What is griefing?

[Jaily Bailey]

Please explain, just in layman's terms.

[Freya Mokusei]

Intentionally causing grief or distress to other users of the Second Life service.

[LepreKhaun]

Griefing basically means means to cause distress or to abuse another resident. It covers anything that interferes with others from enjoying Second Life and anything that interrupts other residents' enjoyment of participating in Second Life can fall within the definition. But it is usually used in incidents that affect numerous residents, such as self-replicating objects that destroy a sims appearance or "spam bots" that clog anyone nearby with unwanted, repetitive messages.

 

It can range from one resident harassing another to someone crashing entire sims. It can be motivated by revenge, boredom, a misguided attempt to gain a "reputation or simply pure malice. 

[Rolig Loon]

Read https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Fr43k_Paine/Dealing_With_Griefers

That's one of the more complete articles I have seen about griefing and how to respond to and prevent it.