Net cowards

read that article yesterday frogboy,
definitely interesting, and in some aspects dead on. though I do know of at least one female whiner.(no not me) who helped to precipitate the demise of a great firefighting website and chat room.
so for the record, theres at least one of them out there.

trolls are one of the main reasons sites like razorart have closed their doors. they suck the fun out of wherever their at, then move on once theyve driven the site to close. i believe as more sites close we will start to see a larger # of trolls looking for a new place to haunt ...

hmmm.... nomadic herds..... interesting thought... maybe we could round em up and drive em off a cliff... into some tarpits............

edit: forgot a T... oops
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well said.

Very insightful.

NOt sure I agree with everything there, but I definately agree with the last two paragraphs.  I've always told people that they should behave online exactly the same way they would in real life. Those are the same human-flesh people you are addressing to, so address them with the same respect.

"Griefers". Interesting coinage. I never heard that term before.

However, I know exactly the type you mean: "... trying to absorb the happiness of others through delivering grief like some sort of parasite trying to cure their own miserable lives."

I've encountered several of those in my life, and not (only) on the internet. My boss before last was what I came to call and "emotional vampire". The guy was, unfortunately, quite respected by the "right" people in the company but he was ONE SICK PUPPY DOG, no doubt about it. I'm glad he's 5 years into my past !

At least now that I'm away from the immediate threat, I can see how pathetic and empty he must be...

The article was a great one to read.

Interesting article, sad too, in lots of ways. As an admin at a messageboard, I've had to deal with the occasional griefer/troll, and one that's been a major thorn in our side for 4-5 years has finally caused me to walk away from our messageboard for the time-being. It's a long, weird, ugly story, sad but true.

Plus, I've seen a site I used to visit on a daily basis and get much enjoyment from go rapidly downhill after a troll forced the admins to change things at the site. The site is Rate My Kitten, and some jerk came in and started posting multiple comments about torturing and killing cats, calling other people names, spoofing long-time posters' ID's and posting offensive comments, etc...later he said it was all a joke, he just did it to get a rise out of people, but it's resulted in no one being allowed to post any more comments there at all. I may go there once a week now, maybe, and it appears that even the admins have given up...there hasn't been any new material posted there for weeks and weeks now .

I really would like to bop some of these trolls and griefers in the nose too.
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T-Man and I have something in common that supprises me in some respects it seems.

I think it has a lot to do with how people grow up in general really. Some got away with
saying and or doing just about anything they liked without any kind of proce for their
actions. Some how they missed the lesson that everything has a price and one must
make sure they understand tha price and accept the pay out, or they are in fact a bad
business person in this thing called life.

Sticks and stones can break bones, but the things you say can get you broken...

I wonder how many people out there understand when I say that it is not the large things
that really hit me hard as triggers as much as the little things. The petty things which are
just things that are so small and so petty they prove a total lack of respect and or social
grace. Or the fact that anyone can do or say just about anything they like short of laying
hands upon my person, but only leave the impression that they are attempting to or that
they have harmed someone I consider unable to protect them self or a friend and they will
find out about the darker side of nature. mine to be specific...

Your correct, people should consider things before they use words, in person or online it
matters not. What they say can quiet possibly get them hurt, some people out there are
exactly who they believe them self to be or attempt to project.

And some have been to jail over stupider things revolving around a personal sense of what is right and wrong.

You can ditch the "Net" aspect of that. It's mere power play. Something which you'll find in real life as well (clerics, angry neighbours). Were I to play psychiatrist, I'd say they are unhappy witht heir lives and act it out on others. On the Net that, ofcourse, is easy, since you're practically untouchable there.

Your post brings up a good point, IPlural...personally, I would like to see that old cliche about "sticks and stones" abolished and never be allowed to be used again, because it's so very untrue. Physical wounds heal, but emotional wounds sometimes never manage to heal all the way.

We once had another obnoxious poster at our messageboard, who when challenged over the abusive and offensive things he would post to and about other people, responded by saying something along the lines of, "You're all just electrons on the other end of a phone line, you're nothing to me." That explained a lot, to a certain extent. It would be nice if some of those trolls and griefers remembered that they were dealing with fellow human beings, not just a random collection of electrons .

Very insightful article. One comment, about apologizing for maybe being "politically incorrect". Do not apologize! Democracy and freedom thrives on political incorrectness. The day everyone has to be "correct" in thought and action, is the day democracy and freedom dies.

Do not apologize! Democracy and freedom thrives on political incorrectness. The day everyone has to be "correct" in thought and action, is the day democracy and freedom dies.

Could not agree more.. PC smacks of Orwell's Thought Police IMHO.

I was once married to a griefer. Not pleasant.

Spot on, Frogboy. There are the few that have nothing but bitterness and anger. When you couple that with free time, no good can come from it. What is the best way to deal with these types?