Why We Need Trolls

nerdr.com

1 pointmrvc4 comments

It does hurt people. It means that people who want to discuss something calmly and rationally can't, because the troll keeps derailing the conversation.

Do trolls really derail a conversation or encourage it along? Particularly on sites like Reddit, i've found them to be vilified, yet the way they can instantly cause a change of perspective to counter groupthink is vastly under appreciated. They're useful, else they wouldn't have existed for so long.

Trolling is the art of winding people up. Offering a different perspective is not trolling. Offering the same different perspective repeatedly and refusing to take it to a thread where it's already been discussed to death is an example of trolling; it derails and does not encourage.

Trolls exist because some people enjoy winding people up. Being useful isn't a motive.

You're welcome :P

As long as the people who don't see it all as a joke are sufficiently contained, then yes, it adds breadth to a conversations of comments. Someone mentions Hitler, someone else is reminded of something clever the Germans do.

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