Internet trolls are cowardly bullies.

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If you think about it, those who hide behind thousands of miles of wire and in a cloak of anonymity while scoffing and mocking others are about as cowardly as they get.

I read a study somewhere. They said that the trolls get a high like they would get from some illegal substances. They are some kind of addicts, and I feel sorry for them.

Well as a rule trolling is not supposed to reach the point of harrasment, yes people say a lot of crap to each other over the internet......and I will admit I have done some 'trolling' but I don't take it to the level of harrasment just a bit of entertainment.

I agree with what you said in the OP when applied to people who harrass others online......but not just trolling by itself or people having immature debates about stupid things thaty they will probably not even think about when they get off the internet.

TROCK and TROLL topic

I ignore the silly ones, but if there is something really nasty(IMO) I report it. It is dealt with and that is the end.

I suppose I just don't see the point of trolling, it's just a waste of time and energy. What kills me is that trolls often think they're "justified" in trolling people that they disagree with because of some opinion they hold or thing that they said, and that they think what they're doing will actually coerce them into changing or "teach them a lesson" or some such nonsense.

It'll be interesting to see if any of the trolls on this forum show up here and have something to say about this.....

Let's clarify a few definitions, shall we?

Website: A group of World Wide Web pages usually containing hyperlinks to each other and made available online by an individual, company, educational institution, government, or organization; usually formatted into topical Forums, which in turn contain Threads composed of individual Posts. "WrongPlanet" is a website.

Forum: A public meeting place for open discussion or expression of ideas within a range of related topics. "Politics, Philosophy, and Religion" is a Forum on the "WrongPlanet" website.

Thread: A series of individual messages within a Forum that follow a single topic. "Internet trolls are cowardly bullies." is a thread within the "Politics, Philosophy, and Religion" Forum on the "WrongPlanet" website.

Post: An individual message within a Thread. This message is a Post within the "Internet trolls are cowardly bullies" Thread within the "Politics, Philosophy, and Religion" Forum on the "WrongPlanet" website.

Troll: A person that intentionally posts controversial, inflammatory, and/or irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional and/or irrational response.

Peace out!

well I've been called a troll a few too many times on WP but I don't attack the humanity of those I debate, rather, it's the opposite.

It is very difficult to be "different" or political without being labeled a troll, it is almost definitional that my views that we should kill off 90% of all inmates on deathrow right now is going to piss someone off and I'll get labeled a troll without debating me or my position. The term troll is appropriate at times, but its also used sometimes to dismiss the other without debate.

I consider an intellectually vapid argument that includes something politically witty + an attack of the other's personhood a form of trolling. It's sort of a "I got the last laugh, and by the way... you suck you racist/homophobe/islamophobe/sexist/zealot/bigot/nazi/etc." The discussion is never evolved, they deal with 1% of the entirety of your post and their disgust with your position enables them to dismiss everything you say and attack your personhood.

Why is it so commonplace and not uncalled to attribute trolling to anonymity?

That annoys me. For starters, it allows guys like Google to become Draconian and threaten privacy on the web under the excuse that it will stop harassing. That is ridiculous when you think about it. First of all, there are plenty of people in the internet that use their real names to post bigoted, harassing bullying stuff. Second, anonymity is a very important tool that will protect our individual freedom and is akin to guns in that regard.