Is trolling so wrong after all?

Question

Here's urban dictionary's definition of a troll:

"One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument"

Should we all be comfortable where we are in our philosophies or is a troll just the kind of push a message board needs to begin a healthy debate?

If nothing else, the people who are fooled into arguing against the troll get to feel good about themselves because the troll gave some poorly constructed argument.

This is a serious question, by the way, not a troll ( :

Answer 1

Trolling, when done properly, is a high art. But since most people do not understand it as such they fail to appreciate it. What they see as provocative, distasteful and disruptive, others see as a beautiful mixture of words and images coming together in a wonderful cascade of incite designed to provoke thought in others. Trolling is becoming a lost art as many have taken up the cause but few have been taught the methods and values of a true troll. The troll masters are few in number and the young forge their own path instead of listening to the wisdom of those who have gone before.



To those of you who find this kind of behavior offensive I must ask, who are you to decide which opinions are right and which are wrong? Does not everyone have the right to their own beliefs? Are you going to deny others the right to express their beliefs when you have a free forum to express yours? How do you decide what a troll is? Normally people label any one who disagrees with them a troll, does that make it true? Considering that this is the philosophy section I would expect that many users would put thought into this instead of instantly dismissing anything that makes them angry or that they disagree with.

Answer 2

you need to further develop your understanding of the difference between "disruption and argument" and "healthy debate"... I mean congrats on going out and looking up a definition.... but then you turn around and immediately ignore it, asking "is a troll just the kind of push a message board needs to begin a healthy debate" ... the answer, as presented is clearly "no, a disruption and argument is not the kind of push needed to start a healthy debate"



you cant have it both ways

Answer 3

Actually that definition is way out of step with current usage.



A troll is a person who goes around violating people they don't like and jumping on minor infractions in social networking sites.



Your definition mentions newsgroups and message boards which is really so 1995.



As a person who is sometimes a troll, I think that trolls in the modern sense make trolls in the sense you describe, out of us all.

Answer 4

Ive blocked 3 human beings in this section alongside. no longer something wring with it in case you like them to bypass away you on my own. human beings in this section get so indignant and thumbs down all and sundry. I do exactly no longer difficulty with them.