I feel like the amount of actual trolls and bad-faith posters made many people hyper vigilant about anything that looks like a potential bait. The general polarization also causes people to react more rashly rather than approaching something in good faith and responding in polite and constructive manner.

That’s not to say everyone is irrational and wrong about how they react but it really does seem like some would rather yell at any sign of opposition or doubt instead of talking it out. It’s an unfortunate result of the times we live in, to some extent.

Many people do not understand how to politely disagree. Sometimes they will accuse people of things because they cannot properly communicate their views

It’s a pattern of behavior. If a user spends their time nitpicking every minor detail of a comment, but seems to be incapable of understanding that other people have different ideas, or worse purposefully parses someone’s language incorrectly just to continue an argument back and forth without any progress or even a desire to see a resolution, only wanting to have the last word, I consider that to be trolling. Nobody has benefited from the interaction, and everybody leaves frustrated, annoyed, and only further entrenched in their original position.

I think people have pretty different ideas of what behavior counts as trolling, but simply disagreeing with a user or not liking their posts doesn’t make them a troll.

Calling someone a troll is admitting you lost the argument, in my mind.

Because it’s trolls more often than not.

Some times Person A can be so fallacious or incorrect, Person B may assume they’re intentionally wasting time by trolling, doubting that Person A is actually unintentionally that incompetent or incapable of discourse.

This usually starts when Person A ignores what Person B has said or starts applying common argument fallacies, seemingly for the sake of being right as a priority over empathising or broadening perspective.

Of my many years socialising on the Internet, it should be very rare to be called a troll; so much so that if it happens, it’s likely I’m being a total twat entirely out of touch with reality. So, if you’re finding this happens to you regularly, it may be food for thought to at least listen/read what someone is saying and ponder on it before responding. If you start wasting their time, prepare tocontinue being called a troll.

Too many people don’t know what trolling actually is, and also assume anything said to them is hostile.

Trolling implies intent. Are they trying to piss you off, or are you just being an over sensitive little bitch?

i don’t. i see plenty of trolls whom i agree with, they are just dicks about it obviously looking to get a rise out of people.

i treat them the same way as all trolls: ignore, downvote, block, report if against the rulez. not that hard nor complicated.

It’s probably an easier pill to swallow than the idea that someone might have valid reasons to disagree with them.

It’s easier to insult someone you disagree with than to have a rational, intelligent discussion.

I remember one time I was arguing with some guy about I don’t remember what but I left to do real-life stuff and didn’t check Lemmy for like 2-3 days and came back to find him arguing with someone else and being adamant that I created another account just to make it seem like more people disagreed with him. Some people prefer to make shit up than to face that they might actually be wrong.

If the"trolls"are just people with different opinions, it’s to discredit them.

In some cases, assuming the poster is a troll is the more charitable alternative.

Oh I’ll bring the popcorn

If you give a specific example, it’s easier to give an answer that might help understanding.