Internet Trolling

[DBSoT]

I was originally going to make a thread that discussed how people deal with internet trolling. Do you ignore it, try to combat it or wait for them to be deleted by an ADMIN?

But now I wanted to open up this discussion to all things troll related. What is the most obvious tell of a troll? What is your worst trolling story? Have you ever trolled a forum just for the fun of it?

I was on a forum today that involved the discussion on college football and my alma mater. I admit, I let a troll get under my skin and I had to step away from my computer and calm down. I knew that arguing with the troll was a waste of time as it would lead nowhere. So I decided to do the complete opposite. I just became over complementary. I told him he was right and that I totally understood where he was coming from. "How could I never have seen how right you are before?" That kind of stuff. To my surprise this was effective. Not at first, he had to get his last few jabs in as trolls are want to do, but after that he just disappeared.

I bring this up specifically because we live in a world of social media and internet discussion that involves so many dissenting opinions. It isn't alway easy to know which ones are legit. Are we so jaded as a society that are biggest source of information is also littered with the most misinformation? Have you ever considered just going offline for long periods of time, just to avoid some of the larger internet bitch and troll fests?

[Everlong]

The way I deal with it depends on how obvious the troll is. Everyone gets sucked in by a troll every now and then, especially if it's not obvious at first. But once I figure out it's a troll I'll just ignore it unless it's really destroying a community, then I'll try to make the report.

A little minor trolling every now and then can be funny but anyone who regularly goes on the internet specifically to piss people off probably needs therapy TBH.

[Messiah]

I would argue that people who actually get pissed off are the people who need the therapy.

Seriously, I've seen some people get REALLY heated in response to some blatant trolling/sarcasm. I hate stupid trolling, like spamming or making insensitive posts. That is just dumb. But intelligent trolls, I love them. Like I won't link the site but just read this:

But it is incredibly convenient that literally almost every HOF head coach also had a HOF quarterback paired with him.

That's why they're all frauds if you ask me. I need a dude who can win with nothing from day 1.

That's why LeBron is the greatest athlete ever. Guy has had nothing but bozos as coaches his entire career.

Yea, but he still hasn't won a Superbowl.

True, but that still doesn't stop him from being the greatest player in NFL history.

If you swap him with Antonio Brown, Cavs don't make the playoffs, but the Steelers win the SB and he breaks all the records.

Stupid argument is stupid.

It makes perfect sense if you're informed. Please give me a detailed explanation(cite sources) why it is a stupid argument.

First of all, thats something UNinformed people usually say. Its a cop out in an attempt to avoid elaborating any further, but still acting like you have more insight than you actually do...especially in a situation like this.

Secondly, its kind of funny how you want a detailed explanation with sources when all you did was make a silly projection with nothing to back it up. You cant provide a well thought out argument, so you just make a general ridiculous comment and when someone calls you out, you want them to provide an argument.

It doesnt take a detailed explanation to discredit a baseless, ridiculous comment with absolutely no context or facts to support it.

But, just so Im not doing the same thing youre doing, Ill point out two of the biggest issues....

1) The Steelers would win a SB and break all records if you swapped Antonio Brown and LeBron James? Yeah...okay. Keep living in your fantasy Madden franchise and Ill stick with reality. The day you can provide facts and something of actual context to support this BS is the day you will have earned the right to ask for a detailed explanation proving your nonsense wrong. LeBron never played a down of pro football. It takes more than being a world class athlete to be successful in the NFL. I know you, like most people who talk about LeBron in the NFL, will cite that he was a great HS football player....but that doesnt mean jack squat and proves absolutely nothing.

2) Your entire argument involves swapping a 6'8 basketball player with a 5'10 WR. If you cant see how dumb that argument is, I dont know what to tell you. Forgetting about LeBron and Brown for just a moment, you could literally make that argument about any tall basketball player and short NFL player. Not quite as ridiculously far as you took it, but pretty much any NBA player has a better chance of succeeding in the NFL than the other way around. The NFL has a much broader range of athlete than the NBA does, and in the NBA, lack of height alone can prevent success....whereas in the NFL, size can be overcome in many cases.

Bottom line....if you want to claim that LeBron would have a better chance succeeding in the NFL than Antonio Brown would in the NBA....fine...but beyond that, your argument is baseless and nothing about it makes a lick of sense in regards to whats actually being discussed.

I actually pointed out how obvious it was I was dicking around, but then decided that there's a small chance you'll actually go on and break things down so I edited my post, still doubting it would happen and you'd actually catch on.

But you actually did it.

