Message Board Nomenclature

Factual Questions
1

I think I know what a sock and troll are, not really sure what a straw man is. If you were around earlier tonight (11/25/03 about 7PM EST), we had the distinct displeasure of a poster named something like EVIL_MONKEYS_IN_MY_HEAD. What’s the official message board name for someone like him/her? A Kamikaze?

If you weren’t here, this character created a user name and began a posting rampage, like 20 posts in 20 minutes. All the posts I saw were basically nonsense.

So is there a dictionary out there somewhere that defines message board “nuisance” nomenclature?

2

That was a sockpuppet, and a troll.

3

Sockpuppet because he was a user (banned or not) with a second username, and troll because he was being a pest (rude and nonsensical), right?

4

Troll, because he posted nonsensical stuff seeking a reaction.

5

And a straw man is a logical fallacy used in arguments. You’ll see a lot of those in Great Debates. Here’s a good explanation of a straw man.