What's Worse: Trolling or Spamming?

[Cel-Shaded Deku]

Trolling: A somewhat iconic activity of the internet with a well-known symbol: the Trollface. People who purposely anger others on the internet can be a big nusance. Commonly given advice to stop a troll is to not feed them, ignore them. This is also advice for dealing with bullies in real life. I find that this works much better on the internet because you lack physical intimination and it's anonymous.

Spammers: People who flood parts of the internet with useless junk. Not feeding them will not help stop them. Spammers will spam reguardless of whether or not they get attention. Sometimes they don't even realize what they're doing, when that's the case warning them is usually enough. The worst, in my opinion, are people who advertise stuff, such as Youtube comments in which people beg for thumb ups or subscribers.

Which do you find most annoying? I'd say spammers because it's more common than trolls in my experience and it clutters the internet with useless content that wastes your time.

 

[ZeldaPlayer]

Spamming is worse. People consider pretty much anything trolling nowadays so its lost its luster. If i disagree with someone I get called a troll. Spamming is just annoying, if blatant. However, if someone messages me on Youtube and personalizes a message to me, being curtious, I am more apt to watch their video, or whatever.

 

[shaymin1]

Spamming. Trolling can be dealt with a lot easier then spamming.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Spamming is far worse in my opinion.
Trolling can occasionally be humorous especially when taken or dealt in a light-hearted manner. Spamming is annoying regardless of intention.

Then that's not trolling, or could barely qualify as trolling. Trolling is a specific, intentional act of disrupting and harassing someone or something, typically purely for the purpose of disrupting it, and sometimes to cause a specific effect. In the form that the term properly applies to, it isn't light-hearted in any way.

People consider pretty much anything trolling nowadays so its lost its luster. If i disagree with someone I get called a troll.

Again, that's not actually trolling. People misunderstanding your intentions and misusing the word doesn't suddenly mean the word applies to something different.

Spamming. Trolling can be dealt with a lot easier then spamming.

Speaking as someone's who's moderated multiple forums... that's simply not true. Spam can be easily deleted, because it's easily identified. Trolling can often involve masked intentions and they are difficult to spot and fairly deal with. Other times they still upset members in their wake, regardless of how quickly they're stopped.


Trolling is worse because it's calculated and intentionally directed at someone else. Spamming is only annoying if you let it be. It's not a big deal and usually when it's annoying it's not anything serious and someone's just letting it get to them. I ignore spam all the time; I don't let it bother me.

 

[ghostdragon]

Spamming, but then again I have never personally had to deal with trolling. My hubby has been watching vids on youtube the past couple of days where people are trolling in games. He thinks it's hilarious, but then again, if it was him being trolled...he'd prolly think differently lol

 

[gravira]

Trolling can be hilarious at times, but spamming usually isn't funny no matter what you do.

 

[nareky]

Normally find trolling funny so gonna saay spam (it tastes horrible aswell )

 

[GoldenGengle64]

Spamming. While trolling is incredibly annoying, its not nearly as bad as people who post things such as:

posting x number of times to make their wishes come true
posting x number of times so they won't get killed by the undead 6 year old
posting for subscriptions
posting what year they watched a video in
etc.....


It also drives me crazy when people get into fights on the internet. Hilarious, but also irritating.

 

[linkmoon89]

Spamming in my opinion is the worse. I really hate it when ppl post the same stuff over an over or flooding emails with useless junk. Guess that's a pet peeve lol

Trolling can also be bad, especially when ppl on say, YouTube get mean or rude about some video of a lil kid doing something cute or a lil 2-4 yr old singing some song (which I have seen numerous of times)
and trolling can be humorous at times when respond with a lighthearted witty comment.

 

[Link8150]

Trolls make me laugh, spammers piss me off. All trolls do is go around wasting their time by making fun of what other people like, which makes no sense to me. Spammers on the other hand, flood chat boxes or comment sections with the same message over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over... yea.

 

[CCG <3 Zelda]

Trolls can be funny at times, but Spammers will always be annoying

 

[Johnny Sooshi]

You never want to feed either one. That being said Spammers are by far worse.

Trolls don't continue if you ignore them (for the most part). If they do it's easy to troll them back, provided your better at it. That usually ends them.

Spammers NEVER stop. They don't care. Trolls are like your one friend who messes around all the time but has no bad intentions. Spammers are those annoying kids who won't leave you alone.

Speaking as someone's who's moderated multiple forums... that's simply not true. Spam can be easily deleted, because it's easily identified. Trolling can often involve masked intentions and they are difficult to spot and fairly deal with. Other times they still upset members in their wake, regardless of how quickly they're stopped.


Trolling is worse because it's calculated and intentionally directed at someone else. Spamming is only annoying if you let it be. It's not a big deal and usually when it's annoying it's not anything serious and someone's just letting it get to them. I ignore spam all the time; I don't let it bother me.

Axle, the problem here is that while you've modded multiple forums some of us have no experience with that at all. We can't just delete it. Yes there is a report button but we don't have the control you mods have and mods may not always agree with a spam call.

 

[RedDekuScrub]

I think Spammers are worse that Trolls. Spammers are just plain annoying, vut sometimes Trolls can be entertaining.

 

[Kaynil]

Trolls are worse... but maybe we're not having the same mental image.
I am boiling down to intentions, spammers just want to get their stuff across. Sure, I agree it is very annoying, but with all the media bombarding in buses, signs, walls, tv, radio, etc. I have become used to advertise spam. The rest of it just makes the user seem ******** and I know it will be dealt with. The forum will be clean and things will follow up normally with no infection into the community.

I cannot say the same in a case of a good troll, that can not only break the balance of a community but can go as far as destroying the community entirely.

A troll is way more tricky and depending the person it can be dangerous, in a short time it can mess up a whole community I have seen it in action. You think you can pin-point a troll easily, maybe from youtube video comments that are obvious, but not every troll is like that. I have seen people being mature and well spoken in their way to type who get away offending and are master to disguise it as a misunderstanding or diverting it. Turning things against you. Getting into the grey lines, having a lot of charisma to the point taht when the staff actually takes part and suspend the user the community believe the troll's version of things and go against the staff. It is crazy. I know not every suspended member is a troll, but I am not mistaken here. I have seen trolls being good at pretending to be n00bs to the net, trolls pretending to be courteous but instead are poisonous, trolls being cynical and jumping over the rules grey lines and lastly, I have seen trolls being spammers as well.

"trolls don't continue if you don' feed them". Want to bet? The problem is that many know how to lure you into answering and they are patient fishers. I mean years. Sure, some just want quick engagement doesn't matter who and will move on t better waters, but some others are way more stubborn, to think you can just rub off trolls by ignoring them is underestimating what some of them can do to move you into 'answering', they can go increasing the damage and making things that will affect you more immediately, specially when they have prey or preys defined. Not all the trolls are the same.

So I have no doubt in my mind to choose trolls as worse any day. They have bullied people into committing suicide. They have destroyed other people's work for lulz and the worst of them are not one regretful of their actions. I don't mind obvious-troll is obvious in youtube comments but my mind is set mostly on the people who are not afraid to disgrace your life or your family's life just because they can and it is funny. Calling a mother about her dead daughter to make jokes? It is so sickening.

 

[Danigo92498]

Spamming can get out of hand so I say spamming is worse.