[Gllug] Today's lively list

[Richard Cohen]

On Wed, 11 Dec 2002, t.clarke wrote:

> Having just read through this morning's list posting - most entertaining -
> just one question:
> What is 'trolling' ??

http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/troll.html

" 1. v.,n. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban] To utter a posting on
Usenet  designed to attract predictable responses or flames; or, the post
itself. Derives from the phrase "trolling for newbies" which in turn comes
from mainstream "trolling", a style of fishing in which one trails bait
through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The well-constructed troll is a
post that induces lots of newbies and flamers to make themselves look even
more clueless than they already do, while subtly conveying to the more savvy
and experienced that it is in fact a deliberate troll. If you don't fall for
the joke, you get to be in on it. See also YHBT. 2. n. An individual who
chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames or
personal attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no other
purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are
recognizable by the fact that they have no real interest in learning about
the topic at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly
creatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeeming characteristics,
and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in,
"Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll." Compare kook. 3. n. [Berkeley] Computer
lab monitor. A popular campus job for CS students. Duties include helping
newbies and ensuring that lab policies are followed. Probably so-called
because it involves lurking in dark cavelike corners.

Some people claim that the troll (sense 1) is properly a narrower category
than flame bait, that a troll is categorized by containing some assertion
that is wrong but not overtly controversial. See also Troll-O-Meter.

The use of `troll' in either sense is a live metaphor that readily produces
elaborations and combining forms. For example, one not infrequently sees the
warning "Do not feed the troll" as part of a followup to troll postings. "

BTW, everyone's seen ESR's blog, right?  He's lost it...

> Tim

Cheers
Richard

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