[st3v3r]

"What if most of them aren't "trolls" at all, but rather people who have something to say that is important to them and they choose a method to say it that upsets some people?"

If the only way you can express your dislike of a black actress is to compare her to an ape, maybe just shut the fuck up.

"It is entirely too easy to dismiss a person if all you think they want is to make you mad with what they've said."

And it's entirely too easy to ignore the problem of real trolling and harassment if you think it's just people with "differing opinions".

[DictumExNihilo]

>If the only way you can express your dislike of a black actress is to compare her to an ape, maybe just shut the fuck up.

??? You got me, yes, this is exactly what I do. There's a secret Nazi hiding in every bush and behind every corner ready to pounce and I'm part of the great Internet conspiracy of secret Nazis.

>And it's entirely too easy to ignore the problem of real trolling and harassment if you think it's just people with "differing opinions".

Harassment is totally the same thing. And if a hundred people show up to make fun of the dumb thing you said, it was an organized conspiracy to hurt your feelings and not myopia about potentially millions of people who normally see stuff and don't interact with it until it's too dumb to ignore.

If you've got people sending you death threats or violating TOS of sites, obviously report them. If they say rude things that have absolutely no value at all, ignore them. But if they're actually trying to pick an argument with you in good faith, they may not be a "troll" after all. There's FAR too much where people have slid into thinking that anyone who has a different opinion and expresses it in an unpleasant way is out to "troll" or "harass" them.

I mean, look, you just attacked me, a complete stranger, who has never done any of the things you brought up because I dare suggest that some belief you hold is wrong. How's that for proving a point?