themselves, but again, more or less harmless.

Where the definition was lost, for me, was when the media adopted it (at least here, I don't know about over there) as a blanket term to describe something else: Any and All online bullying. Facebook hate campaigns, with real malice and intent to cause harm behind them, were reported as "trolling" when (in my opinion) it's a complete misuse of a term that had a specific meaning online. A hateful bully is simply a bully... offline or online.