A Conversation for Flaming and Trolling

Surely a little trolling ...

Post 1

Fathom

... can be a good thing if it leads to a lively conversation.

And don't call me Shirley. smiley - erm

Although I think you hinted at this in your article I just wanted to put in a word for the defense. In a sense of course this post is itself a troll designed to goad hard line anti-trollists to respond. smiley - smiley

Good article - the different definitions were new to me and the history of the expressions was interesting. smiley - ok

F


Surely a little trolling ...

Post 2

abbi normal "Putting on the Ritz" with Dr Frankenstein

Good article ,I liked the history lesson on WWW forums.smiley - ok
smiley - disco


Surely a little trolling ...

Post 3

Bright Blue Shorts

You beat me to it. I was just about to go and post "So what's wrong with trolling?" ...

I think in truth it's like any other behaviour. It becomes a problem when it's your only way of responding. We are all rude, late, angry, controlling, preaching, sulky, roadragey, manipulative, arrogant at some point in the week - it's no big issue until it's starts occurring daily.

Really enjoyed the entry. Had never heard the term "trolling" before. Beginning to realise that perhaps I spend a little too much of my time doing it smiley - erm


Surely a little trolling ...

Post 4

mags

Trolling is something which has no positive aspect.

A troll has no desire to start real debate, only to start a flame war. It's entirely negative in intent and - almost always - in effect. A troll is not someone who is playing devil's advocate[1] but someone hoping to start a flame war. They're the Begbie of the online world, throwing a glass into a crowd and then enjoying the ensuing virtual fight.

I've seen usenet boards ruined by trolls, IRC chat rooms permenantly abandoned by the regulars because there were too many trolls. With the rise in moderated web fora, as opposed to the free discussions of usenet and IRC, trolling is less visible to the average user but that doesn't make trolls into devil's advocates: they're still in it for the kick of starting a fight, not to stimulate real discussion.

[1]see http://www.wordreference.com/english/definition.asp?en=devil's+advocate


Surely a little trolling ...

Post 5

Fathom


Hmmm...

Wondering if an abusive response is the way to go here ...

F


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