Could trolling be a mental health issue or is it harmless?

Hercule Poirot · 03-12-2018 12:49PM

Ah here, mental health issue me hole - if people are too fragile to take a jibing or a slagging then they should disconnect their internet and read a book or something

On another thread last week a few posters insinuated that I was a simpleton or an idiot (or possibly both) - I read their comments and went on with my day, if people aren't strong enough to do that then they shouldn't be on the internet

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 03-12-2018 12:51PM

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Can people give an example of the type of thing they think is trolling. And how they differentiate it from opinion.

A troll to me is a wind up merchant. We had them before the internet. It’s not someone abusive (that’s different and should be policed) nor someone with a strong opinion, nor someone who loves to hate joe Duffy, nor over criticism of travellers.

I can spot a few - on a Brexit thread someone who says the solution is to join the U.K. etc.

But in general I’m wondering (without necessarily links) what examples people are talking about. And how you know people are trolling (trying to get a reaction) rather than just pushing their own opinion.

https://tinyurl.com/pqqux9a would be an example.

Harmless troll fun. Trolling can be quite fun. What the OP is referring to I think is at the other end of trolling, which can have serious consequences.

iLikeWaffles · 03-12-2018 12:52PM

Listen people need to eat fish it is part of a balanced diet if fishermen didn't troll there'd be no flatfish to eat at all. A world without flatfish, couldn't imagine it..

I don't know many people that consider it to be a mental health issue, people need to make a living and eat, but in some circumstances it can be harmful. Overfishing is a big problem in most countries.

Cienciano · 03-12-2018 12:53PM

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Can people give an example of the type of thing they think is trolling. And how they differentiate it from opinion.

A troll to me is a wind up merchant. We had them before the internet. It’s not someone abusive (that’s different and should be policed) nor someone with a strong opinion, nor someone who loves to hate joe Duffy, nor over criticism of travellers.

I can spot a few - on a Brexit thread someone who says the solution is to join the U.K. etc.

But in general I’m wondering (without necessarily links) what examples people are talking about.

If a troll is a wind up merchant, Joe Duffy himself is one professionally and he doesn't even know it. So is the Daily Mail. I remember listening to a guy who used to work for the daily mail, (print form, back before the website was so popular). He said he was always told to go back and rewrite articles. If the reader wasn't outraged by something by the end of the article he had failed.

Trolling on boards is easy. You're protected because people can't call you out on it, just make it look like a half legitimate viewpoint and you're sorted. Easy to bump your bullshíte thread to the top constantly too. Anyone who calls you a troll is yellow carded cos that's against the rules.

Tell me how · 03-12-2018 12:54PM

incentsitive wrote: »

Ivan Yates starts almost every show with stuff to wind up Munster Fans, non Man City fans, etc.
Its trolling but its harmless, and yet people still text in venting their spleen. I think if people get wound up by things like that, then maybe they need to look at how easily wound up they are!

I think that Ivan (or similar) is more partaking in light hearted banter which does happen a lot in sport. In my mind, trolling goes beyond that to persist with a contradictory position in the face of empirical evidence which you are choosing to ignore.

For example, I texted a friend who is a Man Utd fan this morning to tell them about Mark Hughes being sacked after a poor performance against a poor team (Man Utd). I don't think that that is trolling but if I persisted with claiming Utd were a terrible team with no right to think of themselves any other way and that they were just undeservedly lucky to win all the trophies they won, then that is trolling behaviour.

03-12-2018 12:54PM

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Can people give an example of the type of thing they think is trolling. And how they differentiate it from opinion.

A troll to me is a wind up merchant. We had them before the internet. It’s not someone abusive (that’s different and should be policed) nor someone with a strong opinion, nor someone who loves to hate joe Duffy, nor over criticism of travellers.

I can spot a few - on a Brexit thread someone who says the solution is to join the U.K. etc.

But in general, I’m wondering (without necessary links) what examples people are talking about.

It's too diffuse unless it's overt, that's why with one I have in mind it a mixture of arrogance a lack of empathy and believing themselves more intelligent than those they are winding up, to them prof their intelligence is how they keep the windup in the realms of almost believable.

A good example is Angue when he posts, he knows he is a wind-up, so does everyone else and he is still good enough and witty enough to get a subtle pop at issues that annoy him.

....... · 03-12-2018 12:55PM

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Can people give an example of the type of thing they think is trolling. And how they differentiate it from opinion.

Quite an extreme example, but the woman who was outed by a Sky News reporter for trolling the McCanns over their daughters disappearance.

I remember they released a log of the number of times she tweeted about it, and its was literally every half hour or so at one point. Even on Christmas Day, there was a break where presumably she was having family dinner, then back at it.

After being outed she killed herself.

