# Has this board ever seen professional trolls? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707 "2016-05-13T19:38:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/21 "2016-05-15T17:22:57Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Just wish I was being paid. > > But then their is always a Hillary supporter ready with their own stats so hmmmm… Gee, I thought this thread was about supposed professional trolls, not spreading rumors about Mrs.Clinton so hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/22 "2016-05-15T18:25:09Z")
Have you forgotten we had a true North Korean shill / troll? He kept defending Kim’s policies in threads on North Korea. He wrote in a true propagandic style. It was hard to tell, at first, if he was being ironic, but he was for real. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/23 "2016-05-15T19:53:41Z")
I like reading threads like this while I enjoy the great taste of Miller Genuine Draft. ---
**Author:** ![T-Minus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c77e96/32.png) [@T-Minus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T-Minus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/24 "2016-05-15T20:20:27Z")
If someone got paid to troll a community, then yes I would call them professional trolls. If you get paid to do anything, then you are a professional. Only way to know if someone is a professional troll is if you can prove they are getting paid specifically to troll. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/25 "2016-05-16T10:47:03Z")
Professional Russian trolls are a [very, very real thing and on a massive scale, too.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_brigades) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/26 "2016-05-16T11:23:15Z")
In Soviet Russia, trolls paid _you_! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/27 "2016-05-16T13:02:10Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > You might be surprised at the idiotic, useless nonsense big companies spend money on. I might be, if someone had evidence to show me that (for instance) Merck is paying people to post pro-vaccine messages in public forums. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/28 "2016-05-16T15:54:04Z")
IMHO, we have 3 trolls currently active on this board. They are far from professional in that they are easy to spot. If you suspect one, PM a mod or report a post. Let the mods deal with it. Worst that happens is they put that poster on their radar and start giving them enough rope… ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/29 "2016-05-16T16:56:53Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I know who you’re referring to, and I always thought be might be a paid shill, too. He certainly gave a hell of an impressive imitation of being one, if he wasn’t. I have no idea who you’re talking about. But if you work in a particular industry you might constantly defend that industry. You aren’t being paid to defend the industry or the company in the media, you just work in the industry or for the company, and so your self-interest is aligned with theirs. If I’m a kool-aid drinking Hillary supporter who uses this message board to promote Hillary, I’m probably doing it as a volunteer, not because I get paid 50 cents for every pro-Hillary post I make. Same with the pedophile who defends pedophilia, or the oil industry worker who’s a climate skeptic. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/30 "2016-05-16T17:03:43Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > I like reading threads like this while I enjoy the great taste of Miller Genuine Draft. I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/31 "2016-05-16T18:06:07Z")
Would you consider David D’Amato a professional troll? AKA TerriTickle? [http://mycitypaper.com/articles/040501/cb.onmedia.shtml](http://mycitypaper.com/articles/040501/cb.onmedia.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707/32 "2016-05-16T19:24:55Z")
Back in 2007, I exposed a corporate shill promoting particular movies and TV shows in Cafe Society and a few other products in IMHO. I had more time on my hands back then. It’s not like media companies need to pay anyone now, we start a CS thread on every movie and TV show anyway. A politician paying supporters to engage on social media? The horrors! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-board-ever-seen-professional-trolls/754707.md?page=1)