Jump to content

Troll (slang)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kingturtle (talk | contribs) at 23:22, 20 February 2004 (+befriending a regular user whom other regular users regard highly). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

On the Internet, a troll is a person who posts messages that create controversy or an angry response without adding content to the discussion, often intentionally, merely as a ludibrium. Though technically different from flaming, which is an unmistakable direct personal attack, trolls often resort to innuendo or misdirection in the pursuit of their objective, which is to create controversy for its own sake, discredit those with whom they disagree, or sabotage discussion by creating an intimidating atmosphere.

Origins

Originally this term applied to people who were intentionally posting flamebait, by analogy with the fishing technique of trolling: metaphorically, these people were dragging a conversational lure through the group, hoping for a response. The concept of "this person is trolling our newsgroup" became shortened to "this person is a troll", and picked up the association of the monster trolls of folklore. Note that this is a highly subjective term, as everyone is affected differently by the nature of the term deemed a "troll".

Trolling does not maintain its earlier meaning of posting messages specifically in order to elicit a particular response, usually anger or argument. The most common form, troll, usually refers to someone who induces general controversy, not necessarily a particular response.

Sometimes people use this to discredit an opposing position in an argument. By asserting that one's opponents are trolls, one is asserting that they are only maintaining their position in order to feed the flames, and that their position is actually indefensible. To demonstrate that someone is a troll in this sense therefore carries a far more difficult burden of proof than is required merely to show that someone has posted messages that have the effect of creating controversy.

In any case, merely asserting that someone is a troll without providing the appropriate evidence amounts to an ad hominem argument, and is itself thus usually indefensible. Many views that have met with opposition and even the ridicule of experts have subsequently been found to be justified, so the label "troll" used this way is actually more likely to indicate a correct but controversial position. Moreover, the definition of "troll" given in the introduction is disputed: some hold that controversy, per se, is for its own sake: controversy never leads to anything because it has no beginning or end, it starts from no premises and leads to no conclusion.

The role of Internet trolls is also disputed, some viewing them as playing some role in the limiting of groupthink, and the prevention of forming any kind of false consciousness by acting as devil's advocate. One proposed explanation, in light of what was said earlier about "ad hominem" labeling, is that everyone labels the others' behaviour that's not suitable to their consciousness as "controversy" or "trolling". Consequently, for instance, someone who believed that Wikipedia collaborators did not form any kind of 'community' but were instead a 'cabal' would be likely to be labeled as a troll by people who take the Wikipedia seriously. For Richard Nixon the Watergate scandal was a controversy. That's why he took it so seriously.

Examples

Common types of troll messages or activities:

  • off topic messages – "Can anyone help me make a webpage?" "No, this is a music forum."
  • inflammatory messages – "You are an idiot for including this type of message in your list."
  • messages containing an obvious flaw or error – "I think 2001: A Space Odyssey is Roman Polanski's best movie."
  • absurdly naive or politically controversial messages -- "I think George W. Bush is the best/worst President ever"
  • posting an outrageous argument deliberately constructed around a fundamental but obfuscated flaw or error.
  • posting an outrageous claim and then insisting it's true unless people refute it to your satisfaction, which of course will be impossible.
  • inability to walk away from an argument.
  • making loud claims to be on the defensive, but the claims are a guise for their aggressive maneuvers.
  • passive aggressive name calling, in which no names are mentioned, but are implied.
  • befriending a regular user whom other regular users regard highly; then, showing said regular user only his/her considerate, kind side. This gives the troll an ally who is esteemed.

An example of a troll message in the newer sense would be one that denounces a particular religion in a religion newsgroup -- though historically, this would have been called "flamebait".

A variant of the second variety (inflammatory messages) involves posting content obviously severely contradictory to the focus of the group or forum- for example, posting cat meat recipes on a pet lovers forum, posting evolutionary theory on a creationist forum, or posting messages about how all dragons are boring in the USENET group alt.fan.dragons.

Cross posting is a popular method of choice by Usenet trolls: a cross-posted article can be discussed simultaneously in several unrelated and/or opposing newsgroups; this is likely to result in a flame war. For instance, an anti-Fast food flame bait might be cross posted to healthy eating groups, environmentalist groups, animal rights groups, as well as a totally off-topic Artificial Intelligence newsgroup.

All of these would be virtually guaranteed, in most online forums, to earn a corrective or patronizing or outraged response by those who mistake an online forum for a physical community, where people are actually exposed to some danger of bodily harm by each other's errors. Customs of discourse, or etiquette, that originated in such physical communities, are often applied naively by newcomers who are not used to the extreme range of views that people are often comfortable expressing online, especially anonymously.

An example of a successful troll is the well-known "Oh how I envy American students" USENET thread which got 3000+ followups.

Dealing with trolls

There is some generally-accepted wisdom about dealing with Internet trolls: "Don't feed the trolls, that will only encourage them." That is, do not respond to them, that is the attention they desire. Or, at best, one will be drawn into dialogues that waste your time. Somebody who does respond to them is likely to hear "YHBT. YHL. HAND." from other members of the group, which means "You have been trolled. You have lost. Have a nice day."

Specific trolling subcultures

Notable troll examples

Miscellaneous

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Troll_(slang)&oldid=2505148"