Seems like there's a lot of negativity in this thread. Sure, some folks have a tough time with things and take it out on other people. Does that make them worse people? Well maybe, but ain't nobody perfect.

As for anonymity, it's also the boon of the internet. It allows people to make and do things which will be judged on their own merits, not on a person's reputation, whether that be positive or negative.

I don't think of you as one....you simply associated yourself with the traits of the troll.

Anonymity is not 'just' the name...it's the security of displacement....no real-life connection between protagonists.

If the Internet were a boxing ring [physical, not social] there'd be a lot fewer battles.

Trolls feel 'safe' because of the implied sense of anonymity as well as the 'so what are they gonna do....I'm 1000s of miles away anyway?'.

They don't then just post a legitimate opinion....they exaggerate and go for the Jugular.  They don't argue 'I believe you are wrong because....' unless the rest of the statement becomes  '....you are a fuck-wit'.

There has been a few occasions I can recall during my life on the net where trolls became genuine issues warranting real responses.  Two were resolved once they were informed of 'we know where you live - desist or your teacher/boss will be informed' .  Another was possibly down to my vehement stance re 'children' ridiculing the actions of another who had suicided [on Deviantart].  Things get quite REAL when you're contacted by the kid's parents thanking you for your support.

There IS NO place for trolling ... just as there IS NO place for bullying.  Both are the actions of the pathetic and weak.

The ICQ logs relating to eFront were a classic case in point.  The guys who ran that show were [to put it politely] bottom-feeders with particularly reprehensible 'ethics' [ie. none at all].  When the logs went public it spelled the end of them as a business.  As I recall the police had 'a chat'.

When an issue is important enough....that 'anonymity' ceases to exist....

Ah....

...but when you become a site Administrator tasked with policing the 'troll' you find you need to draw the proverbial 'line-in-the-sand'.

Your job is to protect ALL Community site users equally.  Generally the average User is NOT obliged to 'suck it in' or 'grin and bear it' when confronted with "Blunt honesty and lack of political correctness and/or diplomatic tact."  Stardock's rules of conduct applying to ALL site users can an do preclude much of what you may consider 'endearing'.

Yes, 'political correctness' can be particularly tiresome.... and 'blunt honesty' can have its place, but not when it is a direct 'attack' on a fellow site member.

Rules are rules, and all facets of society have them.  Those who don't conform to them/abide by them [for whatever reason] soon find themselves on the outer - restricted/denied continued intercourse/interaction.

As Ned Kelly said on the gallows...."Such is life". ...

Situationally, yes. In general, no.

No one ever said that everyone who is unemployed is a leech.

The claim was nearly early troll is a loser in reality. Much depends on what you define as a troll.  A troll is not someone who disagrees with you, or even someone who hates you if they believe you did something wrong.  I define troll is someone who starts crap on the internet for their own personal pleasure.

That said, sometimes hatred can turn someone into a troll.   I'll say this: the truly effective trolls I've run across, have been folks who have tended to NOT be losers in life, but there are very few effective trolls.

I agree with you 100% on the demonization of those receiving government help, but that's not what's being claimed here.

Brad said:

"The typical troll is an unemployed wannabe.  That's what fuels them in the first place. They hate people who have done things they wanted and in order to rationalize their own life failures they have to invent failings in other people. They don't recognize that their own failures are tied to their attitudes on life."

and in another post after that  he mentioned "basement" and "loser" which also implied unemployed (e.g living in your parents basement with no job)

Yes, but the other poster was impling that Brad thinks every unemployed is a leech/loser, which isn't true.

Being unemployed does not make you a troll.

Not on Stardock's sites you won't....provided that opinion is not racist or discriminatory or incites criminality...

Does not compute. Internet mob ≠ Logic.

Some men just want to watch the world burn.

Are we not joining in the same witch-hunt attacks/condemnations that we are railing against here?

Its not just the internet that is losing its manners and tolerance.

Here in the UK people are being threatened with prison for speaking their minds on immigration policy.

Conversely violent crime is unduly tolerated and the identity of the criminal protected, we call it "human rights".

13 Types Of Troll You’ll Meet On The Internet

http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/types-of-troll-youll-meet-on-the-internet

I encounter type 8 on a regular basis. They are the bane of my online existence. Making a comment that isn't perfectly PC, sends them into a tissy fit. Handling them with kid gloves isn't good enough...

"They tend to take everything as a personal assault, and love nothing more than feeling offended. And if they can’t feel offended directly, they also love being offended on other people’s behalves."