What do you consider trolling?

[Owlstar]

I consider a troll someone who comes and makes repeated posts in a row without giving someone else a chance to respond. They also talk about things totally unrelated to the topic, like coming to this thread and saying how much they like ice cream. I haven't had experience with people like that on my forum so far, but if I did, I would first give them a warning. If they didn't stop, I would ban their username for a while. After unbanning, if they continue, I would delete their account and IP ban them.

[jaedyn69]

Trolls to me are alternate ID's allowed knowingly by admin/mods to drum up drama on a board to keep the illusion of an actual stable community, to boost forum numbers, and to target specific individuals or groups for the purpose of pruning due to personal opinions (which are only just opinion). I also believe people who spam and who keep coming back under different ID's to be nasty, and/or mean-spirited hackers fall in to this category.

Disagreeing (even openly with obvious concerns) with admin/mods should never be a criteria for this label as differences in opinion are completely natural and can only help a forum mature and grow.

There are 2 sides to this coin.

Even Superman makes mistakes, regardless of his fictitious origins, and he's admired by millions. We all fall people, we should never forget that part of the equation.

Cheers

[Ellis]

Trolling would be any posting of controversial material on a board, not to cause debate but in order to cause a negative emotional response. Additionally, someone who posts inoffensive but off-topic posts in order to anger people would also be a troll.

[Jinzo™]

Trolling is defined by Wikipedia as "a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community,with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion."

Which hits the nail on the head. I've trolled before, and that was my intent, to provoke users into arguing and getting upset. Believe it or not, there are different classes of trolls. Some who do it just for boredom or fun, and some who do it wanting to cause harm. =3

[laramie]

These are the rules on my Forum:
Every Forum or Message Board I have been on,always had 10 paragraphs of rules.NOT HERE!!!
We have only 3 rules at Western Theatre.
1.Respect each other
2.Keep posts Western related
3.HAVE FUN!!
Chatters and one liners welcome!!!

If they break rule number 1,and they're gone!It's that simple.

[bridgetgirl]

I consider trolling flaming somebody for no reason, criticizing someone or something, being straight-up mean....

[sceadugenga1]

Trolls are easy to define, they are people for whom the loneliness and boredom of their lives drives them to annoy others anonymously.
I've found that being nice to them can create useful members.... sometimes.

[gts]

to me a Troll is somebody who
"baits" the conversation
Multi accounts to back up his own views or talk to himself
Flames others just because it's fun
Derails threads because they have nothing to add or don't feel like it

[EelKat]

In my own forums we have what we call "good trolls" and "bad trolls".

Good trolls are people who like to jump around on game threads posting "BUMP", or multi-posting a lot and sort of running all over the place posting on old threads and such. They are not doing it to be mean or to spam links and they don't really mean to be causing trouble, but rather they are usually new members who are just a little over bolstrous in their excitement over joining a new forum. Generally after a couple of weeks they settle down and become regular standard members. We call them "good trolls" because on first appearance they may look like they are trolls, but when you get to know them you find out they just are new to using forums and were not clear on the rules.

Bad trolls on the other hand really are trolls. They come with the intention of causing chaos, disorder, and disruption. They get a kick out of hurting others. They enjoy being negative. They like to make people cry. They go out of their way to use "F" word dozens of times in a single post only because they know such words are not allowed. They make trouble every where and offer nothing to the conversation. If they are on-topic at all, it's only to complain, put down, and antagonize the other posters and say things they know will act as "triggers" to try to get a fight going.

In addition to trolls there are troll sub species: Flamers and Spammers.

Flamers are mean, bigoted, grouchy, angry, hate filled, bitter trolls who are hell-bent on hurting other members. They deleberatly say mean things and "call out" members, pointing fingers, spreading rumors, telling nasty lies, putting down people based of race/religion/gender/beliefs/whatever. While "Bad Trolls" just get a kick out of being mean for the fun of being mean, Flamers, are on a mission; they have a bone to pick and they have chosen this forum because many of the members are party to the "other side" of their agenda. They are often self proclaimed "Fundamentalist Christians" and back up their attacks with Bible quotes and by saying things like: "It's okay for me to treat you like this because God loves me, not you." They are often also called "Nazis" if they are especially hurtful. They are Really Bad Trolls (and they are giving other Christians a bad name!).

