What is a Troll ?

I just thought I'd say that I am not that way anymore nor was I like that when I came to ATS. That was the way I was a long time ago. So to anyone that's judging me right now- don't worry about it. I just liked attention at the time and the OP made me realize certain things about my prior behavior.

When you troll a trolls thread they get REALLY MAD

Fresh in!!!!!!!

I thought I'd help the cause with the ultimate anti-troll weapon.
Use thoughtfully, and carefully. Proven effective.
I discovered this many years ago, but would like to put it into your hands now.
May it serve you well.

Scott Pakin's automatic complaint-letter generator
www.pakin.org...

Testimony ... it just layed low a troll in my current thread, back to some thoughtfulness.

My original goal for this letter was to scrutinize Bogamil's remarks point by clueless point. Unfortunately, Bogamil's focus wanders so wildly that he never actually finishes any of his points. I think you will notice this in the ensuing discussion. Before I say anything else, I'd like to state the following disclaimer for Bogamil's benefit: Warning! This letter may contain sarcasm. Okay, now that that's taken care of, let me posit the hypothesis that I love hearing the claims of an unenlightened layabout who doesn't realize that he's an unenlightened layabout. As a case in point, consider Bogamil's claim that his maneuvers are intelligent, commonsensical, and entirely consonant with the views of ordinary people. Such claims always make me laugh because, as we all know, supercilious, hotheaded scumbags are often found at Bogamil's elbow. This suggests to me that Bogamil has—not once, but several times—been able to yield this country to the forces of darkness, oppression, and tyranny without anyone stopping him. How long can that go on? As long as his uncongenial obloquies are kept on life support. That's why we have to pull the plug on them and oppose our human vices wherever they may be found—arrogance, hatred, jealousy, unfaithfulness, avarice, and so on. My eventual goal for this letter is to invite all the people who have been harmed by Bogamil to continue to express and assert their concerns in a constructive and productive fashion. I'm counting on you for your support.

This is one of those threads I always felt could have been topped, but instead its fun to see it resurrected from time to time.

An ageless creation worth the effort spent reading the authors first post. I say effort because reading seems to be some thing many do less, but complain more about...

reply to post by FallenFromTheTree


Great post. info already known by most but a much needed update as I've noticed over the years that trolling is becoming more abundant.

When I first started following back in 06-07 there was probably about half as much trolling. The topics were over all much better in that the participation and discussion was ...well....ON TOPIC.


I've seen too many times that even people who aren't trolls end up filling said THREAD with their beliefs and distract from the OP's actual post and thread subject.


This Thread itself will probably attract a few trolls, which will only serve to help educate people on exactly what a troll is.

But yea good post OP.

should i change my avatar? I get accused of being a troll just because my avatar is a troll. Seems unfair to me that some people are so quick to judge others by first impressions. I have learned to be patient with people. We all act and think differently. We as people are not perfect and we all still learning in the world of life. Wrong/right or mixed feelings. It is right to be heard. How can one understand one another without being heard? OK, with that said, i myself try to listen to trolls, but if i think they have bad intensions for me, i just turn on the ignore button. you know ats. there is a simple solution to this. Next to a person's avatar a button should be there and if a certain number of different people click on this button, then the person cannot make comments on, but can read what goes on. What do you think, SIMON.

Geez lol
A "troll" is not a creature that look like Don King.

Its a way of fishing.
You throw a line in the water and wait for a fish to bite. I hope youre getting the point.
The word troll on a internet forum has nothing to do with a Lord of the Ring creature.
The only comparison is, someone who is trolling is often compared to an evil monster.

When you try to reason with a troll, he wins.

Most of us know about the alert funtion by now. Admin, when someone comes into one's thread and declares a falsehood about the OP author, for example, "You are trying to make people think a certain wrong thing by your deceptive omission" I would like to know why there is not a censor label aside from off topic or manners and decorum. I dont know exactly what it should say, but something like, Post was misleading and incorrect. Which could be verified merely by the Troll or anyone else reading the entire thread, not just the first opening post. It feels like, when a troll does that to me, I am being slandered.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/61d001fc1f34.jpg[/atsimg]

Old King Troll

Ah, nothing like the classics. So much trolling, so much irony.

Since my original post to this thread almost seven years ago (itself arguably a targeted troll aimed at trolls), and over a year before becoming an ATS mod, my time on the staff has given me much exposure to the issue and a great many opportunities to ponder the finer points of trollcraft.

So naturally I can't resist plugging my own essay on the subject.

Trolling, And What To Do About It

What I've learned over the years is that, from a certain point of view, anyone can be considered a "troll" and labeled such for simply disagreeing or making a good argument that someone else dislikes, which makes the label somewhat nebulous and ultimately counterproductive.

Hence my focus on "trolling" versus "trolls". Zeroing in on problem behavior rather than attempting to classify members is a much better approach, in my opinion.

And perhaps most ironic of all, one of the most common and classic trolling tactics is to call other people trolls.

In this way, the Law of Irony is ever upheld.






“The only immutable law of the universe is the Law of Irony.”
-- Majic, quoting himself, ironically enough

I haven't been around in a few days but based off the threads on the front page I guess there has been a lot of trolling and flaming around these parts. I'm glad I missed it.

reply to post by FallenFromTheTree

An Internet "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people. Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. For some reason, they don't "get" that they are hurting real people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind of digital abstraction. As a result, they feel no sorrow whatsoever for the pain they inflict. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the greater their 'achievement' (as they see it). At the moment, the relative anonymity of the net allows trolls to flourish.

Sounds like the diagnosis' of psychopathy and sociopathy.