03-12-2018 12:58PM

incentsitive wrote: »

Ivan Yates starts almost every show with stuff to wind up Munster Fans, non Man City fans, etc.
Its trolling but its harmless, and yet people still text in venting their spleen. I think if people get wound up by things like that, then maybe they need to look at how easily wound up they are!

Everyone knows he is doing he well know for being a wind-up merchant that is entirely different.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 03-12-2018 12:58PM

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Can people give an example of the type of thing they think is trolling. And how they differentiate it from opinion.

A troll to me is a wind up merchant. We had them before the internet. It’s not someone abusive (that’s different and should be policed) nor someone with a strong opinion, nor someone who loves to hate joe Duffy, nor over criticism of travellers.

I can spot a few - on a Brexit thread someone who says the solution is to join the U.K. etc.

But in general I’m wondering (without necessarily links) what examples people are talking about. And how you know people are trolling (trying to get a reaction) rather than just pushing their own opinion.

Yeah I would assume that trolling is winding people up but harassment and bullying or being nasty is something else entirely, that’s not something I’d consider trolling.

Cleopatra_ · 03-12-2018 01:20PM

It depends on your interpretation really. People like Angus are just funny and harmless to me. Someone who catfishes people is more dangerous and insidious and I think there could be mental health issues there but it depends on the motivation of course. People who harass or bully others online must have some sort of unhappiness in their lives but that behaviour can be very detrimental to others. Some are there to wind people up and I just find it annoying really, I don't see the point in trying to deliberately annoy people. That's not a mental health issue, that's just being a pain in the arse.

incentsitive · 03-12-2018 01:21PM

mariaalice wrote: »

Everyone knows he is doing he well know for being a wind-up merchant that is entirely different.

Clearly not with the stuff they text in!!

B0jangles · 03-12-2018 01:26PM

....... wrote: »

I just dont understand the mindset of the bolded part above.

Then again, Ive never been someone who found upsetting other people funny.

Me either.

I've realised recently that I am no more obligated to interact with someone on a messageboard than I would be in real life. Like, I used to know a few people who'd pull the 'I'm only winding yez up/playing Devil's Advocate' card after they'd been told to **** off with their shítty opinions, and now I don't see or interact with those people any more!

Life's really too short to be listening to tedious arseholes.

03-12-2018 01:26PM

incentsitive wrote: »

Clearly not with the stuff they text in!!

A lot reply to him with deadpan serious answeres know exactly what they are doing.

Grayson · 03-12-2018 01:26PM

What about people who don't think they're trolling? Take all the rereg's we get here. Sure some are just trolling but some are people who can't have a rational discussion. They just go overboard and get banned. So they rereg again.

I think the rereg's and trolls are just two sides of the same coin. Neither care about having an actual discussion. Both will post stuff just to outrage people. The difference is the troll doesn't actually believe what they're saying.

freshpopcorn · 03-12-2018 01:41PM

The constant reregers here just have to much time on their hands.
Most people don't see the half of it because it often happens in the early hours of the morning.
The word trolling is over used in my opinion. I see it thrown around when somebody has a difference of opinion as somebody or them simply saying they don't like something.

retro:electro · 03-12-2018 01:42PM

I think it’s easy to write off contrary opinion as trolling nowadays. Trolling to me is inflammatory style posting, they usually bounce into threads and stir shlte and then saunter off leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Then you have the complete and utter fantasists, and they are usually pretty easy to spot. Like being an ultra high net business man with a teen wife kinda thing. Complete and utter delusion but more to be pitied really.

03-12-2018 01:52PM

retro:electro wrote: »

I think it’s easy to write off contrary opinion as trolling nowadays. Trolling to me is inflammatory style posting, they usually bounce into threads and stir shlte and then saunter off leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Then you have the complete and utter fantasists, and they are usually pretty easy to spot. Like being an ultra high net business man with a teen wife kinda thing. Complete and utter delusion but more to be pitied really.

Its not that, the fantasists and the like are different, A teenagers get a slight free pass because of not having an adult understanding of the complexities of life, but only a slight free pass, it not about not agreeing with someone else's opinion.

When bedlam was first opened it was possible to pay to see the lunatics and poke them with a stick looking for a reaction, it similar to that while not actually believing it themselves or only vaguely interested in the issue trying to subtly up the ante while keeping in the realms of believable, hence why I think its a lack of empathy and other issues going on for them.

Grayson · 03-12-2018 01:54PM

retro:electro wrote: »

I think it’s easy to write off contrary opinion as trolling nowadays. Trolling to me is inflammatory style posting, they usually bounce into threads and stir shlte and then saunter off leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Then you have the complete and utter fantasists, and they are usually pretty easy to spot. Like being an ultra high net business man with a teen wife kinda thing. Complete and utter delusion but more to be pitied really.

