What is the difference between trolling and online bullying?

[Theodarzna]

The figure of the Internet Troll has gone from being an obscure message board phenomenon and source of cyber-bullying to being a bona fide mainstream news topic. Commentators have even gone as far to say that the recently-elected U.S President Donald Trump has “trolled his way to the White House.” Trolling and Online Bullying are often bundled together as a synonymous term, usually coupled as well with terms like cyber harassment. But are they necessarily the same thing?

Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others. The behaviour is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power, which distinguishes bullying from conflict. Bullying is almost certainly an attempt by one to assert a kind of social dominance over another. The point of bullying is to maintain a social order or create a social order in which the aggressor is on top of another in a social hierarchy.

Trolling or a Troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting the normal on-topic discussion.

The key difference is that trolling is almost always anonymous and without the intent of personal gain in a status hierarchy. While some describe these two actions as the same, the anonymity of a troll sets trolling apart and sets the troll apart from the bully. Online Trolls intend to gain nothing from the act of trolling. Trolling is purely for the enjoyment of another's displeasure and nothing more. Nothing beyond that is expected to be gained other than the sheer annoyance and frustration of the target of the Troll. The Bully, on the other hand, is trying to assert something about themselves. This is because the Bully has a consistent real identity, even if it is just a persona online on say Tumblr. The act of Bullying is an assertion of ones place in the social hierarchy, and more importantly of a superior place than the target. A Bully's identity fundamentally exists and is at least semi-certain. The point of the Bully is the assertion of superiority. Such an assertion does not matter to a troll because a troll really is nobody. Their persona is somewhat unknown if it exists at all and one can be fairly certain that the persona if it exists at all, is deliberately fake for the purpose of annoying and aggravating the target.

Some might say that bullying is definitely a subset of trolling, as bullying is done with the primary intent of provoking people into an emotional response. However, I say this wrong. Trolling exclusively wishes to just get an emotional response. Bullying is about power and the assertion of dominance over another. Bullies are about asserting dominance over another and are not necessarily trolls.

So, Should trolling and bullying be considered the same thing?

[Venant]

My problem with how this discussion is framed is that one side tends to politicize cases of what they call 'bullying' and 'harassment', while at the same time engaging in organized doxing and brigading tactics. Recently, several alt-righters were doxxed in an operation that was supported by people from the Huffington post. When you have organized efforts by the corporate media to engage in these same tactics or worse, yet the 'rules' in place are designed to make them immune to criticism on the subject, it is clear that the whole narrative of online bullying is just a construct to disarm the political enemies of the faction who is pushing it.

[Deleted]

Trolling is misued. Actual trolling is like going on Noel Gallaghers twitter and putting 'songbird is lyrically your best song' or going on a star trek board and posting star wars posts, rigging online contests so taylor swift has to play at a school for the deaf, it has humour to it.

Online bullying or just being a cunt is the death threats, name calling, racism and all that toxic shit that has no merit to it.

[Theodarzna]

My problem with how this discussion is framed is that one side tends to politicize cases of what they call 'bullying' and 'harassment', while at the same time engaging in organized doxing and brigading tactics. Recently, several alt-righters were doxxed in an operation that was supported by people from the Huffington Post. When you have organized efforts by the corporate media to engage in these same tactics or worse, yet the 'rules' in place are designed to make them immune to criticism on the subject, it is clear that the whole narrative of online bullying is just a construct to disarm the political enemies of the faction who is pushing it.

Well, I'd say Bullying and Trolling is something both sides likely do, but not evenly distributed. If you wished to politicize it a bit, Trolling is invariably going to be either apolitical or perhaps now the past time of the Alt-Right sympathizing individual because it is so much a part of Chan culture which is overwhelmingly Right-Wing now. There are no status hierarchies within an image board, nobody has a real identity, nobody is anybody. Everyone is effectively equal, genderless, raceless nothings. In that environment bullying is really pointless, you gain no social status from the act.

If Bullying is the act of asserting one's social position, ones standing than it will invariably be the domain of people who have their identity as a factor. Sites like Tumblr, Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook are the domains of bullying because one is more likely to have some kind of identity there. Tumblr especially is notorious for its online bullying, even the virtue signal and other such ritual displays of social status can be at least somewhat forms fo bullying as they are assertions of ones superior social status to others or the desire to tare others down to elevate one's self.

But if you use examples like Trump, he readily engages in both, but by nature, much of his activity is bullying because he often does wish to display his social status and assert his superiority to others. Such as the one cripple reporter he made fun of.

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Trolling is misued. Actual trolling is like going on Noel Gallaghers twitter and putting 'songbird is lyrically your best song' or going on a star trek board and posting star wars posts, rigging online contests so taylor swift has to play at a school for the deaf, it has humour to it.

Online bullying or just being a cunt is the death threats, name calling, racism and all that toxic shit that has no merit to it.

