Akademik

n.

In a game, forum, or similar online venue, a person who intentionally and repeatedly harasses other users.

—grief v.

—griefing pp.

Knowing that Second Life events like this were sometimes plagued by 'griefers'— troublemakers who might appear in outlandish or offensive attire, create protest signs that could fill the entire screen, or otherwise disrupt activities — Ms. Pritchard called Mr. Gingrich's office. She offered her company's virtual security services to a confused aide.

—Christine Larson, " A Patrol for the Web's Playgrounds: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/business/27meta.html?pagewanted=2," The New York Times, February 27, 2011

This isn't because I believe griefing is wrong. I actually think a little online anarchy is a positive thing. Griefing demands critical thinking from the griefer and urges technological improvements in everyone else.

—Kevin Pereira, " Why Griefing Is Good: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/04/pl_column_griefing/," Wired, April 26, 2011

What do you think the motivation behind the SBR was? Inviting the griefers over for tea?

—Dorian, " Trammel - Never again! (Very long and probably pointless): https://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.computer.ultima.online/browse_thread/thread/cd479dbead665007/14f1511a79f4c39f?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=griefers," rec.games.computer.ultima.online, July 27, 2000

In recent years, griefer has sprouted the more general sense of "a person who causes mischief or disruption online":

The members of Gnosis are the latest group of so-called "griefers" — groups of hackers who delight in large-scale displays of anti-social behavior online — to scramble into the spotlight.

—Shaun Waterman, " Gawker site hacked by raider Gnosis: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/13/gawker-hacked-passwords-posted-online/," The Washington Times, December 13, 2010