Trolls and Winchasers

The term " Troll " made it into the media just over a year ago, thanks to Charlie Sheen, but the definition seems to have drifted a little from the original. Thanks to writers who cant be bothered to research properly and reporters who dont want to appear uninformed, the term troll is being used to label anyone online who annoys you 

Charlie Sheen made the mistake of reading what people say about him, and once people realised he was getting involved with the internets, they piled in with anything that might invoke a response from the , well , shall we say " fragile " ? Mr Sheen. The news agencies jumped all over it, and it all made excellent TV .

If this is all a mystery to you, get googling - charlie sheen, dragonblood, winning , breakdown.

What the outside world didnt realise, was that this was just the tip of the iceberg, and trolling has evolved and mutated into different forms - all with very similar goals.

The mass adoption of Facebook saw the rise of the "Grammar Nazi ". Make a spelling mistake on a status update and they are the first to jump in with a patronizing correction with the oh so important star.

*patronising

Regular users of the You Tube see  followers clambering for the top comments spot, usually by quoting a line in the video, or scripting the most sarcastic comment ever. 

During the recent Olympics, a diver named Tom Daley outed a " Troll " on twitter, who promptly recieved a visit from the real world police. The sad little bedsit-ridden 17 year old loved the 50 thousand extra twitter followers he " achieved " by sending what was in effect, a real-time poison pen-letter to an athlete at the Olympics.

All these people have one thing in common -  they are all Winchasers.

Anything for a " win "

So much so, they actively chase it.

A winchaser will trawl the youtube comments section for inaccuracies, taking on the role of Stephen Fry in Q.I  with added venom when others try to argue.

Another type on the rise is the white knight winchaser, actively seeking things to find insulting and furiously typing away like they are about to abolish slavery. Other white knight winchasers hover like vultures and pounce at the first opportunity. Once the credibility is established, the Daily mail jumps in and middle england have something new to find offensive.

The definition of Troll is something totally different, you could check wikipedia, but i`ll leave the best definition to the master : Moot

I re-wrote this article today after Jason Manford published  this beautiful piece < HERE > on the same subject. My post was very similar to his, so i changed mine out of respect.