Charlotte Dawson on being relevant in her 40s, Twitter trolls and her new book, Air Kiss & Tell

She wrote 20,000 words a day?

In regards to trolling and cyber abuse we completely agree with the distinction Charlotte draws. There is a difference between healthy debate and trolling. Trolling is when people make threats, harass and intimidate and it should not be tolerated online.

Would love to know what happened to the Daily Telegraph’s campaing? Havent heard from it in a while…

If you are interested in learning more about trolling check out our blog: http://inatrolltrollworld.wordpress.com/

JT

Why 40’s? There is no possessive here. Hmmmmm?

Actually, “trolling” is distinct from bullying and harassment and as much as I am supportive of taking action on the former, I am getting increasingly frustrated with the word “troll” being used synonymously with bullying & harassment.

Trolls are usually just attention seeking, and frequently add to “debate”.

Bullies target.

It would be nice if there could be some high profile commentary that actually get their definitions right. Sigh.

Sorry, *action on the latter, not the former. Trolls are generally harmless.

perhaps all the high profile commentators who are getting it wrong according to Tea are doing so because the distinction between a troll and an on-line bully is a matter of juvenile semantics

if your primary intention is to aggressively provoke, antagonise or otherwise incite the passions of others rather than to engage in discussion and debate with genuinely held views and beliefs you are being disruptive and annoying and should fuck off back under your rock

LOL Nell. The irony of your response is simply delicious. Rather than engage in your petty… ummm… trolling… I will address the issue.

Semantics exist for a reason… generally because semantics, in law, are critical to ensure that we don’t go locking people up for no reason.

To be accused of a criminal act (harassment, stalking) is a very serious matter. And, in criminal law, intent *is* a main factor in determining guilt. You can’t just make a claim that someone is harassing you because they make you feel bad.

Trolls generally do not have the intent to harm. The intent to provoke, something which fuels the majority of commentary both in the media & online (and sometimes entire papers like the Telegraph), is entirely different motivation than the intent to harm.

Charlotte Dawson was not trolled. She was harassed and threatened. And regardless of whether you think it is ‘juvenile’, that distinction is important and fundamental to an understanding of how the internet works.

Especially when those throwing the word around are actually ‘trolls’ themselves and often happily engage in it when it suits them.