Trolling
The whole purpose to being in an online community in my eyes, is to establish relationships with people in that community. Developing a bond of trust is very important to gain status and prestige within the group. A mutual respect for others is part of the normative just as it is in mainstream society. Trolling occurs when someone is trying to instigate arguments and disrupt the natural flow of the group. The whole purpose of trolling is to cause anger and disruption to people online. Why would someone want to do this? It has become easier for trolling to be identified and in the end many people decide that it’s not worth the hassle they receive when they are found out. Trolling can result in people trusting in someone for advice who has actually purposely given them bad advice and in the end cause them harm offline. This leads to mistrust among all users as there is a constant worry about who might be trolling or who is for real. Trolling gives people a mistaken identity that again drives home the point of most of my blogs, that nothing can replace face to face interaction. If people in real life are trying to bait me in a ‘flame’ war, I am more able to feel the negative energy and react accordingly, online there is not this option. By placing blind faith in people we really don’t know there is a danger of placing ourselves in positions that could cause potential harm. Trolling seems a very appropiate term for what these people do.
