Originally Posted by
ungar
the definition of trolling is broad and vague. it's become so misunderstood that any post showing disagreement or dissention is accused of trolling by many. trolling was originally defined as derailing a thread by posting off topic, responding to a post by antagonizing, personal attacks, changing the tone or focus of the post... trolling is now misunderstood to be any difference of opinion = trolling, which is doesn't.
this problem occurs when people who don't understand what trolling is or the elements of a forum discussion (posting on topic, refraining from personal attacks, accepting other people's opinions)
this problem especially occurs when younger people post who have no exposure to the original "trolling" concept or don't understand it. so they redefine the term as it makes sense to them, and then everyone else has to use the term in their context.
I've seen some blues post irrelevant responses, but rarely is it intentionally hostile. sometimes the maturity of the poster is questionable to me, though I think the context that blue poster was using when he suggested blizzard might be trolling was a broad and vague use of the term for disagreement rather than actually trying to annoy people for the sake of enjoyment.
(I had a real life friend that confessed he enjoyed "trolling" forums by posting anything contrary and creating unrelated arguments to get a rise out of people... he some type of social disorder that I wouldn't blame him for, but I think thats part of the cause behind trolling... its not legitimate disagreement, but rather some type of psychological disorder that makes people want to harass people for pleasure)