Trolls

This has been annoying me for some time but it's about time I said something about it.

There's been an increase in the traditional media just recently of stories about 'trolls'. Trolls, as anyone who's been on the internet for more than 20 minutes will tell you, are people who engage in the act of trolling; posting comments on online bulletin boards and similar services with the intention of provoking an outraged response. Call it a form of online baiting if you will. Skilled trolls will post seemingly genuine and innocent comments on posts on typically emotionally charged subjects such as religion or politics, and see who bites. The troll never directly instigates any hostility, merely encourages others to do so. I've done it many times, it's actually quite good fun if you like winding up easily aggitated people with not enough things to worry about... Mac users, for example ; ) Trolls normally target entire communities rather than individuals - a good example would be the 4chan users who turned up to launch parties for the final Harry Potter book armed with leaked copies of the book and then proceeded to spoil the ending of the book to everyone in the queue. It's a matter of opinion as to whether this is funny or not, but it doesn't actually hurt anyone, and certainly doesn't target an individual or a small group of people.

Compare this with stories in the press and you'll see no similarity whatsoever. Examples the BBC give of trolls are the guy who sent abusive emails to Louise Mensch, and a guy posting abusive messages on the Facebook page of a dead girl. Neither of which are trolls by the correct definition of the word, they're simply online bullies.

Let's get this straight before the word 'troll' becomes as misunderstood as the word 'hacker' currently is - trolls are harmless. They're just out to have wind people up and have a good laugh at the reaction. They merely post or do things likely to provoke a strong response. Bullies are quite different - their aim is to abuse, hurt and emotionally scar people. They say very hurtful things, often aimed at vulnerable individuals. These people are not trolls. It's unfair to dismiss online bullies with such a tame word as 'troll' and it's certainly unfair to most trolls to tar them with the same brush as these hateful, spiteful bullies. Please, BBC, Guardian, and many other news sources I otherwise respect, please stop using words you clearly don't understand. Confusing bullies with trolls is like confusing Wolfgang Priklopil with Jeremy Beadle.