Stalkers are Flamers taken to a dangerous level. They follow a single member, hounding them, bullying them, and making threats such as "You better watch your back, because I know where you live." They often follow the member on other sites as well, such as FaceBook, and may even follow the member off line around town in real life, or at least they are making threats which indicate they do. They are Evil Trolls.

Spammers are usually not registered members, or are registered under user names such as "asdf" and are usually (though not always) not even real people, but are usually bots that start posting hundreds of replies - usually one on EVERY SINGLE thread. Each reply being exactly the same and each reply containing 10, 20, over even 100 links all pointing back to the same web site, usually selling something, often porn related, and nearly always with a China isp. They are Robot Trolls.

Link Hounds are similar to spammers, but often have good intentions and do not realize they are doing anything wrong. They are active members who do on occasion post relevant replies, but usually only do so if the reply provides them with some way to link back to their own web site. Usually they are "Good Trolls" with a web site.

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"Good Trolls" and "Link Hounds" are gently reminded of the rules and usually stop misbehaving with out farther warning.

"Bad Trolls" are warned, given a second and third chance to reform, and than banned if a fourth warning is required, as my forums use a "three strikes you're out policy": you are allowed 3 warnings in your lifetime as a member, there is no fourth warning.

Flamers and Spammers get automatic life time bans on username, email, and isp.

Stalkers get automatic life time bans on username, email, and isp AND copies of their posts and profile info are forwarded to the FBI.

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Religion topics are common on my forums, so my boards get hit by Flamers hard. I try to keep it "open to all religions" but some people join with the intent of promoting their religion and actively condemning every one else's as "belonging to Satan". The fact that both Pagans and Christian lurk on my forums, has made them open to attack by a few outspoken extremists. Not fun. Less fun, was when a Stalker showed up, and went beyond just threatening online - she actually did know where I lived and cut my car in half May 2010. Not fun. Since than I've become especially non-tolerant of any one that even hints of being a Flamer.

[Karcolith]

I find trolls rather amusing. At least their posting, people that come on to the forum and dump links to their stuff is more annoying. But that's just me.

[``D.uecalione]

I once owned a site that was loved by the members. Everything was kept fair and orderly. Some guest decided to harass me in the chat box. I at first tried being discreet with him, about our rules. But then it ended up that I ignored the troll, and they kept "screaming" and carrying on in the chat box. I had to ban them. But they found their way back. He joined, and started harassing members, and me. He kept sending links, threats, and telling lies. I eventually had to ban what EelKat said earlier. IP, Email, and username. But the thing that had really infuriated them was that EVERYONE ignored him.

[$achibelle]

Well i USED to be a troll, not on forums of course i wasnt that rude.
I define trolls as people who find every loophole to rules on every subject.
Trolls often don't respect anyone and think of themselves very highly.
Some trolls even travel in packs or gangs, so they think they can try to take down a large forum easily.
Bigger trolls usually know how to repeatedly change their IP adress, email, and hack others accounts. This has not happened to me.

Trolls often use any form of discrimination. >.> Im against all discrimination.
You have to learn to pity them though. Even if it's rather hard most trolls are just lonely and dont really know how to make friends or live peaceful lives.

I've had to defend my forums from trolls in which ive done without the magic 'ban' button.

[Karcolith]

What if the admins are the trolls?

[SpotLover]

I would say trolling is butting into a conversation, saying the opposite, calling names, and trying to provoke the other to get angry and start to get mad. My boyfriend of 20 loves trolling on all his games, it helps let his anger out, and he enjoys himself very much, even myself, occasionally, will get some laughs out of it.

[Mark]

I'm a mod on a board that has been on Proboards for 10 years. We get some "trolls" on occasion (usually from a rival sports team) that just want to argue and not integrate into the forum. I dont mind arguing, I just dont want it to be arguing for arguments sake. I mean, let's all just get along on some level FIRST.

We will usually argue with them until its clear they wont ever chill out. A fan of our team will get more leeway than one from a team we cant stand.