Some are trollish though. take abortion. Most of the posters both pro choice and pro life are able to have a discussion. Things might get heated because it's an emotive subject but most people are able to manage to stay within the lines that make it a discussion.
Some however just dive in with insults. They'll never acknowledge a posters point and address it, they just start screaming.
And in that way their actions are very similar to a trolls and the result is the same.

(and don't think I'm picking on any particular side of that debate. Although I may personally feel some of the worst came from one side, and they were reregs, both had posters that made the threads worse).

suicide_circus · 03-12-2018 01:57PM

trolling = mental health issue = everyone who has a contrary opinion to me has mental health issues

03-12-2018 01:59PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

trolling = mental health issue = everyone who has a contrary opinion to me has mental health issues

It was a question, not a statement.

iLikeWaffles · 03-12-2018 02:04PM

mariaalice wrote: »

It was a question, not a statement.

It was a pretty good example of trolling!

suicide_circus · 03-12-2018 02:06PM

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

It was a pretty good example of trolling!

Trollception

03-12-2018 02:07PM

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

It was a pretty good example of trolling!

It wasn't but that just shows the difficulty with defining it, genuinely interested in why people do it.

andekwarhola · 03-12-2018 02:10PM

There's a subtle line that's often missed by people seeking offence.

A lot of the time, some people do just love arguing to the death about certain issues and pop up constantly, but it doesn't mean they're trolling.

You have shrieky people in here that when they're pulled up on a comment they've made, they call Troll or the old classic, You're Stalking /Bullying Me which just muddies the waters and creates noise.

Similarly, operating a jocular account that's clearly a windup wouldn't be trolling to me.

I think what a troll would be to me is like those people that operate an account purely to upset others with the least effort, like those Facebook users you constantly see in comments sections but again, just ignore them.

Bullying and harassment is a different thing entirely.

Grayson · 03-12-2018 02:11PM

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

It was a pretty good example of trolling!

It was a bad example of trolling. people are having a rational discussion

Reati · 03-12-2018 02:17PM

South Park sums it up as usual. Trevor's Axiom.

EDIT: Stupid embedding - go to 20 seconds.

03-12-2018 02:20PM

andekwarhola wrote: »

There's a subtle line that's often missed by people seeking offence.

A lot of the time, some people do just love arguing to the death about certain issues and pop up constantly, but it doesn't mean they're trolling.

You have shrieky people in here that when they're pulled up on a comment they've made, they call Troll or the old classic, You're Stalking /Bullying Me which just muddies the waters and creates noise.

Similarly, operating a jocular account that's clearly a windup wouldn't be trolling to me.

I think what a troll would be to me is like those people that operate an account purely to upset others with the least effort, like those Facebook users you constantly see in comments sections but again, just ignore them.

Bullying and harassment is a different thing entirely.

See how you have moved the discussion on to 'seeking offense' it is interesting how some of the replies locate the issue in the reaction and not the behavior.

retro:electro · 03-12-2018 02:23PM

Grayson wrote: »

Some are trollish though. take abortion. Most of the posters both pro choice and pro life are able to have a discussion. Things might get heated because it's an emotive subject but most people are able to manage to stay within the lines that make it a discussion.
Some however just dive in with insults. They'll never acknowledge a posters point and address it, they just start screaming.

Oh yeah I’d agree with that. There was a lot of that this year alright. I think for the most part those people don’t even believe what they’re saying, they just see a divisive topic and bounce in with a mission to cause offence. There’s also a kind of “low level trolling” that tends to populate the site. These posters will often sit back and see what way a thread is flowing, before arriving in with their dissenting opinion (and its always dissenting) usually multi-quoted marathon level jibberish. It’s not really the content of the posts that I find trollish, more so the style and death by repitition. You’d wonder do they actually believe the shlte they spout.

03-12-2018 02:27PM

retro:electro wrote: »

Oh yeah I’d agree with that. There was a lot of that this year alright. I think for the most part those people don’t even believe what they’re saying, they just see a divisive topic and bounce in with a mission to cause offence. There’s also a kind of “low level trolling” that tends to populate the site. These posters will often sit back and see what way a thread is flowing, before arriving in with their dissenting opinion (and its always dissenting) usually multi-quoted marathon level jibberish. It’s not really the content of the posts that I find trollish, more so the style and death by repetition. You’d wonder do they actually believe the shlte they spout.

The climate change thread is a relevant case study.

jimgoose · 03-12-2018 02:30PM

Trolls have been with us since the early days of Usenet, and while the current perma-outraged spittle-flecked variety are a far cry from the likes of Dave Tholen, Thingfishhhh, "Crazy" Eddie Thorne and of course the great Jim Parry, the average troll was, is, and ever shall be basically an arsehole.

Could trolling be a mental health issue or is it harmless?

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