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Hi Dakka!

I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this, but there seems to be a new 'Trolling ' story every day in the national papers here in the UK.
First it was the young man who was found guilty of Trolling social network sites and insulting the dead (pretty low huh?), that was featured in the Express and The Daily Hate Mail yesterday. Today it's the Sun's turn and they are running with a feature on the Trolling of a few Maddie McCan websites...
As many on here can attest, Trolling is annoying but can easily be ignored or 'Called Out'. But it seems that most of the population of the UK has a new 'most reviled crime' this week.
What are your thoughts on 'Trolls' and the best way to handle them?

Best way to handle them is to simply ignore them (if they're on this forum then hit the yellow magic happiness triangle) or they'll continue.

Unfortunately the media seems to understand this.

It was inevitable that the internet and its denizens would become the next focus of the gutter press and the Daily Mail in particular.

These papers are fixated on fuelling the paranoid mindset of their readership and especially delight in subjects like the online community simply because so many of their audience are middle-aged and clueless as to what actually happens on the social media sites and the internet in general.

The arsehole who recently murdered his girlfirend after his dumb mate bet him a breakfast that he wouldn't do it and then announced his crime on Facebook must have seemed like a gift from the gods for these papers.

It's just the next step on from video nasties in the 80's, computer games causing fits in the 90's and happy slapping in the last decade.

Personaly I'm glad to see the law treating these extream cases in the same way as if it was non electronic. I personaly dislike the idea of "ignore them and they will leave you alone" answer to bullying. It didn't work at school so why should it work online? Don't rise to it and get in to an argument, but the "sticks and stones"deffence only works if your 5.

Nice one OP. I thought this thread was about personal trolling stories.

Cadichan Support wrote:Nice one OP. I thought this thread was about personal trolling stories.

Ha! Yeah, sorry for the confusion!
I'm sure there have been lots of personal trolling stories on here, but these stories seem to be gathering momentum here, especially amongst the gutter press...

It does however puncture ever so slightly the concept that you are free to do or say as you please in the intawebz and that it can not be controlled.

It might be effective in at least toning some people down if you knew trolling types at least read/saw the news, but since trolls seem to either be or act like pre-pubescent boys I do not see the message htting home.

Just ignoring them seems to work. It kills their buzz.



I'm sorry, but I've had to delete the image, kudos for linking it, but please don't post images that contain profanity. Thanks

reds8n

There is a point where trolling crosses a line and changes from a social nuisance to criminal harassment.

People don't have to put up with someone following them around making threats and insults in "real life".

These prosecutions are a signal that the law of the land will not allow it to happen just because it is on the internet.

I wish I lived in one of these happy places where people can't follow you around and insult you. In the state I live in, the police cannot do anything until they actually DO something to you, beyond threats and insults.

You could move to the UK.

I've modded a chat site before, and really the only way to deal with trolls is the Nemesis-Ban-Hammer.
You can talk all the psychology you want, but every person is different and so are motivated by different things. Loathe as we are to admit it, Trolls are people too. Reasoning with people who only want to throw chaos into a situation is pointless, some people just get a kick out of annoying people knowing there can be no repercussions, so I think its great that they prosecute for it. However, what the media is doing worries me. Freedom of speech and expression is the best thing about the internet and if they start to introduce means by which they can limit that, I think it would be the undoing of the the intawebz.

Moral panic FTW.

It's the whole principle of media hype that's kicked in now.


It's been going on for ages, no-one has cared a penny-farthing. Of course, one headline news report on a troll creates demand for more troll-based news reports.

As a result, the media creates a skewed image where apparently EVERYONE on the internet is a shameful troll and the only thing that exists on the internet is 40-year-old virgins with poor complexions that like to insult missing children and taunt the deceased, because the demand for more troll-stories makes them dig up as many (regardless of context or level of obscurity) as their greasy paws can.

It's happened with many things that soon end up blown out of proportion, and usually the government responds to uneducated rants of the misguided public with a rash action.

By the way, I am in no way supporting any form of trolling which cannot be resolved with a slap on the shoulder, an 'I got you there didn't I chief!' from the troll followed by a 'oh, stop it you!' and a bashful smile from the victim. I'm just commenting oh how the media didn't give a crap about internet trolls until a high-profile case created a big-money opportunity and as a result the actual facts will probably get completely obscured...

"Man trolls physics by doing a hand-stand on the South Pole and claiming he is holding up the world! When asked to comment the man simply replied 'U jelly?' "

Geeze, you guys have those stories in the news too? We have them too right now, and bad but we call them Republican Debates or something weird like that.

halonachos wrote:Geeze, you guys have those stories in the news too? We have them too right now, and bad but we call them Republican Debates or something weird like that.

You know, that's what gets me about this. Every Wednesday (I think?) we have Prime Ministers questions, braodcast live from the Houses of Parliament. And that is basically one big Trolling session between the people that we, the tax paying citizens, voted for to represent our communities! Madness

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:
What are your thoughts on 'Trolls' and the best way to handle them?

Throw them all under bridges and make them stay there....... hopefully they don't start charging tolls......

*Reads the hate for Trolls*


I SEE I'M NO LONGER WELCOME.


*Leaves*

This right here was probably one of the greatest trolls in all of dakka history.

I ain't clicking that link... it either leads to:

A. The trolling song

B. A legit troll post... maybe...

C. A Rick Roll

I'm willing to bet on A or C.

Asgeirr Darkwolf wrote:I ain't clicking that link... it either leads to:

A. The trolling song

B. A legit troll post... maybe...

C. A Rick Roll

I'm willing to bet on A or C.

It's a Legit troll post. I actually prefer his work on This thread

I ain't afraid of no link. But I was honestly hoping for something funnier. Personally I love this one: Linky

Make a touching story about how sad that troll made you, and at the end of your 5 paragraph story put SO SCREW YOU in capslock

rubiksnoob wrote:This right here was probably one of the greatest trolls in all of dakka history.

HA! The only time a broken sound card is worth it was right now!

Tazz Azrael wrote:

rubiksnoob wrote:This right here was probably one of the greatest trolls in all of dakka history.

HA! The only time a broken sound card is worth it was right now!

Oh, God! Really?

I don't mind trolls, I get a kick out of them, honestly. Like going on /tg/ and saying that yugioh and MtG are the same thing, or going on /k/, and saying a magazine and a clip are the same thing, or even going to /a/ and starting a thread about how much you hate anime, and how filthy all the otaku are. It doesn't become a legal issue until you continually harass an individual, like texting, messaging and calling to harass that person, in that case, that's not even trolling, it's just being an donkey-cave, granted, if you post something stupid on a facebook like page, prepare to be trolled, or be notified of your stupidity. Of course, trolling funny to watch, but not do, and all the gak storms that stir up from them because people feed them, if you ignore them, they'll go away. That's why 4chan is doomed, because too many people feed the trolls.

If you ask me it's a damn shame that the term 'Troll' was used. I like Trolls but now they've just got a bad name - we're going to have generations of kids growing up thinking a Troll is somekind of mindless internet agitator

I can see it now, soon Britain will have 'The Troll Register' - where anyone can learn the identity and location of a convicted Troll - give it time, it'll happen

Please do not spam the forum. Thanks ~Manchu

Please do not spam the forum. Thanks ~Manchu