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Griefing is the act of chronically causing sudden annoyance to other members of an online community, or more specifically, intentionally disrupting the immersion of another player in their gameplay. The term griefer originated in the online gaming world, and while it is not commonly thought that Wikipedia is a game, the phenomenon can be found on most online communities, including here on Wikipedia.
Griefers are similar to trolls, with the main difference being that griefers will sometimes act in groups, in the form of tag team editing, to deliberately ridicule content on Wikipedia with which they disagree, to ridicule and harass editors associated with that content, and to interfere with the normal workings of the project. Trolls will instead more often act individually by baiting other members in an attempt to disrupt, and by causing other community members to waste time in dealing with the troll's actions. Both griefers and trolls are usually acting out in a desire for attention, or for what they perceive as revenge.
- ^ Čeština. "The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Inferno, Canto VII". En.wikisource.org. Retrieved 2013-12-22.