Troll
Troll is an Internet slang term referring to a person who makes incendiary remarks or provocative comments on the Internet with malicious intent. Their statements are usually purposefully offensive or completely off-topic in order to draw attention to themselves and engage others in pointless conversation. Trolls are usually found in online chatrooms, blogs, message boards, online memorials, and are also very abundant in online video game environments. These types of people also tend to blend in with the rest of the community until they decide it is time to start causing havoc. Often times, a discovered troll will be isolated and ridiculed by the community as a whole because their sole intent was to harm and disrupt the community.
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Term Derivation
The word "trolling" or "troll" comes from a style of fishing. This particular method involves dragging bait through a hole or space in the hopes of getting a bite. This parallels the Internet-related use of the word because trolls often post seditious comments to provoke reactions from other users or readers.
Ethical Controversy
There are many ethical implications that are caused by Internet trolls and their deliberate abuse of online privacy. Trolls typically hide behind the anonymity which is provided by online environments, allowing them to hide behind nonsense screen names. Trollingis an act which is intended to cause harm or to at least waste time and create confusion within a specific community. In either case, there is no obvious positive contribution towards the online community that the troll infiltrates. The only possible benefit is the personal entertainment and satisfaction of the troll, but this is at the expense of the rest of the community.
Trolls can also shut down "comment" features on youtube videos and other forms of discussion on posted social media links. By purposefully inciting argument between users on topics possibly unrelated and untrue arguments, Trolls can effectively shut down any type of positive feedback or discussion in online communities where feedback and discussion are typically helpful and encouraged. Typically, Trolls' accounts can be banned on a case by case basis, but it can be argued that it is unethical to censor a person's opinion merely because he or she has controversial opinions. However, this is the nature of the Internet Troll and e-community moderators continue to face the choice between banning trolls or fostering a balanced community.
Legal Action
In a court case from September 2011, an internet troll, Sean Duffy, was jailed for his remarks made online. Duffy was involved in vandalizing tribute pages of many young victims of crimes and suicides. Additionally, Duffy created his own YouTube videos and mock tribute pages to further torture the victims' friends and families. After being linked to harassing and creating several of these pages and videos, Duffy was finally punished for his trolling offenses. He plead guilty to two counts of sending vindictive messages relating to one victim, and asked for his other offenses to be considered in the same case. In the end, Duffy was sentenced to 18 weeks in jail in addition to a 5 year antisocial behavior order to prohibit Duffy from utilizing any forms of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. It was reported Duffy suffered from Asperger's Syndrome, but this was never confirmed. Police commented on the case saying they would continue to track down trolls like Duffy, demonstrating a clear precedent for trolling on the Internet.
Possible Solutions
The only true solution when faced with a troll is to completely ignore their comments and actions. This way, there is nothing for the troll to feed on, as a troll typically strives when his target audience is engaged in a conversation or argument.
There have been many other attempts at suppressing trolls, such as suspension of accounts, implementing muting features, and adding methods of reporting unacceptable behavior. These attempts seem to be less effective due to the anonymity and sheer volume of trolls in online settings. Trolls are almost impossible to permanently remove as they can easily change their IP addresses and create new accounts at forums, message boards, and other communities.
See Also
External Links
[1] http://www.flayme.com/troll/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)
[3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/13/internet-troll-jailed-mocking-teenagers
