What Does it Mean to Scroll a Chat Room?
By Laurel Storm
Although most people join chat rooms to talk, a small subset of users join chat rooms simply to annoy or irritate others. These users, known as trolls or griefers, will frequently engage in types of behavior that make it hard or even impossible for anybody else to participate in the chat. One such behavior is chat scrolling.
About Chat Scrolling
Scrolling a chat room is defined as typing new lines of text into the chat much faster than normal, usually by typing only one or two characters of text per line. At best, doing this prevents any other user in the chat room from holding a conversation, due to the speed at which lines of text scroll out of view; at worst, users on slow connections may be disconnected from the chat room, especially if multiple people are scrolling the chat at the same time.
Dealing With Chat Scrolling
If somebody enters a chat room you are in and begins scrolling it, there are several things you can do. If you have moderator powers for the chat room, simply kick out the person; if he returns and continues scrolling it, kick him out again and ban him so he can't return. If you don't have moderator powers and there is no moderator around, contact the other people in the chat room privately and suggest moving to a different chat room.
Considerations
A difference exists between maliciously scrolling the chat room and typing very fast. If somebody in a chat room you are in types quickly, the sheer volume of text she sends may prevent you and others from reading the chat. If this happens, contact the person privately and explain that you understand that she types very fast, but that you would appreciate it if she could slow down a bit so you can follow the conversation more easily.
Warning
Scrolling a chat room is considered extremely rude and is against the rules of most chat rooms. If you engage in this type of behavior, you may find yourself banned from the chat room; if you persist, you may be banned from the chat server or messaging system hosting the chat altogether.
Writer Bio
Laurel Storm has been writing since 2001, and helping people with technology for far longer than that. Some of her articles have been published in "Messaggero dei Ragazzi", an Italian magazine for teenagers. She holds a Master of Arts in writing for television and new media from the University of Turin.