[Everlong]

I mean something like can be funny in the right circumstances I guess. But going on the internet regularly with the sole intention of pissing people off is a sign that your life probably is awful.

[Hanley!]

I found the guy from Messiah's post obnoxious too. Trolling is basically never good.

Sometimes someone will bug me enough that I'll want the catharsis of writing back to them and telling them why they're wrong. And it can be useful to just have someone there who says the dumb thing, giving you a means and an excuse to state your opinion. It doesn't make the trolls any less annoying or scummy, but it is possible to get a little something out of them if you don't dive in too deep.

Getting into a long back and forth is where things go terribly wrong though, and I try to avoid that now whenever possible. It's just not worth the hassle.

I genuinely don't understand these people. Why would you make it your mission to annoy strangers? Why put in the time and go out of your way to do that? Makes me think that they must all lead very empty lives, while also being massive assholes.

[DBSoT]

Trolling has even extended beyond the internet now, just in different forms. Take the scary clown craze that is currently happening. These are people that are spending their time, attempting to freak normal people out. They are trolling real people in real life. The main difference is that in real life people will fight back physically and have. Look at somebody like Donald Trump. He is essentially a troll on the whole political system. He says outlandish shit that people argue constantly, but for some reason it never deters him. He also does it because it makes him feel like he is in power of the situation. Photo bombing would even be considered a mild form of real life trolling. Not all of these situations are dangerous, but they can be highly annoying.

[Messiah]

I genuinely don't understand these people. Why would you make it your mission to annoy strangers? Why put in the time and go out of your way to do that? Makes me think that they must all lead very empty lives, while also being massive assholes.

It's funny as hell, and I would argue that the people who actually let strangers rile them up to that extent (assuming they aren't saying anything demeaning) are probably living even sadder lives.

[Twister]

Twitter trolls are the worst, the kind who state an 'opinion' just for the sake of being goady. I get sucked into arguing with them on occasion but have learnt over the years to know when I'm getting to over invested and to stop/block. You are never going to win with these people but if you're confident in your views then it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

[Hanley!]

It's funny as hell, and I would argue that the people who actually let strangers rile them up to that extent (assuming they aren't saying anything demeaning) are probably living even sadder lives.

Someone who gets pissed off after encountering an asshole in the wild is sadder than a guy who spends hours out of his day trying to upset strangers as if it's some kind of accomplishment? Sorry, don't see it.

Haven't seen it ever being funny either, to be honest.

[Messiah]

It's funny as hell, and I would argue that the people who actually let strangers rile them up to that extent (assuming they aren't saying anything demeaning) are probably living even sadder lives.

Someone who gets pissed off after encountering an asshole in the wild is sadder than a guy who spends hours out of his day trying to upset strangers as if it's some kind of accomplishment? Sorry, don't see it.

Haven't seen it ever being funny either, to be honest.

Again, I have no idea what kind of trolling you are talking about. To troll someone does not require spending "hours". It barely takes a couple of minutes. Just look at my example above. Who ended up having to put in more effort, the person who trolled (blatantly) or the person who got trolled?

I could troll you right now or someone else right now and it might take me a couple of minutes. I assure you my life isn't sad either.

And asshole? I already said I wouldn't defend someone who is being demeaning. But a lot of people troll with just ridiculous statements that aren't harming anyone, verbally or physically. Like saying something outlandish. That isn't being an asshole. Immature, I guess. But there are too many people in this world doing actual bad things for me to call someone who trolls an asshole. I don't see how trolling is any different than playing a joke on somebody, and I guarantee you probably laugh at jokes. Like I said, based off how you're describing it, it feels like you are thinking of some kind of specific form of trolling.

Fair enough if you don't find it funny though.

Life is way too valuable for me to sit and get furious over someone saying something ridiculous on the internet, as long as it isn't morally insulting.

[Chewy]

You'd never find me trolling fuckers.

[PorkChop]

Trolling is an art when done properly, but yes, the individual behind the computer screen is a bit sad.

KeithyKingstonJunior was probably the best troll I've ever seen. He managed to make people so angry when saying the simplest of things. He was never deliberately inflammatory and never bullied anyone, he just posted opinions which sent people ape shit, such as Eli Cottonwood becoming the new Undertaker. It was immensely entertaining, but not everyone realised he was a troll, so his actions did have a negative effect on some of the community.

We had some shitty trolls as well like DopeBoiMagic, who was just an idiot and often went out of his way to deliberately cause offence. But once you realise somebody is trolling, and doing it well, it can be fun to watch events unfold.