What is Trolliing???

[Mike9121]

This may be a term that is new to many of you, but I must say it is an action that can turn a pleasant forum to an unpleasant one very quickly. I have thought long and hard for a way to put it into words but I thought I would google it and perhaps someone out there has a better way to word it than I can. Guess what I was right!!! Before I get to the definition, let me remind you that this activity is not tolerated.

Internet Trolling

In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who posts inflammatory messages on the Internet, such as on online discussion forums, to disrupt discussion or to upset its participants.

"Troll" can also mean the inflammatory message itself posted by a troll or be a verb meaning to post such messages. "Trolling" is also commonly used to describe the activity.

Etymology

The contemporary use of the term first appeared on Usenet groups in the late 1980s. It is widely thought to be a contraction of the phrase "trolling for suckers", itself derived from the sport fishing technique of trolling. The latter can be compared with trawling, of which it is a near homophone.

The word likely gained currency because of its apt second meaning, drawn from the "trolls", which are portrayed in Scandinavian folklore, and children's tales, as often ugly, obnoxious creatures that are bent on wickedness and mischief. The image of the troll under the bridge in the "Three Billy Goats Gruff" emphasizes the trolls' dislike of outsiders within its physical environment, particularly those who intend to graze in its domain.

Vicious cycles

The main motive for a user trolling is to disrupt the community in some way. Inflammatory, sarcastic or disruptive content is posted, meant to draw other users into engaging the troll in a fruitless confrontation.

The greater the reaction from the community the more likely the user is to troll again, as the person develops beliefs that certain actions achieve his/her goal to cause chaos. This gives rise to the often repeated protocol in Internet culture: "Do not feed the trolls".

Common Examples:

Intentionally posting an outrageous argument, deliberately constructed around a fundamental but obfuscated flaw or error. Often the poster will become defensive when the argument is refuted, but may instead continue the thread through the use of further flawed arguments; this is referred to as "feeding" the troll.

Posting Hateful or Extremely Negative threads. These could be rascist, bigotted, libelous or rash generalizations like Company XYZ sucks.