I’ve been on the internet for 12 years, and I really thought I knew what a troll was, and I was always pretty sure I wasn’t one.
But lately, anything I post around here is accused of being a troll. Am I missing something, or am I being unfairly judged? Does troll have a more expansive meaning on this board than elsewhere online, or did this term make an evolutionary leap in meaning while I wasn’t paying attention?
Everyone who yells Troll is being somewhat unfair.
They’re supposed to tell (via email) the mods of trouble, not fan the flames with insults.
That’s why there’s the phrase DNFTTH.
Over the past few years, the term “troll” has begun to evolve from its origins. Just as “bastard” no longer implies an illegitimate birth, “troll” increasingly no longer implies one who trolls. It is becoming a handy insult, largely because of its double meaning of “one who trolls” and “little annoying thing with big hair.”
I’ve been playing in the 'net for about as long as you, Joel. I have seen “troll” used as an all-purpose insult many times in the past, but until fairly recently the number of people who understood its original usage far outweighed the number who did not.
To my understanding, if you post simply to get a rise out of people, you’re trolling. I’ve done it, and i think almost everyone has as well. But a single trolling post does not a troll make. I prefer to aviod the noun, personally. There are so many better terms one can use when one desires to flame someone.
And it’s not nice to watch
Here’s some official words to consider:
There is a difference between a troll and a sock puppet. A sock puppet is one poster posting under dual names (now a big no-no) so that he can agree with himself:
POSTER: I think X
SOCKPUPPET: BRILLIANT POINT, Poster!
etc.
A sock puppet can also be a different human being (presumably) who nevertheless exists only to parrot the thoughts of a particular poster, or back up what that poster says, with no evidence of independent brain activity.
A troll, IMO, is someone who posts disingenously, in order to rile people up or cause reactions, as opposed to posting to share experiences or learn. A troll may also be a person who posts from a position he or she does not believe in (outside of the obvious context of a formal debate, where we agree that I will argue “pro” and you will argue “con”) solely to get into gratuitous arguments with people. Examples of trollish posts, in my opinion, include the obvious “Why are fags allowed to live?” (not, to my knowledge, a real example); the semi-obvious “Hey fundie Christians! Come amuse me by trying to convert me!”; and the less obvious “Do not do [a particular thing], for if you do you are doing the work of Satan!” (backed up with scripture), from someone who neither believes in the inviolacy of scripture nor in the existence of Satan.
These last two are real examples, and are, of course only IMO. YMMV.
What is a troll? a mailbag page by SDSTAFF David and SDSTAFF Ed