Have you ever wondered why a forum troll is a troll?

Well, I tend to ignore trolls, or if they're particularly asking for it, I'll bait them to make themselves look even more stupid (they tend to have a fairly limited intelligence and a BIG chip on their shoulders). Really, I think it depends on the individual as to why they feel the need to try and provoke arguments, ranging from petulant attention-seeking all the way up to self-loathing cries for help. Of course it's wrong to bundle everyone who goes about behaving in a generally objectionable way, into a generalised stereotype - there may be some people who just want to get answers, therefore make more money, so ask controversial questions or play devil's advocate in order to provoke a debate. You can generally tell which mindset such a person falls into, by the tone as well as the content of the posting. So pity them by all means, but I think that the question of whether to ban them depends on whether they breach the terms of the site, and whether they actually make a valid contribution (whether or not you agree with the points of view they represent on the website) or are just there to incite hatred.

These type of people very obviously have a very sad boring life that they have to resort to such low tactics to spice it up. We have a few of them that are just itching to cause problems. Unfortunately they also hurt innocent members with their methods of getting their kicks. It is myLots decision whether to to ban them but I certainly report them when they get out of hand.

I feel like sometimes people just don't care what they do how they treat others and so on.. As long as it makes them feel good.. Yes as matter of fact I have and I totally ignored it.. I am not going to scoop down to their level and make myself look bad at the same time.. just won't happen.. You see these kind of people every day and it's sad though.. I think if people are being rude yes i do believe they should be banned.. Just my oppion!

Hey Sunshinecup, What motivates forum trolls? Well personally, I believe that forum trolls truly reflect what they must be like in real life--offline. They are attention seekers that are willing to stoop to venomous insults if it will get them the slightest rise of attention, and generally, there is always someone willing to feed and fuel them. I did have a run in with a troll a few years ago on a political messageboard forum I use to go to. Many members there respected the fact that I shared experiences and information dealing with what it is like being married to someone in the Military. But this creep, would constant take to insulting everything and anything I typed. I could have said 'the sky is blue' and he would have torn into me with such venom that I thought if he was actually in my presence, I'd be a little scared he'd get violent. I think what bothered this person most was I resisted going back at him. I just don't see the point in typing up insults to a person that is thriving and expecting me to do as much. Eventually, this member got on too many people's cases and he was banned.

Well first, thanks for educating me, I had no idea that there was such a term for this type of person. As for my thoughts about a troll, I suppose some folks are argumentative by nature and enjoy getting a rise out of others. This feeds their need to get attention, as even negative attention is attention and they thrive upon it!

i am in 9 other forums/discussion and yes i have bumped into trolls and their types. maybe i'd like (once in a blue moon) to see a discussions going mad with flames on all sides as oppose to the routine "yes i agree and appreciate your point of view" posts. if i am not mistaken, correct me if i am wrong, TROLL can also mean TRAWL for forum trawlers. they trawl forums for discussions and blow it out of proportion, with people crying and running in circle at the end of the day. i for one have always thought that trolls are part and parcel of online discussion groups. they seems to be everywhere and believe it or not, some trolls gets together in private discussions (all from different countries) and agree to hit a certain internet discussion groups. and then they regroup and do a discuss which one victims reacts strongly to them and they follow that persons post till that person 'disappear'! there are also 'solo trolls', small time players. trolls KNOWS their victims are distressed by the discussion s and who will spend the whole day (off line) thinking about it, angry. trolls play with words. trolls knows how to argue and debate with points and facts while the regular forum users ends up making conflicting statements, lies badly, contradicts themselves and use assumptions after assumptions to save themselves. the biggest difference between trolls and normal forum-ers is that trolls ARE DETACHED from their postings. trolls actually laugh and enjoy watching their victims stumbled repeatedly trying to save their posting. why? because we are human, and most victims of trolls MUST follow a specific pattern of desperation. example, a regular forum-er getting into a "debate" with a troll starts making general statement, then proven wrong tries to covers it up with assumptions, then they have to lie a little, then start calling names, contradicts themselves, makes conflicting statement (because by now the discussions have gone a long time BUT the troll keeps tabs on everything) and the regular forum-er ends up repeating "this is my last reply, i will not talk to you anymore" over and over again but gets pulled back ever so again into the fray. the trolls gets clues to whats happening from their victim. example, the victim start to say "why are you so angry?" or "hahaha. i am having fun" or "stop being emotional" and etc etc. when a regular forum-er starts saying that, the troll KNOWS they have them already. a human will most of the time reflects their emotions/problems on other people. a regular forum-er's denial of feelings regarding the issue is a confirmation they are about to loose their cool, if not already have. but heck. ex-trolls can be nice too. they are many retired ones that still around in forums but they use their "skills" (if you can call it that) only when some id!ot attacks them. the ones that are still doing mischiefs are the news ones who haven't yet tire of the troll community and fairly new to the game.