I think everything you describe is just trolling for one variety of another. I think bullying has some aspect of status and social positioning involved.

[Deleted]

You sound like a pussy POS OP.
No offence.

[Dug]

General trolling is just hit and run shitposting meant to rile someone up and doesn't last very long. They want a response and once its achieved they usually fuck off and look for another target or group. Online bullying (harassment) is consistent and targeted and goes on and on until somebody snaps.

[Torto]

Trolling is just a superficial version of bullying. Typically where you see extreme versions of bullying which causes enough stress that a person suicides, it's because the victim knows the bully and there is an immediate association between them. Trolling is typically anonymous, and the troll isn't necessarily trying to cause emotional harm to the victim.

I suppose I consider trolls more as pranksters where bully's are more like abusers. But it wouldn't take much for a troll to become a bully.

[callipygoustp]

Trolling isn't always hostile. Bullying is.

[Independent voter]

You can use trolling to bully people, it's done all the time.

But not all trolling is bullying, my wife has trolled me for example and it was funny.

(i see callipygoustp said this above, nm)

[AwkwardSquirtle]

There's a fine line. It's the same as the banter vs. bullying discussion. I think the only real defining point is where it becomes clear that the victim is genuinely upset. If you keep going, at that point it's bullying.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Trolling is made with the expressed intent of getting a reaction, good bad or other.

Bullying is done with the expressed intent of making the target do something that the bully wants not just feel but as a way of punishment or ridicule.

[Venant]

There's a fine line. It's the same as the banter vs. bullying discussion. I think the only real defining point is where it becomes clear that the victim is genuinely upset. If you keep going, at that point it's bullying.

Doesn't that just create a situation where the 'upset' people can act as censors? And then you end up with a situation where the rules only care about certain people being upset.

It seems to always devolve into a system of privilege and power.

[AwkwardSquirtle]

Doesn't that just create a situation where the 'upset' people can act as censors? And then you end up with a situation where the rules only care about certain people being upset.

It seems to always devolve into a system of privilege and power.

Society always effectively censors things. That's the nature of group dynamics. If someone consistently pushes things too far and is generally unpleasant for people to be around, they end up ostracised. Your actions have consequences, and if you're consistently making people unhappy, the consequence is that they won't associate with you.

[Independent voter]

Online trolls face prosecution under UK legal guidelines https://www.ft.com/content/a8fa7ae8-...8-d3778b55a923


If you're bullying a woman you know has had an abortion by trolling her about abortions and it's harassing the hell out of her, then you are using the tactic of trolling to bully.

[Deleted]

Both are just SJW things, nobody would take it serious?! Theo how could anyone bully or troll you to make a difference? It will both be useless right? That's the whole story about both terms.

[vindicatorx]

Trolling is done to get a reaction out of a person. I don't know what online bullying is because you have to be an imbecile to take it seriously. Like Steve Hughes said " When did sticks and stones may break my bones stop being relevant?". I don't care what shitty things are being said about me on facebook or twitter.

[Venant]

Society always effectively censors things. That's the nature of group dynamics. If someone consistently pushes things too far and is generally unpleasant for people to be around, they end up ostracised. Your actions have consequences, and if you're consistently making people unhappy, the consequence is that they won't associate with you.

Just talking about society in general isn't helpful when you consider that the society under a fundamentalist theocracy will likely be radically different than that under a liberal democracy. Under a communist dictatorship, you will likely value not being sent to the gulags over your association preferences. At what point does the system in a society become so draconian that freedom of association no long effectively exists? You see symptoms of this in modern society where it has become common to see mass demands for certain people to be disavowed.

[LiiLoSNK]

Trolling is when you trick idiots into talking to you.

It's really easy to do here.

Online Bullying is when you needlessly attack someone, just because you don't like them or their opinions.

It's also really easy to do here.

[belfpala]

Both are just SJW things, nobody would take it serious?! Theo how could anyone bully or troll you to make a difference? It will both be useless right? That's the whole story about both terms.

No, there is a difference.

What's the difference between someone at the store who makes a mean comment, versus someone at the store who always shows up to make that comment?

That's the essential difference between trolling and bullying.

[Super Kami Dende]

Trolling is for fun to make someone get Mad and then feel silly for getting Mad.

Bullying is just assholes being assholes.

People being unable to tell the difference between the two is just idiocy on their part.

Here's an Example of Trolling:

Troll: Hugh Jackman is my favourite American actor, I loved him as Wolverine in the Batman films.
Person: omfg Hugh Jackman is Australian you idiot!!
Troll: oh, but he sounds American in Batman.
Person: But he's not in Batman ...oh

Bullying:
Bully: Fuck you go kill yourself
Person: wow that's a bit far dude
Bully: Go drink Bleach!

Since the literal reason it's called Trolling is because you a trolling for hits/bites. You just need the right Bait. Bullying doesn't require bait since you just have to be a cunt.