AIBU to think that the word troll is overused?

[MOISTOWLETT]

Hello, long time lurker & and first time poster and all that jazz!

Now I've been on the internet for a number of years and even if you disagree with someone you're now likely to be called a troll. For example I said I do not like Beyoncé and I was called a troll just for having a different opinion. What do you lovely MNers think?

What did you SAY about Beyonce though? If you said "I think she's a mentally ill weirdo" or something ridiculous then that's trollish.

If you just said "Meh...I can take her or leave her" then that's not trolling.

If you went on a Beyonce fan page and proclaimed "Beyonce's Crap!" then that is also trollish.

I see this in Chat, all of the time.

A quick search would show that the OP is a long term regular poster, but once one poster starts with the accusation, others just pile in.

Yes, I think you're right.

Trolling is increasingly widely used to mean 'any online comment another person perceives as negative'

rather than the deliberate act of going to that person's/organisation's site to disrupt it (by insult or any other means)

So no, saying on MN that you don't like a particular sleb isn't in itself trolling in the older sense.

Having a different view - not trolling

Finding pages and writing things purely because you know people will react (e.g. going on a formula feed thread and ssaying "i cant even believe you idiots think thisbis acceptable parenting") - trolling

Its the intended disruption that makes itvtrolling

On MN if you accuse someone of being a troll you will be deleted for troll hunting.

It used to mean what Maisy said. I do think it's evolving slightly these days, so that someone who isn't a troll but is winding someone up can be "trolling" them, even though it's not true trolling in the sense of the word. IYSWIM. So deliberately saying something to tease rather than an actual targeted upsetting and/or disruptive campaign (like 4chan or the horrible people who were targeting Harvey Price, that sort of thing).

Does that make sense? It's early!