I am going to guess that it is because they are needing attention, and the fury around them makes them feel alive. My second guess is that they believe that they are doing good, getting people to express their deepest feelings. Just possibly someone dropped them on their heads when they were small, and they are suffering from traumatic brain injury. I did not ever know what a troll really was, although I have seen them mentioned. I do occasionally see people who are being drama queens and trying to stir it up, I guess those are the trolls.

I've had a few run ins with religious trolls on here. Yeah...I pretty much stay away from religious topics now because of it. Unless it's a discussion a friend starts. I do wish I knew what made them the way they are... And I do think they should be BOTH banned and pitied! I think some people too just like to argue and 'debate'. I have a question for you though. Can you use html in here? I didn't think we could but you've got those pretty little hearts that suggest otherwise?! If so that's cool!

I think that they have terrible lives and no self-esteem and want to make everyone they come in contact with as miserable as they are- It's too bad also- I think there is no help for them- as they are probably just as bad in real life (not internet life). Either that or they just do it to get a rise out of people- I have no problems with people disagreeing with me- but do it with class- I ignore trolls- I must admit I laugh when I see them on the prowl and alot of really good people beating them down for the trolls they are-

I didn't know what a troll was before your discussion sunshinecup, so thankyou for educating me! As I've never run into one, I can't say too much, but if I did, I would certainly report them and would expect MyLot to ban them. I agree with some of the comments that they are just attention seekers and low life, and are probably the same in real life.

i think this is in their character or maybe them are grown up in this manner or maybe life had been cuel to them so this is the way they respond to her. I've knew some of these people but i've let them go if they tended to provoke me i let them do it 'cause i knew the reason why they were like this. We must control our self and our emotions life isn't always flowers.

I think it is a way trying to get more attention of other members that means more responses, more everything. We are not so much cool if we see something really excite us and then it easily provok us to say something against it, so more an more of us go to that topic to reply and continue the topic one over another responses, its a way to attract more people to it, this is just what i thought. I generally avoid those post as I don't need to get involve with them. I like to stay somewhere where more cold and breezy environment is there. I am not a cool person but here on these forum i try to be so.

Hi sunshinecup.. I'm back, thanks for your sunny words of encouragement. Thanks for explaining what a troll was. Being a fairly new Mylotter I had heard references to it but didn't know who or what they were. So far I haven't had a run in with one yet...but then my approach to Mylotting is to keep in touch with regulars on my site and visit back...so I have a 'circle of friends' and pretty much stay with that. As I am invited to be a friend I check them out fairly well to see if there is enough common interests to make it worthwhile. I am not playing a numbers game here with posts, responses or gathering huge numbers of friends either. Quality not quantity is more what I want from my Mylotting time. I am also careful what kinds of discussions I choose to respond to. So if someone has posted an inflamatory topic and I sense they are looking to stir things up I pass them by. My approach to life is energy-based and those kind of 'vibes' are not something I want to bring into my life experiences on or off line. In my view if someone is creating trouble or being a negative influence on Mylot yes, I would definitely report them...and I think we have a joint responsibility to do so. This really is an all for one...one for all kind of a forum and all it takes is a few with another agenda to create a negative ripple effect for the rest of us. I have seen a few cat fights and situations where one or the other member gets a mad on and goes back to rate the other members topics and discussions with a negative. Her star went from a blue to yellow overnight. That seems really petty to me and I think Mylot may need to assess how fragile and invalid the star rating can be when people pull antics like that. In my world view the outer is always a reflection of the inner...and these trolls appear to live in a nebulous world that I do not want to associate with. So as I said I will keep within my comfortable sharing circle and let the trolls duke it out with the other trolls who are of a like mind. Maybe they will eventually knock themselves out of this site...at least we can hope so.