BS: What's a Troll

Subject: RE: BS: What's a Troll
From: CapriUni
Date: 14 Oct 01 - 01:08 PM

oops -- I only meant to italicize "she"... (just so people don't think I'm shouting...

And I forgot the footnote [*] the newsgroup I refer to is: Rec.arts.drwho...

Subject: RE: BS: What's a Troll
From: CapriUni
Date: 14 Oct 01 - 01:05 PM

Jock -- you wrote:

"Cross-posting describes the action of posting the same message to a number of different groups."

Technically, I thought that was called "spamming" (as in the Monty Python sketch where every item on a diner's menu included spam)

BTW, the term "Trolling" is taken from the verb "to troll" as in the method of fishing -- the troller is trailing 'bait' through the internet, trying to see how many he or she can catch with with their messages.

Acccusions of trolling can get pretty ridiculous sometimes. On some newsgroups, particularly those dedicated to fans of a particular tv show or music group, anyone who posts an unpopular opinion is labeled a "troll" as in: "You're an anti-_____ (fill in performer's name here) troll!"

On one newsgroup I frequent[*], it got so bad that calling people trolls became a running joke ("you're a pro-chocolate troll, and I'm pro-jam, so we can't be friends!" kind of thing. -- all this in jest, of course.) When I admitted that I went on to the newsgroup simply to have fun, I got labeled a "pro-fun troll" (again, in jest, and I took it as such.)

At that moment, an image popped into my head of a little pot-bellied, under-the-bridge type troll wearing a bright pink and purple birthday hat -- ready to go to a birthday party wherever it may be. Like her nastier cousins, my alter-ego tries her best to take over the Internet... only she tries to get people to reply to her posts by provoking laughter and intelligent discussion rather than anger and defensiveness.

Now, in that newsgroup, putting "pro-fun" somewhere in a thread's subject line lets people know that is a "safe haven" from flame wars. Often, the topics are quite silly, but not always. Sometimes, they are an offering of praise or appreciation.

But Pro-Fun trolls are still the minority. And so I agree with you Jock:

When in doubt Do Not Feed the Trolls!!!

Subject: What's a Troll
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 14 Oct 01 - 11:59 AM

A Troll? What's a Troll?

No, we're not talking about the little guys who hang around under bridges. On the net, a 'troller' is someone who deliberately tries to disrupt a community by invading a newsgroup, chat room, web forum or other such place where information or views are exchanged. The message they use to do this is known as a 'troll'.

Typically, the troller will post something inflammatory, misleading or controversial. Others may pretend to be completely and unbelievably ignorant of the main topic of discussion and simply post a number of inane questions.

Often in Usenet (see the lesson on Discussion Groups), they will try to pit one group against the other by cross-posting their material. Cross-posting describes the action of posting the same message to a number of different groups. Often there are some good reasons to do this, but a message entitled 'Lung Cancer is a Myth' sent to differing groups like alt.smokers, alt.support.non-smokers and maybe even alt.support.cancer is obviously a troll.

Any reply to a troll is a victory for the troller - this especially includes angry replies identifying the troll. The main thing to remember is that such pranks, however malicious they may seem, are at their heart childish and attention-seeking. As such, the best thing you can do is ignore them.

While not every outrageous, insulting or stupid message is a troll, you'll quickly learn to identify them in time (and these kinds of messages are best left alone anyway).

Most trolls will move on if they are ignored, so it pays to remember that, no matter how much you feel you must reply, warn others or simply tell the troller off, that the only winning move is not to play.

I didn't know what a troll was, so thought this might help those who are as uneducated as me.

Jock