SINGAPORE — Any time anybody in this huge electronic universe says something negative about DC superhero comics, Melvin Lee loses it. He logs into online forums, fires up all his social media accounts and lets loose. “You don’t have a mother****ing clue what you’re talking about because you’re so f***ing stupid! Might as well shoot you in the head right now because you’re not even using it!”

Lee is a 39-year-old accountant who loves cats, char kway teow and spending time with his wife and one-year-old baby. He is a well-adjusted, nice guy. Until you slam DC, that is. And then God help your computer screen.

Trolls are destructive and deceptive simply because they think it’s fun. But Lee isn’t making death threats and going ballistic online because he thinks it’s fun — it’s because he’s an impassioned fanboy.

But are they one and the same?

Fanboys come in all shapes, sizes and root passions. There are Star Wars and Star Trek fanboys; Nintendo and Sega video game console fanboys; and even Apple and Android phone fanboys. With the advent of the Internet, fanboys have become noisier and more aggressive.

There is now an extraordinarily large number of places online to visit to indulge one’s interest in the latest comic book-turned-movie or the relentless Lady Gaga vs Madonna saga. And it has created the out-of-control fanboy.

Haven’t you fanatically loved something (or someone) so much that it hurts? That you want to shout it from the rooftops and defend it with all your might? Fanboys pick a team and fight for it, obviously, but also because they derive intellectual satisfaction from their endeavours and fervour. This is the way bona fide fanboys prove their love: By educating all the haters out there in the comments sections of popular culture websites and YouTube. Commenting becomes a hobby in itself, and there is growing competition for social status and special props for being prolific, funny or persuasive. Which is all well and good — if emotions are kept in check.

So when exactly does a fanboy cross into being a troll? Would it be his 457th nerdy, strongly-worded post on The Incredible Hulksters forum pages? Or when he goes on a rampage and insults one’s mother after an innocent side comment made about Eric Bana being better than Lou Ferrigno? Or when every other comment he posts thereafter is laden with four-letter words starting with “F”?

The problem is that people use the Internet to shout. To roar. To try to drown out opinions that are different, rather than acknowledging them. We have this marvellous technology that allows us to exchange ideas halfway across the planet, yet we use it to threaten strangers who don’t like that film we haven’t seen yet.

While the classic troll is an anarchic trickster, looking to wreak mayhem and rack up LULZ along the way, a fanboy is a more complicated creature — no matter how enraged he is. He has invested the time and effort to become super-knowledgeable about a subject that means a lot to him. So, is it fair to call the outspoken obsessed geek a troll in disguise? Perhaps not because a fanboy’s intentions are altruistic to begin with. He just needs to work on his manners.