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Old 03-08-2013, 02:07 PM
 
Location: Texas
5,012 posts, read 7,858,368 times
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What do people get out of trolling a forum?
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Old 03-08-2013, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Tyler, TX
23,666 posts, read 23,982,865 times
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Attention, and some weird sense of satisfaction for having been able to manipulate people in some way.

They're people with serious psychological issues, probably stemming from either not getting enough attention as a child or having been spoiled. Either way, they're unbalanced and immature.
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Old 03-08-2013, 03:18 PM
 
Location: in here, out there
3,062 posts, read 7,016,599 times
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This is the reason why the founding fathers created the first amendment. You might not like what your neighbor has to say, but he has the right to say it whether it's right or wrong. You have the duty, yourself, to read and decide whether what you read is true or false, and not rely on the government or the internet police to decide for you.
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Old 03-09-2013, 11:50 AM
 
23,563 posts, read 70,158,065 times
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Although this subforum is more meant for technical issues with the internet, the question is an important one. I'm sure someone can find the link to the cartoons about various types of trolls and forum posters. Some of them are hysterical, and I can see myself fitting a number of the various subtypes.

There are some serious issues with trolls though. In the usenet forums, the subject of Scientology would bring out huge numbers of posts that were designed to crush the usenet group and/or discussion on that subject. I am convinced that other forums have trolls whose purpose is to drive people away. I do not rule out that those trolls are paid or connected to various governments or other organizations, groups, businesses or activists. The level of trolling skyrockets when certain hot topics are mentioned, such as politics, GMOs, raw foods, pets, and the like. Similarly, if you look at the comment posts on a number of the news sites, you can see clear traces of agenda-driven trolling.

In any completely open public forum social substructures and power groups will develop which will ultimately destroy the forum or change the focus enough to drive people elsewhere. Moderated forums, such as the ones here, can succeed but only when the moderation fits the users. Some moderators may use too heavy a hand, others allow too much leeway, and yet others have their own personal agendas.

One issue that is fairly consistent with trolls is that there is emotional involvement and emotional payoff of some sort. The idea of someone with little or no emotional involvement trolling, such as "Spock" from Star Trek, just doesn't work.
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Old 03-09-2013, 02:38 PM
 
13,513 posts, read 19,235,612 times
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I don't think there's any such thing...perusing the forums, and posting something you believe is right and true, but not popular, can have you labelled a troll...I think ALL opinions are worth reading.
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Old 03-09-2013, 02:55 PM
 
Location: Mayacama Mtns in CA
14,520 posts, read 8,747,298 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by purehuman View Post
I don't think there's any such thing...perusing the forums, and posting something you believe is right and true, but not popular, can have you labelled a troll...I think ALL opinions are worth reading.
Well what you described is not trolling. . . but trolling exists, for sure.
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Old 03-09-2013, 03:45 PM
 
41,815 posts, read 50,920,524 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by purehuman View Post
I don't think there's any such thing...perusing the forums, and posting something you believe is right and true, but not popular, can have you labelled a troll...I think ALL opinions are worth reading.
That's not the definition of what a troll post is. If I were to reply to you with "only <insert derogatory political term> believe that" then it would be considered trolling. Most troll posts are to drive a topic off course, have little or nothing to do with original topic and for all intents and purposes have no value. Mostly it's done on purpose and sometimes they are just nitwits that can't carry on a discussion.

Typically they will throw a grenade like that and never come back. The next thing is the topic is now what they made it.
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Old 03-10-2013, 10:15 AM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,579 posts, read 86,764,762 times
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Even more mystifying, what do people get out of spamming my mailbox or hacking into my mailbox, or creating malware? All of which are much, much harder to do and not nearly as satisfying as zinging somebody with a well-deserved insult.
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Old 03-10-2013, 03:08 PM
 
6,977 posts, read 5,690,527 times
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People often use the 'troll' comment if they disagree with a poster and want to insult them or belittle them.
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Old 03-10-2013, 03:19 PM
 
10,924 posts, read 21,932,574 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88 View Post
Even more mystifying, what do people get out of spamming my mailbox or hacking into my mailbox, or creating malware? All of which are much, much harder to do and not nearly as satisfying as zinging somebody with a well-deserved insult.
None of the things you mentioned have anything to do with trolling, their sole purpose is to generate cash for those that implement them.
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