Trolling

[davebee]

What is it??

Seen it mention several times and haven't got the foggiest what it means. Please enlighten me.

 

[RogerDodger]

Originally posted by davebee
What is it??

Seen it mention several times and haven't got the foggiest what it means. Please enlighten me.

The Jargon Dictionary - http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/t/troll.html
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The Jargon Dictionary : Terms : The T Terms : troll


troll
troll v.,n. 1. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban] To utter a posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable responses or flames; or, the post itself. Derives from the phrase "trolling for newbies" which in turn comes from mainstream "trolling", a style of fishing in which one trails bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The well-constructed troll is a post that induces lots of newbies and flamers to make themselves look even more clueless than they already do, while subtly conveying to the more savvy and experienced that it is in fact a deliberate troll. If you don't fall for the joke, you get to be in on it. See also YHBT. 2. An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are recognizable by the fact that the have no real interest in learning about the topic at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly creatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeeming characteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll." 3. [Berkeley] Computer lab monitor. A popular campus job for CS students. Duties include helping newbies and ensuring that lab policies are followed. Probably so-called because it involves lurking in dark cavelike corners.
Some people claim that the troll (sense 1) is properly a narrower category than flame bait, that a troll is categorized by containing some assertion that is wrong but not overtly controversial. See also Troll-O-Meter.

The use of `troll' in either sense is a live metaphor that readily produces elaborations and combining forms. For example, one not infrequently sees the warning "Do not feed the troll" as part of a followup to troll postings.

 

[John Hearns]

On Sun, 01 Feb 2004 07:17:43 +0000, davebee wrote:

> What is it??
>
> Seen it mention several times and haven't got the foggiest what it means. Please enlighten me.

In normal conversation, it would be deliberately trying to start an argument by making inflammatory
statements. The Wikipedia explains it better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

 

[Daniel Auger]

On Sun, 1 Feb 2004, davebee wrote:

> What is it??
>
> Seen it mention several times and haven't got the foggiest what it means. Please enlighten me.

Deliberately winding people up.

--
Daniel Auger

Please remove "_nospam" from address to reply.

 

[Zog The Undenia]

davebee wrote:
> What is it??
>
> Seen it mention several times and haven't got the foggiest what it means. Please enlighten me.

It comes from the type of fishing where you pull the bait or lure behind a mving boat in the hope
that something will pounce on it. In Usenet terms, you post something that is deliberately intended
to inflame or confuse in the hope that it will generate a lot of replies. It usually works.

 

[Alan J. Wylie]

On Sun, 01 Feb 2004 08:53:32 GMT, RogerDodger <[email protected]> said:

> davebee wrote:
>> What is it?? Seen it mention several times and haven't got the foggiest what it means.
>> Please enlighten me.

<snip Jargon file quote>

One other feature of trolls is that they sometimes cross post between two disparate news groups, alt.rush-
limbaugh and

uk.rec.cars and uk.rec.cycling would work pretty well.

See the Jargon file quote for spam: http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/s/spam.html

> For example, one not infrequently sees the warning "Do
> not feed the troll" as part of a followup to troll
> postings.

(N.B. You will need a fixed space font to appreciate these)

.--------------.
| Please do |
| not feed the |
| TROLL |
!______________!
|| {*}
|| |
|| \ | /
______\v/____||__________\V/___

.:\:/:. +-------------------+ .:\:\:/:/:.
| PLEASE DO NOT | :.:\:\:/:/:.:
| FEED THE TROLLS | :=.' - - '.=:
| | '=(\ 9 9 /)='
| Thank you, | ( (_) )
| Management | /`-vvv-'\
+-------------------+ / \
| | @@@ / /|,,,,,|\ \ @@@ /_// /^\ \\_\
@x@@x@ | | |/ WW( ( ) )WW \||||/ | | \| __\,,\ /,,/__ \||/ | | | jgs (______Y______)
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\//\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

___________________
/| /| | |
||__|| | Please do |
/ O O\__ NOT | / \ feed the | / \ \ the trolls | / _ \ \
_______________| / |\____\ \ || / | | | |\____/ || / \|_|_|/ | __|| / /
\ |____| || / | | /| | --|
| | |// |____ --|
* _ | |_|_|_| | \-/ *-- _--\ _ \ // | / _ \\ _ // | /
* / \_ /- | - | |
* ___ c_c_c_C/ \C_c_c_c____________

from: <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=bauF8.37848%24e66.3350103%40bin6.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com>

--
Alan J. Wylie http://www.wylie.me.uk/ "Perfection [in design] is achieved not when there is nothing
left to add, but rather when there is nothing left to take away." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

[Andyp]

"Zog The Undeniable" <[email protected]> wrote

> It comes from the type of fishing where you pull the bait or lure behind a mving boat in the
> hope that something will pounce on it. In Usenet terms, you post something that is
> deliberately intended to inflame or confuse in the hope that it will generate a lot of
> replies. It usually works.

I think a fair proportion of the people who post on here are actually trolls. No one can possibly be
as stupid as to believe a lot of the stuff that gets said.

 

[Richard Goodman]

"AndyP" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Zog The Undeniable" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> > It comes from the type of fishing where you pull the bait or lure behind a mving boat in the
> > hope that something will pounce on it. In Usenet terms, you post something that is deliberately
> > intended to inflame or confuse in the hope that it will generate a lot of replies. It usually
> > works.
>
> I think a fair proportion of the people who post on here are actually trolls. No one can possibly
> be as stupid as to believe a lot of the stuff that gets said.
>
>

Which probably counts as an example of trolling.....

Rich

 

[Ian Smith]

On Sun, 01 Feb 2004 12:02:25 +0000, Alan J. Wylie <[email protected]> wrote:

> (N.B. You will need a fixed space font to appreciate these)
>
> /| /| | |
> ||__|| | Please do |
> / O O\__ NOT | / \ feed the | / \ \ the trolls | / _ \ \ _______________|
> / |\____\ \ || / | | | |\____/ || / \|_|_|/ | __|| / / \ |____| || / | |
> /| | --|
> | | |// |____ --|
> * _ | |_|_|_| | \-/ *-- _--\ _ \ // | / _ \\ _ // | /
> * / \_ /- | - | |
> * ___ c_c_c_C/ \C_c_c_c____________
>

That looks more clanger-like than troll-like to me.

regards, Ian SMith
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