When I think of a troll I
immediately associate them as cyberbullies. Trolls and cyberbullies do share
similar characteristics but have many differences. In the article, “Difference
Between a Troll and a Cyberbully” the author, Micah McDunnigan discusses and
differentiates the purposes, aims, and goals of cyberbullies and trolls. A
troll is defined as a person who constantly pop up in common threads in order
to cause trouble and get a rise out of people. The author points out that the
main purpose of trolling is to seek attention, “They want to shift attention
from the author’s content and conversations about the content onto themselves.”
On the other hand, a cyberbully is someone who makes mean comments in order to spread
rumors or embarrass another. While trolls are usually anonymous and are pretty
general on who they attack, cyberbullies have a specific victim in mind.
According to McDunnigan, the main goal of a cyberbully is to “demean and hurt
their victims.” A trolls aim is to seek attention on themselves, but a
cyberbullies aim to draw negative attention on their victim.
Do you think one is worse than the
other or are they equally as intense? I think that both cyberbullies and trolls
can cross the line and get out of hand, but in my opinion, trolls may be more
intense when it comes to their victims since they are anonymous most of the
time. 
I agree that the two go hand in hand, with the key difference being that trolls are strangers attacking other strangers whereas a cyberbully is usually personal, as you said. Personally, I think they both are horrible for their own reason. While a troll is a stranger attempting to draw attention to themselves, you'd think it would be easier to ignore; however, they are more likely to cross the line since they have the power of anonymity. On the other hand, a cyberbully is someone you know directly trying to embarrass or harass you, so I'd think it would be harder to ignore since it's on a more personal level.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that when I think of someone as an online harasser, I think of both trolls and cyberbullies. I think that at some point, they can both be equally as intense. Because cyberbullies for the most part are people you know, generally it can hurt the victim more due to the fact that they actually know the person. Trolls are, for the most part, strangers who attack their victims out of spite or no distinct reason. Depending on the circumstance of their actions, I don't think one can do worse than the other. In my eyes, those actions are equally as cruel.
ReplyDeleteI see your point that it does depend a lot on the circumstance on whether if one is worse than the other. Sometimes a cyberbully can get way to out of hand as well.
DeleteI agree with you. I associate trolls with cyber bullying. I know there might be a difference between the both of them, but I would still put them in the same category. Because like the article said they mean to demoralize their victim, it feels the same because remember with Zelda Williams she was hurt by seeing derogatory pictures of her late father, and Lindy West was hurt by the Twitter page they created about her father. After that I would put cyber bullies, and trolls on the same page. They both hurt people intentionally.
ReplyDelete