Internet Trolls 101

Now that my blog is open to the public, I was worried what internet trolls might to with my information. So I decided to do some research to better assess the threat.

Definition: Trolling

Trolling is the act of purposefully antagonizing other internet users, generally on message boards and/or blogs. Trolling is done with the intention of provoking the author and the online community as a whole. When they fail to provoke, they attempt humor. When done in a moderated internet community, this can result in banning.

Etymology

The contemporary use of the term is alleged to have first appeared on the internet in the late 1980s, but the earliest known example is from 1991. It is thought to be a truncation of the phrase trolling for suckers, itself derived from the fishing technique of slowly dragging a bait through water, known as trolling. The word also evokes the trolls portrayed in Scandinavian folklore and children's tales as they are often obnoxious creatures bent on mischief and wickedness. The verb "troll" originates from Old French "troller", a hunting term. The noun "troll", however, is an unrelated Old Norse word for a giant or demon.

Early history

The most likely derivation of the word troll can be found in the phrase "trolling for newbies," popularized in the early 1990s in the Usenet group, alt.folklore.urban (AFU). Commonly, what is meant is a relatively gentle inside joke by veteran users, presenting questions or topics that had been so overdone that only a new user would respond to them earnestly. For example, a veteran of the group might make a post on the common misconception that glass flows over time. Long-time readers would both recognize the poster's name and know that the topic had been done to death already, but new subscribers to the group would not realize, and would thus respond. These types of trolls served as a Shibboleth to identify group insiders. This definition of trolling, considerably narrower than the modern understanding of the term, was considered a positive contribution.

By the late 1990s, AFU had such heavy traffic that trolling of this sort was frowned upon. Others expanded the term to include the practice of playing a seriously misinformed or deluded user, even in newsgroups where one was not a regular; these were often attempts at humor rather than provocation. In such contexts, the noun troll usually referred to an act of trolling, rather than to the author. We now begin to see the metamorphosis of the term to its current usage.

Current Usage

The application of the term troll is highly subjective. Some readers may characterize a post as trolling, while others may regard the same post as a legitimate contribution to the discussion, even if controversial. The term is often used to discredit an opposing position, or its proponent, by argument fallacy.

Often, calling someone a troll makes assumptions about a writer's motives. Regardless of the circumstances, controversial posts may attract a particularly strong response from those unfamiliar with the robust dialogue found in some online communities. Experienced participants in online forums know that the most effective way to discourage a troll is usually to ignore him or her, because responding tends to encourage trolls to continue disruptive posts — hence the often-seen warning: "Please do not feed the trolls".

Frequently, someone who has been labeled a troll by a group may seek to redeem their reputation by discrediting their opponents, for example by claiming that other members of the group are closed-minded, conspirators, or trolls themselves. The trolling term for these users are "Fundies" or fundamentalists (typically loud proponents of christian values). Trolls often find themselves in a catch-22 situation because although Trolls are shunned by them, Funides make the easiest marks.

Unsuccessful Troll

Any troll who succumbs to troll's remorse, apologizes, or otherwise fails to deliver the lulz. A troll must never admit that they are a troll (especially whilst trolling), otherwise they have failed. Another failure is Trolls Trolling Trolls.

My Troll-Protection Plan

I realize that this post, in and of itself, is troll-bait. However, it does not effect my plan to deter trolls. In fact, I would feel amused if I were honored to have a very small troll cause a bit of havoc on my blog. My defensive system is very simple: Beat trolls at their own game. That means identifying trolls as they comment and promptly ignoring them--despite their efforts to draw me out into an open argument. If for some reason, however, that I have a troll that is more than I bargained for I'm sure I can count on my future LOFs (Legion of Followers) to gang-up on troll and annihilate them; I would find this both humorous and stimulating and I would not stop you.) The only tricky thing about identifying trolls is that there is a high probability for false positives. The general populous is by nature, stupid. I'm afraid that I won't be able to sort through comments and distinguish the trolls from the simple-minded. But with any luck, my blog won't become popular enough to solicit hits from hostiles.

BTW, I modified all these pictures myself. Supposedly, when you make a public blog, it's supposed to be good luck to deface pictures of trolls and post them; kind of like breaking a bottle across the bow of a ship on her maiden voyage. So, here's hoping:

*Clash!*

Sources

• Urban Dictionary: trolling
• Wikipedia: internet troll