The difference is that there are specific forum rules against one, but not the other. The best way I've found to stop actual "trolling" is to not engage and feed them.
I agree. Ignore feature also works well. I’ve used it a lot. For those that have proved they aren’t in this for serious discussion and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
I also do not hold the view that expressing a difference in opinion is necessarily trolling.
Again, we’re not talking about the same thing.
Because in the average neutral thread, I agree with you. But given the examples I laid out, the variables are different. When someone takes their continued and well-documented opinion into threads where they don’t belong — it is trolling.
I’m not really sure why you’re arguing against that, except that you aren’t recognizing the difference in the scenarios.
If someone creates a thread that essentially says “Considering all the negativity about Tua in many threads on this board, I decided to create this thread to talk about the positives of the great game he had this week“ and the usual suspects come into that thread not discussing his performance in the game but rather restating things such as “Tua won’t be the QB next season” or “he has a weak arm” or “I don’t get what others see in Tua” etc, etc. — that IS textbook trolling.
And that’s the exact type of thing that has been ongoing on this board. Everyone knows by now which members don’t like or aren’t sold on Tua. It’s been spewed over and over for 2+ years now. Regurgitating the same negative takes in threads where it’s not topical IS trolling.