Is Trolling Okay?

Roblox is an online multiplayer game that you probably played when you were younger. You can customize your avatar and play all different types of games by different creators. Some games can be story games, roleplay, shooting, horror, etc. The age range can go from 7-18 but the demographic is really for kids 9-15 although you probably won’t find many high schoolers playing Roblox.

Sometimes, my friend and I play ironically to “troll” people. Trolling is when some people want to cause a disturbance or slight annoyance to other players. This is NOT cyberbullying though because we don’t make someone feel bad and we don’t personally attack them. We only make slightly annoying jokes or be passive-aggressive. I do not condone trollers that are personally being mean to a specific person.

Some of the people the trolls including my friend and I troll are ODers (online daters), furries, and roleplayers. ODers are usually young kids that don’t know any better about “dating” someone that they don't even know. ODers are frowned upon in almost every game and everyone cringes when they say or do something. Trolling helps them understand what they're doing isn’t ok and that they should not be doing this. You have probably seen a furry online before and know that some furries are very weird especially if they are attracted to animals. Furries in Roblox games wear ears or tails and usually have a bio description saying “Alpha of the pack/DON'T TOUCH TAIL”. Roleplayers are people who roleplay. In games like Royale High or Adopt Me, there are many roleplayers. Roleplayers sometimes have a bio like “Clara/16/Princess/Fairy/Has dark secret/nice/crush on: Chad” or “Chad/Son of Demon and Vampire king/Emo/Will kill if needed”.

What ODers could look like

People can be trolled in many different ways. Sometimes trolls decorate their avatar to make them look weirder or out of the ordinary. This causes people in games to feel a little confused and disturbed. Other trolls can be hackers who can fly when you aren’t allowed to, do cheats, and hack the game. There are also trolls who keep killing or attacking one person until that person gets really annoyed and leaves. The most common trolls are the avatar trolls and the ones that try and start a fight or interrupt someone’s conversation.

What an avatar troller could look like

It is fun to pop up to random people and try to get into their conversation. Doing this is simple yet fun and slightly annoys the other person. One time, my friend and I went up to some ODers that were kissing and saying inappropriate phrases and we started talking next to them about our day to make them uncomfortable. In the end, the ODers got very annoyed and left the game. Our trolling did not have much negative affect other than them leaving because they were only annoyed. We did not say mean or threatening things to them at all. Another time, 2 of my friends and I joined a game called Guess ’n Paint and we cheated by telling each other the answers to the painting. This didn’t last long though because they got permanently banned from the game and I was banned for a few weeks. It was very fun while it lasted.

The trolls can also be trolled as well. Another experience I had was when my friend and I were playing a game that usually got hacked a lot. When we entered the game, there were people flying, bombs destructing, and some objects that were small became huge. There were people in the game that were very mad and others that didn’t care. To us, it was very funny and we didn’t mind in the slightest bit. This trolling and trolled cycle will never end while the internet is here. Trolling happens all over the internet but I am just describing one game. 

The answer to the question that was asked at the beginning of this blog is yes. It is okay to troll if it is only for light-hearted fun. As long as you don’t say something bad about someone else or really hurt someone’s feelings, it is fine. Cause slight annoyances don’t harm anyone and they aren’t personally attacked. You have to make sure that you don’t cross the line if you want to troll. If you think you have gone too far, immediately apologize to the person and say what you did was wrong. As long as you don’t cross the line into cyberbullying, trolling can be very fun with friends.